We need to answer Mayor Baker’s question. Are you satisfied with all Kenmore has accomplished? Is Mayor Baker speaking for you?

The City of Kenmore has seen some positive improvements in the last 15 years, as Mayor Baker rightly points out in his opinion piece. Most residents would agree that the city’s improvements on Bothell Way, Burke-Gilman Trail and city parks are welcome. Everyone likes the new play areas for children and supports those efforts.

The newly installed sidewalks on Bothell Way have made Kenmore a more walkable city in the core areas, which is something that Kenmore’s citizens value. Many people are happy with the new stop lights at Saint Edward State Park and 61st.

But there has been an increase in traffic through most neighborhoods without any corresponding change in infrastructure. There needs to be more sidewalks along main roads that get heavy traffic. Some roads need to be re-evaluated to see if speed limits need to be reduced or traffic calming devices need to be installed. Some roads, such 61st, need to have turning lanes. Some yield signs need to be replaced with stop signs.

There needs to be more police presence on neighborhood roads during rush hour. Currently, our police force concentrates on giving out tickets on Bothell Way. But there are many corridor streets that run through the city where commuters drive at speeds far above the speed limit. Maybe we could use some of those newly hired police to monitor our neighborhood.

What Mayor Baker does not talk about in his opinion piece are the decisions that the city has made that has made regarding industry on the waterfront and in neighborhoods. Those decisions are having a negative impact on our environment, our health and our enjoyment of the waterfront.

There are many instances where the city has made choices about how to use our shoreline or green spaces without engaging the opinion of the citizens of Kenmore. Or in cases where there was public comment, the city has ignored or minimized the concerns that the public brought before them.

For example, the 522 project was planned and started before there was any notice given to city residents about what was about to occur. When the property owners began applying for permits, citizens who tried to obtain copies of the paperwork from the city were hamstrung. Worse, the city had information about dioxin contamination close to the 522 project site but did not release copies of that paperwork until after the property owner of the site where the 522 project was to commence had obtained permits for the work. Had the information about the contamination been released before the permits were obtained, the permitting process would have been more rigorous and the public would have been more engaged in the process.

Indeed, the most disturbing problem that the city has had since its inception is the lack of transparency on public projects. The city has been successful in keeping citizens in the dark about projects before they happen because city council meetings are not broadcast either live or on the Web, even though the expensive equipment required to make meeting easily available by those venues was bought and paid in the new city hall.

For another example, Mayor Baker points out that the city has bought land on 73rd and removed buildings to create a larger flood plain to contain Swamp Creek during the rainy season. What he does not talk about is how the city has given out new permits to build houses in the flood plain just a few blocks north of the area where the city took over houses. The better solution would have been to maintain the current level of green space along Swamp Creek while buying additional property to create more green space. The way that the city is currently doing things will cause more water to collect in the flat area along 73rd and may impact more houses in that area.

Mayor Baker also neglects to talk about the terrible bad smell that comes from the asphalt plant on Bothell Way or the appearance of the cement plant on the waterfront. Many people who bought houses in Kenmore in the last 15 years were told by real estate agents that the city was planning to phase out the industrial area on the waterfront. But in the shoreline master plan that the City of Kenmore adopted in March, 2013, the waterfront for Lake Washington and the Sammamish Slough was added to the plan as an industrial zone.

We have had to endure an increase in industrial activity for the 522 project that has included large buildings being erected on the water and continuous barging. Cranes, barges, and other unsightly vessels spoil our views of the water.

The barges for the 522 project have been scraping the bottom of the lake, causing turbidity that could cause problems for fish that use the north end of the lake as a breeding ground. These activities are violations of the Clean Water Act. The city is well aware of these problems but they continue to give permits to this property owner, despite continuous violations of state and federal regulations.

Our voices need to be heard. Mayor Baker does not speak for all of us. Do you feel satisfied with the city’s progress? Are you proud to give your address as Kenmore, Washington? Do you want Kenmore to be an industrial city? Do you like traveling the Burke Gilman trail, going shopping, or walking, while holding your nose to keep out the bad smells?

Diane Bates, Kenmore