October 21, 2013 Spokesman

Posted by Tim Kehrli 
on Oct 21, 2013
 

The October 21, 2103 Kirkland Rotary Club meeting opened at 6:15pm by President Scott Rethke.  Pledge led by Angela Marks.  The early start for the meeting was due to the main agenda item – Kirkland City Council Candidates Forum. 

Visitors for the night included:  Angela Marks Windermere Realty; Doug Davis – President Kirkland Chamber of Commerce; Sants and Sue Contreras – Former City Council Member; Gigi Getz – Former Kirkland Rotary Member and President; Mahaila Murphy Martin – wife of Martin Morgan; Kathy Feek – wife of Jim Feek.

  

Announcements

  • Steve Shinstrom reported that the Bunco was a wonderful event with 37 attendees and far too many empty wine & beer bottles at the end of the evening.  Apparently it has already been decided that "Anythign Plaid" is the new black and theme for next year’s event.

    Pat Dye offered her thanks for the several volunteers who helped out at operation Warm at John Muir Elementary on Friday, October 18th.  The event distributed new winter coats to numerous families in the area.

    Patty Smith announced the first annual Kirkland Corridor Walk will take place at 1pm on Sunday October 27th.  The walk begin at the South Kirkland Park and Ride. Event parking is available at the South Kirkland Park and Ride, 10610 NE 38th Place, and a free shuttle will run until 4 p.m. between the end and start locations. Participants are encouraged to complete the entire 5.75 mile corridor and will be eligible to receive an original rail spike.

 

The Main Event – Kirkland City Council Candidate Forum;  Moderator – Patty Smith

Attendees

Doreen Marchione – Position 7

Bill Henkins – Position 7

Amy Walen – Position 5

Penny Sweet – Position 3

Shelly Kloba – Position 2

Martin Morgan – Position 1

Jay Arnold – Position1

Each candidate was given a 1 min opening statement followed by a 2 min presentation on why they were running for City Council.  Those in opposed Position (1 and 7) were also given a chance to ask their opposition a question.  Following the first round each Rotary table was given an opportunity to ask a question to one or all of the candidates.  The continuous stream of discussion was too difficult for this scribe to keep track of, but the general topics asked by the Rotarians included:

1.       What are the Kirkland Corridor activities and plans for expansion

2.       What are the growth plans for the city to deal with traffic issues and Marina Park View corridors?

3.       What is the story and plan future plans for the last five major development projects in the city which have all failed to materialize?

4.       What are the plans to secure additional revenue to fund the projected $10M to $20M budget shortfall predicted by the city financial planners?

The discussion and interaction was lively and educating.  Elections will be on November 5th and all are encouraged to vote.  

The meeting was adjourned at 8pm.

See you next week at our usual time of 6:30pm.  Scribe for an evening Tim Kehrli.

 

NEW MEMBERS PROPOSED

Kevin & Lexie Gasseling: 

Classification: Senior Physician Advocates

Sponsor:  Dan Bartel