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December 17, 2015
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Wolves win battle of plateau wrestling squads, Page 14
EFR board tabs new chief from Chandler, Arizona By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@sammamishreview.com The Eastside Fire & Rescue board made a conditional offer to Jeff Clark, chief of the city Fire, Health and Medical Department in Chandler, Ariz., to take over the fire department here as soon as Feb. 1. “I’m excited,” the 47-yearold Clark said in a phone interview. “It’s a big change.” Sammamish City Councilman Bob Keller also said he was excited with the
choice of Clark from Clark spent 25 years among four finalists for with the Chandler the chief’s position. Fire, Health & Medical “He has a reputation Department, the last of implementing new seven as chief. He also ideas,” Keller said, notserved as chief for the ing Clark was involved Chandler County Island in various areas of Fire District, which Chandler government. provides fire and emerJeff Clark “Everybody just gave gency medical service him glowing referfor islands within the ences.” municipal boundaries EFR serves both Issaquah of Chandler. and Sammamish, and Keller In 2011, Clark began a chairs the personnel committee three-year stint as an assisthat selected Clark. tant city manager, a job that
included oversight of the city’s Neighborhood Services and Information Technology divisions. The added duties were a result of financial troubles experienced by the City of Chandler, Clark said Why did Clark try for a job so far from what is now home? Clark said he and wife Lori have visited the Seattle area many times. They decided at least a couple of years ago to move here, but they promised their two daughters they could finish high school in Chandler.
Sammamish family spends three years adopting African brothers Just in time for the holidays, the Boyer family of Sammamish was able to bring their two adopted sons from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Shown here, from the top, is daughter, Gabby, 7; mom and dad, Jennefer and Jason Boyer; Claire, 5, Luke, 4, and Andre, 6.
By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@sammamishreview.com When a reporter enters the Boyer household on Northeast 28th Place in Sammamish, the two young boys — Andre, 6, and his brother, Luke, 4 — are clearly excited. They talk in a mix of French and English and grab hold of a leg and a hand or two. Later, when asked direct questions, they are exactly like typical young children with someone they don’t know, offering one-word answers at most. That’s OK. Not only are the brothers youngsters, on this day, they had been in the U.S. for all of about three weeks. Jason and Jennifer Boyer adopted Andre and Luke from the Democratic Republic of Congo roughly three years ago. It took most of that time to get permission for the boys to leave their native county. That permission came in late November, and the pair joined sisters Gabby, 7, and Claire, 5, the Boyer’s biological children, as members of the Sammamish household. Jason Boyer said his wife was the driving force behind the adoptions. Both Jason, an orthopedic surgeon, and Jennefer have spent time working overseas. A public health specialist, Jennefer worked
Contributed
in several African countries, including at an orphanage in Zimbabwe. AIDS was a huge problem. “There was a graveyard there with all these little headstones that the kids could see,” Jennefer said. “It was just a part of their lives.” When she and her husband started thinking about adopting, Jennefer began looking into international adoption agencies. They met Andre and Luke through such an agency and adopted the boys in December 2012. The Congo
government recognized the adoption, Jennefer said, but wouldn’t allow the brothers to leave the country. “We never found out why, exactly,” Jennefer adds, but said the family needed exit letters to take the boys out of the
Congo. While they waited, Andre and Luke lived in foster care, and the Boyers received regular updates on how they were doing. Luke became extremely See ADOPTION, Page 3
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The two are now out of school, and when the opportunity with EFR happened along, Clark said he jumped at the chance. While he has visited the Northwest, Clark said he was not overly familiar with the areas served by EFR and studied the area as part of his preparation for applying for the chief’s position. Still, Clark said he assumes he has a lot to learn. “That’s an exciting part of it,” he added. See CHIEF, Page 2
Resident hopes for return of swiped lights By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@sammamishreview.com 5.
The first theft happened Dec.
The thief or thieves made off with white lights and, more importantly, some mint-colored lights from the large Christmas display Lisa Pfeifer Parkinson said has been in front of her home at 2509 227th Place N.E. every year for 25 years or so. Parkinson is not overly worried about the white lights; those can be replaced. With regard to the mint-colored lights, though, Parkinson feels she is probably out of luck. A second theft that happened the night of Dec. 9 — sometime between 9:30 p.m. and midnight —was even more troublesome. A rare recumbent deer disappeared along with some homemade flowers and leaves. The deer is probably irreplaceable. The flowers are undoubtedly one-of-a-kind, hand-made See LIGHTS, Page 2
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