Alan Kiest has announced his intention to seek re-election to the Lake Forest Park City Council.
Kiest announced his candidacy for Position 1 at the council’s May 14 meeting. His family, including a student attending Shorecrest High School, lives near Forest Park Drive.
As chair of the council’s Budget Committee, Kiest has worked to avoid raising taxes during a time of reduced government revenues along with severe financial stress on individuals.
“I worked with my colleagues to develop a 2009-2010 budget that rejected the mayor’s proposal to ask voters to increase their property taxes,” he said. “Early in 2009, when the budget was threatened by a $925,000 shortfall, I worked, once again, to repair the budget without the need for new taxes.”
Kiest said he is proud of the efforts the council has made over the years to put aside $2.4 million in reserves.
“We have decided to contribute $350,000 from those reserves to stabilize the city government until the financial picture improves,” he said. “I have heard first hand from a number of residents that their family finances cannot stand the strain at this time of further tax increases.”
In the past four years, Kiest led efforts to preserve current land use policy in Lake Forest Park.
“I can’t recall a time when the pressures on our city’s families have been greater,” Kiest said. “I have helped to turn back five attempts to threaten the integrity of single family neighborhoods by dropping multifamily housing complexes into them. I also helped turn back the plan to divert the efforts of city staff into an experiment with cottage housing.”
Kiest’s initiative to put Lake Forest Park on record against the proposed jail in Shoreline was unanimously supported by the council. He added that he also wants to continue to work with citizens to “maintain the quality of police protection residents have always demanded.”
The Association of Washington Cities has designated Kiest as a Certified Municipal Leader.
He is a member of the countywide Reinvestment in Youth Steering Committee and is a charter member of United Way of King County’s Older Adults Impact Council.
Kiest is an administrator of an area Community Services Office for the Department of Social and Health Services. He holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Puget Sound and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington.
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