I read Mr. Robinson’s letter to the Reporter in the Feb. 7 issue, and I feel it is important to reply.

We have been fortunate enough in the last year to have a significant change in City Hall. We have a new, strong Mayor in John Marchione.

We have, for the first time since I have been in Redmond, a united Council. We have, in our governing body, a balance for the entire city.

We have an all-out effort for transparency in the government structure and actions. This Mayor and Council — all of them — are working hard to make sure that this is a Government of the People.

All is not perfect here, but there is a positive collaboration. The citizenry and the business community have real, viable input. We are all involved and we are moving forward.

The city is looking and working towards a customer service model. The paradigm that was set up by previous leadership was, in my mind, antiquated.

My comments about Microsoft, were about Microsoft. Sounds redundant, and it is, in that I was talking about one company.

There is not a doubt in my mind that this recession has affected everyone in some way. We have seen businesses shut their doors. More than usual, yes, many were undercapitalized and many depended on lines of credit to do business on a regular basis.

We have lost businesses through their own necessity and we have lost businesses (more) because we are looking at a new “settling of business practices.”

We have many businesses in Redmond that support the building trades, such as Genie, Cadman and Olympic Precast, and when building (and lending) come to a screeching halt, those businesses as well as realtors, builders, contractors … (the list goes on) are deeply affected.

Mr. Robinson wants us to tax businesses more as if it were a time of plenty. He does not understand that we are all in this together and together we must find a solution.

This country is poised for change. No longer will we be able to over extend. Business is going to have to run on a healthy financial platform with a different “practices” methodology.

Our economists are trapped in their own history. We know where we have been, and how we have gotten ourselves out of our conundrums before. Because of many challenges facing this country, we will have to change (resettle this economy) or succumb.

This country has, in the past, faced and overcome our obstacles.

We do have to “carry it forward” and work for the future as well as the present. We have a national problem and need a national solution. It starts for us here in Redmond.

Change is difficult, but I, for one, do not want to go back to prior paradigms. I want to move forward. We can do what we need to do and I am glad we have the experience on Council to do it.

Christine Hoffman, Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce President and CEO