Sammamishreview012214

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January 22, 2014 Locally owned

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50 cents

Homeless camps on hold

County considers tax hike for transit

Burning down the house

By Ari Cetron

Tent City IV hadn’t quite left Sammamish yet when the City Council decided it wouldn’t be coming back for at least six months. On Jan. 14, the council voted 5-2 to impose a six-month moratorium on even considering homeless camps in the city while it works out more permanent regulations. Councilman Ramiro Valderrama and Councilwoman Nancy Whitten were opposed. Tent City, a traveling camp of homeless people, moved to Sammamish behind Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church in October and left Jan. 19. For a few days, it seemed the camp might remain in Sammamish and move to Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, but that plan fell through. See TENT, Page 3

By Mike Lindblom Seattle Times transportation reporter

Photo by Greg Farrar

Lt. Mark Vetter (left), incident commander for the final burn of the Kellman mansion, and Eastside Fire & Rescue firefighter Jamee Mahoney, look on while the exterior entryway ceiling falls. The onetime home was deliberately burned to the ground Jan. 13. For more photos, see Page 10.

King County Executive Dow Constantine on Jan. 14 proposed an April 22 vote on a tax measure to sustain current service levels at Metro Transit and to support county and city road departments. County voters would decide whether to increase sales taxes for 10 years by a tenth of a penny per dollar and to enact a flat $60-a-year car-tab fee with no expiration date, if the Metropolitan King County Council adopts his plan. Together the new revenue would provide $80 million for See TRANSIT, Page 3

Lake Washington District asks voters for $755 million By Ari Cetron

Kerri Nielsen wants Lake Washington School District voters to agree to go in debt by more than three-quarters of a billion dollars. Lake Washington officials are staring at a projected 4,000 new students over the next eight years. With many schools currently at or over capacity, and since they need to find a seat for each and every one of those potential students, the district is proposing selling $755 million worth of bonds to finance a district-wide construction bonanza.

“Yes, it is a large amount of money,” Nielsen said. “But where else do we put 4,000 more kids?” But there are some in the district who oppose the bond sale, saying it’s inefficient and won’t help move students out of portables. The bonds would be sold to finance construction and major renovations of schools across the district over the next eight years, but the debt would be around longer. The bond would add about 53 cents per $1,000 to property taxes for the next 20 years, according to district calculations. For the

owner of a $500,000 home, that means an increase of $265 per year. If approved, the bond might just be the largest in state history. In data from the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction going back to 2008 (the oldest available), the next highest amount is a $545 million bond floated by Bellevue in 2008. The next closest after that is $500 million in Tacoma last year. Nothing else comes close. The bond would fund replacements, renovations, additions and construction of new schools across the district. In

Sammamish, it would pay for the replacement of Margaret Mead Elementary School, an addition at Eastlake High School, and the construction of an internationally-focused magnet high school on district-owned land in front of Eastside Catholic School along 228th Avenue. Across the rest of the district, it would pay to build two new elementary schools in Redmond, one in Kirkland and one new middle school. It would fund additions at Lake Washington High School and create a scienceand technology-focused magnet high school on the west side of

Eastlake tops Skyline

Skyline talks diversity

sports page 12

community page 11

the district. It would also replace Juanita High School, Kamiakan Middle School and Kirk Elementary School in Kirkland; and Evergreen Middle School and Rockwell Elementary School in Redmond. Those opposed to the bond generally say it should focus on renovations instead on replacements. Susan Wilkins, of Redmond, acknowledges the current buildings could use a facelift, but asserts that tearing them down

Calendar............15 Classifieds.........14 Community........10 Editorial...............4 Police...................7 Sports................12

See BOND, Page 2


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