Lake Forest Park City Council Position 6 Candidate statements

Lake Forest Park City Council Pos #6 Incumbent Tom French and his challenger Tracy Furutani submitted these statements.

Tom French

Tom French

Dear Neighbors,

I have been here in LFP for more than 50 years- I grew up here and attended Brookside, Kellogg and Shorecrest, and then off to the UW. I deeply value the character of LFP and our small town way of life.

My position on growth, and particularly Town Center, is that I do not support anything close to what is allowed under the current 2005 code. If housing were to be in the mix I would only consider up to 150-300 units, if and only if, there is considerable public benefit, including a permanent home for the Commons and the Farmer’s Market.

Further, I sponsored and guided passage in September of the moratorium on development at Town Center to ensure the community and the Planning Commission had adequate time to weigh in and to help revise the existing code.

I am extremely outspoken about the safety issues on our streets. I advocated for and was successful in getting the first new sidewalk in more than 30 years in LFP built 2015 between the bus stops at Town Center.

This fall I have introduced comprehensive examination of our local speed limit laws to help ensure additional safety for all pedestrians and cyclists. The proposal includes several key measures, including a reduction of speed limits throughout the city.

I wrote and passed our comprehensive plastics ordinance, which has been labeled the “best in the state” by Zero Waste Washington. I care deeply for the environment and have supported as a top priority many other environmental measures to help keep LFP green and reverse decades of environmental decline.

If you have any questions about my position on any issue facing our community please feel free to reach out to me and I would be happy to meet.

With respect,
Tom French

Tracy Furutani

Tracy Furutani

I want to thank all of the Lake Forest Park residents who reached out and talked to me over the course of this campaign. It's proven to me that there are caring and passionate people throughout our city, and this can only bode well for the future.

I'm running because I want to see more resident involvement and representation in city issues for this is the only way we will build a city that represents us, the people who live here. 

I believe I can accomplish this through regularly scheduled office hours, reinstitution of the Citizen Academy, and the resurrection of resident-based city commissions. 

I've gotten a strong sense of Lake Forest Park values that I would represent. To put it simply, we care about the environment and each other. 

We have some major events coming, such as the new parking garage and the Town Center redevelopment. We can either let those things happen to us, or take a more active hand in it -- together. The first step is to vote on or by Tuesday, November 5. Again, a sincere thank you!