Council positions 1, 3, 5, and 7 are up for vote this November
Position 1
Hank Myers
Currently serving as council member. No response submitted. Contact: HankMyers4Redmond@hankm.comVarisha M. Khan
No response submitted. Contact: info@electvarishakhan.com, www.electvarishakhan.comPosition 3
Jessica Forsythe
No response submitted. Contact: info@voteForsythe.com, www.voteForsythe.comDayle 'Hank' Margeson
Currently serving as council member. No response submitted. Contact: friends-of-hank@hotmail.com, www.friendsofhank.comPosition 5
Vanessa Kritzer
No response submitted. Contact: vanessa@electvanessakritzer.com, www.electvanessakritzer.comEugene Zakhareyev
No response submitted. Contact: www.EugeneForRedmond.usPosition 7
David Carson
Currently serving as council member. Contact: Carson4Redmond@outlook.com, www.Carson4Redmond.com
Do you have any direct experience with disability?
Yes. Physical: My mother was paralyzed for years; father-in-law was a paraplegic and uncle was a quadriplegic. Mental: Grandmother had a stroke which left her disabled mentally for years, she recovered and the last year of her life she suffered from memory issues. Also worked with developmentally disabled individuals in grocery.
1. HOUSING: How would you make affordable housing available to people with developmental disabilities?
We are generally working to make housing more affordable in Redmond with a variety of initiatives for builders to construct and manage developments for those who meet income guidelines for these units. We also support NGOs that help developmentally disabled residents with making sure they have access to food, shelter and long-term housing. HERO House comes to mind here.
2. SHELTER: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities have a safe place to sleep and stay?
The City of Redmond employs a homeless specialist who works daily with a variety of individuals to make sure they know and can access the services available to them for housing and shelter.
3. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities are receiving case management and the support needed to escape homelessness?
The city currently supports several agencies that do this. We do not provide services directly, but we do have metrics for those agencies we support with funds to make sure we're seeing the outcomes that we expect given our level of investment.
4. SAFETY: How would you ensure the safety of people with developmental disabilities in police interactions?
Well, training officers to identify different types of disabilities and the behavior that can result from them so that they can react appropriately. Reacting with the appropriate response is key to having successful interactions (for both parties).
5. SAFETY & JUSTICE: Would you support cross-training among professionals in the courtroom, police departments, victim assistance agencies and schools to prepare the justice community for situations involving people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities so they can receive equal justice?
Of course. Our police department does a lot of training to deal with residents with specific medical conditions (that can manifest in actions) as well as developmentally disabled and mentally ill residents.
6. ACCESS & ACCOMMODATIONS: How would you ensure access to straws in public areas?
I do not support bans of plastic straws.
7. JOBS: What would you do to increase job prospects for people with developmental disabilities?
I think we do this to some extent now by offering employers tax credits for employing the developmentally disabled. I know we have several non-profits that the city engages to help train those with disabilities to do jobs available in the community as well.
8. SAFETY: How will you ensure your city's streets, sidewalks and intersections are safe and accessible to everyone?
We have a "Complete Streets" ordinance that requires new streets to be built to a standard where everyone can use them. Also, the city has a program for pedestrian improvement initiatives which modernizes older pedestrian infrastructure.
9. TRANSIT: Do you think Lyft, Uber and other ride-share companies should be required to include wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets?
I think the market (Uber and Lyft) do offer those options but because they work across municipal boundaries, this is probably a question best answered by state representatives and senators who make state-wide policy. I do think it would be wise for these services to offer these options because they are represented in the population. However, because we do offer ride services through King County Metro, this may be less attractive to Uber and Lyft to do this, so this is not a simple question to answer.
10. TRANSIT: What will you do to expand transit service and improve reliability?
The Redmond City Council is consulted by Metro periodically on existing routes and updates to better serve our entire population. One big goal is to get Metro to make that "Last Mile" of transit from light rail to the household easier and more reliable. That goal is beneficial for developmentally disabled riders, seniors and generally good for encouraging more riders to leave the car at home to get where they need to go.
