Letters to the Editor

Moore better

Fiene may have ulterior motive

We do know that many people are unhappy with Mayor Gary Haakenson for many good reasons, and that a majority of us would like to have the two-term limit in force again since it has worked so well for our city.

And we know that our two-term mayor has often been very tricky and devious. Could it be possible that the Don Fiene candidacy is another ruse?

Mr. Fiene probably really wants to be city engineer, not mayor. And when he tells us there is no dissension with the mayor we do know for a fact that is baloney. Could it not be possible that Fiene expects to be eliminated in the primary (all recent mayors have come from the council)? Fiene would then urge his followers to vote for the mayor in the November election with future expectations of promotion. That would be one Fiene thing, wouldn’t it now?

Mauri Moore has the potential of being a very good mayor. Early on, I was highly suspicious of her and investigated her much more than she would guess yet came away with a far higher regard for her and her abilities than when I started. Above all, she has integrity, honesty and is a straight shooter.

The voting public should enforce the two-term limit for mayor once again as we did against Larry Naughten, a good man, who had been a pretty good mayor.

Forget Fiene, VOTE for Moore!

Ray Martin

Edmonds

Pushing agenda

Neighbors talk but city won’t listen

The mayor of Edmonds and four city council members deprived the people of Edmonds of two full-sized playfields last year by not purchasing all 11 acres of school property at the Old Woodway Elementary School. Now, to deflect criticism about the critical shortage of soccer and baseball fields, the city is intent on cramming a mini baseball diamond onto the half of the property the city purchased for a community park. That is not what the community requested.

In the first parks planning meeting in early May, the consensus of the community attendees was to have open fields that could be used for multiple purposes — soccer, baseball, dog walking or whatever.

After just one meeting for supposed community input, the city is moving ahead with its plan for a mini baseball field and sports court without regard to what the people of the neighborhood expressed.

At the second planning meeting on June 28, it was obvious to attendees that the city was not interested in what they had to say. When one attendee suggested a vote on the various ideas that had been put forth, city parks director Brian McIntosh said brusquely, “That’s enough. There will be no vote on this; this is not a democratic process. The parks department will make the final decision.”

Wait a minute.We thought this was supposed to be a democracy. McIntosh’s attitude is consistent with the track record of the city of Edmonds: Plan things in secrecy so the city can do whatever the mayor and his cronies want.

Who in the city is so intent on making sure there is a mini ball field when that is not what the community wants? Who is pushing this agenda? And why?

Cliff Sanderlin

Edmonds

Fourth of July

Lynnwood’s Fourth of July not very patriotic

I took my family to the July 4 celebration sponsored by the city of Lynnwood expecting to have a great time, just as we did the last time we went. However, feelings of patriotism and reflections on the birth of our great nation were hard to come by. The reason? The incessant drum beats and the accompanying music with which no one was familiar. For the 2-3 hours prior to the fireworks, the city of Lynnwood arranged for us to hear first a band playing Brazilian music (Show Brazil!) and then a band playing drum-heavy Latin and Caribbean (?) music (Johnny Conga &Sabor Tropical with vocalist Danny Olaizola). Wow. How patriotic…

Was this the tragic result of having both “Parks and Recreation” and “Cultural Arts” in the same department? Come on, guys. It’s the Fourth of July! You’ve got 364 other days of the year for “diversity” or whatever reason was behind this hair-brained idea. On this one day, this one single day of the year, please don’t be afraid to be proud of this great country. Give me some “Stars and Stripes Forever,” some John Philip Sousa, some barbershop quartets, maybe even some good ol’ country music, just please give me something American to listen to while celebrating America’s birthday.

Eric Brown

Edmonds

Terrace Town Center

City should take a page out of Mill Creek’s book

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the new Town Center in Mill Creek. Except for one five-story condo, most of the buildings were individual retail establishments. There were also two parking garages providing adequate parking for the vehicles accessing the area, thus avoiding parking problems and impacts onto residential areas. Furthermore, the entire center was accessed by a four-lane highway, which provided adequate ingress and egress to the area. There were at least three open space areas, and the entire development had an open spacious feel to it. Although the Town Center was recently constructed, Mill Creek was able to construct their Town Center without a plethora of new high rise housing. Anyone interested in the MLT Town Center process really needs to inspect what appears to be a successful Town Center development in Mill Creek.

The proposed town center for Mountlake Terrace is very different from the one constructed in Mill Creek. That design will result in increased residential density, and very little open space for residents. Not only will there be no allowance for the significant increase of traffic, but plans call for the reduction of current parking spaces required for each unit. Hopes and dreams that a significant part of the population will avail themselves of public transportation never come true, and as a result adjoining neighborhoods will be seriously impacted by both traffic and parking woes.

So why did the chicken cross the road? To show the possum that it was possible to do. Thus the Mill Creek chicken can show the Mountlake Terrace possum that a successful town center can be constructed with open space within current three-story parameters. But both better not try to cross the street if the new Mountlake Terrace town center as envisaged is developed. Because with all the increased traffic on inadequate roads, neither is likely to make it to the other side.

Eric S. Soll

Edmonds