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In the wake of a recent announcement by Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives that she will not seek another term of office, I was invited to and personally interviewed her two most viable successors: Councilman Jim Robinson and former councilwoman, Holly Plackett . I support both of these fine and experienced candidates in their mayoral campaigns, respect them immensely, value their views on community, and consider them both to be my friends and mentors. But don’t just take it from me! If you live in Redmond, the mayor’s election is of great importance to you and most everyone you know. I strongly encourage you to research and get to know Jim and Holly yourself.*

         
     Jim Robinson                   Holly Plackett

After careful consideration and soul searching, I hereby announce my endorsement of Councilmember Jim Robinson to be the next chief executive and Mayor of the City of Redmond.

As a Planning Commissioner , it is my responsibility to represent the interests of the entire Redmond community: its current and future residents, employees, landowners, and business owners in the great little city of Redmond, WA by providing advice and channeling public feedback about current and long range Land Use Planning to Redmond’s Mayor and City Council. Week in and week out for the past five years, I have studied, solicited and listened to public feedback about, and provided counsel on land use planning issues to Councilmember Jim Robinson and the other members of the City Council and Mayor Ives on questions such as:

• How many houses can be built on an acre and where, in the city?
• Should the City build out a Municipal Wi-Fi network?
• How wide must sidewalks be in the downtown area?
• Where should we have bicycle lanes?
• When, where, and how many native trees (and soil) can homebuilders remove?
• How much should existing residents pay for extra sewage capacity to accommodate new development, if any?

To provide informed answers to these and other questions, I make it my job to be well informed of the facts, issues, prevailing public opinion, and the personalities and positions of our elected representatives (like Jim Robinson, Kim Allen , and John Resha ) and citizen advocates (like Holly Plackett), insofar as all of these inputs contribute, proportionally if not equally to the formation of sensible and progressive public policy. The Public comments. Commissioners listen and advise. Councilmembers enact. In this regard, I have interacted with, closely observed the statements and actions of, and have great respect for the integrity of and decision making abilities of both Jim Robinson and Holly Plackett.

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Ms. Plackett has always impressed me with her boundless energy, expansive knowledge of even the most mundane aspects of public policy, her socially progressive views, and her optimistic, get it done attitude.

Mr. Robinson has impressed me with his patience, his open-minded approach to solving difficult problems, his tendency to reserve judgment until all the facts are in, and his passionate support of public pools, for the same reasons I support them: personal safety & education, lifetime health benefits, and recreation.

At the end of the day, Jim Robinson’s skills, experience, qualifications, and connections, in combination, incline me to believe that he will make an excellent Mayor. For more information about both of these candidates, see:

Jim Robinson:

• http://www.robinsonformayor.com
• The Redmond Blog (by Bob Yoder)
• Seattle Times

Holly Plackett

• http://www.hollyplackett.com
• The Redmond Blog (by Bob Yoder)
• Seattle Times

*I also encourage you to contribute to their election campaigns, as I have done in equal amounts to ensure that we, the voters, are informed and educated about their qualifications and positions on the matters that count.