Goodbye to the Council and to blogging

  At the upcoming meeting Monday (agenda here), two new members will be sworn onto the Woodway City Council, and two current members will be continuing for another term.  None of the Council races were contested, so each person who filed will be on the Council.  Councilman Paul Scibielski and I decided that it was time to let someone else have all the fun.  Gil Lillard and Barbara Grandy will continue their positions, joined by Bob Howard (taking Paul's place) and Mike Tambrella (taking my place).  Mike is a great asset to Woodway, having contributed to the community in many ways, including being on the Arboretum Board.  Mike's wife runs Patti's Kitchen, a really high-quality catering service.  Below is a picture of Mr. Tambrella at the Arboretum tour last January.

  I ran for the Council two years ago because I thought there were problems in Woodway's management, but I was wrong.  I found the City to be remarkably well run.  There are always issues with infrastructure (esp. water and sewer maintenance), and sometimes ordinances will upset residents (like the "no RVs in driveways" rule), but all in all this is a great place to live.  City Manager/Police Chief Yost Zakhary does an amazing job of balancing the various demands with grace.  I can assure you that the members of the Council are without exception dedicated, honest and working for the City's best interests.  The City staff I got to know are also wonderful.  Jennifer Canady is incredibly professional and attentive to details.  Natalie Edwards and Donna Barkley do a great job.  Janet Schaffer runs the Arboretum very well and is really easy to work with.  Woodway Finance Director William Klump is amazingly thorough and knowledgeable of the City's finances, and as honest as they come.  If anyone tries to tell you that there is anything amiss with the City's finances, don't believe it.  I don't see how anyone who knows William could be worried about dishonesty there.  In fact, if you hear anything bad about City management, I encourage you to go see Yost, meet the staff or at least talk to any of the Council members. They are all approachable and glad to help.

  This is the end of my Hello Woodway blog, though I plan to leave the existing posts up and available indefinitely (including my Favorite Things 1 page) in case they are of use to anyone.  I would hope that one of the current Council members might start a blog to communicate with Woodway residents.  It is easy to do, doesn't take all that much time, and doesn't have to cost anything either (at least Google blogs like this one are free to set up and run).  Thank you for allowing me to be your Councilman for the past two years.  I learned a lot, met many fine people, and perhaps even helped a few good things to happen too.

New Councilman Mike Tambrella, representing Ward 2, Place 1.