I was next in line to speak at the City Council meeting last night when Mayor Bassett informed us that, after only 20 minutes, time for public comment from ‘citizens of record’ had run out. About 15 people were in the same frustrating boat.

A portion of my input; “We’re not trying to restrict anyone’s right to commerce, we just believe this is too big a footprint for the area. And that dropping four over-sized houses on a ‘steep-sloped, erosion prone slide zone’ (directly above the Island Crest apartments, where I live) might not be the best idea. Your vote affects our neighborhood forever, so we hope it will reflect the concerns of all your resident constituency, not just a few.”

Being cut off turned out to be inconsequential. My faith in the process has been restored from the unanimous rejection by Council of the Coval application. Basically, they admonished the developer for not being creative enough with the property involved, and really addressed all our concerns in ways the Planning Commission previously and discouragingly had not.

Hats off to the Mercer Island City Council for being engaged on this very important issue. And thanks to Sue Stewart for organizing the many neighbors who spoke together with one voice.

Cameron Ackley