Realpolitiks Bellevue
The Bellevue political radar
Friday political roundup | Conversations with Kevin Wallace and Jennifer Robertson
July 31st, 2009 at Fri, 31st, 2009 at 8:43 pm by jhicksWallace
I met with Bellevue City Council candidate Kevin Wallace on Thursday during a downtown Bellevue property tour hosted by the NAIOP development association. We talked briefly about local politics.
Wallace is trying to unseat Patsy Bonincontri, whom the council appointed after Connie Marshall stepped down last year.
One of the topics that came up during our conversation was light rail. Wallace has supported the B7 alignment for south Bellevue, which would utilize the BNSF rail corridor.
The city council has recommended the B3 alternative, which would travel along Bellevue Way and 112th Avenue Southeast. The Sound Transit board selected that same route as its preferred alternative.
All options are still on the table, but B3 is the route that Sound Transit will study in depth for its final environmental impact statement.
Wallace suggested that the B7 route is taking on a new importance with the noise impacts observed along the Central Link line from downtown Seattle to Tukwila. He said East Link needs to stay away from the neighborhoods along Bellevue Way.
Bonincontri supported the B3 route.
Another issue with light rail is the downtown Bellevue alignment. Wallace, along with the city council, wants a tunnel option. But the Sound Transit board in May chose a much cheaper at-grade route as its preferred alternative.
Wallace doesn’t agree with that decision.
“Sound Transit’s at-grade proposal would literally put a train track in the back yard of our neighbors in Surrey Downs and Hidden Valley,” he said in an e-mail in April. “That is unacceptable.”
Wallace hinted during our talk that it might not be possible to raise enough funds for a tunnel. He suggested that a better option could be to create plans for an entirely new route that would travel close to the central business district without running directly through it.
As for which other council candidates Wallace might back in the November election, he mentioned in his April e-mail that he has personally supported incumbents Don Davidson and Conrad Lee in the past.
“While Conrad, Don and myself don’t agree on every issue, we do agree on most, and I appreciate their fiscally responsible approach to city government,” he wrote.
Davidson and Lee are up against Microsoft manager Michael Marchand and Planning Commission Chair Vicki Orrico respectively.
Wallace is the COO of Wallace Properties, a company that his father founded in 1978. There are signs for the company all over Bellevue, so this is one candidate who can probably save money on campaign materials.
As a side note, Wallace’s mother chaired one of Connie Marshall’s campaigns.
Robertson
Bellevue City Council candidate Jennifer Robertson stopped by the office earlier this week to introduce herself. She’s involved in what is shaping up to be a three-way race for the seat left vacant by the late Phil Noble.
Robertson, who calls herself a “municipal dork,” said she’s the candidate most prepared to hit the ground running from Day One. She’s dealt with some of the city’s most consequential issues, having worked on the Planning Commission during the formation of the Bel-Red corridor plan and on the Bellevue Light Rail Best Practices Committee.
“I’m the one that’s been intimately involved in those projects,” she said. “I have the most relevant, current experience.”
Robertson’s likely opponents have some municipal experience themselves. Michael Creighton is a former Bellevue City Council member and mayor – although he’s been out of the game for a few years – while Betina Finley is chair of the Bellevue Arts Commission and a member of the Meydenbauer Bay Steering Committee, which is dealing with hot-button issues over how to build Bellevue’s next waterfront park.
jhicks I'm a general-assignment staff writer for the Bellevue Reporter. On this blog you'll find the nascent political and government news items I'm working on, as well as tidbits that might never make it into the paper – in case you're that into the Bellevue scene. Boards, commissions, gavel-wielding elected officials, and anyone controlling loads of taxpayer money are fair game. Feel free to comment away and use this as a community forum. You can also follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Reporter_Hicks, or contact me via e-mail at jhicks@bellevuereporter.com or by phone at 425-453-4290.
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August 1st, 2009 at 10:20 am
Josh,
Really appreciate you keeping us up-to-date on the latest in politics as it affects Bellevue! Just want to make an important clarification for readers regarding Sound Transit East Link Light Rail and the alignments under discussion. I've copied the link (below) where readers can view the potential Bellevue alignments. The two alignments being discussed by Sound Transit and the City of Bellevue are the C2T (approved by city council) and the C3/C3T (preferred alternative of Sound Transit). At this juncture, the City is working to secure a tunnel option. C2T would be a cut-and-cover tunnel and C3T would be a bored tunnel. The baseline cost between at-grade and a tunnel creates a $500 million funding gap above the $3 billion that was voter approved. If we are just talking current alignments, the City's job now is to find that additional money: Three potential ways to do that are 1) take the savings from improvements to fill some of the funding gap. 2) Seek federal funding or 3) Look for local money.
As an aside, there are also mumblings about refurbishing the current Burlington Northern tracks, that extend from Renton to Everett and using federal stimulus money to get a “rail line” that could potentially have a feeder that would connect to downtown Bellevue. Then you also have the group, Eastside Transportation Association who has filed a writ of prohibition against the State to stop Sound Transit from running East Link over I-90. They say that because the roadway was built with fuel tax dollars, it should only be used for road traffic.
With light rail an almost certain part of Bellevue's future, it's important that we give all these options as much energy and time as necessary to do it right.
http://www.soundtransit.org/Projects-and-Plans/...
Thanks again for starting this blog and giving us a chance to comment!
Betina Finley
Candidate for Bellevue City Council, Position 7
http://www.betinafinley.com
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
The Link Light Rail issue will be tranformational for Bellevue, good and/or bad. Good to see the candidates taking it seriously. I believe Wallace Prop. owns the office buildings just east of 405, which are identified as a potential station location for the lines that cross 12th. That's good or bad for him, I suppose. But I wonder if there's a conflict of interest there if he is elected to council. Might be a good question in the future. Probably not that big a deal. Thanks for the informative blog.
-WR
August 5th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Candidate Finley might want to check her facts. Sound Transit's preferred alternatives for downtown Bellevue's Eastlink alignment are an at-grade couplet (C4A) and a continued study of C3T. Neither of these options were selected by the City Council, which selected the C2T alignment. This is a complex issue that requires a depth of understanding….
August 5th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I will be out of the office from August 6 until the morning of August 11th.
Please contact Bellevue Reporter editor Craig Groshart with immediate sports concerns. Craig can be reached at 425-453-4233 or at cgroshart@bellevuereporter.com.
Thanks,
Joel
August 8th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Thanks for the response, WR! I know my facts. The City and myself, are well aware of where Sound Transit lands on preferred alignment. As a City it is our obligation, however, to do what is best for its residents and that is to find funding for a tunnel option; and in my opinion one that is the least intrusive to our long-standing, single-family neighborhoods. The proposed C4A is not looking out for our City, but is instead suggesting we increase congestion, ignore major safety through our downtown core and disregards the integrity of surrounding neighborhoods. As a council member I will look after the best interests of Bellevue. If you would like to talk further, in a a less anonymous way, please contact me at campaign@betinafinley.com. I welcome the opportunity!
Betina Finley
Candidate for Bellevue City Council, Position 7
http://www.betinafinley.com
August 8th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I will be out of the office from August 6 until the morning of August 11th.
Please contact Bellevue Reporter editor Craig Groshart with immediate sports concerns. Craig can be reached at 425-453-4233 or at cgroshart@bellevuereporter.com.
Thanks,
Joel
August 8th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Thanks for the response, WR! I know my facts. The City and myself, are well aware of where Sound Transit lands on preferred alignment. As a City it is our obligation, however, to do what is best for its residents and that is to find funding for a tunnel option; and in my opinion one that is the least intrusive to our long-standing, single-family neighborhoods. The proposed C4A is not looking out for our City, but is instead suggesting we increase congestion, ignore major safety through our downtown core and disregards the integrity of surrounding neighborhoods. As a council member I will look after the best interests of Bellevue. If you would like to talk further, in a a less anonymous way, please contact me at campaign@betinafinley.com. I welcome the opportunity!
Betina Finley
Candidate for Bellevue City Council, Position 7
http://www.betinafinley.com
September 9th, 2009 at 4:17 am
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