Well, well, well, what do you know?
Finally a column (Feb. 25) by the boy wonder, Andrew Villeneuve, that doesn’t rail against conservative issues, Republicans or others who rely on common sense to make their decisions.
Well, well, well, what do you know?
Finally a column (Feb. 25) by the boy wonder, Andrew Villeneuve, that doesn’t rail against conservative issues, Republicans or others who rely on common sense to make their decisions.
I’m responding to former Redmond City Councilman Jim Robinson’s letter regarding the upcoming mayor’s raise, and sundry other complaints.
The mayor’s raise: Jim should recall his own defense of our previous mayor’s raise when Redmond faced a revenue shortfall. Below, I’ve paraphrased his remarks during our 2007 conversation in QFC’s Bella Botega parking lot:
“Redmond is home to Microsoft and other world class companies. Our strong mayor system of government is unique, and unfortunately has meant our town is best known for its vitriolic civic bickering.
“If we want to retain our vibrant employers and mature into a world class community, we need to offer a mayoral salary level that attracts quality professionals to lead our city government. The raise not only rewards the existing mayor, but makes the position of mayor itself financially feasible for high-caliber managers.”
Kindergartners at Albert Einstein Elementary School loaded hundreds of canned foods into the back of a car Thursday morning that will be delivered to Hopelink in Redmond.
State legislators from the 48th and the 45th Districts will hold town hall meetings at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 12.
West Lake Sammamish Parkway in Redmond was closed yesterday due to downed trees and subsequent utility line repair work. The roadway is now open, but a telephone crew may begin their work in the same location today, therefore alternate routes are still advised in the 2800 block of West Lake Sammamish Parkway.
From March 3-5, 37 Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students, including 23 from Redmond, will compete in the Washington State Career Development Conference in Bellevue.
Redmond resident John Kinssies won the overall gold medal at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show that was held Feb. 23-27 in Seattle.
The Old Fire House Teen Center (OFH) is calling all aspiring young musicians from all genres to the Fifth Annual OFH Classic Rockathon.
The competition is open to Redmond residents between the ages of 13 and 18 who are solo artists, bands or DJs who strive to keep the classic rock spirit alive.
Finalists will play their favorite Classic Rock songs live on stage, be heard by local music industry professionals and have the chance to win prizes. Prizes this year include recording time in the OFH media lab recording studio, gear and gift certificates. All proceeds benefit The Old Firehouse Teen Center.
Established in 1992, the Old Fire House is a stand-alone teen center located in downtown Redmond with a mission to provide innovative and progressive recreational, educational and social services to all Redmond area youth.
Standard & Poor’s announced last Friday that they assigned the City of Redmond’s 2011 limited-tax general obligation bonds a “AAA” rating, while affirming its “AAA” rating on the city’s outstanding general obligation bonds.
“These ratings are consistent with Redmond’s strong institutional financial policies,” said Standard and Poor’s credit analyst Kaitlyn Connors.
Two Redmond residents will be featured in Bellevue College’s upcoming action-packed production “The Three Musketeers.”
The production hits the stage March 9 for four consecutive nights at the college’s Carlson Theatre.
All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, at $12 general admission and $10 for students, are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
Redmond residents and business leaders bid on a variety of items as local celebrity John Curley entertained the crowd as master of ceremonies for the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce’s 65th Annual Gala and Auction last Friday night at the Willows Lodge in Woodinville.
On Saturday, Cascade Water Alliance is bringing its WaterSense Road Show to the PCC Natural Market, at 11435 Avondale Road NE in Redmond, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The booth will have knowledgeable staff on hand to answer questions about water conservation as well as Cascade’s various programs. Free conservation items such as shower heads, kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators, rain gauges and shower timers will be given away as well.
The Redmond Senior Center (RSC) is holding a bridal fair on Saturday, March 5.
Redmond High School (RHS) is serving up slapstick comedy in its upcoming theater production.
RHS will be presenting “The Servant of Two Masters.” from March 3-12 at the RHS Performing Arts Center at 17272 NE 104th St.
Tomorrow night, Seattle restaurateur and Redmond resident John Howie will represent the state of Washington at the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) “Taste of America Gala: featuring America’s Democratic Governors & Best Chefs” in Washington D.C.
Saturday’s dining event, presented in conjunction with the national non-profit hunger charity “Share Our Strength” includes 13 Democratic governors, among them Gov. Christine Gregoire, and an equal number of top U.S. chefs.
Redmond parents wanting to learn more about Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) Program can attend a presentation on Thursday, March 10 at United Methodist Church in Redmond.
The event is scheduled from 6:30 pm to 7:30 p.m. at 16540 NE 80th St. It is sponsored by the Redmond Parent Coop Preschool and will be held in the Education Wing.
Middle school girls in Redmond now have a place to turn when struggling with issues common to their age.
Jillian Roels, a junior at Redmond High School and a top ten qualifier in last year’s Miss Washington Teen USA pageant, has opened a Redmond chapter of Girl Talk, a mentoring program for middle school girls.
The Girl Talk program, a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, was founded in 2002 by a then-15-year-old, Haley Kilpatrick. The idea was to create a program that would help girls get through their challenging middle school years, with the help of high school girls, according to desiretoinspire.org, the Girl Talk website. Today, Girl Talk reaches 30,000 girls in 41 states, with more chapters being started by high school girls, like Roels. Washington state has three other Girl Talk locations in Lacrosse, Longview and Spokane.
I am writing in reference to the Feb. 4 Redmond Reporter article entitled, “City council approves pay raise for next mayor in 2012.”
It seems that with little public participation in city elections and solid backing from the business community, Mayor John Marchione will be the next mayor in 2012.
In truth, the city council has given Marchione an 18 percent pay raise for his next term. This is in contrast to the 20 city employees that were laid off and those remaining forwent their 2 percent annual cost of living adjustment in order to balance the 2011-2012 budget.
The best explanation for this was that the mayor makes less than his department staff. This excuse has limited merit. An elected Mayor jumps to the head of the management structure but certainly not the pay structure.
It is quite clear that there are significant issues with the red light camera at Avondale and Union Hill Road.
Yet the city web site states that “occasionally” the light will flash when a car moves to the junction. And that “any” excess funds will go to safety causes. There will certainly be plenty of excess funds, and the safety causes will be funded very well. Meaning of course, that the city can use funds they were going to use for safety for other functions.
The police blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Redmond Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers. The Redmond Reporter Police Blotter is not intended to be representative of all police calls originating in Redmond, which gets more than 500 calls (emergency and non-emergency) per week.