The last Bothell City Council meeting was non-committal to say the least. There was no decision to preserve any of the land, and in particular the back-nine [land of the Wayne Golf Course].

The citizens website representatives, onebothell.org were basically “brushed-off” by the council, even after the announcement of ample funding available. You would think that the council would be excited about all possible funding for preserving this green space. Instead, Bill Evans and [Bothell City] Manager Bob Stowe were skeptical and confrontational at the funding announced. They were obstructive, and unimpressed by the funding that was accomplished by onebothell.org. They spoke as though the council had already gone down all those roads. Essentially the council said “show me the money,” and then we might talk about it. This was in spite of the fact that more than 96 percent of the Bothell citizens want the land to be preserved. It was only out of reluctancy that Bill Evans finally said that they (the council) would help on the funding paper-work as needed.

The funding being talked about is from the state, the county, green space advocates and other groups. The total amount is still to be determined.   Even if the front-nine of the course is preserved, we still have lost half of the property to houses and pavement on the back-nine. You would also think that the mayor would step-down from his development role, when he realizes that his position is in total opposition to the citizens. He could join hands with the citizens and help obtain the funding. He, as a citizen of Bothell, knows that there is no green space left in this area, and he could influence the final outcome. Instead, he has stayed silent, and allowed the public to wonder why the mayor is allowing this development to happen? Will the bulldozers come before the funding from the state, the county and others? It’s all still up in the air and deadlines are coming.

The mayor did not need to be recused in discussions of the Wayne Golf Course. But the fact that he is a developer first, and a mayor second, allows this “charade” to continue. Truth be told, we let a developer, his lawyer, and the people they hired, take over the city a long time ago. The mayor needs to stand with the citizens and fight to keep the Wayne land from development. But the council with [Del] Spivey, [Mark] Lamb and Evans, are acting jointly with the mayor to keep silent on the purchase of the land and it’s development.

The public will find out why the green space is being “paved-over” and who is responsible for the traffic gridlock, the wildlife and the salmon destruction. It’s time that the mayor and his council do the right thing, and stand with the public, and preserve the ecology of this green space.

Dr. Robert Tadlock, Bothell