By Angela Birney
Special to the Reporter
As 2019 ends, I wanted to take this opportunity to share the projects and accomplishments of the council and city over the last year.
The council strategic plan process began in 2018 at our January council retreat and has continued to improve this year with the adoption of the plan in October. Staff and community input was involved in creating the published version that you can see in its whole at redmond.gov/CommunityStrategicPlan.
The priorities of our strategic plan include housing choices, environmental sustainability, technology and information services infrastructure, cultural inclusion and infrastructure. It gives the council a roadmap of objectives, strategies, actions and measures to guide our work. We will continue to monitor progress, measure our outcomes and work to integrate this plan into the overall city budget and continue to improve the plan in the years to come.
Redmond’s regional importance is evidenced by the large construction projects that began this year in our city. You can see along SR-520 the progress being made to the light rail route through Overlake, which opens in 2023. And soon you will see construction starting on the last segment into downtown Redmond, which will open in 2024. Our pool is undergoing major improvements and will open by the end of 2020 and we will begin our process to remodel or rebuild the Redmond Senior Center early in 2020.
Community events are an important part of our lives in Redmond. We hope that you, your family and your friends were able to join in on the fun throughout the year. Whether it was Derby Days, So Bazaar, or Redmond Lights, we hope you found a way to get out and meet your neighbors. Downtown Park saw its first full year of events including the new Cinco de Mayo celebration. Thank you to our partners for making all this year’s events a success and part of what makes Redmond an inclusive community.
We continue to look for new and easily accessible ways to share information and gather your feedback. www.letsconnectredmond.com provides opportunities to our community for input on priority city projects and a transparent and interactive space to ask questions, share ideas and receive updates to ongoing pilot programs.
We say goodbye to our mayor of 12 years this month, John Marchione, and two of our veteran council members, Hank Margeson and Hank Myers. We want to thank them for all they have done for our community. Each has made a lasting impact on both our city and our region.
As we begin 2020, our new council members Jessica Forsythe, Varisha Khan, and Vanessa Kritzer will join David Carson, Tanika Padhye, Jeralee Anderson, and Steve Fields in representing you on our city council, as I transition to mayor.
Thank you for all you do to make Redmond a wonderful place to live.
I wish you a happy and healthy new year.
Angela Birney is the current Redmond City Council president and mayor elect.
