The City of Kirkland has a long history of supporting legislation in Olympia that promotes the City Council's goals and protects the City's ability to provide basic municipal services to its residents. There are three general principles that guide the City of Kirkland's legislative agenda in Olympia:

1. Protect shared state revenue sources available to the City, including the State Annexation Sales Tax Credit, and provide new revenue options and flexibility in the use of existing revenues. 

2. Support long-term sustainability efforts related to City financial, environmental and transportation goals. 

3. Support reestablishing the partnership between cities and the State to ensure that critical mandates are funded and vital services are provided to all of the residents of the state.

Based on these guiding principles the City of Kirkland has the following 2019 legislative priorities:

- Kirkland supports new local funding and policy tools to address homelessness and create more affordable housing.

- Kirkland supports continued sustainable funding to maintain high-quality statewide training for law enforcement officers and corrections officers to ensure no waiting period to get law enforcement and corrections officers trained and in the field.

-Kirkland supports extending and accelerating the construction of express toll lanes on I-405 north of Kirkland, and implementing express toll lanes on I-405 south of Bellevue, in order to coincide with the 2024 opening of Sound Transit's Bus Rapid Transit operations.

-Kirkland supports gun safety measures that promote safe and responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence, and that are consistent with the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution and Article I Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution. 

-Kirkland supports capital and transportation budget funding for prioritized local infrastructure projects.

-Kirkland supports keeping the Transit Bypass Queue at the Montlake Exit from SR-520 open through the 2023 scheduled completion of the Montlake Project. 

For more information on the 2019 Legislative Agenda, visit the City website. 

Over the last few months we've shared information with you regarding the City's performance measures for a healthy, resilient urban forest. In this article, we’re looking at our third and final performance measure: uneven-aged trees. It’s important to have a mix of old and new trees to provide an even succession of benefits over time. While it makes sense to plant trees to ensure future canopy cover, large numbers of trees planted at relatively the same time will decline and die at the same time. This makes it especially important to balance the retention of healthy, large trees with planting new trees. 

A recent field study showed that only 10% of all trees on development sites were large trees over 22” DBH (diameter at breast height, or trunk diameter at 4.5 feet from the ground). Over two-thirds of the trees on these development sites were new trees that were planted to meet code requirements. 

Clearly, we don’t need to adjust the code requirements for planting, but we can do a better job with retaining large, healthy trees. We need to stop the loss of existing canopy to meet our canopy goal and achieve a more uneven-aged urban forest. You can find more information on Tree Code Updates on the City website. 

In the next article, we’ll look at some changes we can make with our tree code to address these issues.

The City of Kirkland invites families to visit North Rose Hill Woodlands Park to enjoy the recently-installed “PopUp StoryWalk,” a local literacy effort aimed at getting kids excited to spend time outdoors. 

The featured tale is called “Bunnies!!!” and is written by local author Kevan Atteberry. The book, about an enthusiastic monster in search of a few friends, sprawls page by page along the park’s woody pathway, beckoning families as they explore the flat, easy-to-navigate trail system. The jovial pages brighten the twisting footpath, delighting kids and parents alike as they follow the exuberant monster on his quest for companionship. The book was installed on Tuesday, January 15, and will remain in place until Tuesday, January 29, 2019.  

This local “PopUp StoryWalk” program was created by Kenmore resident Elisabeth Lepine, who discovered a StoryWalk® trail while vacationing in upstate New York with her family. Her oldest daughter was so charmed by the colorful adventure that it inspired Lepine to replicate the experience and share it with others. She teamed up with friends Jasmin Thankachen and Beth Yost, whose passion and appreciation for the project matched her own.

Together, they have worked to fund the creation of three “PopUp StoryWalk” books, which appear in different parks throughout King County. The books are displayed on large storyboards using sturdy metal frames, meant to endure all kinds of weather. The project has enjoyed support from 4 Culture, Friends of Saint Edwards State Park, Tiny Treks, Snapdoodle Toys and the Arts of Kenmore.

The group is currently seeking additional local authors and illustrators for potential inclusion in future “PopUp StoryWalk” installations.

Originally founded in Montpelier, Vermont, in 2007 by Anne Ferguson, the StoryWalk® project features installations across the country. The name StoryWalk® is a registered trademark. For more information about Lepine’s local “PopUp StoryWalk” efforts, please visit the website at: https://www.popupstorywalk.org/.