Redmond Mayor John Marchione held a re-election kickoff event earlier this week. The Reporter asked him some questions about his first term in office and what he wants to accomplish, if re-elected.

Q: How would you grade yourself in your first term as mayor?

A: I hope the voters agrees that I had a successful first term. We started construction on Fire Station 17, extended the Bear Creek Parkway, started buying land for a downtown park, and began completing our street grid with the extension of 161st. On Tuesday night, the City Council adopted the recommendations of the Code Rewrite Commission. In three years, we have rewritten the zoning code to simplify and make it clear to all involved. I am also pleased that Redmond earned a AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s. This is the highest credit rating given to the city. These are some of the things I promised voters when I ran four years ago. I’m proud that I was able to deliver.

Q: What is your focus of your re-election campaign?

A: The focus of my campaign is to talk about how neighborhoods, businesses, and the natural environment can collaborate to make Redmond a special and unique city.

Q: If re-elected, what are your goals for the next term?

A: I want to change our downtown one-way couplets into two-way streets. I want to make downtown more lively place where residents want to gather. I’m looking forward to the opening of Fire Station 17 in North Redmond, which will reduce fire and emergency medical response times city-wide. Our new police and fire chiefs will work with me to further implement community-based police and fire services. The new Neighborhood Resource Officers, a program we began just last year, will continue meeting with community groups and PTSAs to form strong working relationships to help keep all of us safe. We need to discuss an alternative for the Hartman pool. After cleaning up the pool last summer we think it only has about five years of life left in it. The community has said a pool is a vital part of our community. We need to start now, if we want to replace Hartman pool in a timely manner.

Q: Do you think the Redmond-area economy is on the rise? If so, why?

A: I think the Redmond area economy has suffered less than the rest of the nation. We have almost 90,000 jobs located here in Redmond. Many of these jobs are primary jobs — work that creates or build things that are valuable to world markets. The city’s finances are structured such that will survive a long downturn and we will thrive if the economy improves quickly.

Q: Has the development of downtown and Overlake gone as planned?

A: The speed of the economy will dictate the pace at which downtown and Overlake will change. We have solid plans for transforming the Overlake neighborhood into a pedestrian friendly village where people can work, live and play. Light rail is on track to arrive in 2022. In downtown, we are implementing the infrastructure that will support our plans. This summer we will build a centralized storm water pipe. This pipe will collect the storm water from new development in downtown Redmond and clean the water before it returns into Bear Creek with the Sammamish River. Soon the council will adopt a plan for the old railroad track corridor. This will be a long linear park with a walking and bicycle trail that will unite old town with town center to create a more vibrant city center. I am pleased with the progress we’re making so far.

Q: Do you like the growth you have seen in these two neighborhoods?

A: The Growth Management Act requires Redmond to absorb a certain amount of growth. I do not want to spread that growth evenly through our existing neighborhoods. I want to create two new neighborhoods, downtown and Overlake, to handle this growth and keep our existing neighborhoods unique. As councilmembers, Richard Cole, Pat Vache, and I, and councilmember Allen as a planning commissioner, reaffirmed the current plan for downtown Redmond in 2004. The residents of Redmond understand that downtown was growing old and tired with the center of downtown consisting of a gas station and a 1950s strip mall. People are becoming excited at what downtown can be and look forward to using it as a place to shop, dine and be entertained.