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July 30, 2014
Sammamish and Issaquah councils hold joint meeting
Spartans star comes home
By Peter Clark
Photo by Neil Pierson
Kasen Williams, left, signs autographs for youth football players on July 24 at Skyline High School’s annual Future Champs Camp. Williams, who plays wide receiver at the University of Washington, was an All-American and three-time state champion at Skyline. See story, page 12.
Beloved teacher, coach Belcher bids Eastlake High a final fond farewell By Neil Pierson
Rich Belcher’s oldest son, Mitchell, estimates his father has interacted with more than 21,000 students during his 41-year career as a teacher and coach. Belcher stopped coaching high-school boys basketball seven years ago, compiling 414 wins during stops at two California schools and two more in Washington – Newport and Eastlake. He was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2011, and took Eastlake to the state tournament three times in nine seasons. In June, the 64-year-old Belcher walked away from teaching, something he’s been doing at Eastlake since 1999.
Rich Belcher Over the course of four decades as a teacher in Washington and California, he said, imparting life-long skills like critical thinking and work ethic have been at the heart of his life.
Whether Belcher was giving instruction in literature, U.S. history, government or sports, getting teenagers to voice their opinions in a constructive manner was vital to him. “Whether or not they’re going to remember a date from the Civil War is not nearly as important as who they are as people,” Belcher said June 24 while sitting down to lunch at one of his favorite nooks, the Raging River Café in Fall City. In Belcher’s humanities courses at Eastlake, students wrote in daily journals about a wide array of topics. On the first day of class, he liked to tell them he cared less about what they thought, and more about why they’d formed their See BELCHER, page 3
Issaquah and Sammamish had the meeting equivalent of a group hug July 14. After a year where the two city’s leadership have found themselves on different sides of several issues, both city councils and other city administrative staff met in Issaquah’s City Hall to discuss points of mutual interest. It was their first joint meeting since 2011. “We all have one thing in common,” Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler said. “We certainly love our cities and we love representing them. We not only care about our communities, we care about the region as well.” He wanted to extend that appreciation across the northern border of Issaquah and so went around the room, asking each elected official what they enjoyed about the other city. The tone of the meeting was a far cry from last November, when Eastside Fire & Rescue firefighter’s union offered to pay for a mediator to help the two cities settle differences. Attendees kept the meeting positive and gave little mention to topics that had previously seen them on opposing sides, such as the Klahanie-area annexation vote or Sammamish’s investigation into leaving EFR. Instead, discussion surrounded the possibility of jointly lobbying the state legislature and exploring solutions to the growing transportation problems on Interstate 90. Butler presented Issaquah’s most recent legislative agenda, which included support for maintaining state revenue sharing and restoration of liquor revenues, but it mostly centered on I-90 improvements. He laid out why
“We will help any way we can. Supporting a statewide comprehensive transportation package is the right thing to do.” – Don Gerend, City Councilman –
most items could benefit both cities and Sammamish officials agreed. “I completely agree — strength in numbers,” Sammamish City Councilman Tom Odell said. He and all other vocal Sammamish leadership said most of Issaquah’s agenda overlapped with the plateau’s. “We will help any way we can,” longtime Sammamish City Councilman Don Gerend said. “Supporting a statewide comprehensive transportation package is the right thing to do.” Butler also highlighted Issaquah-specific transportation projects, a Front Street interchange overhaul and a possible 11th/12th Avenue overcrossing, which would require a report costing about $2 million before anyone could move dirt. “I would say those sound like good projects from my point of view,” Sammamish Mayor Tom Vance said. “I would throw in the See MEETING, page 3