Three Big Issues

As the campaign enters the last 38 days, the question I am asked most often is,"What are the three biggest issues in the Mayoral campaign?"

1) Qualifications -- The job of Mayor is a full-time executive. I am the only candidate with executive management experience, serving over 10 years as the Chief Financial Officer at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.

2) Growth -- The State Growth Management law requires Redmond to absorb a certain amount of growth. I want to proactively manage this growth and focus it in Downtown and Overlake. By creating active centers with housing and shopping, we preserve our established single family neighborhoods. To accomplish this goal, the City needs to install the proper infrastructure where we want growth. Otherwise, development will occur on the edges of town and leave our centers continually hollow. (Why will growth continue to occur on the edges if we don't change? Because the cost to developers to install infrastructure is cheaper.)

3) Financial Sustainability -- The City cannot continue to raise taxes and not tell the citizens what they are buying. In the last budget process, my opponent supported the administration's budget that cut parks and transportation to pay for overhead functions. Even the Mayor said it was not sustainable and "not my problem" when she submitted the budget to Council (see October 24, 2006 study session tape). Instead, I led the Council to add 8 firefighters, restore the parks and transportation dollars that were removed, and to Live Within Our Means.

Please leave a comment or email me (john@johnmarchione.com) if you want to know about other issues.