Dear Editor,
I’m writing on behalf of Keep Edmonds Vibrant, a group of concerned residents committed to ensuring our city’s long-term financial resiliency and vibrancy. We came together in the belief that Edmonds must identify and pursue new, sustainable revenue sources to preserve the special aspects that make our city vibrant. But we need your input!
Edmonds is in a budget crisis, with over $7 million in cuts already made. Frances Anderson and our beloved parks will continue to be on the chopping block in perpetuity unless we identify and pursue new and sustained revenue sources to run the kind of thriving city we want to maintain. Our goal is to build a budget that enables Edmonds to thrive—not just survive.
That’s where you come in. We ask every Edmonds resident to participate in What Should Edmonds Be?, a platform where you can share your ideas on generating revenue and envisioning a vibrant future for our city. After two successful visioning workshops with dozens of participants, we want to open up this tool to everyone in Edmonds.
Please fill out What Should Edmonds Be? and make your voice heard by May 25th. The results will be shared publicly, including with Edmonds City Council and the Mayor. To join our efforts or receive updates, please sign up for our distribution list or reach out to us at team@keepedmondsvibrant.org. Together, we can shape a thriving Edmonds for generations to come.
Sincerely,
Elise Hill
Keep Edmonds Vibrant
It feels really good to live in a town where people are asking my opinion for something so important! Thank you for creating this. The survey took 5 minutes and was easy to understand. Can’t wait to see the results and I would like city council and Mayor Rosen to take the results seriously.
I was surprised there wasn’t a presence from this group at the day long budget workshop on Friday. Tons of info. The write up here is really good.
Hi Ann,
We watched as much as we could on Zoom. Agreed there was great info shared!
One of the reasons that we are in trouble is that the previous administration “hid” our financial troubles. By the time our problems became public we were in a deep hole. I would suggest a that a brief financial report be required at one Council meeting per month. No more sudden surprises.
Elise,
Thank you for providing another forum to provide input to the city. However, I’d like to correct a common city hall talking point and misconception that you have repeated in your LTE. The city DID NOT “cut” $7 million dollars from the 2025 budget. I have been following the budget process for years and here are the facts from page 22 of the budget (https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_16494932/File/Government/Departments/Administrative%20Services/Budget%20Reports/2025-2026__AdoptedBudgetDocument-withcover.pdf):
2024 budget: $52,633,369
2025 budget: $58,387,767
That’s an 11% INCREASE. And this increase was paid for by borrowing from our utility funds. In essence, we put our future on a credit card. These are just the facts. Someone please show me where the $7 million in cuts are. I’ve repeatably asked without a response.
What happened during the budgeting process is that city staff presented the mayor their budget wants list. Staff had been so accustomed to getting their large budget increases in previous years, they inflated what they needed. The “cuts” came from this wants list, not any meaningful changes. I’d like to buy a Ferrari but had to “cut” and buy a Ford instead.
More smoke from city hall and the spin doctor. Let’s stop spreading this false narrative, please.
I really appreciate this approach, it feels fresh and I love that we can add to the vision. I hope more voices that are not usually captured in the conversation will be heard. Good work, Edmonds Activated! Keep it up. We have a lot of organizations that focus on “no” and I love this future focused, “yes, how do we get there together” style!
Realized I credited the wrong group, self-correction time – thanks you Keep Edmonds Vibrant!
It’s my understanding that there is a state audit of Edmonds finances that is way over due and might shed some light on how we got where we are at financially in Edmonds. The idea that all the financial problems have been the result only of the questionable operations of the Nelson administration is a carefully orchestrated myth being perpetrated by the earlier movers and shakers that saw to it that Rosen got elected over Buckshnis or anyone else. People like Jim Ogonowski, Theresa Hutchinson, Diane Buckshnis, Joan Bloom and Joe Scordino and others get marginalized and ignored when they try to bring out the real facts about what has been and still is going on in Edmonds and suggest ways for how we might do things differently with better results for the town’s finances and the town’s natural environment which is a major part of what Edmonds is. If you don’t start listening to these people soon, Edmonds is going to become very expensive to keep living in and definitely not what it once was – vibrant as you have labeled it.
Edmonds residents, ask yourself, how much can you afford?
Do you believe the city cut $7M? Why did the city budget increase? Ask the city to open the books, blue ribbon panel to confirm.
The effect of never ending cost increases, single family residents will move out and dense multi-family units will move in.
For those willing to pay more, consider a donation to city coffers.
FYI – Founder of Keep Edmonds Vibrant is dense housing developer. The buildings are void of character, happy to offer free architectural design services.
https://www.evergreenpoint.net/aboutus
Thanks Nick for bringing that out. Vibrant probably means something different to a people box developer than it does to a long time resident.
Apparently there’s a lot of Medina money on the sidelines ready to swoop in and make our neighborhoods very very vibrant.
Are efforts being made to ask for input ifrom folks who don’t interact much online? Is this invitation to provide input being made available in other languages to reach all Edmonds folks?are there efforts to get input from folks in all neighborhoods?
Also, as Jim O. notes, saying $7 million was cut from the budget is incorrect. Thanks, Jim, for providing links and background.