Error in voter pamphlet

Just wanted to be the first to let you that I made an inadvertent typo in my General Election voter pamphlet (Mercer Island City Council, Position 7). Line 16 should read, “150 percent increase in auto thefts”. This was an unintentional error, I apologize.

The issue remains that a 150 percent increase in auto thefts since 2012 is unacceptably high.

Traci Granbois

Are letter writers uninformed — or?

I read with interest Dr. David Dunner’s Sept. 9 letter regarding “Peculiar Decisions” made by our local government. He cites several “decisions” – the reconfiguration of Island Crest Way to accommodate bicycles at the expense of cars (his claim), the City Council supporting I-90 tolling, and City Council support for Sound Transit developing a bus barn on Mercer Island. He concludes his letter by expressing his support for City Council candidate Tom Acker.

A Sept. 17 letter from Daniel Glasser has already addressed the Island Crest Way configuration. As Mr. Glasser pointed out, the change was made as a safety measure in an area that had been a hotspot for traffic accidents on Mercer Island. The change has made it safer for pedestrians to cross ICW and for drivers to merge onto ICW from side streets. One can argue whether this was the best solution for achieving improved safety on ICW, but the claim that it was done to accommodate bicycles is incorrect.

The other two “decisions” raised by Dr. Dunner are more curious. The City Council has never supported I-90 tolling. From the very beginning councilmembers have worked with their regional partners to address the critical transportation needs of our region while consistently rejecting any solution that involve tolling of I-90. Similarly, the City Council has worked with Sound Transit on the issues that will arise when light rail arrives on Mercer Island. A bus turn-around area has been an element of those discussions. But a “bus barn” has never been suggested, considered or discussed.

I am concerned that Mr. Acker’s supporters are either woefully uninformed on the actions of the Mercer Island City Council or are intentionally making misleading statements. I have known Bruce Bassett for the past dozen years and worked closely with him on a number of projects, both before and after he became a City Council member. There is no finer, more dedicated, hard-working representative of Mercer Island residents. Please join me in re-electing Bruce Bassett to our City Council.

Toby Suhm

Balducci’s energy best for district

I am a lifelong Eastsider – born on Mercer Island, had my first job on the Eastside Journal in Kirkland, raised my children on Somerset, and now live in downtown Bellevue.

The Eastside has changed considerably in six decades. During my 40 plus years in politics, media and government, I’ve seen lots of changes there, too. What the Eastside deserves now and has an opportunity to get is a representative in King County Council’s 6th District who grasps those changes and will champion Eastsiders and their future.

I have worked with both candidates while in the King County Executive’s office.

At King County, Claudia Balducci served as the jail director, and architect of a well-planned juvenile detention facility. She knows how King County works and will make it work for us. This, coupled with her experience as Bellevue’s collaborative mayor, shows us what strong leadership looks like, getting the tough things hammered out, like Sound Transit and responsible budgets. Her connection to and understanding of the growing diverse Eastside is unsurpassed.

Both women have served the community. But for our future we need Claudia Balducci’s energy, abilities, enthusiasm, credibility and can-do attitude on the King County Council. It’s time for leadership. It’s time for a change.

Elaine Kraft, Bellevue