It is budget time in Black Diamond. The council is struggling. It has to look seriously at very unpopular choices. The most striking is a proposal to eliminate the city’s police department and begin contracting with the King County Sheriff’s Offce for police protection.
How could a budget meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Council members (Tamie)Deady and (Carol) Benson with Mayor (Rebecca) Olness and City Administrator (Pete) Butkus turn into an untrue malicious rumor that the City Council wants to replace the Police Deptartment?
I made a last minute decision on October 18th to attend the BD City Council meeting because of a rampant rumor the Council was considering eliminating the Police Department and contracting to King County for their services. The back lash of this idea was brutal.
I wanted to thank Howard Botts for his sincere support of Black Diamond and its current governing body. As Black Diamond’s mayor for over 26 years, Mr. Botts can speak with authority and intimate knowledge of our city’s government and future development with Yarrow Bay.
The form of government that is in place at this time gives sole power to the Mayor. This may have been ok when there wasn’t the massive, complex and controversial development, but that time has passed.
I am writing in response to last week’s letters to the editor. First I would like to address the people who took the time to write the letters. These are the same people who are currently in litigation or in support of the litigation against the city and YarrowBay.
The citizens of Black Diamond will soon vote on Proposition 1, which would change our form of city government. I have long supported a strong mayor-city Council form of government.
In the coming election, Washington state voters have the opportunity to vote on Referendum 74, referring to legislation recognizing same-sex unions as “marriages.”
There is even more confusion in our city now that we have three newly elected council members and one appointed voting to put a change of government on the November ballot.
What is going on with our elected officials in Black Diamond? Vote No on Prop. 1
Should Proposition 1 pass, voting residents of Black Diamond will lose their right to vote for their city major.
There seem to be a number of major misconceptions about the proposed move to a city manager form of government for Black Diamond.
The idea of a Mayor form of government may sound comforting for small towns. Although Black Diamond technically has a population and rural character that makes you long to have that idyllic setting of the Mayor reaching out to each its people the reality is that the developer, city staff and previous council has told us repeatedly that “Black Diamond is an Urban Growth Area” and we will grow.
I read Mr. Botts’s letter in the Covington Maple Valley Reporter regarding Proposition 1–Change in Form of Government–on the ballot this November in Black Diamond. While I thank Mr. Botts for his long and dedicated service to our rural town, I must respectfully disagree with many of his assertions.
Don’t let the signs mislead you, vote yes on Prop 1 to save our city from irresponsible growth. As I see it, the addition of a professionally-trained city manger is an investment the current residents of Black Diamond should make if we want future development to do the least amount of damage to our current quality of life.
Our existing form of government gives almost dictatorial powers to the mayor while the City Council has been hamstrung by a lack of staff and legal counsel.
I want to thank all the citizens and business that rallied to support the fundraising efforts for Sabre the K-9 dog.
The city of Black Diamond is at risk of having diminished police and fire protection.
More than a few years ago, the council and I, as mayor, looked at the possibility of changing to a council-manager form of government.
Right up front I will state how strongly I am opposed to the concept of the City of Black Diamond eliminating the position of an elected mayor.
