As a resident and small business owner in Redmond, I want to add my strong support and endorsement of Steve Fields for mayor of Redmond.
Steve’s solid work history shows that he has the right experience for the job. More importantly, he is not only attentive to the concerns of citizens, he actually understands those concerns. When I saw that Steve Fields was running, I contacted him via email even though we had never met. He responded to me very quickly and actually asked to meet with me one on one to discuss the issues the city faces. The fact that he actually listens is a welcome relief and that alone makes him one of the most refreshing candidates for any office that I have ever met.
In my view, Mayor John Marchione is much too cozy with out-of-town developers, who are also huge donors to his campaign. Consider the following example before you cast your vote in November:
John Marchione was instrumental in forming OneRedmond — a “public-private partnership” to which Redmond taxpayers contribute $100,000 per year. OneRedmond has 50 members, many of whom are either out-of-town real estate developers or businesses that make their money from the real estate development industry. As part of the process of forming OneRedmond, the Redmond Chamber of Commerce, which had 450 members (mostly small businesses) was dissolved. So, clear to me, Mayor Marchione is not very interested in the views and concerns of small businesses in Redmond.
John Marchione sits on the board of OneRedmond and sitting next to him is a Kirkland developer, Robert Pantley. Mr. Pantley is proposing to build yet another “micro suite” building, 162Ten, in Redmond.
Of interest, OneRedmond owns the site where Pantley wants to build 162Ten because the Chamber of Commerce owned it, and OneRedmond subsumed them. This property is the site of the old Nokomis club building, a designated site of historical significance. Despite that, the OneRedmond board, including Marchione, sold it to their fellow board member with the express purpose of demolishing it. This and similar builds have been approved by the city even when they require zoning variances for parking or other favors, such as ignoring the historical significance of a building. The appearance of a conflict of interest is strong, in my opinion.
Mayor Marchione promoted and has allocated more than $30 million in city funds to pay for a downtown park that is clearly meant for the tenants of these developers given that it has no parking nearby. It is a nice amenity for developers to tout to potential tenants of these high and mid-rise buildings, but it is hard on the taxpayer’s checkbook. That is why the mayor asked for the park levy that subsequently failed.
John Marchione seems to have forgotten that he was elected to represent the citizens of Redmond first and foremost — not the developers. In my opinion it is time to thank Mayor Marchione for his years of service and elect Steve Fields to replace him.
Roberta Domos
Redmond
