Sammamish WA City Council Candidates Debate

This Thursday I had the pleasure of watching the Sammamish WA city council candidates debate.

This month the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel discussion of the hot button issues. This November Sammamish residence will decide on 4 of the 7 positions for the City council.

The City Council Candidates are as follows:

• Position 1 - John James v. Erica Tiliacos
• Position 3 - John Curley v. Tom Vance
• Position 5 - Don Gerend v. Michael Rutt
• Position 7 - Tom Odell v. Jack Barry

The candidates spent about 30 minutes answering questions in a panel format. The questions ranged from the Towncenter, to community center to the problematic crossover of falling city revenues and rising expenses. The last one is a major issue as the city of Sammamish gets the majority of it's revenue from property taxes. With real estate values in Sammamish falling and not expected to grow for at least 2-3 years, it is a major concern for the incoming council members.

All in all, each candidate had some great things to say. I look forward to continued debate over these issues. As a Sammamish resident the direction of the city is important to me. I look forward to hearing more in the debate as the Sammamish WA City Council candidates face off this November.