Safe Walks
My Origin Story
The "radioactive spider bite" moment for me in Woodinville government was all about kids walking to school. Even before joining council I advocated for safe walks.
Starting in 2016 I engaged City of Woodinville as a citizen through public comments and requesting meetings with Planning Staff. My focus was on safe walking paths near our schools. Originally I saw the issues near Wellington Elementary, but it became clear there were many deficient areas of the city.
When I joined council in 2019, I pressed staff for the above survey map of all walk-paths in the city and have advocated from it ever since - prioritizing projects by the number of households benefiting.
Safe walk to Schools Part 1
In 2016, I helped form and lead a neighborhood group "Wellington neighbors for safety". The goal was to improve the dangerous walk paths for students. I held meetings with City Staff and discussed pedestrian safety across the city. The data was clear that the most dangerous length of road for the highest number of students was 124th AVE from Woodmoor south to the new Vinterra neighborhood.
I took the evidence back to the my neighborhood and together we pressed the city to prioritize that West Ridge project first - maximizing the benefits with limited resources.
By the fall of 2020, the new sidewalk was open and ready for use before schools re-opened.
Downtown Crossings
A key to Woodinville's downtown vision are walkable connections.
In late 2020 I was approached by James and others about the many close-calls on 140th AVE and Garden Way.
A speed study found over 95% of cars were exceeding the speed limit behind Target.
A first step was to upgrade those flags to flashing beacons.
While this has improved the situation, speeding continues to be an issue on 140th AVE.
My goal now is to upgrade the beacons into pedestrian triggered full-stop lights and introduce traffic calming features for everyone that need to cross into downtown.
Safe Walk to Schools Part 2
During the 2022 repaving west of Wellington Elementary, I worked closely with our Public Works department to include speed-bumps and a street parking redesign which separates walkers from traffic. Thoughtful design added no new pavement, saving on cost and keeping the project on schedule to be ready for the 2023 school year.
While this was the road that started my safe walks advocacy, I'm not slowing down.
As useful side-effect of the new parallel parking spots has been to offer an easy practice area for young drivers on weekends.
Street Lights
GreenBrier Trail
Walking safely is not just for daylight hours.
I have worked to advance streetlight projects to boost pedestrian safety as well.
In the 2022-2023 budget I pushed hard to include new streetlights along a one block stretch of 181st Place through the heart of our original downtown housing. The project did not make that budget, but I pushed again in 2024 and it was finally funded.
Even where there are light poles, they need regular maintenance. The sweeping curve up from 522 east along 195th St was completely dark due to 9 separate streetlights being burned out. After months of pushing staff, even calling PSE myself, these were repaired in June 2024.
GreenBrier Trail
GreenBrier Trail
Greenbrier park is a oasis of green preserved as part of the a 2002 development which included affordable cottages and senior apartments. A surprising 26% of units are affordable. In that park are set of trails which had deteriorated without maintenance for years.
In 2021, I proposed the city partner with Washington Trails Association to rejuvenate the trail system. The work was split across two winters, when WTA does low-land projects.
Leveraging volunteers from the community is an amazing way to build civic interest and create ownership in our parks systems.
This little trail system is a prelude to the Wood Trails project (targeted for 2024) and shows Woodinville is a "Tree City" in all ways.
Wood Trails
Wood Trails was first saved from a developer planned project in 2012 through the efforts of the group now named "Concerned Neighbors of Woodinville" (or CNW). Their efforts at the ballot box led to the property being purchased by the city. One of their members, Dave Henry, personally cut about a mile hiking loop.
When I joined Council in 2019, my vision was to take that land, and create a hiking park. COVID got in the way.
I persisted and in 2022, I formally made the property into a park. Additionally I pressed to fund initial trail construction in the 2022-2023 budget. While the funding was less than I hoped, it was a start.
In the autumn of 2024, the refreshed loop plus an additional north/south connector was opened to the public making this gem available for everyone in Woodinville and beyond.
Downtown Sidewalks
A walkable downtown needs proper sidewalk maintenance. In 2023 I began to collect reports of cracked and buckled concrete. I brought these to attention of City Council and staff in during our regular "comments by the councilmember" agenda item.
Working with city staff I accelerated the sidewalk repair schedule in our downtown with a focus on the high-traffic and those sections used by our more senior residents.
In combination with a local property owner (TRF, owners of the complex with Haggen, AMC, and Target) sidewalk panels which were a tripping-hazard in our Central Business District have been replaced.
Going forward I will be pressing the City to prioritize it's backlog of ADA compliance changes across the downtown.
Smart Development
Holding Developers Accountable
Development is inevitable; Poor development is preventable.
We need housing, we need affordability, no where is it required to be done through soulless blocky buildings.
I have pressed for sensible standards that preserve sunlight reaching our streets and maintained views of our the wooded the hillsides surrounding our downtown and tourism area. During the tourism district's "Harvest" negotiations I forced detailed view-corridor analysis and retail development to come first.
Later council votes, which I opposed, gave that all away. The lesson for everyone: The first deal with a developer will be the most the city ever gets, do not rush, do not amend, and do not believe the artist pictures.
We have one chance to shape Woodinville's development and my job on City Council is to drive a hard bargain with developers.
Working for Affordability
Woodinville is a desirable place to live, making it a prime location for new development. At the same time our region has a well documented affordable housing shortage. The state and county have made it clear every city must help solve this crisis - the key now for Woodinville to actually do it.
For years I have advanced an approach that if developers want special perks they must give something to the city in return. Including affordable units in their projects is the obvious solution.
- April 2023: I pressed the council to require at least a little affordability in Woodin Creek's future phases.
- July 2023: I argued to increase the unit count required before developer gets a full property-tax waiver.
- November 2024: I called out a loophole in our new fee-waiver program which will incentivize economic segregation.
- April 2025: I forced council to consider some level required affordability in all future large developments.
I will continued to drive for equitable inclusive housing, making developers create the housing we need to build the Woodinville we want.
Intergovernmental Projects
Trestle and Traffic
Transfer Station - "NERTS"
Transfer Station - "NERTS"
More than a decade ago, the city identified the rail-trestle in downtown as a major pinch point for our growing city's traffic. Previous council's worked hard on the legal procedures to purchase the old rail-line through downtown in order to address traffic and build a bike trail.
By 2022 the land-ownership and legalities were arranged but the Federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) remained a blocker. Without the STB's permission any new trestle would be required to be strong enough for a fully loaded train - a prohibitive expense.
I took the City's position to Washington DC in February 2023 and explained the situation to Senator Murray and Representative DelBene's staffs. They accelerated STB's review of our request and it was approved in April 2023.
Now we must execute on plans of councils past and build a new-wider bridge.
Transfer Station - "NERTS"
Transfer Station - "NERTS"
Transfer Station - "NERTS"
In 2020 King County announced their intention to replace the Houghton transfer station with a new facility called the North East Recycling and Transfer Station - or "NERTS" for short. To everyone's surprise, in 2021 Woodinville which is the furthest from the service area and population centers was included as a NERTS possible location.
City Council appointed me to be the city's NERTS representative in June 2021. King County Solid Waste had failed to disclose their dataset for site selection, at the first Site Advisory meeting and I forced a full pause on the process until every city received and rechecked the County's data.
While that was ongoing, I worked with city staff to hire a consultant for an independent economic impact analysis to strengthen our argument against Woodinville as a site.
The final step of site selection is the creation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). I worked with former mayors, key individuals and community groups to educate the public on how to best advocate for Woodinville during the EIS creation and review.
The combined efforts of hundreds of people across four years helped the county Solid Waste Division officials make the right decision in March 2025: NERTS will remain at Houghton and Woodinville's roads, tourism, and environment will be protected.