Evan Smith: A contest for Lake Forest Park mayor
Monday, May 30, 2011
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer
Lake Forest Park will have a contest for mayor this year.
Former City Councilwoman Mary Jane Goss registered her intent to run for mayor with the State Public Disclosure Commission May 20.
Current Councilman and Deputy Mayor Dwight Thompson registered with the PDC in April.
Registering with the PDC allows candidates to raise and spend money for the Aug. 16 primary and Nov. 8 general election. Neither Goss nor Thompson has yet reported raising or spending campaign money.
Goss said Sunday that the King County Democratic organization has endorsed her.
Goss and Thompson seek to replace Mayor Dave Hutchison, who has announced that he will not seek a fourth four-year term. Hutchison won re-election without opposition in 2007.
Goss won election to the LFP Council in 1997 and 2001. After she didn’t seek re-election in 2005, she became active in the Shorecrest PTSA, helping change the High School's math curriculum.
Goss said Sunday that she got back into politics as part of the group that opposed LFP’s property-tax-levy-lift proposal that voters defeated by a 78 percent to 22 percent margin last August.
She criticized Thompson for not getting the message from the voters’ rejection of the tax measure and said that City government should be more transparent to citizens.
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10 comments:
Swell!
I'd like to remind every voter about Mary Jane Goss' bizarre efforts several years ago to try to STOP the City of Shoreline from acquiring the South Woods property for a City Park! This was after WE had passed the Parks and Open Space Bond overwhelmingly in Shoreline.
Thanks a lot Mary Jane for being such a GRINCH on a much needed park and Urban Forest protection.
Not a good neighbor for Shoreline.
@6:18 - and she isn't running for office in Shoreline, so your point is?
As a Shoreline School District stateholder, living in Lake Forest Park, I did my homework and investigated documents on this property, which was once jointly owned by the Shoreline Water District and the district, to understand and ascertain the value at stake. This occurred at a time when the Shoreline School District was in fiscal crisis. Not only was I concerned about the potential loss of Shorecrest High School's authority over what went on there regarding drug use and child safety, I was also, concerned about the School District's lack of consideration regarding the Lake Forest Park stakeholders ability to vote on this matter,especially when the School District's finances caused educational needs to suffer. I firmly believe the property was transferred much below its actual value. In addition, Shorecrest High School no longer has authority to control what goes on there. As a parent who worked on PTSA, to successfully change the math curriculum and pushed for the district to also provide textbooks for same, I find, no shame, in advocating for education for children, or for advocating for Lake Forest Park taxpayers who deserve more consideration when sales of Shoreline School Property are involved.
Mary Jane and All,
My point is that the purchase of Southwoods for a City Park was a Shoreline matter. The School District and Water District got their fair price. (many MILLIONS $$) They never cared about the woods and wanted to log it and then just wanted their money.
Mary Jane tried to help them shake down the City for even more money, and held up the sale.
The Shoreline voters approved the Parks Bond overwhelmingly, by 70%.
Most voters in LFP, probably would have too given that "FOREST" is their middle name and they have a much more proactive tree code.
Sure, everyone wants the School District and Water District to be viable and no one is against good education. But the School District showed its stripes when they made their moves to develop the Southwoods, at the expense of the community.
Saving Southwoods WAS about education...Environmental Education.
The School District should not dictate what the City does, nor should the Water District. Neither should Lake Forest Park. The public overwhelmingly said, "Save Southwoods!"
Shoreline is more than just a School District!
I am always troubled by anonymous comments, especially when the comments are as misleading and as unfounded as those above.
The School District was responsible for both ensuring safety of our schoolchildren and appropriate transfer of its property. No amount of inflammatory comments after the fact can change that.
Mary Jane Goss was correct in questioning the safety of schoolchildren once the land was no longer under the jurisdiction of the School District.
Mary Jane Goss and others were right to question why the City of Shoreline's offer was substantially less than the actual value of the land. To do otherwise would have been an abrogation of their duty.
This issue impacted more than just the City of Shoreline. The Shoreline residents' vote on a Parks bond is basically unrelated to proceedings to purchase property from the Shoreline School District, which serves children in both Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.
Many residents in both cities felt it was important that everyone within the Shoreline School District had a right to comment on the transfer of School District property. Saying that voters in my city "probably would have too" is a tacit denial of our involvement in our mutual school district.
Following appropriate due diligence, the property was sold to the City, and South Woods became a reality.
Jean Thomas
Lake Forest Park
Wasn’t Mary Jane Goss one of the instigators of the fight the LFP council picked with the County over the improvements to the Burke Gilman Trail? Oh yeah, “City proposes limits on Burke-Gilman Trail,” Seattle Times, May 2004:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20040527&slug=burke27m]
That fight ended up costing LFP more than $300,000 in lawyer and “engineering” fees, just to give lake shore home owners the privilege of right-of-way over bicyclists. That’s about half of the amount requested from taxpayers in Prop. 1, which Ms Goss fought against with such righteous anger. Where was she when the city was wasting money fighting the trail: working for privileged special interests and against regional community and the environment. Sounds like she should get the Republican endorsement, not the Democratic.
Comments don't have to be anonymous, Just go to: Name/URL," enter your name or a pseudonym and skip the URL part.
People responding can respond to a name rather than to "Anonymous #1."
Dear Anonymous (who posted June 1, 2011 at 9PM)
Environmental protection and concerns for safety, are shared by many in Lake Forest Park regardless of political affiliation. Your comments are indicative you do not share this understanding. In addition, a majority of my fellow Councilmembers in 2004, approved the decision to advocate for local city values, so it appears I was in sync with the majority of my fellow Councilmembers. In the process, a better result was achieved for all, and I believe the correct description of the money spent was not a waste. A diversity of residents from all over the City expressed their concerns regarding safety on the Burke Gilman Trail. During my time off Council, I have continued to advocate for safety and the environment, in regards to not only the Burke Gilman detour, but also, in regards to the dangerous conditions on Bothell Way, SR522. I have also worked on a grassroots effort with bipartisan support to oppose Prop 1, a permanent 6 year levy lid lift measure which was defeated by an overwhelming 78% of city voters, many of whom are on limited incomes.
Sadly, the improper use of commas in this exchange made it very painful to read. May I suggest a quick perusal of Strunk and White prior to posting a comment?
Dear Anonymous,
First of all, I resent your comment about Mary Jane Goss with respect to the Republican party. Like it or not, I am a Republican and probably will remain so. Nevertheless when I support a candidate it is solely based upon the candidate, not the party. I was at first was surprised at the cost of the litigation with respect to the Burke-Gilman Trail. Last year I purchased a home in LFP and began my bike rides at the park across from City Hall. Multiple times I was almost hit by a car and I ride like an old lady as opposed to the high-speed super bikers. The crossings along the beach ARE dangerous and if you actually rode a bike, you would know this. Do you think your life is worth $300k? I think mine is!
I whole heartedly support Ms Goss for mayor because after spending a significant amount of time looking at the issues of LFP I see her as the ONLY candidate with the guts to take on issues and act rather than follow the traditional political mold of worrying about their political "career" as opposed to doing their job. The economy is in a disastrous state now and each of the two major parties spend more time pointing fingers than actually doing something about it. Ms Goss's passion to attack a problem is what this city needs, not more of the same old story which I personally am completely sick of hearing about.
Lastly, I apologize if my grammar was bad or I used too many commas but I am not a professional political writer. I think what is important here is the message. Please feel free to contact me directly if you wish to discuss any of this further because as you can see below I'm not afraid to put my name where my mouth is.
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