[Letter by Salim Nice- Mayor of Mercer Island, WA. Views expressed are those of the author, not the Living Snoqualmie website. You may submit letters of support for your candidate to info@livingsnoqualmie.com]
As the Mayor of Mercer Island, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with Mayor Rob McFarland of North Bend on various initiatives over the years. Time and again, I have witnessed his unwavering commitment to responsible and thoughtful growth.
Much like Mercer Island, North Bend faces unique geographical and developmental challenges, yet under Mayor McFarland’s leadership, North Bend has consistently prioritized infrastructure investments and resource management, ensuring development does not outpace the city’s capabilities.
Mayor McFarland has shown resilience in pushing back against development proposals that don’t align with the city’s character and best interests. I wholeheartedly endorse Rob McFarland for re-election as Mayor of North Bend, trusting his commitment to both the residents’ well-being and the city’s sustainable future.
— Salim Nice, Mayor of Mercer Island, Washington
Comments
Instead of re-electing a mayor who puts out touchy feely photos on social media – maybe we should look behind the smile to the person who just voted a couple weeks ago to overrun the Valley by changing the rules or the 1994 Agreement to add more development – those of us who believe in growth limits and controlled planning need to take a closer look at what is happening with no public warning. The article in the Urbanist, Regional Officials Hit the Brakes on More Suburban Sprawl Near I-90, was eye opening in the basic facts of the votes by Snoqualmie Mayor Ross, North Bend Mayor McFarland and King County Councilmember Perry to load up the valley with additional developable land. Thankfully King County Executive Dow Constantine and others said No to changing the 1994 Agreement with King County as part of the 1990 Growth Management Act.
What we have with this attempted change of the agreement is the desire of more development and less open land buffer for the valley as agreed in 1994. Both cities in 1994 agreed with King County to their Urban Growth Area – Snoqualmie had the Ridge and North Bend chose the flat land to Truck Town and voted “down” the hillside across I-90 from McDonalds where another Snoqualmie Ridge had been planned by Weyerhaeuser. On the North Bend vote the council meeting was very tense that night, but the public saved the day.
Under Public Disclosure I have received Mayor McFarland and Mayor Ross’s letters to the King County Executive and both definitely sought the 1994 Agreement changed. The personal statements and individual’s actions and committee votes by all three, definitely point to changing the rules for adding additional valley development by Ross, McFarland and Perry. We should also write those who saved us and thank them.
https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/10/03/regional-officials-hit-the-brakes-on-more-suburban-sprawl-near-i-90/
From the Urbanist October 3, 2023 in part…………………….. “City officials in North Bend and Snoqualmie support expanding a program that offers development capacity in exchange for permanent open space. They were voted down last week by county leaders who say the idea could lead to more sprawl. A meeting of an obscure regional planning body got tense last week as elected officials sparred over the issue of expanding King County’s urban growth boundary to encourage housing development and preservation of existing open space along the exurban fringe. The area of focus are near the cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie, an isolated patch of the county’s Urban Growth Area (UGA) along Interstate 90, with city officials there wanting to keep the door open to some types of development, and leaders representing places like Seattle and Bellevue wary of too much sprawl in the I-90 corridor”……………………….
Best Regards,
Chris Lodahl North Bend Mayor and Council 90-95