Kirkland City Council Should Hold A Public Hearing Prior to Adding a Sunset HCC Provision to State Legislative Agenda
We the undersigned are calling for the City Council to hold a public hearing with the residents of Houghton prior to any Council decision to include "sunsetting" of Houghton Community Council in a legislative agenda.
1. The citizens of the city of Houghton were provided important (non-trivial) rights over their lands as an incentive to consolidate with the City of Kirkland. These rights provide final say over land use and zoning in the former jurisdiction of Houghton.
2. Without exception, every four years the City of Kirkland and the former jurisdictional area of the City of Houghton have operated under the terms agreed to in Ordinance O-2001. That includes the recent election in 2021 wherein the continuation of Houghton Community Council was approved by 76% of eligible voters.
3. Now, without any procedural due process, the Kirkland City Council appears poised to try and deny the rights that they promised those in smaller communities that they annexed.
4. Some citizens have already requested a public hearing and there has been no response from the City Council.
5. The City Council has not even discussed (in open meeting) whether to honor the request for a Public Hearing as procedural due process.
6. Staff from the City of Kirkland suggest that impacted residents can send letters and use the comment period at the upcoming City Council meeting. Neither is the same as holding a public hearing. According to Kirkland's definitions "PUBLIC HEARINGS are held to receive public comment on important matters before the Council." We argue that asking state legislators (whose constituents are not involved in the agreement between Kirkland and Houghton) to step in and interfere with the agreement between local parties is "important."
7. Finally, Kirkland City Council seems to have orchestrated a "meeting" with Houghton Community Council wherein listening to the Houghton Community Council Members was not the goal. Citizens requested time to speak at this meeting and were denied the opportunity. This is also not a substitute for a Public Hearing. The City Council did not work with Houghton Community Council to agree on a format or moderator. The City Council unilaterally chose both and only notified the Chairman of HCC on the afternoon of the meeting. It is believed that City Council Members had time to prepare, but the HCC members were denied this opportunity. The "moderator" that was unilaterally chosen is also not considered an impartial, or appropriate, moderator as she was recently the City of Kirkland's Assistant City Manager. The Mayor of Kirkland ended the meeting saying that she had hoped to see some movement in opinions with the meeting. She was obviously looking to gain more acceptance of the "sunset HCC" agenda that has been top of mind for her and her husband, Larry Springer for more than a decade.
Updates
December 4, 2021
The level of engagement this petition has received signals that the residents of Houghton expect a transparent process regarding their governance rights. This momentum confirms that our community will not accept a decision made behind closed doors.
29 Comments
I am in favor of a movement to incorporate as the Town of Houghton if the legislature takes action to cancel our votes and renege on the longstanding cooperative structure. A deal is a deal.
This tactic is an end run around previous agreements made in good faith. The Kirkland city council is being dishonest and disingenuous in an attempt to change lawful agreements in "the dead of night." This community needs an open hearing on this subject (only)
Deferring public hearings to the state legislative process is simply a way to deflect hearing from the people the KCC represents.
How can you ignore our vote which passed to keep the HCC? Trying to force a breakup of the HCC is not going to solve your agenda to get more low income housing into Kirkland. The median price of homes in Kirkland is above 1.5 million and continuing to rise.
A deal is a deal. The Houghton Community Council (HCC) adds another layer of checks and balances to what the Kirkland City Council tries to push through in their sneaky way! The HCC will listen to citizens concerns and do their best to implement concerns from citizens. The KCC will listen to the citizens of Kirkland, but they do what they want to do.
This very much looks like a political run around and power grab by some folks that will benefit in some way that isn't immediately apparent.... The city of Kirkland has for many years supported individual neighborhoods, each with its own character. It is certainly not clear that there is a pressing need to change Houghton's character, or the legal agreements signed a few decades ago - especially when the agreement was voted into continuation in the last general election by the residents of Houghton. If the city council wants to make a change - They really should engage with the citizens. It is a democracy after all. Maybe the Kirkland city council needs to be changed to a group that represents its constituents?
Stop the Steal!
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Kirkland City Council Should Hold A Public Hearing Prior to Adding a Sunset HCC Provision to State Legislative Agenda
We the undersigned are calling for the City Council to hold a public hearing with the residents of Houghton prior to any Council decision to include "sunsetting" of Houghton Community Council in a legislative agenda.
1. The citizens of the city of Houghton were provided important (non-trivial) rights over their lands as an incentive to consolidate with the City of Kirkland. These rights provide final say over land use and zoning in the former jurisdiction of Houghton.
2. Without exception, every four years the City of Kirkland and the former jurisdictional area of the City of Houghton have operated under the terms agreed to in Ordinance O-2001. That includes the recent election in 2021 wherein the continuation of Houghton Community Council was approved by 76% of eligible voters.
3. Now, without any procedural due process, the Kirkland City Council appears poised to try and deny the rights that they promised those in smaller communities that they annexed.
4. Some citizens have already requested a public hearing and there has been no response from the City Council.
5. The City Council has not even discussed (in open meeting) whether to honor the request for a Public Hearing as procedural due process.
6. Staff from the City of Kirkland suggest that impacted residents can send letters and use the comment period at the upcoming City Council meeting. Neither is the same as holding a public hearing. According to Kirkland's definitions "PUBLIC HEARINGS are held to receive public comment on important matters before the Council." We argue that asking state legislators (whose constituents are not involved in the agreement between Kirkland and Houghton) to step in and interfere with the agreement between local parties is "important."
7. Finally, Kirkland City Council seems to have orchestrated a "meeting" with Houghton Community Council wherein listening to the Houghton Community Council Members was not the goal. Citizens requested time to speak at this meeting and were denied the opportunity. This is also not a substitute for a Public Hearing. The City Council did not work with Houghton Community Council to agree on a format or moderator. The City Council unilaterally chose both and only notified the Chairman of HCC on the afternoon of the meeting. It is believed that City Council Members had time to prepare, but the HCC members were denied this opportunity. The "moderator" that was unilaterally chosen is also not considered an impartial, or appropriate, moderator as she was recently the City of Kirkland's Assistant City Manager. The Mayor of Kirkland ended the meeting saying that she had hoped to see some movement in opinions with the meeting. She was obviously looking to gain more acceptance of the "sunset HCC" agenda that has been top of mind for her and her husband, Larry Springer for more than a decade.
Updates
December 4, 2021
The level of engagement this petition has received signals that the residents of Houghton expect a transparent process regarding their governance rights. This momentum confirms that our community will not accept a decision made behind closed doors.
29 Comments
Houghton resident since 1966. I know the history. The current council does not represent Houghton residents' best interests
I am in favor of a movement to incorporate as the Town of Houghton if the legislature takes action to cancel our votes and renege on the longstanding cooperative structure. A deal is a deal.
This tactic is an end run around previous agreements made in good faith. The Kirkland city council is being dishonest and disingenuous in an attempt to change lawful agreements in "the dead of night." This community needs an open hearing on this subject (only)
Deferring public hearings to the state legislative process is simply a way to deflect hearing from the people the KCC represents.
How can you ignore our vote which passed to keep the HCC? Trying to force a breakup of the HCC is not going to solve your agenda to get more low income housing into Kirkland. The median price of homes in Kirkland is above 1.5 million and continuing to rise.
A deal is a deal. The Houghton Community Council (HCC) adds another layer of checks and balances to what the Kirkland City Council tries to push through in their sneaky way! The HCC will listen to citizens concerns and do their best to implement concerns from citizens. The KCC will listen to the citizens of Kirkland, but they do what they want to do.
This very much looks like a political run around and power grab by some folks that will benefit in some way that isn't immediately apparent.... The city of Kirkland has for many years supported individual neighborhoods, each with its own character. It is certainly not clear that there is a pressing need to change Houghton's character, or the legal agreements signed a few decades ago - especially when the agreement was voted into continuation in the last general election by the residents of Houghton. If the city council wants to make a change - They really should engage with the citizens. It is a democracy after all. Maybe the Kirkland city council needs to be changed to a group that represents its constituents?
Stop the Steal!
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Houghton resident since 1966. I know the history. The current council does not represent Houghton residents' best interests