MESSAGE MATCH
EDUCATING THE GOVERNOR
Issaquah avenges only loss vs. Skyline — Page 9
Jay Inslee takes informational tour of YWCA — Page 3
The IssaquahPress
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
Growth dominates mayor’s annual State of the City talk By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Issaquah has morphed from a small town into a small city and more changes are on the way, Mayor Fred Butler said in his annual State of the City speech before the City Council on Feb. 2. “The state of our city is strong,” Butler said at the outset of the talk. Butler promised his administration was building an Issaquah for everyone, “from the cashier at Costco to the surgeon” at Swedish Medical Center’s Issaquah Campus. Issaquah will grow, Butler added, “up not out… compact, not sprawling.” In terms of impending development, Butler pointed to the Central Issaquah Plan as well as
plans to grow the existing Costco headquarters. Adopted in late 2012, the Central Issaquah Plan has been described as a long-term vision for the city that would bring about a dense urban core complete with 125-foot-tall buildings. As for Costco, in October, City Council approved a 30-year development agreement with the nation’s second largest retailer, giving the company the ability to add an additional 1.5 million square feet to its headquarters housed in Pickering Place. Still, even as Issaquah marches forward in certain areas, Butler promised steps are being and will be taken to ensure See MAYOR, Page 3
www.issaquahpress.com
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
WHO’S KING OF THE WORLD?
Photos By Greg Farrar
Jeff Newell (left), South Cove resident and Game ON! director, starts a game of ‘Space Empires: Close Encounters’ with Game ON! staff member Ralph Shelton, of Renton, and game player Dave Lifford, of British Columbia, Feb. 5 on the first day of the four-day board game convention at the Issaquah Holiday Inn. See story on Page 6.
Lee Soptich to retire after 16 years as EFR chief By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Although offered a twoyear extension of his contract, Eastside Fire & Rescue Chief Lee Soptich has announced his plans to step down from the Lee Soptich leadership of the local fire and rescue squad in January 2016. Soptich, 58, said he made his announcement to the EFR regional board of directors in December and again last month. Soptich has been EFR chief since 1999. “Everything lined up for me,” he said in explaining his reasons for leaving the department. Soptich said he and wife Carrie have paid off their Carnation home and the last of his seven children will soon graduate from college. Soptich said he and his spouse, devout Mormons, decided now is an ideal time in their lives for them to take on the church mission trips they have long wanted to tackle. “That’s just in our DNA,” Sop-
tich said, referring to the couple’s desire to work for the church. “This is what we intend to do.” Soptich said his family would keep this area as home base and he didn’t say where the family’s first mission might take them. “But I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I think it’s just going to be so cool.” Sammamish City Councilwoman Kathy Huckabay is a new member of the EFR board of directors. She said the board held its annual retreat in late January and spent over four hours setting various goals for themselves. One is to formulate a worthy process for replacing Soptich. “He’s given us plenty of time,” she said. “And, frankly, it might take some time to find the right person… This is not something you do overnight.” With that in mind, Huckabay said she and other board members decidedly appreciate the lead time Soptich provided prior to his planned leaving. Soptich is not the only member of the EFR leadership who will be moving on. Soptich said Deputy Chief of Planning Wesley Collins and Human Resources Manager Ingrid Anderson-Boyle also plan to step down when he does.
At left, Art Brochet places a Luftwaffe counting piece on the board as a group plays a historical board game, ‘The SLIDESHOW Blitzkrieg Legend: Battle for France 1940.’ Above, tokens representing German and Russian troops face off as the invasion of See more photos from the the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 Game ON! convention at is represented in ‘Europe Engulfed,’ a www.issaquahpress.com. World War II board game.
Metro to offer service between Issaquah Highlands, Snoqualmie Beginning later this month, King County Metro will offer customized shuttle service to the Issaquah Highlands and Snoqualmie Valley. The move is in keeping with an initiative started by King County Executive Dow Constantine to offer more transit options in King County, according to a press release. “We’re doing more than ever to customize services to
meet the specific needs of the communities we serve — and that includes transportation,” Constantine said in the release. “By working with cities in the Snoqualmie Valley and Issaquah, we will provide our customers with more transit options.” With a starting date of Feb. 16, the new shuttle service is the result of a partnership between King County, the cities
of Snoqualmie and North Bend, and Snoqualmie Valley Transportation. Through a contract with Hopelink, the Metro shuttle — officially Route 628 once service begins — will offer trips each weekday between the park & rides in North Bend and the Issaquah Highlands. Riders in See METRO, Page 3
Mirrormont leader Linda Shepherd is first Hometown Hero By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com “Linda has a very unpretentious way of getting things done,” said Heidi Kayler, of her friend Linda Jean Shepherd. “She is just a very grounded individual. She’s a natural leader.” Now serving her second year as president of the Mirrormont Community Association, Shepherd was also the driving force behind the founding of the Mirrormont Pea Patch. For those reasons and many others, Shepherd was nominated by several Mirrormont residents as the first Issaquah Press Hometown Hero.
HOMETOWN HERO
An occasional look at regular citizens who inspire us “Linda is deeply committed to her community, and there is no question that her influence runs deep and wide,” Kayler said. “Linda has been a loyal
volunteer for the Mirrormont community for more than six years,” Mirrormont resident Mary Nelson said. Nelson praised Shepherd’s work as head of the Mirrormont Community Association. “She does a terrific job garnering volunteers, organizing them to get newsletters published,” Nelson said, adding Shepherd also regularly wrangles public speakers and plans community events. “Mirrormont is teeming with wonderful, communityoriented folks and Linda rises to the top as someone
Linda Shepherd shows off some of the plants growing in her raised garden plot at the Mirrormont Pea Patch during summer 2011. By Greg Farrar
See HERO, Page 3
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