Mill Creek View Volume XXIII - Issue 18 September 2020 A 3
City News
by Former Mayor Pam Pruitt
This column is written by former mayor Pam Pruitt. It contains her thoughts, opinions and editorial on city and regional matters.
Pam Pruitt
We re with you every step of the way
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Letters
All Letters to the Editor for publication must contain the writers name, address and telephone number. The opinions in such, are strictly those of the writer.
Taking a break
It is with conflicting emotions, that I submit my resignation from the Mill Creek City Council effective Monday, August 24. It has been a privilege and honor to serve the residents and businesses of Mill Creek since the mid-1980s. both as an activist and later as an elected official. When I first ran for office in 1987, it was because I wanted to make life better for everyone in Mill Creek. That has never changed. My love of our city has never wavered. What has changed is my age and what I want to accomplish in my last years. When I left my employment in Snohomish County last December, it was to volunteer to help people who cannot help themselves. With the pandemic, there are even more people who need help. Its in my DNA. Its what I need to do. While many think the role of may- or is purely ceremonial, the reality is to do the job well, requires countless hours each week preparing for city council meetings, attending meetings with other elected officials throughout the county, seeking funding for city capital projects and responding to constituent concerns. As I move on to embrace true re- tirement, I leave the Mill Creek City Council proud of the accomplishments I was privileged to be a part of: In 1992, I flew to Washington D.C. to request our post office be built. Pre- vious council members secured the land. For those who were not here then, we had to drive to the Bothell post office to pick up any packages. Of course, everyone said this was an impossible task. To me, No is just the starting point in any negotiation. Our post office was built the follow- ing year. Most people are aware that I was able to work with Senator Steve Hobbs to raise over $6 million for the 35th Ave. project. Again, it was an impos- sible ask but Mill Creek is always worth the fight. Working successfully on the SERS radio proposal, law enforcement and fire agencies throughout the county will now save millions of dollars on radio communications. Thank you to the city council for supporting me these past five years while I served as mayor. Thank you to the residents for allowing me to serve for nearly 15 years on the city council including my five terms as mayor. Recently retired Brier Mayor Bob We are all proud of Mill Creek and enjoy the lifestyle afforded us as resi- dents. We thought we would see vast improvements in transparency and decision making in city government when Mr. Ciaravino came on board. We collectively breathed a sigh of relief when he was hired after a long vetting and interview process. There is no question he is highly qualified. In spite of Mr. Ciaravinos com- ment in the News of Mill Creek that, The city of Mill Creek has no further comments at this time, in response to comments and questions from resi- dents about a variety of subjects, some of us still have questions about a lot of things, including but not limited to: The reported $2 million legal fees that have apparently plunged the city into their budget problems seem, for the most part, to be related to the law- suits brought by employees who were terminated prior to the Covid-19 pan- demic. While there is no question that the Covid-19 pandemic will adversely affect the citys budget, it is disingenu- ous to suggest that the legal fees from 2019 and earlier in 2020 are somehow connected to Covid. Was the creation of a new position of chief of staff, which pays in excess of $100,000 a year, a prudent decision in light of the serious budget problems? For example, if two equally qualified people apply for a job and one of them is your close friend, it would be crony- ism to select your friend based on your friendship. Execution of the release agree- ments for the laid-off employees was required by the city. The union want- ed to see them before their members signed them. Blame for the legal fees is being laid at the feet of the union, yet the requirement was the citys. Mr. Ciaravino suggests that the union did not respond or bargain in good faith when given a one-week window to do so. Was that time frame for response part of its collective bargaining agree- ment, or was it expected because the city responded within one week? Why is the city spending money on a redesign of its website if budget con- straints are affecting everything else? Is there a deficiency in the current website that adversely affects the op- eration of the city? The current web- site should be satisfactory during this time of belt tightening due to a budget crisis, unless there is some crucial im- perative not obvious to the rest of us. These comments are offered as a notification to the city council, the city manager and the executive staff that the citizens of Mill Creek are paying attention to the decisions made with our tax dollars and the citys responses to union processes and procedures that were in place before this budget cri- sis. Marge Rhodes Amberleigh
Whats happening in our city government?
Colinas advised me to take time and smell the roses. Trite but true. Ive missed spending time with my friends and family. Ive had all the right ex- cuses: Im busy, I have a conflict, etc. Thats over. Im going to focus on friends, family and helping those in need. I may even buy a rose bush.
Kindness quote
Be good. Be kind to each other. And if there's somebody you love, tell them. The world always needs more love." - Mira Grant by Heidi Butz The Mill Creek Town Center will hold a one night summer concert with Sly Mr. Ys band on Wednesday, Sept.16, from 6 to 8 p.m. It is sponsored by The Mill Creek Town Center, Gold Creek Commu- nity Church, Hope Creek Charitable Foundation, the Mill Creek Chamber of Commerce, North Creek Roofing, First Financial Northwest Bank and Columbia Funding Mortgage. The performance will be live streamed to the community. Gold Creek Church will also have a movie screen set up in their parking lot that will show the performance. They can accommodate about 70 cars for this special event. The concert is to support the Mill Creek Community Food Bank. The local food bank, which is run by Hope Creek Charitable Foundation is open Mondays and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. Due to the ongoing pandemic and the loss of many jobs, the food bank is seeing an increase in the number of families it serves in our community. They need donations and extra support during this difficult time. Bring a donation of food or money to the parking lot event to support the food bank or donate online to www. Interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink. The concert can be viewed from the Town Center Facebook page, the Gold Creek Community Facebook page and on the church website at goldcreek. org. For more information visit the Mill Creek Town Center Facebook Page or www.millcreektowncenter.biz on the events page.
Concert to support the food bank
Sly Mr. Ys band.
The Director of Finance for the city of Mill Creek, Jeffrey Balentineresigned for personal rea- sons, after serv- ing only about five months with the city. Currently, he is also the direc- tor of finance and human resources
Killers that travel in packs
City finance
director resigned
Jeff Balentine for the city of Granite Falls. The time has come to have an honest conversation regarding the impacts of COVID and our nations children. New data from the the CDC says one in four teens have contem- plated suicide in the last six months. To call that number horrifying is an incredible understatement. While it seems to spare their bodies, it seems to target their minds. As elected leaders struggle with their own fears and fail to comprehend the gravity of their cowardliness, our kids face a bleak futuristic outlook. Sadly, this is all preventable. As suicide rates continue to climb, addiction and overdose rates have skyrocketed out of control. Now add the recently released chilled abuse numbers and you can see why these kids are opting for the most ultimate way out. Emergency rooms have be- come the domestic intervention triage centers across America. Its imperative our children return to school and we stop the fear monger- ing and political nonsense. There is a less than a one in a mil- lion chance that children will die from COVID. Thats just a statistical fact. More children will die from the other things listed above by far. Countries across the world have opened their schools with little or no medical intervention necessary. Why is America the land of the free and the home of the brave still stuck in first gear? Almost seven months into COVID and they have no plan. Unacceptable! Time to vote them out. Vincent Cavaleri City Couyncilman
Countries across the world have opened their schools
They studied religiously
Charles Darwin studied for the ministry. Joseph Stalin studied for the priesthood. Benito Mussolini was dismissed from a religious academy.
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