Jan. 12 Council Meeting
Kenmore Budget Breakdown
First council meeting of the new year! The meeting opened with the swearing in of Councilmembers Marshall (Position 2), Herbig (Position 4) and Adman (Position 6).
This was immediately followed by nominations for Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Herbig was the only appointment for Mayor and was approved unanimously. O’Cain nominated Sasson for Deputy Mayor and Marshall nominated Loutsis. Council voted, with the exception of Marshall, to appoint Sasson as Deputy Mayor.
Where’s the Fun? Kenmore now has a Backgammon Social Club, meeting on the 10th of Feb and March at City Hall. And there is an MLK Day of Service at Swamp Creek, which is done in partnership with the Sno-King Watershed Council (CM Adman’s org).
The meeting was a “lay of the land” format, with the City Manager and department heads presenting. The presentations were high-level summaries of where they've been (2025 recap) and where they’re going (2026/2027 biennium upcoming, mostly focused on 2026).
Todd Hall presented the Planning Commission Docket, which includes updates that are consistent with the comprehensive plan and do not require further review by the Planning Commission. He noted that no items were added by the public, though the opportunity is available at the end of each year. The full list can be found here: https://kenmorewa.portal.civicclerk.com/.../attachment/437 There is a LOT in here, but some of the notable things will be: critical areas (the stream buffers), the Affordable Housing Plan, and starting the work to update the Downtown Plan.
The City Manager and department heads then started their overviews. The presentation can be found here: https://kenmorewa.portal.civicclerk.com/.../attachment/456 A few notable things:
** Council priorities now include “preserve and increase availability of ALL types of housing” (emphasis mine). This is a notable change from previous messaging that centered around “affordable” housing, which is income-restricted, often subsidized, housing.
** The city is working on a heat pump rebate program to help residents transition from oil or gas to electric heat, since a substantial amount of our carbon emissions are home heating.
** Bastyr had submitted three requests for comp plan updates last year and withdrew them all.
** Imagine housing is in the due diligence phase. The city authorized the purchase and sale agreement.
** There is discussion of a ballot measure (taxes) still. This will be discussed in detail at the Feb 2nd meeting where they go over the budget.
Finally, they did committee assignments. CM O’Cain stepped down from the WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Committee, and the SeaShore Transportation. Adman took the voting position on WRIA 8, Loutsis took the voting position Northshore Parks & Recreation Services Area (NPRSA) and Regional Crisis Response (RCR). Culver took the voting position on A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH).
That’s all, folks! The next meeting, Planning Commission will present the final Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan to City Council.
