Kirkland City Council Should Not Ask Washington Legislators to Interfere with Contract Made with It's Citizens

Please keep the Houghton Community Council

Representatives Sweet, Whalen and Springer are using their positions of political influence to illegitimately over-ride the legitimate voice and interests of voters. 76% of Houghton voters support the continuation of HCC. Voters count! Pay attention!

This action is an overreach by KCC. The correct remedy is for the HCC to remain in place unless and until the citizens of Houghton vote for it to be dismantled. Representatives from across the state have NO standing on this issue.

Let's call this for what it is: A pre-planned coup to oust the HCC. State Rep. Larry Springer has attempted to get this through the State Legislator 3X before and failed. Now, his wife and current Mayor, Penny Sweet, along with former Mayor and State Rep. Amy Walen are attempting it again by sliding it under a cover of an Equity Plan. Why? To push for aggressive growth and high density to appease big business and developers. The HCC is for reasonable and moderate growth with affordable housing NOT aggressive growth. As for the need for affordable housing, a friend who works for a King County homeless nonprofit, says yes, low income and affordable housing are needed, but that goes hand in hand with other resources to help and teach those how to keep and maintain their living situation for them to eventually get out of that situation. I'd like my tax dollars to go to the higher priorities such as addressing homelessness, leadership diversity, police reform, environmental concerns, transportation and so much more. After watching the HCC requested 11/22 meeting with the KCC, I did not hear any solid examples/data of HOW the HCC negatively impacts the programs, services and resources of the entire City. This is the basis for what the Equity Consultant made her recommendation: to direct the KCC to work with state legislators and HCC to move expeditiously to sunset the HCC.

The HCC does valuable work and the Council is misrepresenting Houghton to other citizens. We need this group to stay and we should have a proper place and time where citizens can discuss what to do with the council- our voices should be heard

I have lived in Kirkland for 37 years. The Houghton Council was one of the reasons I chose to live in this area. When I moved here, Kirkland had a 3 story limit. The city council in the last few years has been more interested in becoming Bellevue by expanding height limits. Totem Lake new development is a wind tunnel like downtown Seattle. The Houghton Council has protected Houghton as an area that Kirkland was intended to be. When incorporated, the agreement for the Houghton Council was not "until we can figure out how to eliminate it", but as a sane voice.

The people of Houghton overwhelmingly voted for the continuation of their community council. I have lived in Houghton for over 35 years and love my community. The HCC and its careful deliberation over land development issues is one of the main reasons I have enjoyed living here. Every 4 years for the last three elections, the KCC has tried to circumvent the people's vote by going to the State Legislature to sunset the HCC. They are cloaking this as 1) inequity among neighborhoods (rather than admitting that they do not listen to or abide by their voters' wishes) and 2) need for affordable housing (Houghton has the only affordable housing site at a TOD at S.Kirkland P&R and Kirkland has been more than meeting its GMA goals.) The Houghton Community Council was formed as an agreement between the City of Houghton and the City of Kirkland...there was no sunset provision, unless the residents within the borders of Houghton voted to discontinue the council. Over 76% voted for it to continue. Leave the HCC intact, so that we have a say in our future land development.

Support keeping the Houghton Community Council (HCC) in place. Allow the voice of the community to continue to be heard as agreed. Use this community as an ally to form community bonds and continue to build the City of Kirkland that we all want. By attempting to eliminate a community voice you are sending the wrong message, "we are not heard", "we don't care", let's raise above and let all voices be heard.

It's disappointing that the KCC is open to overturning the results of an election held just earlier this month because they didn't like the result.

Kirkland City Council should respect the people's vote and its own contract with Houghton to allow for our own City Council. Involving the state legislature to dissolve HCC is ignoring the democratic process.

76.24% (1,736) of the 2,442 Houghton residents who voted in the November election voted in favor of retaining the Houghton Community Council (HCC). The Kirkland City Council should not be trying to overturn these results, which represent the will of the majority in Houghton. I am confident that the Kirkland City Council will respect the democratic process and not introduce a proposal to the State Legislature to eliminate the HCC.

Thank you

The City agreed to a deal years ago and should stand by that deal instead of circumventing the system as they are attempting to do.

I’m extremely disappointed to learn that the KCC is holding a meeting to eliminate the HCC in an effort to override the people’s voice and vote. You have an obligation to uphold the agreement that was made years ago when Houghton was annexed into the City of Kirkland that allowed the Houghton community to continue to have a voice through the HCC. As a nearly 20-year resident of Houghton, I find the disregard for our vote and this policy to be inexcusable.

Perhaps it is time to get rid of KCC rather than HCC. Houghton is doing much better than the rest of Kirkland in diversity, diversity of housing options, and meeting other housing goals such as working 5-10 minutes from home. Kirkland Council Members could learn a lot from the very thoughtful and responsive Houghton Community Council Members. HCC is so interested in really getting public input that they allow 5 minutes (rather than 3) for citizens to speak. They then ask questions to really make sure they understand. KCC, on the other hand, has not sent out an email noticing tonight's meeting and they did not include a public comment period for tonight's meeting.

Why are the wishes of the voters being ignored? I absolutely care what happens in my neighbor and strongly feel that our voices should be heard.

It's all about the streets in that area . Fire Station located right there. How will they be able to respond quickly with grid lock. Must address the streets along with any improvement to that area.

If this is the deal that was struck , and reconfirmed by Houghton voters, then it should stand. Attempting an end around to get of it by going through the legislature is wrong.

Houghton community council needs to stay intact. Neighborhood organizations are critical for an open democracy and community.

An agreement is an agreement. Kirkland's representatives "must" uphold the integrity of the city by keeping their word and living by example for the benefit of the greater Kirkland community. My husband and I may not live within the Houghton boundaries but we are affected by the city's representatives: what is decided and how those decisions are determined. City "livability" is a concern for all. The stated concerns expressed by the Houghton counsel are "more" than valid. Disbanding the counsel will not make their concerns go away. In "fact" resentment towards our Kirkland representatives will intensify, because, trust and its nature will be compromised. Yes, leadership takes time, sometimes more than we want to expend. But please for the sake of expedience do not bring a distrustful type of leadership into our boundaries that leads to a resentful community. The toll, that we've all experienced by that type of leadership, is enormous. I ask you to bring everyone back to the table for the well-being of the community. Question: the Carillon Point 5 story multi-building complex. How did that work out for the community? Some would say not well at all. And for those who say - not well - seriously, investigate why not. Sincerely, Mrs. Corinne Cowan 6736 Lake Washington Blvd. NE # 2