The City of Sammamish’s 10th birthday in 2009 urged many people to reflect upon the great changes on the Plateau in recent years.

Since 1999, dirt roads have become four lane arterials, sprawling farms have been divided and sub-divided, and new neighborhoods have sprung up and established themselves where before there was forest, horse tracks, and the occasional clearing.

In that time it is not only the physical structures of Sammamish that have developed, but also the structures of community – the networks, the groups, formal and informal. As Sammamish becomes a true city so too is it developing the intangible relationships that are as much defining attributes of a city as its tall buildings.

2009 was in many ways a watershed year in the history of the citizens’ relationship with their elected representatives. The Shoreline Master Program (SMP) process saw an unprecedented level of involvement in planning and municipal code issues, and the successes of that involvement may well have changed the way residents view their relationship with the city machine.

In 2010, residents group Citizens for Sammamish (C4S) is aiming to build upon the cooperation of residents that was a feature of the Sammamish Homeowners Association’s (SHA) input in the SMP.

C4S organizer Ramiro Valderrama told The Reporter this week he believed the city could benefit from the level of technical and professional expertise among the Sammamish population.

“It was really interesting to watch the homeowners involvement in the SMP,” he said. “Instead of just criticism, the residents got together and offered real input and alternatives. They got involved in the process.”

That group even offered its own SMP draft – a thorough and well-researched document that provided a different set of outcomes for the city to consider.

And at present a number SHA members are working on a white paper, exploring ways in which the city can work more cooperatively with residents. Their ideas include a staff liaison who could meet with residents and explain matters of code or other city regulations.

Though the SMP process was remarkable in a number of ways, that level of input was not entirely new.

Valderrama himself was part of a smaller group of residents which provided the city with a formal alternative for construction plans on the East Lake Sammamish Parkway in 2006.

“We had engineers, traffic managers, people who had worked with WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation),” he said. “There is a lot of expertise here in Sammamish, people who understand the issues, the industry accepted practices.”

Valderrama said C4S had developed five distinct subgroups, to address what the group sees will be key issues over the next decade.

The subgroups are:

• Accountability and Process

“This is about examining how the city council, the planning commission, are organized,” Valderrama said. “How often do they meet? Are there ways to improve the interaction with citizens?”

The Accountability and Process subgroup will also include a Budget and Finance committee.

• Transportation, Connectivity and Public Safety

This will include working on the removal of barricades around the Plateau, but also things like pedestrian accessibility and transit hubs in new development.

• Growth

This sub group will look at the Puget Sound Regional Council’s population and business growth targets for the City of Sammamish, and examine what the Town Center development, and other new developments, should do to address them.

• Community Services for the Elderly and Youth

“We hear a lot about how a large percentage of the Sammamish population is under 18, but I don’t think people realize how much the community has aged in the past 10 years,” Valderrama said. He added the group had been looking closely at facilities such as the community swimming pool in Kent, to see what Sammamish could offer its senior citizens. “Did you know that the Kent pool is used by more than 400 elderly people every day?”

• Communications

A big part of the C4S effort will be in outreach – to make sure their voice is heard, and to elicit feedback and the support of residents who want to contribute.

The group plans to speak with at least one member of the city council or planning commission, or a city staff member, at its monthly meetings in the first week of the month. New Councilmember Tom Odell was the special guest at their January meeting.

Valderrama is eager to hear from any residents who feel they have something to offer C4S.

“The city has to change – it is going to change, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “We just want to make sure we are as involved in that process as we can be.”

To contact Citizens for Sammamish, phone Ramiro Valderrama at 425-898-9777, e-mail rvalderr2001@yahoo.com., or visit their Web site at www.citizensforsammamish.com