Candidate Profile: Karen Moran For Sammamish City Council, Pos. 3

SAMMAMISH, WA — General election ballots have made their way to mailboxes across King County, as the 2021 election season enters its final stretch heading into Nov. 2. Dozens of key races are in play this year, including contests for King County Executive, four positions on the Metropolitan King County Council and several local city council races.

As voters prepare to fill out their choices, Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles leading up to Election Day.

Karen Moran, a business owner and Sammamish resident for more than 30 years, is running for another term at Position 3 on the City Council.

Candidate

Karen Moran

Age (as of Election Day)

58

Position Sought

Sammamish City Council Position 3

Party Affiliation

NA

Family

Husband Richard of 35 years
Daughter - Katy & two sons Richard & Chris

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

NO

Education

AA in Nursing, University of Wisconsin; BA in Accounting, Griffin College

Occupation

Business Owner since 1985

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Currently - Elected City Councilmember City of Sammamish
Previous - Elected Commissioner for Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District

Campaign website

karen4council.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I have lived in Sammamish for over thirty years and have watched the area be developed and the infrastructure never come. I served on our Planning Advisory Board (which helped with the very first comp. plan), and the Planning Commission. When the Town Center Plan was approved, which was bigger than ever wanted by residents, and was going to be built without any major upgrades to our major arterials, I had enough. It was time to run for city council and give residents the voice they deserve. I have not completed my task yet. COVID took 20 months of time away. There is still much to do.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Development without infrastructure
The most pressing issue facing Sammamish is development that has happened (or about to happen) without the infrastructure in place to support it. We could talk traffic, storm water, over-crowded schools, lack of sidewalks or bike lanes in locations to sewer connections. These are all symptoms of growing faster than our infrastructure.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Life experience is the biggest difference between myself and my opponent. My time as a Water/Sewer Commissioner and City Councilmember is irreplaceable. I can say, without any doubt, that what we have done in the last twenty years, with unbridled growth without infrastructure, DOES NOT WORK. It does not matter what form it comes in, it does not work. We need to address the problem. The county understands this. It is one of the reasons we received the growth allocation we have.

When Mitzi Johanknecht leaves office, what should the county look for in appointing a new sheriff?

The county should look for someone that will be well liked and supported by the County Police Officers and all residents but especially those that are King County contract cities. The opinions of the residents from contracts cities needs to be very important and valued by any new sheriff.
We are very fortunate in Sammamish to have an outstanding group of officers through our KC contract but would want to continue to have direct input.

What are some of your priorities for a post-pandemic recovery?

Sammamish supports our residents through nonprofits. We need to get a "recovery" report from these nonprofits to see how are residents are doing post-pandemic (ie rental assist, food, utility bill coverage etc). We then need to reach out to our small business community and find out how they are doing post-pandemic and what their needs may be. Lastly, we need to make sure that a pandemic chapter is added to our emergency manuals and all the things we learned are documented and available should they ever be needed again.

What would you do in office to strengthen preparedness and response efforts for extreme heat and wildfire smoke events?

EFR has started a Wildfire Preparedness Education Program. This will require funding to bring to each city. I think we should support this program. Sammamish already has and Emergency Manager which puts us far ahead of many other cities. He also is charged with our "CERTS' group coordination. I believe we have one of the best CERT groups around !

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

NA

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

This was not something anyone had dealt with before. Everybody involved did their very best and I would not want to critique. The only change I would make would be to the number of news sources. Everyone was trying to get info out to their city residents but it needed to be accurate. Many sources were rushing to be the first in with information and it was not always complete. We need to have one or two sources, known by everyone, for all information to come through. That way we are all working off the same page.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Sammamish needs to work on getting caught up on its infrastructure. We need :
No more Development without Infrastructure improvements
Keep Public Safety First
Maintain a Viable Budget
Expand our Senior Services
Protect our waterways and wildlife

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have served on the cities Parks Board and Planning Commission. I have been on the State Boundary Review Board and transit and family boards for the county. I have been elected as your Water Commissioner and each of these positions have taught me something that I use on the council in one way or another. I think it is all of these put together that helped me work with other cities and organizations during COVID. When we realized that we (we being Sammamish and Issaquah), would not be getting vaccine to our area, the Mayor of Issaquah and I talked and quickly started virtual weekly meetings with stakeholders to remedy the situation. In the end, It was EFR and the Snoqualmie Tribe that could work the best deal together but none of this would have been possible without the communication between everyone.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Always say "please" and "thank you" and be grateful for what you have

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

We have lived Sammamish for over thirty years. It was myself and Water Commissioner Tom Harman that filed the petition to incorporate our beautiful city with records and elections. I love our city and have been involved ever since. I was involved in the first resident group that worked on what should be in the Town Center. It is one of the reasons I am here fighting today. It is not what residents wanted. Residents deserve to be heard.