Jolt
Wednesday Jolt: Bellevue Council
Today's loser: The newly Kumbaya Bellevue City Council.
Last night---on the heels of a November election in which voters rebuffed a three-candidate anti-light-rail slate backed by Bellevue megadeveloper Kemper Freeman---the Bellevue City Council unanimously elected two longtime rail obstructionists as mayor and deputy mayor.
Conrad Lee, the only council member to vote against legislation agreeing to a light-rail route through downtown Bellevue, will be mayor; Jennifer Robertson, whose 2009 campaign centered on support for an out-of-the-way alternative route opposed by Sound Transit and rail advocates, will be deputy mayor. The two are members of a four-vote majority on the council that opposed Sound Transit's rail route south of Bellevue and through the city.
The vote came despite council members' repeated assertions that, now that the council has agreed on a light-rail route through the city, the acrimony that has plagued the council over the past two years would dissipate. Members of the three-vote pro-rail majority reportedly wanted one of their members to be deputy mayor (one scenario would have Kevin Wallace as mayor and John Chelminiak as deputy mayor), but the council couldn't reach an agreement.
Lee, who is in his fifth four-year term on the council, was previously deputy mayor. Robertson was first elected to the council in 2009.
Last night---on the heels of a November election in which voters rebuffed a three-candidate anti-light-rail slate backed by Bellevue megadeveloper Kemper Freeman---the Bellevue City Council unanimously elected two longtime rail obstructionists as mayor and deputy mayor.
Conrad Lee, the only council member to vote against legislation agreeing to a light-rail route through downtown Bellevue, will be mayor; Jennifer Robertson, whose 2009 campaign centered on support for an out-of-the-way alternative route opposed by Sound Transit and rail advocates, will be deputy mayor. The two are members of a four-vote majority on the council that opposed Sound Transit's rail route south of Bellevue and through the city.
The vote came despite council members' repeated assertions that, now that the council has agreed on a light-rail route through the city, the acrimony that has plagued the council over the past two years would dissipate. Members of the three-vote pro-rail majority reportedly wanted one of their members to be deputy mayor (one scenario would have Kevin Wallace as mayor and John Chelminiak as deputy mayor), but the council couldn't reach an agreement.
Lee, who is in his fifth four-year term on the council, was previously deputy mayor. Robertson was first elected to the council in 2009.
