Letter to the Editor

Vote for Odell

On Nov. 3, as we enter our second decade, Sammamish citizens have a real choice for Position 7. While candidate Jack Barry has contributed much to our community over the years, it is time for a positive change. That change is Tom Odell. I have known Tom and his family for the 20 years they have lived in Sammamish and know they are a family of integrity. Odell is focused, analytical, and above all, fair. He does not say one thing and do another.

Tom Odell has stated that a civic center with an aquatic facility is exactly what Sammamish families and kids need. On the other hand, his ‘family friendly’ opponent, Jack Barry, stated that a civic center is ‘wishful thinking’ (Sammamish Review Sept. 30, 2009). He also voted against the skate park and actively opposed the Sammamish Trail, two of the most popular family/kid activities in our city.

Tom Odell has been against the East Lake Sammamish Parkway project from the beginning and continually urged the council to cancel this project. Most citizens with whom he has spoken feel the same. On the other hand, his opponent initially said ‘let’s get on with it’ and supported the entire project during open discussions on the project. Now he claims that he has always only supported two small parts of the project.

Tom Odell has consistently emphasized that this project does not add additional traffic capacity and is not a good use of our road construction funds irrespective of where the dollars come from. Odell has never been in favor of a four-lane highway as his opponent insinuated in the Oct. 7 candidate forum.

As the ballots arrive in the mail, I hope that our citizens will take time to get the facts straight. We need a fresh leader who listens, won’t backtrack when citizens react and refuses to take contributions from special interests. It is time for a positive change on the Sammamish council in Position 7. Please join me in voting for Tom Odell.

John Knie

Sammamish

Sammamish Review, October 13, 2009, Letter to the Editor

Rip Van Winkle awakes

I rather enjoyed the Review article on Sept. 30 comparing Tom Odell and Jack Barry. Especially amusing was that Barry believes he still has time to ‘educate’ the Municipal League about the real Jack Barry to improve his ratings.  If I understand this correctly, Barry has slept his way through the past four years and wants us to believe that he is actually serious about the City Council. After all, his friend convinced him to put up signs. Yup, he must be serious.  I was not amused, however about Barry’s statement that ‘a comprehensive recreation center with an aquatic facility in the Towne Center area is “wishful thinking.” As far as I can tell, a recreation center has always been “wishful thinking” to Barry. Of course, we would already have a center had the council, which Barry has been a member of since the founding of Sammamish, made it a priority in the beginning.

It is well past time for Barry to move on and to give others the opportunity to deliver on what Sammamish families actually need.

Michael J. O’Connell

Sammamish

Back to the Parkway  (Please note that this letter refers to Tom Odell’s opponent, Jack Barry as the councilor.)

As I watch the city council candidate forum I am intrigued as an incumbent city councilor back peddles on his past position on East Lake Sammamish.  It is public record that the councilor supported the wasteful project.  At every opportunity, he voted for it, saying “let’s just get on with it” and turned down requests from citizens and even other council members to review alternatives as well as requests that the first phase not include sidewalks — that even the city recognized no one was going to use. 

Now as he is more enlightened, the incumbent councilor says he only wants what has been done to date, and boasts that the $9 million the city spent so far on phase one was well spent and is already being utilized.  The councilor claims we have a safe intersection, sidewalks used by children waiting for the school buses, and the filtration system is protecting Lake Sammamish. 

The Inglewood Hill intersection is now under its third reconstruction (not a bragging point). It is still questionable whether it will be any safer.  The sidewalks are not being used, by pedestrians or schoolchildren awaiting buses.  If the city councilor checked he would see that despite his assertion, our children do not wait for the bus on the sidewalk but 30 feet up the street away from traffic.  The filtration system was not needed until the council put in the sidewalks and we had more spillover. Now we have spent millions more of our money on a filtration system and the on-going maintenance for a project the city councilor now says he is in favor of stopping.  The only thing being used are the newly planted flowers — the deer have already eaten them all on the east side — and I expect them to go after the ones in the medians causing further havoc and accidents on ELSP. All of which citizens warned the city council in 2006 when an alternate plan was presented.

We need real cost effective transportation solutions. Though one can hope the deer will use the costly sidewalk.

Ramiro Valderrama

Who is Tom Odell? Tom is a former executive with significant experience with major US corporations in financial and transportation management, international marketing, and cost analysis.  Tom, his wife Ruth, and children David and Annie are 20 year residents of Sammamish.  He is a Vietnam-era veteran, US Army Combat Engineer NCO.  Tom’s education includes an MBA and International Relations degrees.

Why is he running?  It is time for a change on the Council.  We need a new team with new ideas and fresh perspectives to better deal with future city challenges.

What are Tom Odell’s Hot Button issues?  1.Traffic and Transportation – reducing traffic congestion in Sammamish; and providing faster and more cost-effective road and transportation solutions.  2.Fiscal Responsibility – reprioritizing city spending to needed items and preservation of our city’s roadway infrastructure.  3.Community Center and Community Services – provide a real Community Center with a pool as well as cost-effective city services that keep up with growing community needs.

What does Tom bring to the Council? 36 years of experience in financial and transportation management, international marketing, and cost analysis including years as an airline network planner and as a comptroller for a $60 million/month budget; a  proven ability to handle difficult and complex projects.  He will devote the 20 – 40 hours a week of preparation that are needed to do the job well.  He will be prepared and remain engaged.

Vote for Tom Odell in Position 7!

Sammamish Review, Our Choices for Council, October 21, 2009

ODELL ENDORSED BY SEATTLE TIMES

On Friday, October 23, 2009 the Seattle Times recommends Tom Odell for Sammamish City Council, Position 7.  The Times refers to Odell’s financial controller background with an eye toward reducing, deferring or eliminating each city budget item.  They also state that opponent Jack Barry has not earned an endorsement for another term.   Read the complete article at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2010119813&zsection_id=2008831910&slug=edit23sammami

Our choices for City Council

Sammamish Reporter
Jul 27 2009, 10:25 AM · UPDATED

Last week the Municipal League of King Country released its ratings of 113 primary candidates running for local offices, including County Executive, County Council, Port of Seattle Commission, Mayoral and City Council races for Auburn, Kent, Seattle, and Sammamish.

The Municipal League did not undertake a review of the candidates for Issaquah City Council.

The ratings are based on four criteria: knowledge, involvement, effectiveness and character.

They assess each candidate’s potential to be effective in office and their ability to serve the community.

Political affiliations or stands on specific issues are not considered and candidates are not rated against each other.

The Municipal League ratings of the candidates for Sammamish City Council were:  Pos. 1 -John James: Adequate and Erica Tiliacos: Very Good; Pos. 3-John Curley: Good and Thomas Vance: Very Good; Pos. 5-Don Gerend: Outstanding and Michael Rutt: Adequate; Pos. 7- Jack Barry: Adequate and Tom Odell: Good

For more information on the ratings, including candidate questionnaires, go to www.munileague.org/candidate-evaluations/previous-ratings/2009/sammamish-city-council

This year’s ratings are the result of the work of 65 citizens from throughout King County who volunteered for the Municipal League’s Candidate Evaluation Committee.

They studied the public record, reviewed candidate questionnaires, checked references and conducted live interviews with the candidates.

Each rating was carefully reviewed by the Municipal League’s trustees. Candidates received one of six ratings: Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Adequate, Not Qualified, or No Active Campaign.

The Municipal League attempted to contact every candidate. Candidates were rated even if they declined to participate in the process.

This year’s Candidate Evaluation Committee conducted interviews in Seattle, Bellevue and Renton, and was led by Gabe Meyer, Chair of the Candidate Evaluation Program.

The Municipal League of King County is a nonpartisan volunteer organization that has worked to ensure good government that is open, effective and accountable since 1910.

Its a balloon

Tom does want to be a positive change on the Council!  It will take us ALL, and so below are listed several volunteer opportunities that may interest you.  Please let us know if you would like to help.

• Host a neighbor/friend gathering and invite Tom to attend.
• Write or sign a letter to the editor endorsing Tom.
• Farmer’s Market Wednesday Team – to help distribute campaign items.
• July 4^th Team – to help distribute campaign items.
• August 29^th Sammamish 10^th Birthday Team – to help distribute campaign items.
• Weekend coffee shop customer – wear Tom’s campaign button and pass out campaign items.
• Graphic design for flyers and door hangers– help us create an eye catching flyer with voter appeal!
• Add updates to Tom’s website.
• Help write Thank You notes.
• Yard sign placement in approved public areas.
• Display yard sign in your yard!
• Display campaign logo in your vehicle or house window.
• Door-to-door flyer distribution.
• Wear your campaign buttons on Wednesdays and Weekends!
• Help prep for candidate forums.
• Miscellaneous other tasks we have probably forgotten!!!!

A resident of Sammamish for 20 years, Odell lives in the Heritage Hills neighborhood in the northern half of the city.  Odell believes Sammamish is a wonderful place to live – and he is not alone.  Money Magazine recently ranked Sammamish as the 11^th best place in which to live and he wants to work to make it even better!  His first priority will be to listen to the citizens and advocate for the issues that will bring real quality of life improvements to Sammamish.

Odell initially plans to focus his attention on four major issues that he believes are important to all Sammamish residents:

Improving Traffic Congestion and Providing Transportation Alternatives – by revising the design of the East Lake Sammamish Parkway project to make wiser use of transportation dollars.  He believes that there are other needed projects that will provide greater traffic relief for Sammamish citizens.   He will also focus on improving bus services and completing the integration of the city’s trail system.

Reprioritizing City Spending – in these tough economic times – turning away from unnecessary expenditures on unneeded or nice-to-have items to those which are truly needed and which offer real quality of life improvements for Sammamish residents.  These include such items as maintaining and upgrading existing roads and streets along with working for more community services such as a teen or community center, swimming pool/aquatic center, youth counseling, a new YMCA, and Boys and Girls Clubs.

Emphasizing Thoughtful and Viable City Development – that would provide additional commercial and residential options that meet the needs of the community, reduce the need for travel off of the plateau, and which are provided in a financially viable manner while maintaining the character of Sammamish.

Balancing Property Rights and Values – with the need to grow the city while protecting our shorelines and watershed by improving control of storm water runoff , the single biggest source of pollution for our community’s lakes and ultimately a threat to all Sammamish property values.  This must be accomplished in a way that is both effective and fair for the property owner with clear and easy-to-understand regulations.

Odell has regularly attended City Council and Planning Commission meetings for many months to fully familiarize himself with the important issues facing the city.  As a retired executive with an extensive marketing, planning and financial background, Odell has the temperament and experience to devote to being a successful City Council member.

He has an MBA from the University of Minnesota and 36 years’ experience in airline planning, marketing and finance, product development, and aircraft management.  An 18 year veteran of the airline industry, Odell retired last year after a further 18 years with The Boeing Company where he was a regional marketing director with account responsibilities in Europe and Asia. His extensive international travels have given him a unique perspective on what makes a great city and why Sammamish is such a wonderful place to live and is what gives him a passion to help keep it that way.

Odell, 64, has lived in Sammamish with his family since 1989.  His wife Ruth, a long-time teacher on the plateau with the Lake Washington School District, is currently working at Blackwell Elementary.  Their two adult children are both graduates of Eastlake High School and Seattle area universities.  Daughter Anne is now a marketing director for a local communications company and son David is a UW Medical School graduate and surgeon in Boston who ultimately hopes to return to the northwest with his wife and their daughter.

“Now is the time for me to give back to the community that I have been a part of for the past 20 years” said Odell.  I want to help ensure Sammamish stays a great place to live for future generations”, says Odell.  He is committed to give the time he knows this job requires.  Tom Odell wants to be a part of a positive change on the Council.