A weird thing just happened in the city of Sammamish.
Tom Corrigan
Press reporter
The final word has yet to be written, but local officials and residents have reason to be optimistic, maybe even happy.
At least for now, it would appear that, for the most part, the system — our much maligned, battered, defamed, smeared and generally cursed political system —actually, honest to God, worked.
Quit laughing, I’m serious.
For those not in the know, the city of Sammamish recently just about declared war on King County. The East Lake Sammamish Trail is the bit of territory the two sides have been bickering about, but in a slightly amazing piece of political maneuvering, county officials pulled a fast one and admitted that in leaving the city’s suggestion out of the trail plan, they made a mistake.
Ever heard that one before? A major governmental bureaucracy coming right out and saying, “We screwed up?” I wouldn’t swear to it in court, but I think this is a first for me and I’ve been covering local politics here and there for the better part of 25 years. Amazing that I can still be surprised.
Back to what happened.
Especially those living next to where the trail rings Lake Sammamish, residents have yelled about the county cutting down too many trees, ripping out screening vegetation and just generally, in their opinion, making a nuisance of themselves. The Sammamish City Council in turn yelled at both elected King County officials as well as the latter’s attendant directors, managers and so on.
Which brings us to an important question. Why weren’t the city’s suggestions included in the county plans? This is where the county says the mistake was made. It seems all those Sammamish comments basically got temporarily lost, shuffled into the wrong in-box.
Can you say, “Oops?”
Sammamish officials, particularly Mayor Tom Vance, have taken the high road — or the politically correct road — and said it really doesn’t matter how the county initially blew it, just so long as officials are willing to set things right now.
The lack of commentary on the county’s flub is also somewhat remarkable. It would have been incredibly easy for local officials to take some snarky potshots at the county, but they have stuck with civility, at least in public.
At last week’s marathon council meeting that featured more than two hours of public comment, Issaquah residents and others from outside Sammamish also managed to get themselves heard. Cyclists and other regular trail users argued for a full-sized trail design that can’t happen if the county listens to the complaints of locals.
Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici later said some homeowners near the trail are bound to end up disappointed. In other words, in the end, everybody should get some of what they wanted, but nobody will get everything. Isn’t that how this is all supposed to work?
At least for now nobody has walked recently on the waters of Lake Sammamish or anywhere else, but isn’t it kind of nice to see things work as they are supposed to? Call me jaded if you want, but I wouldn’t count on it happening again any time soon.