Ballots coming next week for local elections

Candidates only have one more weekend to knock on doors until the county's election office mails ballots out Wednesday.

Candidates only have one more weekend to knock on doors until the county’s election office mails ballots out Wednesday.

The ballots must be postmarked or submitted to one of King county’s official ballot boxes by Nov. 8.

The closest box is in Issaquah in front of its police station, 130 East Sunset Way.

Below is a rundown of the local races.

 

Sammamish City Council

All three of the open Sammamish City Council seats are contested this year, and the campaigns have been anything but quiet.

Nancy Whitten, who has sat on the council for many years, first got involved with the council because she wanted to help keep open spaces for horse riders.

She’s being challenged by Kathy Richardson, who would emphasize growing the city’s business core.

Ramiro Valderrama is facing off against Jim Wasnick. Both men hold masters degrees and work as executives.

Entrepreneur Jesse Bornfreund is facing off against Tom Vance, who was once an executive in the publishing and communications industry.

A hot topic in the Sammamish council race has been whether to and how to expand the city’s small business district.

 

Issaquah City Council

Issaquah has four open spots on its council, but only one of them is contested.

Lawyer Joshua Schaer is defending his seat against TJ Filley, a business developer who works with security tech companies.

Filley chose to challenge Schaer, because he’s the chair of the council’s transportation committee.

Fred Butler, who is unopposed, has been on the city council for 12 years.

Stacy Goodman was named to her seat earlier this year, after Maureen McCarry stepped down for health reasons. Because she’s running to finish McCarry’s term, she’ll be up for election again in two years.

Paul Winterstein plans to take over for John Traeger, who endorsed him after announcing plans to step down. A software product manager, he serves on several committees.

 

Issaquah School District

Two of the three seats on the Issaquah School Board have challengers. Anne Moore, who has served on PTSAs and bond committees, is running unopposed.

Suzanne Weaver, the board director, is being challenged by Brian Neville, a senior accounting manager at T-Mobile. Neville has a son who works in the district and a daughter in one of the district’s elementary schools.

Brian Deagle, a Microsoft attorney, is being challenged by Patrick Sansing, a business tech executive.

Deagle’s two girls attend Skyline High School.