In their own words: Why I want to be Mayor of Snoqualmie, Volume 2

This is the second in a [hopeful] five-part series written by each Snoqualmie Mayoral candidate, explaining their goals and vision if elected. This piece is from Fuzzy Fletcher.

Five candidates have filed for the November general election, which means an August 1st primary will narrow the candidate field to the top two vote-getters. Primary ballots will be mailed beginning July 12th. They must be dropped off at ballot drop boxes (no postage necessary) or mailed by August 1st.  

Candidate Fuzzy Fletcher: Time to address the issues – Listening, Mandating Change

I believe that Citizen voices matter. To tackle any issue facing the city, there needs to be a coalition between Citizens and city administration. I am running to be a public servant to the citizens.

I believe in many election cycles, voters are apathetic because they feel left out of the process, or because they don’t feel  heard. I want to listen.

Growth, traffic, water, taxes issues, an aging population – these are all issues that need to be addressed.

Like the other mayor candidates I have vision, but while they are at more of a starting point for public discussion on how to deal with these issues through collaboration, I mandate change.

There are two types of politicians, one that says vote for me and I’ll institute my ideas – and the other type that says elect me and we will do what the majority of the citizens want for their community. I’m the 2nd type.

I have eight years experience as mayor working with the city council and administration. I know how to guide Snoqualmie through issues. We have a Sovereign Government with reservation lands as part of our community. The Snoqualmie Tribe has been here thousands of years; they need to be part of the discussion coalition as well.

Water, do we have enough? It seems we couldn’t water all the parks last summer. Water and sewer rates go up every year to maintain facilities and keep the water flowing, and yet large development projects that all require water keep being approved. We need  an outside agency to certify that we have and will continue to have a certified, sustainable source of water before approving new projects.

Schools. There are many ways to collaborate so both city and schools can flourish. I propose an agreement to share mechanics and garage space for school busses and city equipment. This could result in saving money and better services for citizens and students.

How to tackle growth? I believe you cannot “build your way out of debt” no matter how much development you allow. This results in needing more growth to pay for infrastructure repairs that the past growth that produced. This does not mean halt all growth, this means ensuring any allowed building is what citizens want and that the developers offer solutions to impacts the growth brings. If future road overlays/repaving will be an issue, make sure developer money that comes with the project goes into a savings account to pay for that future repaving. Then put any earned interest  back into the general fund to help taxpayers.

I am not in favor of ever raising taxes. Although I can’t guaranty it won’t ever happen, I favor closely examining the city budget to ensure all ‘the fat’ is eliminated. I favor re-prioritizing the budget after citizen collaboration identifying community priorities.

I want to improve transparency. All City Council, Planning Commission and committee meetings should streamed to local public access television. Not everyone gets their information the same way. The City needs to get all information out to all citizens by using all available tools, including Facebook, newspapers, TV, and local blogs, in a timely manner.

Aging. Soon approximately 20-25% of U.S. citizens will be 65 and older. What are you going to do with us? We’d like to live in Snoqualmie too. Not everybody retires to play golf and drink iced tea in the sun. Some will only have Social Security. Period. Living in the street isn’t a good option. We as a community need to plan how we will help our parents, grandparents when the time arrives.

Driving often is not an option for the aging population. Transit can help our community and businesses simultaneously. Funding is available that allows cities to implement transit shuttle programs, which can transport folks, for little cost, from near home to the doctor, a restaurant, local pharmacy/store and home again – bringing patrons to central city businesses. The more money that stays in the city, the better off we all are.

We have a lot of work in front of us. I have the experience. I am a collaborator. Have your voice be heard.

I’d be happy to discuss any and all issues in more depth and in person. Email: fuzzyformayor@comcast.net or visit Fuzzy Fletcher for Mayor on Facebook.

~~ Fuzzy Fletcher

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Comments

  • If I could vote for this guy a thousand times I would. He is EXACTLY what Snoqualmie needs! Tired of lies, promises, over growth and BS. We need a mayor who is for the people not for the dollar.

    1. Thank you for your comments. Thank you also for taking time out of your day to express your opinion. I appreciate it.
      Fuzzy

  • I think I will vote for Fuzzy. I am tired of Mayor Larson’s kingdom-building and contempt for citizens. The next Mayor needs to partner with citizens to make smart choices.

  • I have lived on Snoqualmie Ridge for 10 years, and my daughter’s family lives next to historic Snoqualmie.

    I have worked as a business analyst for years, generating sales projections for IBM for their PeopleSoft/IBM Alliance for sales of $3 billion/year. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

    I was very upset about how the Snoqualmie Parkway hotel was positioned, and the lengths that the mayor and city council went to, to push it through – violating municipal code and not looking back. I have been looking for a new mayor since March 13 when city council passed the amendments for the hotel after presenting them with the fact that they were in violation of municipal code minutes before.

    I met Fuzzy this year. I support him because of the research that I did on choices he made during his eight year tenure as mayor. My projections were extremely accurate at IBM, and other companies. Experience is crucial in a role such as mayor, there is so much complexity to it.

    I research people that I work with, googling “Fuzzy Fletcher Snoqualmie” I discovered a great book:

    The New Economy of Nature, the Quest to Make Conservation Profitable (see links below). This book was written by a journalist and environmental scientist from Stanford.

    The book talks about how hard Fuzzy fought to preserve Snoqualmie, as opposed to pushing for more density (Snoqualmie Parkway hotel pre-application request was for 45′; project will be 60′).

    The book tells the story of the Snoqualmie Ridge Development, Fuzzy Fletcher’s role, recognition of the Snoqualmie Tribe, and negotiations with Weyerhauser – Chapter 6 – I bought the Kindle book.

    This book is fascinating, and gives the inside story of the tug of war that happens with developers before the ridge was clear cut for development. Weyerhauser wanted twice the density that was built while Fuzzy was mayor; Fletcher pushed back. The book talks about density swapping, and a lot of the inter-dependencies that happened during the Ridge negotiations as well as other property near Snoqualmie Falls.

    I also spent time with Fuzzy to get to know him. Fuzzy has remained very active in support roles for the city. I have talked to many residents who remember him as mayor and want him back.

    Thanks,
    Peggy Shepard

    Links:

    Google: The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable $16.19
    https://books.google.com/books?id=h-A-qoc7t_cC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=fuzzy+fletcher+snoqualmie&source=bl&ots=BrHrpToM1h&sig=R7zVFB6WPhTqhPos_Xy92N9VNz8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcscuR7qLUAhVK02MKHYwZDW4Q6AEIaTAO#v=onepage&q=fuzzy%20fletcher%20snoqualmie&f=false

    Kindle: The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable $16.99
    https://www.amazon.com/New-Economy-Nature-Conservation-Profitable-ebook/dp/B009PRUELO/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=

    ebook, King County Library: The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable
    https://kingcounty.libraryreserve.com/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=C3587D71-EFBF-4E7D-A62E-0CD1A8C7765B

  • Thank you for sharing your opinion and for your research.
    I truly appreciate it.
    Regards
    Fuzzy

  • I can and will vote for Fuzzy Fletcher and Lesley Sheppard (city council primary candidate). Fuzzy’s agenda is our agenda! That is rare. I believe if you progress too quickly and develop with no consideration the citizens and the environment, soon all we wish for will be behind us and be irretrievable.

  • I will vote for Fuzzy. I do not want Snoqualmie to become the next Issaquah Plateau. Most of us would agree that the Issaquah Plateau is way over developed. While we are well on our way, we still have time to prevent that. The MO of the current Mayor is to keep plans on the down low until they are well along, and then basically ignore any input from citizens once they get wind of it. A collaborative relationship between the city and its citizens will serve us (and our home values) well. I do think we are squandering opportunities to develop “smart” and create a unique community people will want to visit and invest in. And dare any of us forget, Mayor Larson ran for another office during his current term. He was and is ready to jettison our community.

    1. Thank you for your support and the reminder that Mayor Larson did indeed run for another office during his current term.
      Regards
      Fuzzy

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