Letters

Editor: The people have spoken. The Sunset connector is dead. We have wisely decided not to waste further money studying a concept that would never have been accepted by the Edmonds community. The fatal flaw in this idea existed at its onset, yet went undiscovered, or more likely unheard. As a member of council, I…

Editor: Watching the connector issue with the understanding the reason for the project was foremost a public safety issue, I find the actions of the Council unfortunate.  The grant funding Edmonds received and expects to receive for other projects in the future could be at risk. It appears the political aspect became more important than…

Editor: As the chapter on the Edmonds Waterfront Connector closes and a new chapter on how to best provide emergency services access to all of the locations west of the railroad tracks begins, I, personally and professionally, have come up with three primary takeaways. My first takeaway is that the city should rethink its community…

Editor: Nine thousand signatures for the Save the Beach Campaign. Four hundred people protesting in the Public Safety Complex during the June 2019 City Council meeting. Mike Nelson yard signs proliferating in Edmonds. It was probably difficult for the Earling-Tibbott political establishment to ignore the widespread and growing backlash against the Edmonds Viaduct. But why…

Editor: Edmonds waterfront is a complicated dance between ferries, cars, buses, freight trains, and pedestrian beach-goers. Each have their own needs for access and they are often at conflict with each other. I do not deny the value of looking into solutions to improve access to the waterfront to reduce these conflicts. In 2015, the…

Editor: This opinion is in response to Diana White’s submission to My Edmonds News on May 22, 2019, where she attempted to justify her actions as Edmonds’ School Board President regarding the recent substantial raises for teachers and subsequent layoffs.  Since she is running for the open Edmonds’ City Council Position #6 against Susan Paine,…

Editor: What has 1,400 feet and a smile that can light up the whole county? Answer: 700 girls and their running buddies crossing the finish line at Saturday’s Girls on the Run of Snohomish County’s Spring 5k at Everett Memorial Stadium in Everett! All our girls — from 51 teams throughout Snohomish County — came…

In recent weeks there has been much public debate about the proposed Edmonds Street Waterfront Connector. Public debate on major projects like this is healthy and can improve the final outcome. But it’s important to be mindful of accuracy when portraying information related to the project.  Recently a Letter to the Editor was published in My…

Editor: Last week, the Mayor submitted a letter to My Edmonds News and The Beacon entitled “The Case for the Waterfront Connector” claiming widespread misinformation and/or confusion evidenced in several articles and opinions. In response, Councilwoman Diane Buckshnis posted a comment including content attributed to Patrick Doherty (Economic Development and Community Services Director City of…

The following letter from Edmonds Police Chief Al Compaan was sent to Kevin McCandlish, president of Alderwood-Terrace Rotary, on May 7. We are republishing it with permission. Dear Mr. McCandlish: On behalf of the Edmonds Police Department as a member agency of the South Snohomish County Honor Guard (SSCHG), we thank the Rotary Club of…

Editor: Our City Council has listened to the people and is seating a new Housing Commission. It is my hope that the council is also listening to the people of Edmonds when they say they want a commission that is fairly comprised of citizens with a variety of views about what growth and development in…

Editor: The City of Seattle treats car ownership like a moral failing, and tries to make you feel as guilty as possible for driving a car into the city. But for many of us in the suburbs, cars are still a necessity of life. Rather than punishing people for driving cars into downtown Edmonds with…

Editor: In a about a half hour around 2 p.m. Saturday we counted nine dogs at the Marina Park. Most of them were running loose on or near the beach. It made me wonder how many of those owners walked over the newly painted signs on the walkway, “No dogs allowed in the park”. I…

Editor: Professor Prakash’s letter with respect to the Waterfront Connector, has received a great deal of attention. Most of his points have been covered by others so I will limit my comments to a couple of items I believe are misunderstood. First, this is not Mayor Earling’s pet project. We should all remember the train blocking…

Editor: History can be cruel because it remembers politicians for their mistakes. Think of Nixon’s Watergate, Carter’s Iran crisis, Reagan’s Iran Contra Affair, Clinton’s Lewinsky affair, George W. Bush’s Second Iraq War, and so on. What will Dave Earling be remembered for? I predict that he will be remembered as the Viaduct Mayor. I admire…

Editor: We applaud the Edmonds’ City Council’s decision to create a new Citizens Housing Commission. If fairly and thoughtfully formed, this new commission could help make Edmonds become “the city that did growth right.” We, as citizens of Edmonds, expect a commission that represents the true stakeholders of Edmonds, those who live here now, pay…

Editor: Do you know that the fossil fuel industry is trying to build massive fracked gas projects in our state? These include a massive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Tacoma, and the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol refinery in Kalama, right along the banks of the Columbia River. If built, the Kalama methanol refinery would become the…

Editor: I recently traveled to Berlin, Germany where I visited just a few of the many museums that provide a stark reminder of what East German life was like during the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s when government decided where you live, how you live and what you could say. Through all of government’s great ideas…

Editor: As a kid growing up in Alaska, we’d play this game, “name that ad” (when we weren’t shooting each other with BB guns or sword fighting with willow branches), that challenged our young minds to name the product after we heard the jingle. I remember the joy I had when I proudly stated, “Alka…

Editor: Those who have lived in our great city for any length of time realize we are lucky to live in an oasis amongst the metropolis. We often tout the phrase, “Enjoy an Edmonds kind of day”. However, I would be interested to know what our citizens believe is an “Edmonds kind of day”. Monday’s…

Editor: A few months ago, I had a lofty idea around (1) doing something in Edmonds for International Women’s Day on March 8 and (2) creating a fun activity for underserved women and girls in our community. Being a big Marvel comics fan and learning that their first female superhero movie would be debuting on International…

Editor: There’s an old Russian proverb, “Trust but verify,” that was made popular by President Ronald Reagan between 1984-1987 as his administration worked toward nuclear disarmament with the Soviet Union, now known as Russia. The story goes that he was advised that Russians liked to talk in proverbs, so it only made sense if he…

Editor: Over the last few months, the lack of transparency in city processes has been called out repeatedly. First, exactly what is transparency?  One business dictionary defines transparency as a “lack of hidden agendas or conditions, accompanied by the availability of full information required for collaboration, cooperation, and collective decision making.”  One of the primary…

Editor: The Edmonds Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) will address all of the forest in Edmonds. The city controls 13 percent of the tree canopy in its parks and street trees.  The other 87 percent is on private properties. Currently there are no restrictions on tree removal on private land except for property classified as…

Editor: I write in response to Chris Walton’s commentary about the vanishing tree canopy in Edmonds, which is changing the face of our community. In no way do I want to be seen as defending developers who scalp property of all vegetation, replace one house with five huge ones and sell off the top soil,…