Introductory statement from unopposed Shoreline Council incumbent McConnell
Friday, September 18, 2015
By Evan Smith
Incumbent Shoreline City Councilwoman Doris McConnell is running unopposed in the Nov. 3 general election.
McConnell, who is seeking a third four-year term, recently sent this introductory statement:
Shoreline City Council Position No. 4
Doris McConnell
Shoreline has seen significant growth since the formation of the city in 1995. The new council will be making critical decisions that will determine the long-term direction of our future growth, especially Point Wells and the light-rail rezoning decision for the 145th station. Although I am running unopposed, the makeup of your future council is important to me. These will be my colleagues for the next four years. They need to be collaborative team players, fully invested in all our neighborhoods.
In 2016, the City Council will be making decisions on rezoning neighborhoods for a light-rail station at 145th. This new council will determine the future of Shoreline. You need council members who engage the community. Most importantly, you should feel that your input matters.
I have listened when the community requested that the Council preserve as much of our neighborhoods’ single-family homes as possible, during our last rezoning decision. The community said that increased density is necessary for growth but that smart growth includes the preservation of our neighborhoods and the quality of life Shoreline residents love. My voting record has supported this balance of existing neighborhoods and future growth.
We will have one new council member as a result of a vacated seat. One more seat, being held by an incumbent, is being challenged. Your vote matters! The future of Shoreline rests with you.
You deserve a council whose vision for Shoreline matches yours.
Endorsements: KC Council member Rod Dembowski, Ken Noreen, and former Council member Rich Gustafson.
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4 comments:
Thank you for listening to your constituents, Doris!
Doris McConnell says,"Shoreline has seen significant growth since the formation of the city in 1995." The facts say otherwise.
According to the January, 2015 issue of the Puget Sound Regional Council's publication, Puget Sound Trends, about 2,709,660 people in Washington, or 70.6%, live within the incorporated area of the central Puget Sound region. This area comprises 82 cities and towns and has grown by 182,770 people (7.2%) since 2010.
From 2010-14, Kirkland, Burien, and Kent experienced growth at 70%, 45%, and 31%, respectively. Bothell and Bellevue, having grown by 24.3% and 9.8%, respectively. Port Orchard grew by about 18% (1,993 persons). Snoqualmie, Gig Harbor, DuPont, and Ruston grew between 10-20%. These increases are significant. Some of the increase was due to annexation, some to real growth, but the percentages are double-digit.
By contrast, during that same period Shoreline's population grew by 983 people (1.9%).
What about prior to 2010? In a 2011 Shoreline City Council discussion of the results of US Census 2010 and the American Community Survey, City staff revealed to its own surprise that Shoreline's population remained virtually unchanged since 2000."Shoreline has fallen from the 14th largest city in the state, to the 19th largest," they said.
US Census figures show Shoreline grew by 2,860 people (5.7%) during its first 5 years as a City, but not much since. The City's 10-Year Financial Sustainability Plan, adopted by the City Council last year, assumes a mere 0.2% population growth per year going forward.
Ms. McConnell's assertion that Shoreline has experienced significant growth is false. Shoreline's population has remained relatively flat. The City may have indeed seen significant growth since its formation in 1995, but that growth wasn't in Shoreline; it was elsewhere.
What actually is significant is that Shoreline's population growth has not kept pace with the growth of Washington's population as a whole, and the Council is very concerned about that. Why? The Growth Management Act of 1990 rewards growth in urban areas. It's passage led to mass annexations and the self-preserving incorporation of several cities, including Shoreline. But the reward is proportional to the growth. As Shoreline's share of the state population shrinks, so does its share of state revenue.
My vision of a future Shoreline doesn't resemble that of the council majority of which Doris is a committed member.
We need the 185th Station conversation continued. The rezoning was slipped by the public. I am shocked at how few people know what is happening to us. Why on earth would any committee oppose continued conversation, more input, gathering better information, considering all options? I just don't understand the City of Shoreline and the City Council's compulsion to rush this process through. Please hear me when I say that I am not an obstructionist who is resisting change. I embrace the Sound Transit Light Rail project. I just distrust their ability to do it well and distrust our Shoreline city government.
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