I have heard rumors that I want to discontinue Derby Days. That is not true! I love Derby Days and want it to continue as a community festival. To say I want it discontinued is to twist my words (I did say that Public Safety is more important than community festivals during budget discussions).
For 60 of the 67 years, the community (Chamber and other civic groups) sponsored Derby Days. Since the City has taken up the festival 7 years ago Derby Days has become smaller and less attended. I want the community to take back the festival. The City can still provide parks, police and fire services for the event, but Derby Days was a much better event when everyone participated.
In the budget I provided one year of funding, so community leaders can have two years to prepare to take it back over. I know of many companies that will participate if the City removes itself from controlling the event.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
New Video
Did you see my new video? Catch it at http://www.johnmarchione.com/blog.php. It was a blast to make! My son said that if I wore make-up he would disown me. See if you can find your neighborhood in the background.
Here are some trivia questions to answer. The first person to respond with three correct answers to john@johnmarchione.com wins an autographed Marchione for Mayor frisbee.
What elementary school did I attend?
At what park did the Derby Days parade end when I was a kid?
Which brother did I coach in Little League?
No Mom, you can't play!
Here are some trivia questions to answer. The first person to respond with three correct answers to john@johnmarchione.com wins an autographed Marchione for Mayor frisbee.
What elementary school did I attend?
At what park did the Derby Days parade end when I was a kid?
Which brother did I coach in Little League?
No Mom, you can't play!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Derby Days 2007
A great day for a fun event. Thanks to my 30+ volunteers who showed up and marched with me! A fun time was had by all.
I look forward to improving Derby Days with a longer parade route and greater community participation. This old tradition needs new energy.
Managing Growth in Redmond
Redmond is no longer a bedroom community. We must shape the growth around us instead of allowing the growth to shape us. A proactive vision of the city and services we want will help ensure we enhance our quality of life. This is not a vision to encourage growth, but a vision to manage growth to keep Redmond great.
One measurement of a successful city is a place where you can live happily for all phases of your life. This means providing housing, transportation and recreation choices. At different ages, you need different options. Out of college you need an apartment. A new family may need a single family house with a yard for the dog. Once your youngest child graduates, you may choose a condo so you can travel without worrying about yard work.
To allow these housing choices to be affordable, the city needs to increase the supply of housing units and implement the proper transportation infrastructure. The first place to start is to focus density in our urban centers. I am concerned that the City is spreading density evenly throughout, like peanut butter on bread, reducing housing choices, making everything the same, and diminishing the character of our neighborhoods.
Matching land use with transportation infrastructure is another important action needed to maintain the quality of life. That is why I want to match downtown Redmond with a Sound Transit stop.
Using transit to connect key sites on the Eastside will improve usability. Currently, I can get to downtown Bellevue or Seattle during rush hour, but anywhere else is a major challenge. Most of the congestion on the Eastside is from people traveling from one Eastside destination to another.
We need a regional mass transit system. I am supporting the transportation package this fall. I am disappointed it does not go all the way into downtown Redmond, but light rail will be closer to the City than if the package fails altogether.
For Redmond to increase the housing supply, we need to catch up with our infrastructure needs so the private sector wants to build here. For example, Redmond zoning calls for five story multi-use buildings in the downtown. The City Council shows great vision here. However, the City’s water system only has the capacity for one story buildings. Currently a developer would have to build the whole water system for the downtown core to construct one building in downtown. As Mayor, I would install the water pipe that matches the land use plan and use debt and hook up charges to finance the project so that growth pays for itself.
One measurement of a successful city is a place where you can live happily for all phases of your life. This means providing housing, transportation and recreation choices. At different ages, you need different options. Out of college you need an apartment. A new family may need a single family house with a yard for the dog. Once your youngest child graduates, you may choose a condo so you can travel without worrying about yard work.
To allow these housing choices to be affordable, the city needs to increase the supply of housing units and implement the proper transportation infrastructure. The first place to start is to focus density in our urban centers. I am concerned that the City is spreading density evenly throughout, like peanut butter on bread, reducing housing choices, making everything the same, and diminishing the character of our neighborhoods.
Matching land use with transportation infrastructure is another important action needed to maintain the quality of life. That is why I want to match downtown Redmond with a Sound Transit stop.
Using transit to connect key sites on the Eastside will improve usability. Currently, I can get to downtown Bellevue or Seattle during rush hour, but anywhere else is a major challenge. Most of the congestion on the Eastside is from people traveling from one Eastside destination to another.
We need a regional mass transit system. I am supporting the transportation package this fall. I am disappointed it does not go all the way into downtown Redmond, but light rail will be closer to the City than if the package fails altogether.
For Redmond to increase the housing supply, we need to catch up with our infrastructure needs so the private sector wants to build here. For example, Redmond zoning calls for five story multi-use buildings in the downtown. The City Council shows great vision here. However, the City’s water system only has the capacity for one story buildings. Currently a developer would have to build the whole water system for the downtown core to construct one building in downtown. As Mayor, I would install the water pipe that matches the land use plan and use debt and hook up charges to finance the project so that growth pays for itself.
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