This week, the Redmond Reporter delves into Proposition 1, which will be on the Aug. 4 ballot. Next week, the Reporter will examine Proposition 2, which is also on the upcoming ballot.
On Aug. 4, the city will have two six-year levy measures on the ballot.
If passed, Proposition 1 would cost about $18.13 million over the course of six years — just a bit more than $3 million per year.
The levy addresses public safety, neighborhood infrastructure safety and walkability.
MAINTAINING SERVICES
Redmond Police Chief Ron Gibson said a large part of the public safety component is maintaining the services approved in the city’s 2007 ballot measure. These services included 17 new police personnel to support police operations and programs, including school resource officers (SROs) in local schools.
“It allowed us to provide funding for high school and middle school resource officers,” Gibson said.
He added that Lake Washington School District (LWSD) also provides funding for the SROs, but that amount — $40,000 per year — is less than half of one officer’s salary and benefits.
Gibson said state law allows cities to increase levies by only 1 percent per year. This gives the money less buying power as inflation increases at a higher rate. Gibson said Proposition 1 will help the Redmond Police Department (RPD) maintain this level of service.
The 2007 levy also provided the Redmond Fire Department (RFD) with 18 new firefighters for Fire Station 12 in Overlake and Fire Station 17 in north Redmond. According to the city website, this led to an increase in call reliability of 23 percent for the area served by Station 12. This also reduced travel times for Station 11 in downtown, which was also serving north Redmond, by 22 percent and more than 200 percent for the area now served by Station 17.
Gibson said Proposition 1 will help RFD maintain those 18 positions funded by the 2007 measure.
GETTING AHEAD OF TRENDS
In addition to maintaining current levels of service, Gibson said RPD is also asking voters to support the department hiring five more employees.
Two of those employees would be neighborhood resource officers (NROs), bringing the city’s total to four. Gibson said these officers would focus on neighborhood problem solving. By adding two more NROs, he said the officers would be able to spread out more throughout the city and it would give the city the capacity for a part-time bicycle patrol in downtown during the summer.
Proposition 1 would also pay for two more officers to focus on property crime investigating.
In a letter to the editor opposing the city’s levy measures last week, Redmond resident Bob Yoder said he does not see the need for this.
“Personally, I don’t see a significant rise in property crime in my neighborhood,” he wrote.
To this point, Gibson said since 2012, there has been a 25 percent increase in property crime throughout King County.
“That trend is continuing in 2015,” he said.
He added that in 2013, Washington had the highest property crime rate in the country. The proposed two new officers would help RPD keep up with this, Gibson said.
And finally, the fifth new employee would be a full-time evidence technician. Gibson pointed out that as property increases, the amount of evidence to process increases as well. Currently, RPD only has one full-time technician, making things difficult if that employee is out sick or goes on vacation.
Gibson said police are responsible for the property they take in as evidence and they need to make sure they are being held accountable for it, adding that with an additional technician, they would be able to process items and return them to people more quickly.
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
For neighborhood infrastructure safety and walkability, Proposition 1 will focus on a number of things.
Linda De Boldt, public works director for the City of Redmond, said part of the proposal includes asphalt and pavement maintenance. Through this program, she said the city would identify streets throughout the city to do asphalt overlay projects.
In his letter, Yoder also said he does not see the roads in his neighborhood deteriorating that would “justify such a large increase in (his) tax bill.”
“You don’t always see the deterioration,” De Boldt acknowledged, adding that when addressing deteriorating pavement, waiting until there is significant damage is more costly as it typically means complete reconstruction.
“The cost is about 10 times higher,” she said comparing it to an overlay.
De Boldt said pavement usually has a lifespan of about 20-25 years, depending on the type of traffic it sees. It is ideal to do overlays once the pavement reaches 10-15 years, but again, this depends on the type of traffic it gets.
“It’s preventative maintenance,” De Boldt explained.
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
In addition to the asphalt and pavement maintenance work, Proposition 1 will also address pedestrian safety throughout the city.
De Boldt said more people are walking around town and after doing a lot of work on vehicular safety, the city needs to make sure other users are safe, as well.
“Multi-modal is becoming much more of the norm,” she said.
One of the main projects Proposition 1 would focus on is installing sidewalks in and around school zones to make sure kids walking to and from school are safe.
In a letter to the editor this week, Redmond resident Lara Lockwood explains she is supporting Proposition 1 because it will improve pedestrian safety.
“I love walking my children to and from school,” she said. “I consider it my little gift to the teacher that my kids get a 15-minute walk or eight-minute dead sprint and some fresh air before they arrive at the classroom. Living in a walkable neighborhood contributes greatly to our quality of life in Redmond.”
Work on these sidewalks as well as existing sidewalks would also include making sure the curb ramps are up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
De Boldt said the measure would also provide funds for the city to improve crosswalk safety, which could include speed radar signs and flashing beacons. In addition, they could make improvements on current markings crosswalks, making them clearer for all to see.
