2007 COUNTY ELECTION GUIDE:

Updated 4-28-07: Up for grabs are three council seats (currently held by Jim Flower [who has declared intention to run], Derek Boyd and John Seehuus. Mayor Tolson will probably decide not to run again, leaving it open for, both John Seehuus and Carolyn Eslick, who have both declared their intention to run..

NEWS SOURCES - UPDATED 4-29-07:

Everett Herald, Seattle-PI, Seattle Times, Sacramento Bee, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Rush Limbaugh, Chicago Tribune, Wired Magazine, Associated Press, LA Times, Washington Post, Drudge Report, Yahoo, Valley Review, The Monroe Monitor and Valley News

NEWS

4-21: U.S. 2 receives $700K in state budget for 40 miles of 18'inch wide centerlinerumble strips

4-18: $700,000 in centerline rumble strips for U. S. 2 may become reality

4-14: Bronze statue of local Sultan bronze sculptor Kevin Pettelle is stolen

"Election Day Registration Cricized"

(4-1: "Why traffic is a mess in Monroe" (Visit the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition's website for more info)

(3-30): Spada Lake spills into Sultan River; ensures ample water for county

OTHER "STUFF"

G.R.I.T.'s 2002 RECORDING WARS - updated 3/21/06
(When the City tried to stop G.R.I.T. from recording public meetings, with the help of the Boucher Boys, then-Mayor C. H. Rowe, and others....)

FOOD BANK: Put a pre-addressed food bank envelope in your "bills to pay" folder and send a check monthly: $5, $10, whatever you can spare!
For more info, click here.

Tuesday, May 1st:

• CORRECTION: The link to last week's Monroe Monitor article re a timeline detailing attempts by certain Sultan council officials to eliminate the SPD and replace it with the county's sheriff's dept., was incorrect. Instead of directing readers to the webpage which provided LINKS to news stories and other supporting documentation, it directed reders toa previous and incorrect draft of a timeline on this issue, which also did not contain links. Here is a corrected version of that webpage, with our apologies for the confusion. (It is anticipated that enhancements will follow.)
• There is a PLANNING BOARD MEETING TONIGHT at 7:00 PM. Here's the Agenda

Saturday, April 28:

• AUDIO & PHOTOS of April 26, 2007 Snohomish Co. Sheriff's Dept. Presentation to Council & Citizens
• SULTAN CHIEF FRED WALSER RECOGNIZED BY HIS PEERS: The Snohomish County DUI Taskforce presented Sultan Chief Walser with the 10th Annual Gayle Whitsell Award as the person who has contributed the most to traffic safety during 2006.
• County Press Release Re DUI Taskforce Awards (SPD Chief Walser's award is named, as was an award given to SPD Officer Sean Gillespie)

Posted Wednesday, April 25th:

• The City of Sultan Press Release issued on the Council meeting Thursday, 4/26 at the Sultan Middle School, at which the County Sheriff's Dept. will make a presentation to the City Council: The statement contained in this press release that a county contract is being considered "...as a result of a $57,000 budget overrun in 2006 due to unexpected staff shortages...." could not be more misleading. Chief Walser did everything right; he continually and repeatedly informed the mayor and council in several public meetings of the expenses the City was incurring due to high cost of overtime personnel required to provide (minimal) security coverage for the City. The PRIMARY REASON O/T, temporary officers were needed was because of COUNCIL'S FAILURE TO ACT by maintaining its legally mandated levels of service. this failure allowed police staffingto fall to dangerously low levels. If these were expenses were "unexpected," the blame lies entirely and solely with the council/city.
• Storm's statement (and others') at the 4/12 city/council meeting related to its lack of effective communication re the above-stated 4/26 sheriff presentation; I strongly encouraged the city to Do The Right Thing and mail a flyer to every household (and agreed to "financially participate" in that effort). To her credit, City Administrator Knight agreed. After discussing what "citizen-friendly) content might be included, the flyer was mailed 4/20 Friday afternoon to all Sultan residents.
• ACTION ITEMS ON 4-26 COUNCIL MEETING: Despite statements by City officials that this council meeting would only include light-weight "houekeeping"-type action items, two of the three actions/decisions listed below have been added to this week's council meeting agenda. Two of those actions are anything but "housekeeping" items. Our primary concern is the PA system within the SMS environment, the audio of which is "echoey," making it difficult, if not impossible, for those of us with hearing loss to understand what's being said -- not to mention the quality of the recorded audio for citizens unable to attend the meeting..
  • Approval of $10.0 million PWTF (Public Works Trust Fund) Grant Application for construction of Sultan's Wastewater Treatment Plant.
  • Approval for purchase of a Public Works truck (below $50,000)
  • Approval to proceed to revise the final decision-making authority on quasi-judicial (i.e., primarily land use matters) from the councik to Hearing Examiner John Galt
• NEW G.R.I.T. WEBPAGE which contains news links supporting a Traci Hoenstine article published in this week's MONROE MONITOR (The article is a chronological timeline running from 2000 thru 2006 related to relentless attempts by certain Sultan anti-police factions to discard the SPD and switch over to COUNTY law enforcement personnel. NOTE: As of this morning, 4/25, The Monitor's website has not yet been updated to include Editor Robinson's Opinion, or the timeline authored by Sultan resident Traci Hoenstein. We suggest you cough up the puny 50 pennies this week's Monitor will cost you, and read it before tomorrow night's sheriff's presentation/proposal.

COMING this summer: The long-awaited Gold Dust Days event in Gold Bar! (pdf file, 147 kb)

Posted Thursday, April 19th:

Everett Herald article: Monroe Councilman Ken Berger (wisely) resigns just before recall petitions hit the streets.... G.R.I.T.'s Ken Berger Recall page (for details on the recall). Intelligent speculation as to Berger's action reveal complications arising from (at lesat) two formal complaints filed recently with the Washington State Bar Association re the $20,000 PDC fine resulting from Berger's campaign contribution practices, and continuing entanglements from a Berger-owned and -piloted waterplan crash into Lake Isabel, the issues of which include the plane's jet fuel and its future pollution of that pristine lake (below are links you can copy-and-paste into your browser window from the Monroe Monitlor re that crash. Regardless of the speculation of other pressures being applied to Mr. Berger, and any question as to whether or not these events have been of Mr. Berger's own making or he has simply been an unwitting "victim" as he may try to claim, two things are clear: He's had a very tough 12 months, and he has (finally) done The Right Thing by resigning.

• www.monroemonitor.com/PDFS/012307pdfs/0123073.pdf (Re jet fuel)
• www.monroemonitor.com/PDFS/012307pdfs/012307.html (story re ditching into the lake)

7-8:30 PM Wednesday, April 18th BLOCK WATCH MEETING - Something you can do easily (and without any expense) to protect your family and property

Posted Tuesday, April 17th:

WEBPAGE REMOVED: The webpage we posted earlier this morning has been removed because the Monroe Monitor article it was supposed to support, was pulled last night. We were not advised until late morning today. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience inadvertently caused by this situation, over which we had no control.

Posted Monday, April 16th:

• Audio of April 12th Sultan Council Meeting
• Transcription of Public Comments from 4/12/07 Council Mtg. (in Word, pdf)
• Update on Block Watch: Chief Walser advised that almost 30 residents from Junction Lane and Depot Lane showed up at a privately-organized meeting last Saturday (4/14), for a presentation given by Susan York. We urge all Sultan residents to attend the BLOCK WATCH organizational meeting scheduled for Wed., 4/18, from 7-8:30.

Posted Sunday, April 15th:

• Bronze statue of local Sultan bronze sculptor Kevin Pettelle is stolen from an Everett park. Pettelle is known world-wide for his artistry, the reason for which are clear by checking out his website. Mr. Pettelle has also generously donated his art to Sultan causes, and one of the most expensive and emotionally-moving of which is the statue that resides in the foyer of the Sultan city hall. (Silence is consent, especially when criminal laws are broken. We strongly encourage anyone with information about the sculpture to call the Everett Police Department's tip line at 425-257-8450.) Sample Pettelle's artistic genius here, on his website.
• TRANSCRIPTION excerpt from Feb. 22nd hearing - Council-Fallgatter verbal exchange re Sultan's Public Participation Policy. Interesting discussion and perspectives of council members who clearly don't understand levels of service. Of special interest is one of C/M Champeaux's comments, which is especially illuminating as it relates to what information should, and should not, be revealed to the public ("I'd rather not have a lynch mob in here every [unintelligible] meeting." (I guess this was his failed attempt at humor.) (Transcription in Word, in pdf)
• AND SPEAKING OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION....Here's a link to McVittie V's Final Decision & Order (FDO) for a 2000 citizen appeal before the CPSGMHB, a great primer for GMA newbies (which definitely includes a majority of Sultan's electeds and officials)
• Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce Press Release: There is a need for musicians, artists, vendors (food and merchandise) and other participants for Sultan's 24th annual Shindig, the dates of which are set for Friday through Sunday, July 13-15.

Posted Tuesday, April 10th:

CORRECTION (4/15) - Boyd's "indiscretion" reported below is his "The Outdoor Guy" column which appears in his brother Dusty's bi-monthly Valley Review, the March 22nd issue. As of the April 5th issue, this paper finally has an online presence, at: www.thevalleyreview.com COUNCILMAN DEREK BOYD'S STANCE ON DRUG USE: As stated in a recent local column, the generally clear-thinking Councilman Boyd is guilty of the worst possible judgment in condoning the regular use and abuse of "Doctor Greedbud," a.k.a. Maryjane, a.k.a. Pot, by a friend, and admitting to easing his "own personal demons in the haze of ever increasing alcohol consumption." Wha-a-a???? Did Derek, a sitting councilman and the brother of Dusty, the editor/publisher of The Valley Review whose publication recently manufactured Sultan's "Crime Wave," thereby laying the red carpet for Sultan to switch to the sheriff's department for its law enforcement, really say that? In print?? At the risk of quoting Keanu Reeves, you'll forgive me if I say, "Whoa, dude!")

All humor aside, with the statements contained in that column, Mr. Boyd has broken his Oath of Office (and assistsed in the commission of a crime).

RE POLICE:

• The more things "change" the more they stay the same: Aug. 9, 2002 Letter to the Herald Editor re police Brouhaha in Sultan. (We understand that a citizen will soon be publishing a timeline of events which indicate previous efforts to "dispose" of the SPD.)
• TRANSCRIPTION: Comments by City officials at recent meetings re the focus and form of the March 15th Town Meeting, and a Jim Flower-requested Discussion Item debriefing at its March 22nd council meeting (in Word, pdf). (And, boy, do some council members sound like whiners). These files include a graph re SPD costs as % of General Fund budget.
• HANDOUT distributed by City at March 15th Public Meeting Re SPD (in pdf, 39 kb)

Is City's Public Communication improving? It seems they still have a way to go, judging from their most-recent utility billing Calendar of Events and a website posting:

• Website (left-side "events" listing): It gives the start time for the Thursday, April 26th "Council" meeting (at which the Sheriff's dept. will give its apples-to-apples cost comparison at the Sultan Middle School) as 6:00 PM, but the City's Utility billing gives the CORRECT START TIME of "7:00 PM."
• Sultan Utility Bill Events Calendar: Rather than the CORRECT DATE of Tuesday, May 15th, the billing gives April 15th (Sunday) as the date for Sultan's 4:00-7:00 PM Open House re Sultan's Shoreline Master Plan Regulations and INCREASES in its SEWER & STORMWATER RATES. One guarantee is that your wallets will shrink as the city's population swells.

Posted Friday, April 6th:

• NEWLY-codified Sultan Municipal Code (updated as of March, 2007): FULL CODE (3.4 mb pdf) or Chapter 16 UDC (Unified Development Codes) only (1.5 mb pdf)
• 6:00 PM, Thursday, APRIL 26th at Sultan's Middle School, the County Sheriff's office will be giving their "Apples-to-apples" comparison to the public. The City has a meeting scheduled to inventory all SPD assets and capital equipment and facilities with Administrator Deborah Knight next week, but the public has not been invited to listen in.
• Hey-hey-hey! The Bouchers' Valley Review now has a website -- and the "About us" page finally admits who's responsible for its publication.

Posted Tuesday, April 3rd:

• March 22nd council meeting - Links to audio, event summary, transcription of C/M comments, and documentation re 2007 Budget Amendments (which were not distributed or made available prior to the council meeting). If folks want to know what's REALLY going on re Sultan's finances, we urge you to review that document and listen to the council's carefully guarded discussions.
• Also: We have updated our AGENDA and AUDIO main pages

Posted Friday, March 30th:

Charging for Clean Water? The creation of Sultan's Stormwater Utility: Is it needed? Why is it needed? and How much will it cost? Based on this PHONE SURVEY performed by Shockey Brent (pdf, 176 kb), the cost can range between $3.10 and $13.41 per month. This phone survey and the FAQ sheets on this issue were distributed during the Planning Board's March 20th meeting. Give your input to the Board next Tuesday (April 3rd), which will be forwarding recommendations onto the city council. (We have updated our Water Quality webpage)

Posted Wed., March 28th:

• New webpage: Kenneth Berger's Recall
• Pro-Sultan Police letter from The Broughtons, asking the City to retain the SPD.

Posted Wednesday, March 21st:

• 6:00 PM - BEFORE Sultan's Council Meeting - Council and city staff and officials will meet with John Galt, the city's hearing examiner, to discuss the long-standing problems with the city's code (222 kb, pdf) which made the approval process for plat applications during 2006 so onerous, time-consuming, messed-up and all of which cost the taxpayers -- and citizens -- A LOT of additional time and expense (i.e., legal fees, staff time, needless hearing examiner fees paid by the city).

Posted Monday, March 19th:

• Audio of March 15th Town Meeting Re Future of Sultan Police
• "Jim Flower Manifesto" (in Word, pdf): More than a declaration to run again for Sultan City Council, he's thrown his black hat (which he might wish to consider changing to white now) into the ring with a challenge for everyone to get off their couches and get involved. Good for you, Jim.
• Sultan City Council Agenda Packet

Posted Friday, March 16th:

• NEW! Audio from Feb. 22nd meeting now available

Posted Thursday, March 15:

Former Sultan Councilman and local physician Mark Raney and his "Rapperee" family Irish singing/dancing group's revelries, revealed in this Seattle Times article (3/14)

Posted Wednesday, March 14:

• Herald story 3/14: "Filling marsh brings a fine" in the City of Snohomish. We predict the $88,000 fine will eventually fall into govt. bureacracy's Black Hole of non-accountability. If so, such "non-action" would be akin to the penalty mandated by the Army Corps of Engeineers in 2000 against the City of Sultan: The City was directed to create compensatory wetlands to replace those destroyed during the city's illegal LID 97-1 (sewer line) construction along Wagley Creek. Sadly, the Corps (Kristina Tong) and the City have been bartering other alternatives; this removes the sting from the City's irresponsible actions and the Corps' penalty. More importantly, however, is that it also incentivizes the City to continue to ignore and flout environmental laws, and remove oversight of its quickly-disappearing natural resources:
• WETLAND "GROOMING" -- Transforming worthless swampland into Liquid Gold, the Sultan Way
• Here's a short transcription (in Word, pdf)of how a complaint from a Sultan resident (his second on record in council) was handled related to sediment runoff from Sultan Basin Road which is coating the bottom of Wagley Creek. (And this is just a teensy tip of the iceberg of the substantial activity by us and other taxpayer adcocates who have been working behind the scenes with the city and DOE, asking them to do their jobs and eliminate the muck and mud running into Wagley from Timber Ridge- and Sultan Basin Road-related construction activities since last August. Yes, it is the developer's responsibility to control his construction activities, but it is up to oversight agencies to ensure the developer does a legal job. And in this situation that means both DOE and the City.
• AUDIO OF March 8, 2007 Council Meeting (which also includes links to audio of the Sheriff's presentation and the Critical Areas Ordinance 6 PM hearing)

Posted Sunday/Monday 3/11-3/12:

• Audio for March 8th Snohoco Sheriff's presentation to Council and content of their Powerpoint presentation)
• An interesting link for a COALITION OF SMALL CITIES to provide police services & training (sent to us by a local resident). This links to the City of Snoqualmie's webapge King County's "Small Cities Police Coalition" Here's a pdf file re the Small Cities Police Coalition.

Posted Thursday, March 8th:

• Wild Sky (FINALLY) clears House Natural Resources Committee (2nd Dist. R. Larsen press release)
• U. S. 2 Safety Coalition webpage updated; RDP nears final form.

Posted Tuesday, March 6th:

Council Agenda Packet Links provided as individual files, or within a complete packet): HIGHLIGHTS:

• Hiring former City of Mt. Vernon Finance Director(291 kb pdf),who served in that city from 1984-2003): This individual would be used in Sultan on an ad hoc/as-needed basis. Interesting is the probably-little-known fact that Rick Cisar served for several years as a City Planner in Mt. Vernon, the connection severed in a mutually-agreeable manner, apparently via a non-disclosure contract, after confusion arose over city annexation policies.

Per-hour costs for these services will be $50.00 rather than $33.65/hr, were a permanent Finance Director hired at a $70K salary. An estimated total of 400 hours will be needed.

(Question: Doesn't the city think it needs a full-time finance person? HELL-O??? That will certainly be great news to all Sultan citizens, who continue to pay rising rates for previous and continuing mistakes in its development planning, in its failure to either maintain, or legally revise, minimum police levels of staffing, and for its failure to address and raise developers' impact fees to pay for essential public "utilities" such as minimally-acceptable roadways, not to mention the lack of any transportation plan (see above Fallgatter decision).

• HISTORY AS PROLOGUE: HOW IMPORTANT ARE REFERRALS BY CURRENT SULTAN OFFICIALS TO THE NEW-HIRE PROCESS? Building Official Craig Bruner referred the city to Bart Dalmasso as a possible planning commissioner. Then-Sultan Mayor C. H. Rowe was informed by his associates of Rick Cisar's availability (then unemployed after departing the Cty of Mt. Vernon) and readiness to work for Sultan. Referrals and past associations can often be a positive thing, but based on the City's track record thus far, more in-depth scrutiny is perhaps the wisest course of action.
• PRESENTATION by the County's Sheriffs department (925 kb pdf) re how it can better serve the city than its OWN police department. Citizens' voices NEEDED at this meeting, and at the TOWN HALL MEETING on this same issue: 6:30-8:30, Thursday, March 15th.
• A Rick Cisar "Planning Report" detailing brief background on the City's still-outstanding compensatory wetland mitigation ordered by the Army Corps of Engineers in 203, and a recent onsite visit by the Corps' Kristina Tong, and the City's D. Knight, Cisar and Jon Stack. (A surprise to us was a mention in this report that the Corps had approved the City's mitigation plan March 17, 2003, despite my previous Public Disclosure Act request for a copy of that Plan, which died of neglect.)
• Not included on the City's agenda (initially) is a 6:00 PM HEARING related to minor revisions to the City's CAR/CAO (Critical Area Regulations/Ordinance)
• We urge citizens to read the entire agenda, if not its specific contents.

Posted Sunday, March 4th:

• Message from Sultan's VIC: IRS announces special tax relief (re storm damages)

Posted Thursday, March 1st:

• Herald article 3/1, "Sultan considers cutting police": This is more than mere consideration of a change: After the council's and City's 2006 negligence in allowing SPD levels of service (i.e., minimum mandated staffing) to fall significantly below legal limits and refusing to do anything about either lowering those legal limits to be compliant with their development codes, and/or pausing non-compliant plat applications in their march to a John Galt hearing so those changes could be made before sending them unprotected into that arena, the City is the author of most of the "problems" with the police, as well as significant budget cost overruns.
• Some of those budget overruns include $57,000 in overtime charges for police because of short-staffing (in part due to injuries and staff attrition); unnecessary city statt, consultant and H.E. (Galt) fees for allowing development plats already in the pipeline to continue unabated, regardless of non-compliance issues related to parks and police; and significantly-higher legal fees in 2006 (almost double budgeted amounts) due to a myriad of lawsuits descending upon the city and other unexpected legal fees. Included in the legal fee cost overruns were City-ordered appearances by Attorney Thom Graafstra to defend its indefensible GMA/Comp plan actions in a desperate attempt to "win one for the gipper" before the Growth Management Hearings Board, which constituted a vain and pointless attempt to defend against incompetent -- or Tolson-ordered actions -- by City Planner Rick Cisar. The cost-effective and intelligent manner of handling these appeals would have been simply to plan in a legally-compliant manner, as the city has always been burdened, by legal mandate, to do.
• It seems obvious what the council wants to do, if only because of its "surprise" when presented with a $57,000 due bill for the SPD overtime wages mentioned above: They approved it, They knew the severe police shortages. They did nothing. What other conclusions can be reached? And even though I sincerely hope I am mistaken as to their intentions, because of their shot-in-the-foot actions/non-actions noted above, and the City's culpability and apparent lack of concern in allowing both police staffing and equipment to fall to desperately-inadequate levels, I can draw no other conclusion.
  • (Here's a brief memo Chief Walser submitted for the Council Retreat Agenda packet to advise "How the City got to this point," the events of which the council was already fully aware. And, hey, if they were not, then it's at least four years overdue for a change to a Council that Cares. (Mayor and four council positions are up for grabs this November.)
• TOWN MEETING RE FUTURE OF POLICE SERVICES IN SULTAN: 6:30 PM, Thursday, March 15th, Sultan Middle School.
• News Flash! "All City of Sultan Council Members' emailboxes to be open for public scrutiny!" (Yeah, right. When pigs fly....But a Renton Councilman is doing just that, and suggesting his fellow council members do the same. (In Sultan, most council members' emailboxes are ALWAYS "over quota," too full to receive communication and input from taxpayers.)

Posted Saturday, Feb. 24th:

• Recall Petition filed yesterday against Monroe Councilman Kenneth Berger (pdf, 50 kb)
• Accuracy of the City's Minutes: How much Power the People hold versus the City's approved version (and what are the legal ramifications when errors in material fact exist?
• AUDIO FROM SULTAN COUNCIL'S RETREAT (2/10/07) RE SULTAN SECURITY & POLICE ISSUES (and the perception of mistrust that exists among citizens about council actions)
  • Before-lunch Round-robin discussions of councilmembers' opinions re police, held before lunch break (approx. 21 minutes, 4.0 mb)
  • After-lunch discussions in three parts: Part 1, 3.7 min., mb; Part 2, min., 4.1 mb; Part 3, min., 3.7 mb
  • Snohomish Co. Sheriff Presentation to council
  • Final Comments & Discussion after Sheriffs presentation
• City of Sultan's 2007 Budget (1.2 mb pdf)
• City's CFP (Capital Facilities Plan, 2.3 mb, pdf)

Posted Thursday, Feb. 22nd:

• AUDIO: Sultan Planning Board Meeting and Hearing on CAO (Critical Area Ordinance) revisions
• How much do consultants cost taxpayers? $3,309,877 (from 2003 thru 2006). That equates to an average of $788 for each man, woman and child in Sultan, or $2,218 for each Sultan family (based on the city's planning guideline of 2.7 people per single-family home.)

Posted Monday, Feb. 19th:

• New Ecology stormwater rules went into effect last Friday; county and cities are pushing back, saying they're too onerous
  • Later today we'll post some photos as to why these new rules are needed. More specifically why Sultan needs them, as well as why it's in desperate need of "real" (or, truly, any, at this point) code enforcement in the area of stormwater control, despite a full-time Building Inspector on its payroll.
  • Developer construction oversight in 2006 has been supplied by a professional firm -- Lawrence Consultants whose contract is up for renewal as a "consent" item at this Thursday's council meeting. Most expenses are wisely charged back to the developer, but this may not be any bargain for either the developer or city, judging from the "oversight" provided in 2006 and early 2007 related to sediment flow on the Timber Ridge (TR) site and ongoing construction activities on Sultan Basin Road (SBR), where sediment has been allowed to flow freely into Wagley Creek.
  • Citizens have been complaining for months about sediment runoff, and a DOE inspector has been out to the site on at least two occasions, the first time not understanding the source of the problem. Complaints began late summer, when citizens told the City of sediment flow into Wagley, describing its dark chocolate-brown water. The City's response was that the source of the sedimentation was "construction occurring east of town," without bothering to check further. Their staunch position was that TR was not the problem.
  • As the heavy brown water has continued unabated -- along with citizen complaints of runoff and dirty construction on TR and the Sultan Basin Road, the City (recently) -- after some sharp detective work -- revised its assessment, stating that the definitive source of the sediment was a private owner's construction of a single family home above Walbrun Road. The only glitch in the City's identification of the problem is that Wagley has been a rich, muddy chocolate brown for many months where it flows from east-to-west under Sultan Basin Road before it flows anywhere near Walbrun, located west of the SBR.
  • Bottom line? In a town where public officials often have difficulty determining right from wrong, it's not a leap of logic to understand that they might also have trouble determining east from west. (And, unfortunately, despite the recent asphalting of the crest of Sultan Basin Hill, previously a muddy, mucky many-month mess, runoff is still not being controlled.)
• Tonight: Tuesday, Feb. 20th, 7:00 PM Sultan Planning Board Hearing (on CAO revisions) and a peek at Sultan's Transportation Plan (This is yet another Comp Plan element "ordered" by the Central Puget Sound Growth Mgt. Hearings Board -- part of another successful citizen appeal (J. Fallgatter) to make the City's 2004 woefully-inadequate Comprehensive Plan compliant.)
• Consultant's notes from Sat., Feb. 10th Sultan Council Retreat - This report, photos (and, hopefully, audio), are linked to our NEW Council Retreat Main Page (which includes info, photos, etc. of Tolson's first retreat in 2004, 2006 and this year's 2007.
• Thursday, Feb. 22, 7:00 PM City of Sultan Council Meeting - Agenda Packet NOTE:There will be a 6:00 PM hearing before council meeting to gain citizen input on the City's Public Participation plan (i.e., how YOU think the city should be communicating effectively with its citizens. And to gauge the effectiveness of the City's current communication on issues important to YOU, were you AWARE of this hearing before you read just read this?)
• Are pedestrians abd bicyclists safe, traveling on the unimproved shoulders of U. S. 2?

Posted Friday, Feb.9th:

• Audio of Feb. 8, 2006 Ramirez's Twin Rivers Estates "Appeal Meeting and Closed Record Hearing" (Whatever the heck that is!)

Posted Thursday, Feb. 8th:

Seattle Times' article (Feb. 7th) re Sultan's proposed Mixed Use ("Sultan Market") development (with 600 homes).

Seattle Times' article (Feb. 7th) re shortage of police and recruitment, salaries and hiring bonuses: Excerpts:

• "According to the Seattle Police Department's 2006 salary schedule, an entry-level officer earns just over $47,000 a year, while an officer with six years on the department makes a little more than $67,000 a year."
• "In a similar effort to boost employment, the Des Moines Police Department recently began offering $2,000 bonuses for experienced police officers who join the department and $1,000 bonuses for entry-level officers....

TO FIND PREVOUS ARTICLES & HOME PAGES....

• Most-recently archived home pages:
  • March 27, 2007
  • February 9, 2007
• OTHER HOME PAGES CAN BE FOUND IN ARCHIVES - If you're looking for a previous article or legal, etc., Google it at the top of our page

Here's an appropriate sentiment for taxpayers' T-shirts:
"Representation by Litigation"

"Put down the bag of potato chips and step away from the TV!" In other words, unplug yourself from your "TV I.V." and GET INVOLVED! The world moves fast, but don't be confused. Just take it one hearing and meeting at a time: Attend them,, speak your mind and your heart, ask questions and you will soon be making a difference. Tell your city officials what you want (and don't want). There are no stupid questions, and NO ONE will laugh at you or what you have to say. These are YOUR tax dollars, and you have a say in how they are spent. The only time your voice doesn't count is when you don't use it...

From the Washington State Public Disclosure Act: "The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so they may maintain control over the instruments they created." (How to make a Public Disclosure/Information Request) This website is designed and maintained by non-paid volunteers for the purpose of providing public documents, news, information and audio of city meetings and hearings to taxpayers and citizens who otherwise would have little or no knowledge of the events going on in Sultan. Contact us if you want a MP3 audio file not posted on our website on CD; or if you want to know more or would like to volunteer your time to help us sculpt Sultan's future. Quotes we just happen to agree with: (attributed to Edmund Burke (1729-1797), an Irish philosopher and statesman) "Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

CITY OF SULTAN CONTACT/email INFORMATION:
319 Main Street
PO Box 1199
Sultan, WA 98294
360-793-2231-ph
360-793-3344-fax

City of Sultan 2007 Schedule (Garbage, etc.) (in pdf)

Mayor Ben Tolson

City Administrator Deborah Knight

City Councilmembers (see below links)

City Clerk Laura Koenig (for council agenda and Public Info requests)

Community Development Director Rick Cisar

Public Works Director Connie Dunn

CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS (most council members' mailboxes are almost always full):

Kristina Blair
Derek Boyd
Bruce Champeaux (does not wish to use email)
Jim Flower
John Seehuus
Steve Slawson
Ron Wiediger

EMAIL ADDRESS The "formula" for city hall staff and officials: is
firstname, then a period, then their last name, then @ci.sultan.wa.us.
Example: Laura Koenig's address is: laura.koenig@ci.sultan.wa.us

PLANNING BOARD: (Established June, 2006) Their first official meeting was July 11, 2006. For information on Sultan's previous planning entity -- called the "Planning Commission," disbanded in early 2006, click here.):

Chairman Kurt Latimore

Board member Jeff Cofer

Board Member Sarah Davenport-Smith

Board Member George Schmidt

Board Member Charles Van Pelt

NOTE: We are keeping the below note regarding Sultan's PLANNING COMMISSION on this website for a little while longer to remind folks of either the backdoor shenanigans of the City of Sultan or its incompetence (one of the two must be true).
As of the 2/8/06 via Ord. 904-06, Sultan's PC duties were placed in the hands of the city council, which will be acting as its own PC. However, during their first meeting, it was determined that they did not have the time to fulfill this role. The City is currently seeking NEW APPLICANTS to serve on a NEW Planning "Board." if interested, contact city hall at 360-793-2231 or visit their website: www.ci.sultan.wa.us

Prior to its Jan., 2006 disbandment, the PC consisted of the following individuals, with two positions vacant):
Bart Dalmasso (resigned just prior to disbandment, and urged that the PC be dissolved)
Josie Fallgatter
Ray George (term expired, not reappointed)
Tom Green (term expired, not reappointed)
Jeff Kirkman