I am very concerned by the way that our city continues to disregard the overwhelming outpouring from the citizens in Sammamish against expensive projects that are ill-conceived. In the case of East Lake Sammamish Parkway (ELSP) — in the face of continued public opposition, even several of our City Council members have raised questions related to design and scheduling that have gone unanswered. Just this past week, Councilmember Kathy Huckabay stated that “There are a lot of questions that I’ve been hearing from the community that I can’t answer.” What is appalling is that some council members raised the same concerns a year ago when they were being pushed to approve. The city promised and failed to answer.

Now, almost every week I see letters to the editor asking explicitly who is benefiting from this Parkway project? Where is the accountability and transparency? We are now told that on Dec. 2, there will be a City Council meeting to discuss this topic, but that public input will only be allowed in written format — our citizens are not being permitted to provide public, verbal commentary or questions. This is a break in a long-standing tradition for verbal commentary. There is nothing on the city Web site that solicits this input or provides direction on how to submit the commentary. Neither is there any mechanism that has been communicated as to how any commentary that might be submitted would be shared with the council, the city and the citizens of Sammamish. The impact of this tactic is to shut down discussion on matters of great interest, and it gives the impression that the city wishes to act arbitrarily and without scrutiny.

Now to compound the concerns on public access and city government transparency, and counter to earlier promises the city made, we learn that the city is planning to undertake construction of both 244th and ELSP at the same time, which will create a traffic nightmare as two critical roads that provide access to and from the Sammamish Plateau will be unavailable. At least three council members, Cross, Whitten and Huckabay, have challenged this and the problems it will bring commuters. If the council members are not being heard and not having their questions answered — who is? Why is the city pushing forward this plan when it will add congestion and massive costs with no understood benefit in a time of economic slowdown! Furthermore, and more troubling — the hearing to finalize this issue is scheduled for Dec. 16, and yet last week the city had signs up on the parkway to expect major construction on ELSP through November 2009. Is there any wonder that citizens believe they are not being heard on the major issues of the city?.

Furthermore, how does the city plan to oversee multiple road projects, given the problems they have had in managing single projects including 228th and the infamous problems and cost overruns with City Hall. Concerns of congestion and environment are pushing groups like the Citizens of Sammamish to insist on city accountability and openness.

The city must operate with participation from its citizens, transparency in the decision-making, and with accountability for how it spends our resources. It should immediately open sessions for public verbal comments, and delay all hearings until after the holidays so citizens can review and comment on the design with time for proper consideration. It should take the commentary seriously. The city council should review timing of all of the planned projects, and provide a justification in an open meeting. The city should demonstrate accountability to its citizens and our council members. The mantra is change, transparency and accountability. In times of economic downturn and scarce resources we should expect the city to demonstrate it on all the issues affecting our city, whether ELSP, 244th, Town Center, barricades, etc.

Ramiro Valderrama is a Sammamish resident and runs a blog about the project at elsp.sammamishplateau.com/.