our City and notice all the leaves changing color and falling, it's hard not to be reminded that winter will be arriving soon. By Mayor Matt Plna For me, winter also represents a time of reflection. It has been a good year for the City as we remain fiscally strong and continue to address long-term issues and challenges. We are in this position because of the focus and discipline of the Council and your City leadership. I believe it is appropriate to say that discipline has been the foundation of our efforts and we are moving forward in a safe and secure manner. In looking back on the topics of community interest over 2018, the topics I am most often asked about are the City's financial health and Sea-Tac Airport. So, in this article, I thought I'd provide you with the most current information on these two topics. On the financial front we remain strong. The current City budget and our proposed budget for 2019 can best be described as Solvent, Strong and Sustainable. To ensure we remain hea lthy, we are taking appropriate steps to assure that there are sufficient contingency funds in the event that we experience any type economic downturn. Our fiscal efforts have been recognized in a significant way. Recently Standard and Poors gave us a three-step increase by raising our Bond Rat- ing to AA+. The reason this matters is that it saves us money. Recently, the City issued municipal bonds to help finance the…Open full document
Notes
The Mayor discusses the state of the City (good, because the City’s finances are good–I live the psychology of that to you, Dear Reader) and then the City’s letter to the Port’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) official Steve Rybolt outlining the obvious concerns about growth, noise, pollution, etc., etc. It is followed by comments from members of the Aviation Advisory Commmittee (no longer referred to as ‘Ad Hoc’–further suggesting that there may indeed be a God in Heaven.)
The main heartening comment, which has become a key talking point for the City over the past six months or so, has been the notion of demanding that any environmental remediation should be taken back to 2012–when the big increases in flights began (and also coinciding with the SAMP planning.) I (JCH) harken back with great fondness to the times I’ve been referred to as ‘crazy’ (and other choice names) for suggesting as much, so this change of heart is especially warming for me. We all hope that the City keeps pushing hard on this point. There is almost no point in obtaining any remediation deal -unless- it rolls the yard sticks back at least as far as 2012.