[Letter by Bryan Holloway, Louis Washington and Jolyon Johnson- City of Snoqualmie Councilmembers. 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 Council Members for the City of Snoqualmie, we are honored to serve the community through both our election and appointment by the citizens. We consider it our responsibility to represent the interests of our residents and, when appropriate, offer guidance on significant matters affecting the community. The upcoming general election for Mayor is such an occasion.
The following statements represent the personal opinions of the undersigned and do not reflect the views of the City Council as a whole. We encourage you to seek additional input from other council members and elected officials.
The current administration has faced challenges in managing city staff, with nearly every director-level position experiencing turnover—some multiple times. Notably, the City Administrator was replaced early in the term, the Community Development Director position was recently vacated, and two Finance Directors have been appointed during this period. Additionally, there have been two separate Police Chiefs, with an acting Chief currently in place.*
Moreover, the current administration has not fostered strong relationships with neighboring jurisdictions, which should ideally be mutually supportive. Many of you are aware of the ongoing strain between Snoqualmie and North Bend, which has come into the public spotlight through the Police Service Agreement. While this agreement once provided significant benefits to both cities, shows deteriorating relationship between the two cities. Though the finalization of the disengagement agreement offers a path to begin repairing this relationship, we believe it cannot meaningfully improve under the current administration. We also feel this approach has negatively impacted our city’s relations with other jurisdictions.
For these reasons, we, the undersigned, believe it is in the best interest of Snoqualmie to move forward with new leadership. We endorse Jim Mayhew for Mayor and ask for your vote for Jim in the upcoming election.
*A correction was made to this letter. A line stating the fire chief position is vacant was removed. The inaccuracy was in the original letter and was corrected by the authors.
