The Kirkland City Council is recruiting residents to formulate the statements that will appear in the voters’ pamphlet for and against a potential Fire and Emergency Medical Services ballot measure.

The Kirkland City Council has not yet approved a draft or final legislative action to place the ballot measure related to Fire and Emergency Medical Services on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot, but may consider doing so at their July 7 or 21 regular meetings. Given the tight timelines required by King County Elections, the City Council felt it was prudent to begin recruitment prior to any final decision.

Separate committees will prepare the statements, one committee in favor of, and one committee against, the ballot measure. Interested residents can apply online. Residents with questions should contact the Kirkland City Clerk’s Office at (425) 587-3190 or at KAnderson@kirklandwa.gov for more information on the committees and the application process. Applications will be accepted until the deadline of 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 30, 2020. The City Council will potentially make the committee appointments at their July 7 or 21 meeting.

The pro and con committees will consist of three members each and will prepare a “Statement For” or “Statement Against” (in addition to rebuttals of the opposing statements) to be included in the King County Local Voters’ Pamphlet for the November 3, 2020 General Election. Each statement will be limited to 200 words. Arguments will be submitted to King County Elections no later than 4:30 p.m., August 11, 2020.

Arguments prepared by the pro and con committees will be made available to the opposing committees for rebuttal after 4:30 p.m., August 12, 2020, and statements rebutting (optional) the argument made by the opposition shall be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m., August 13, 2020.

More information on the potential Fire and Emergency Medical Services ballot measure is available on the City website.

On June 23, Washington state Secretary of Health John Wiesman announced an order that mandates the use of cloth face coverings in most public areas. The order takes effect June 26.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) provides information to help the public understand how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, protect their communities and comply with the order for face coverings. Additional rules from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) apply to employers and employees.

• Coming Soon - Read the Secretary’s Order mandating face coverings
• Read the Department of Health (DOH) guidance on cloth face coverings (PDF) 

Resources and information for employers and employees

• L&I guide: Which Mask for Which Task
• L&I Risk Assessment, Proper Face Covering Selection
• Read Governor Inslee’s cloth facial covering guidance related to Safe Start

Additional resources for the public

• CDC: Use of cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19
• The Do's and Don'ts of wearing face coverings
• King County directive to wear face coverings and which face covering you should wear

How to make a face covering

• Learn how to make a homemade face covering (PDF) from the Department of Labor and Industries
• How to make a face covering from an old t-shirt from the Surgeon General
• You can make a face covering that allows others to see your lips as you speak. It’s really helpful to people who are hard of hearing. The Hearing, Speech & Deaf Center has step-by-step instructions.  

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I see someone not wearing a face covering? 

Nothing. Some people have conditions or circumstances that would make wearing a cloth face covering difficult or dangerous. Just wear your face covering and stay six feet away.  

When do I not have to wear a face covering? 

You do not need to wear a cloth face covering when you are in your own home or in your car, if you are only with people in your own household. You also do not need to wear a cloth face covering when you are exercising outdoors and you have plenty of space. It’s a good idea to keep one in your pocket, though, in case you come across other people you can’t stay six feet away from. And some people may have health conditions or circumstances that make wearing a cloth face covering difficult or dangerous.

I don’t want to make or buy a face covering. Are there other options? 

Cloth face coverings do not need to be complicated or expensive. Save medical masks and respirators for health care workers and others in high-risk settings. Easy alternative are to use a scarf or any breathable, washable fabric, and wrap it around your face so that a couple layers of fabric are completely covering your mouth and nose.

We need your input prioritizing a list of walk and bike improvements to make it easier and safer for children to walk and bike to the bus and school! Deadline for online input is June 30.

The walk recommendations resulted from a year-long public engagement process and engineering analysis of Kirkland’s transportation network. More than 550 suggested projects were reviewed and analyzed by both City engineering staff and an independent engineering consultant.

Which ones do you think are most important for your school/neighborhood? Anyone can vote, even if you don’t have school age children. There are three ways to provide input.

Algae are a natural, important part of a healthy lake. Some types of algae can make toxins that can harm people, pets, or wildlife. Always look out for algae blooms before you, your children, or your pets go into the water. Algae blooms can look like scums, paint spills, or flecks in the water – learn more at the Washington State Toxic Algae monitoring program webpage. When in doubt, stay out!

Toxic algae blooms can change and move quickly. The type of algae that can make toxins (called cyanobacteria) float easily and are often blown up against the shoreline. The winds can blow a lot of algae into a small area of the shoreline, which can lead to a dangerous level of toxins there. As the winds shift, algae blooms can appear and disappear quickly, and can blow from one part of the lake to another.

Because algae are important to a lake, there are no quick fixes to make toxic algae go away. Algae are the food that fish and other animals in the lake depend on, either directly or indirectly. So we don’t want to try to kill off the algae with algicides!

People can help reduce toxic algae blooms by reducing the amount of phosphorus that gets into the lake. Phosphorus is a nutrient that makes algae grow, the same way that phosphorus in garden fertilizer makes plants grow. And too much phosphorus can lead to too much algae, more than is healthy for the lake.

Everyone in Kirkland can help reduce phosphorus in Lake Washington, whether or not you live on the lake shoreline. Every stream and storm drain in the city leads eventually to Lake Washington (Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River flow to Lake Washington, too).

• Be careful with fertilizer. If you fertilize your lawn, use only phosphorus-free lawn fertilizer – don’t use garden fertilizer by mistake. And don’t put more fertilizer or compost on your garden than it needs.
• Animal poop has a lot of phosphorus, so please clean up after your dog. Pick up the poop, bag it, and place it in the trash. Make sure horse or other manure doesn’t wash into streams or drains.
• Leaves and grass clippings have phosphorus, too. Don’t let them wash down the storm drain.
• Soil erosion is another source of phosphorus, so prevent erosion and build healthy soils in your yard.

For more ways you can help keep Lake Washington healthy, check out these resources:

• Kirkland Stormwater’s tips on yard care 
• King County’s “Living with Lakes” guide  
• King Conservation District 
• Green Shorelines for Homes 

The City of Kirkland has one again received a AAA credit rating from S&P and Moody’s credit rating agencies.

Bond ratings indicate the credit quality of the bonds being issued. AAA and Aaa are the highest quality and grade, indicating maximum safety. The rating indicates bonds with the smallest degree of investment risk and demonstrates that the obligor has an extremely strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. The City of Kirkland has held the Aaa rating from Moody’s since November 13, 2018, and the AAA rating from S&P since November 24, 2008.

“These ratings reflect the City’s continued commitment to being a responsible steward of public funds,” said Mayor Penny Sweet. “Our continued emphasis on financial sustainability will help ensure that not only do we survive the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ll be able to recover more quickly and return to being an economically thriving community.”

In their rating report, S&P had the following to say about the City of Kirkland, “We view the city as showing very strong budgetary performance, with positive general fund and total governmental fund results in the past three audited years. Although the city will wrestle with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession on revenue and operations, we believe that the city's policies and practices have positioned it well to navigate what is likely to be near-term budgetary stress. The city has maintained a trend of very strong available reserves that we believe it will sustain, despite a challenging revenue environment.”

Moody’s made similar positive statements in their report, “The Aaa issuer and GOLT ratings are driven by the city's strong financial management that has led to healthy reserves that will protect the city against expected revenue declines in the near term. Also considered were the city's modest debt burden and manageable pension liabilities. We regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under our ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health and safety. Despite being one of the first places to experience an outbreak in the United States, the City of Kirkland has put itself in a great position to absorb the negative impacts of the outbreak and government response. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the city will maintain its strong financial profile despite the projected revenue declines from the coronavirus pandemic. The stable outlook also reflects our anticipation that after some near-term slowing that the city's local economy will return to growth in the long-run.”

More information on the City’s finances is available on the City website.

For over 20 years, “Celebrate Kirkland” has brought the community together on the 4th of July with a vibrant parade, community picnic, and an epic firework display over Marina Park. While this year might look a little different due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on large gatherings, the essence of Celebrate Kirkland remains the same:

It’s a celebration by the community, for the community.  

Please join the City, the Celebrate Kirkland Leadership Team, and the Kirkland Downtown Association for the first ever virtual Celebrate Kirkland 4th of July event! This custom, star-spangled Independence Day extravaganza kicks off at noon on Saturday, July 4 on the City Facebook page, the Kirkland Television YouTube channel, the Kirkland Granicus Stream, Comcast Cable Channel 21 and Ziply Cable Channel 31, so choose your favorite viewing platform and prepare for an uplifting video experience starring the best Kirkland has to offer.

Commentary is provided by Mayor and Celebrate Kirkland founder Penny Sweet, and longtime community advocate, Cow and Coyote decorator and avid Sea Hawker, Terri Fletcher. Both are Celebrate Kirkland veterans, serving on the leadership team since 1999 and 2001, respectively.

You never know who or what you might see as past years of Celebrate Kirkland parade festivities are showcased in a dynamic, action-packed video premier highlighting the heart and soul of Celebrate Kirkland. This patriotic feature lets freedom ring as it honors our veterans and shines a spotlight on the City’s neighborhood associations, arts commissioners, elected officials, service organizations, classic car and hot rod enthusiasts, business leaders, and most of all, our amazing community members.

It's three years of parade fun neatly melded into a single compilation meant to embody the spirit of the holiday in all its red, white and blue glory.

And because no 4th of July is complete without a spectacular display of fireworks, return to the City Facebook page at 10 p.m. for the 2020 virtual fireworks show! The online display features dazzling pyrotechnics from years past to help brighten your screens and bring the 4th of July holiday to life.

Please remember, as guided by Kirkland Municipal Code Chapter 11.60, the sale, possession and discharge of personal fireworks are prohibited in Kirkland city limits. Kirkland’s fireworks ban went into effect in 1999 to help eliminate property damage, injury, and fires, and to protect the natural beauty of our region. In general, public fireworks displays are allowed when properly permitted by the Kirkland Fire Department, but this year’s traditional 4th of July display is cancelled for the health and safety of our community. Call the Kirkland Fire Prevention Bureau at (425) 587-3650, or check out the below video for more information.