A Vision for Issaquah
LIST OF ISSUES
Traffic
Traffic and congestion in Issaquah is a tough problem. While it will take state funding, the improvements to Hwy 18, as well as working together with other cities for large scale changes, that doesn’t mean we should wait until that happens. We can make incremental changes now that create real results for our community by taking action in key areas, measuring the impact, and using that to fuel our next change.
We saw this approach shine with the Olde Town traffic calming project as well as the addition of the roundabout near Trader Joe's. There the city listened, tried out a quick solution, measured the effectiveness, and are now implementing a final version. I’d like to take this idea further to work on congestion throughout the city as well as other issues we face.
Development & Growth
I’ve seen the city grow dramatically even since I moved here in 2009. We moved from Los Angeles and I certainly don’t want to see that level of sprawl or congestion happen here. I care both the quality of life for our current residents and protecting our green spaces from growth.
We have to have a complete plan for growth - schools, water, traffic, fire & police, and more - before that growth happens. And we need to make sure that each addition pays for that necessary infrastructure.
Environment
Issaquah is a wonderful place to live, much improved by our community's protection of our green spaces, hillsides, and streams. With the recent Bergsma acquisition we are seeing the results of this focus on protection. Now we need to add preservation to usher our tree canopy, parks, and trails into the future for all to enjoy.
Schools
As a parent of two kids in the Issaquah School District (Maya 4th grade, Grand Ridge Elementary & Connor 6th grade, Pacific Cascade Middle School), I love all that our schools and teachers do. However, despite school remodels over the recent years, our schools remain overcrowded and new school construction remains difficult.
I want to work with the City and School District on acquiring land along with school development policies so that new schools are built to handle expected growth. We must create a plan to solve this problem and policies to help guide us into the future.
Quality of Life
Our focus as a government should be to improve resident's quality of life to make Issaquah a better place to live, work, learn, and play. I value your feedback and hope to work with you to solve local problems to improve your quality of life now and in the future.