Positions 2, 4, and 6 are up for vote in November
Position 2
Christie Malchow
Sitting mayor. Contact: malchow4sammamish@mail.com, www.malchow4sammamish.comDo you have any direct experience with disability?
No.
1. HOUSING: How would you make affordable housing available to people with developmental disabilities?
Sammamish has and continues to fund annually ARCH (A Regional Coalition for Housing). While ARCH doesn't specifically look at disability, they are an Eastside partner in providing affordable housing on the Eastside. To provide for additional housing, I would propose increasing our contribution to ARCH as well as for policy related changes to encourage housing to be more affordable. There may be flexibility through state law to provide flexibility in policy specific to those with disabilities to assist them with housing needs.
2. SHELTER: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities have a safe place to sleep and stay?
Sammamish currently allows encampments within the city. The requirements are no drugs, alcohol, a background check (for warrants) to ensure those residing there are safe. While this is a temporary living state, it is a safe place to sleep and stay out of the elements. Power is provided via the facility (typically a religious establishment) as well as fresh water and laundering facilities. I also support Bellevue's new shelter.
3. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities are receiving case management and the support needed to escape homelessness?
Sammamish is not a direct service provider, but we do fund many organizations that are direct service providers to ensure all have resources available to them. This includes mental health, food & clothing, services to provide guidance, and much more. While our grant funding to these providers is not a huge amount, we do participate in a regional consortium of municipalities with our grant funding so that the contributions are multiplied by others grant funding as well.
4. SAFETY: How would you ensure the safety of people with developmental disabilities in police interactions?
Public Safety is government's #1 priority. While Sammamish contracts our police services via King County Sheriff's office, the county trains its officers for interactions with all types of people, including those with disabilities. I certainly support the police in training in order to recognize issues to avoid escalations in interactions, I also support data bases that provide cross-agency information as to assist another agency in interactions or information that may assist in an interaction with an individual as to de-escalate a situation from becoming a serious encounter with negative consequences.
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?
Cross-training is key. Agencies and individuals need to know how to recognize the disability & then know how to facilitate in order to provide the best services, help, and assistance so they do not become victims themselves & can be better served in the at-large community.
6. ACCESS & ACCOMMODATIONS: How would you ensure access to straws in public areas?
I am not for banning plastic straws. It's wonderful we have different options available, but for those that need a plastic straw, there should absolutely be that option for them. For those that don't need plastic, they should have the option to choose another compostable option if they want to.
7. JOBS: What would you do to increase job prospects for people with developmental disabilities?
Sammamish has only a few commercial areas, and I know several of our local stores employ people with disabilities. Our new Town Center will certainly provide for more employment opportunities for a wide range of abilities. In order to increase job prospects, we must help by providing a means for them to get to the jobs, and that comes with better, improved transit options.
8. SAFETY: How will you ensure Sammamish's streets, sidewalks and intersections are safe and accessible to everyone?
I have advocated for increased sidewalks in Sammamish as we still have many rural-state roads from pre-incorporation. Sidewalks are critical for providing safe pedestrian access. Sammamish retrofits every intersections/crossing with yellow marked wheelchair accessibility ramps for ease.
9. TRANSIT: Do you think Lyft, Uber and other ride-share companies should be required to include wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets?
I certainly think it would be a good business practice for them to do so. It would help to facilitate the "last mile" issue we tend to have in Sammamish, where someone can take transit, but then is forced to walk a great distance to their place of residence. I do believe their business models have 1099 workers, and therefore maybe these ride-share companies could mandate within their own business models to have at least a percentage of accessible vehicles in their fleet & could encourage it so with incentives for drivers (ie. keep more of the fare if they are providing this accessibility over standard drivers).
10. TRANSIT: What will you do to expand transit service and improve reliability?
I am a huge advocate of increasing transit options in Sammamish. In fact, Sammamish recently added local transit to pick people up in neighborhoods and bring them to 228th where our bus stops are. I hope that we are able to work with King County Metro to further increase this service in the City in order to facilitate more ridership. I'm also advocating for Express Bus Service, something that we no longer have. We have every 30 minute bus service currently, but it takes so much longer & requires so many stops to actually get to Bellevue or Seattle. I am a strong advocate for Express service as a faster, easier mode of travel. Sammamish is also adding in an up-to 200 space park and ride on the north end (as part of the ST3 package) and I do hope with that park & ride that we'll have a better case for some of that Express service we so desperately need.
Karen McKnight
Contact: electkarenmcknight@gmail.comDo you have any direct experience with disability?
Yes. My most direct experience is my friend whose child is now 18 and my neighbor whose child just graduated from high school. I have a degree in psychology and in college I worked at Western State Hospital in the Children's Ward. I worked most directly with a severely autistic boy and some girls who had been physically abused and practiced self cutting and other destructive behaviors.
1. HOUSING: How would you make affordable housing available to people with developmental disabilities?
Sammamish and many cities around us have too high an average median income for federally funded affordable housing programs. Providing housing for I/DD people will have to come from special funds - maybe state funds, our city expanding ARCH financing programs or not-for-profit facilities. For the federal policies to be adjusted for regions is going to take federal policy changes, including funding for people with a lower percentage of median income. One of the families I know is setting up a trust for their son, but I know that is not an option for many. This question makes me more aware, so I can be mindful when our city decisions interface with this challenge.
2. SHELTER: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities have a safe place to sleep and stay?
In Sammamish, our homelessness is very low, and not visible. I've only heard stories of a city employee bumping into a homeless person at a park restroom. The Seattle idea of providing large spaces for shelter to move people off the streets and into shelters sounds like an option, as does shelters provided by not-for-profit companies and Amazon. Based on numbers, maybe separated areas that provide supportive shelter could be built within these shelters. It's crucial that every single program include psychological and social and medical services. I would think our state or county could legislate a program mandating licensed care givers or caregivers with a doctor's letter to access the shelters.
3. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities are receiving case management and the support needed to escape homelessness?
I think our local and state leaders need to be informed and then the vulnerability index needs to be changed. I think this will take talking and writing to county legislators and state legislators, to change the index so an updated index can funnel to the local city programs. I will also be mindful this issue comes directly to Sammamish. I have saved your website as a resource.
4. SAFETY: How would you ensure the safety of people with developmental disabilities in police interactions?
Sammamish contracts our police form King County sheriff's office. I understand Seattle police have had a lot of training in de-escalation the last few years and better training can go a long way to preventing future deaths. I think a state law could mandate disability training into city police forces.
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?
Yes. I think cross-training would be imperative.
6. ACCESS & ACCOMMODATIONS: How would you ensure access to straws in public areas?
Since environmentalist are working to eliminate plastic straws, maybe flexible plastic straws could be dispensed from medical facilities and pharmacies and labeled like a prescription.
7. JOBS: What would you do to increase job prospects for people with developmental disabilities?
This questionnaire is actually an educational piece. I think the best action is to do an educational campaign in any way you can afford to your state and county representatives, so they can put programs in place to educate the public and to encourage businesses to hire people with I/DD disabilities. Using pamphlets, and your website to explain the type of work I/DD people can do would be very helpful. Locally, in Sammamish, our communications department could push out educational pieces on hiring I/DD people.
8. SAFETY: How will you ensure your city's streets, sidewalks and intersections are safe and accessible to everyone?
Many streets in Sammamish have been upgraded to ADA standards. We do have areas that were developed without sidewalks, so that's an ongoing upgrade challenge that I feel needs to be addressed as budgets allow. Some areas even have open ditch drainage from when we were in unincorporated King County, up until 1999. We don't yet have a lot of bike lanes, so I will incorporate our need for ADA accessible ramps into my voting when I am on the city council. I am quite certain that when our Town Center is built, because it is all new construction, it will incorporate access for all.
9. TRANSIT: Do you think Lyft, Uber and other ride-share companies should be required to include wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets?
That would be nice if wheelchair accessible vehicles were included in their fleets. Since all the drivers are independent contractors with their own cars, Uber and Lyft would have to recruit drivers with those types of cars and unfortunately, charge a higher fee. Another option is King County Metro that has newly defined themselves as a mobility company. They are doing trials of a ride share system at the rate levels of their bus systems. I support this idea.
10. TRANSIT: What will you do to expand transit service and improve reliability?
That is my first priority in Sammamish. Even though I have not been elected yet, I have been actively seeking solutions and I think some leading edge options are in the works for Sammamish. We just implemented a small bus service called Community Ride, which does not have bus stops, but covers a geographic area in the center of town. It can be scheduled online. We will have a second park and ride by 2024. A new Marymoor Park and Ride in 2023 and light rail in 2024 will be ten minutes drive or commuter bus ride from Northern Sammamish by 2024. Check out Puget Sound Regional Council, PSRC.org to see the plans for our four county area. The big, expensive centers are around light rail. I was at a meeting yesterday where I expressed the need for transit options to get people to the light rail and main busses (the last mile). I was told after King County Metro completes their huge plate of current projects, they will have funds for smaller and more diverse projects. All the regional mobility companies (Sound Transit, King County Metro, Snohomish County's Community Transit) are meeting monthly to coordinate their plans. I will vote "yes" for any plans that are effective and affordable for Sammamish, which may include public-private partnerships.
Position 4
Karen Howe
Contact: Karen@electkarenhowe.com, www.electhowe.com
Do you have any direct experience with disability?
Yes. My son is bipolar. While not distinctly a developmental disability it affects his ability to live independently.
1. HOUSING: How would you make affordable housing available to people with developmental disabilities?
There is a significant lack of affordable or low-income housing in Sammamish. There is no Section 8 housing. By way of background, Sammamish is a wealthy suburb of mostly single-family homes.
To address more housing choices, I would 1) ensure that Town Center is built with at least the requisite 10-14% "affordable" housing, 2) create a land trust and partner with ARCH to create a more affordable housing option (such as a co-op), 3) encourage ADUs, 4) instead of creating an 'empty homes' tax, encourage non-resident home owners to rent their homes as small group homes with a case manager.
2. SHELTER: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities have a safe place to sleep and stay?
Because Sammamish is a suburb with limited transit, our homeless population is small and remains hidden. There are families that may spend the night in cars or couch-surfing, and there have been reports of one or two tent encampments in heavily wooded areas.
To ensure everyone spends the night in a safe place, I would 1) partner directly with our local YMCA to find short-term overnight housing, and 2) work with our social services commission to make sure residents knew about safe options and to connect them to services for longer term housing. Right now, residents would not think or know to turn to City Hall for guidance or support.
We have several families with differently-abled children. I would support the creation of a group home with a resident case manager to encourage residents as much personal freedom as possible.
3. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities are receiving case management and the support needed to escape homelessness?
I would support the funding of a case manager who worked with the social services commission to help connect residents to services.
4. SAFETY: How would you ensure the safety of people with developmental disabilities in police interactions?
Safety can be enhanced by appropriate police training. We contract with King County for services but can work with the sheriff's office for ongoing education and training. Educators and para-educators and Eastside Fire & Rescue would benefit from the same training
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?
Yes, I would support X-training. I am on King County's Children and Youth Advisory Board. We have oversight of $65M in funds as part of Best Start for Kids. One of our key initiatives is Zero Detention. We are focused on finding and funding those initiatives that will keep children from ever entering the juvenile justice system.
6. ACCESS & ACCOMMODATIONS: How would you ensure access to straws in public areas?
A complete ban on plastic straws would be too heavy-handed and could be carved out or accommodated with any plastic ban.
7. JOBS: What would you do to increase job prospects for people with developmental disabilities?
The Council could direct the City Manager to increase their recruitment outreach to differently-abled people. The city employees about 114 people in a variety of roles.
Working with state and local service providers, such as vocational rehabilitation agencies, American Job Centers, Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and other community-based organizations, would help us find qualified candidates with disabilities.
8. SAFETY: How will you ensure your city's streets, sidewalks and intersections are safe and accessible to everyone?
I will fund and execute the Transportation Master Plan which includes projects for completing sidewalk and ADA enhancements such as curb ramps. Blocking intersections is not allowed and violators are ticketed.
9. TRANSIT: Do you think Lyft, Uber and other ride-share companies should be required to include wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets?
Uber and Lyft historically don't have good accessibility records. Drivers often pass by passengers in wheelchairs even if the chair is collapsible. Our on-demand Metro shuttle may be a more reliable and faster service with drivers who are highly skilled and well trained. And Uber offers a WAV service for disabled and elderly passengers.
10. TRANSIT: What will you do to expand transit service and improve reliability?
I will work with regional partners in Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, and other municipalities to increase our transit service across the Sammamish Plateau. Right now, we only have support for rush hours and need more regular service outside of those limits.
