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Phone
4252086467
Email
info@votekarthik.com
YouTube Video
https://www.youtube.com/ks4sammamish
Town where you live
Sammamish
Experience (300 characters max)
Dad, Small business owner, Former planning commissioner and technology executive, i am a resident of Sammamish for 13 years and PNW for 26 years. I am running for Sammamish city council to bring in balanced budget, managing environment through growth and disaster & emergency readinin
1. Social media: I plan to be allocate time to answer questions as well as create educational videos about my position on various issues.
2. I will be available via email and be an active participant in community groups in facebook and NextDoor to listen to resident issues and comments.
3. I plan to be physically present in different parts of the city to enable my constituents to come and see me at a place near to them.
Sammamish is on the shores of Lake Sammamish. It is the home of Kokanee Salmon and has steep slopes that are ecologically sensitive. My role as a council member would be to advocate for policies that makes Sammamish balance its development needs with its environmental commitments. This can be accomplished through zoning regulations, advocating for native shrubs instead of lawns and a clear policy on upzoning in sensitive areas.
I was a planning commissioner for Sammamish from 2020 to 2022.
As council member, I will prioritize partnering with non-profits to create shelters for homelessness, identify those that can be absorbed in to the society in a meaningful manner and provide training to them.
My vision for the city can be aptly described as
1. A council that listens to and serves the residents
2. A community that is inclusive and safe
3. A city that is financially and environmentally sustainable.
Phone
(425) 533-2254
Email
linforsammamish@gmail.com
YouTube Video
youtube.com/@linforsammamish
Town where you live
Sammamish
Experience (300 characters max)
I grew up in Sammamish and graduated from Eastlake High School. I have a Bachelor’s in Public Policy from Cornell University, Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, and MBA from UCLA. I am currently a communications director at Microsoft.
I strongly believe that communication with constituents should not be limited to only during a campaign year, but should take place every year that I serve on council. I plan to continue door knocking in different neighborhoods around the city during my term just to check in with residents, start a newsletter updating residents on top issues, how I voted and why, and participate in coffee chats and city events so that I can continue to collect feedback and stay on top of the issues impacting residents of Sammamish.
City of Sammamish plays a significant role in balancing environmental regulation with needs of residents, including housing, transit, local services and disaster preparedness. All of us want clean air, clean water and open space, but often, an overzealous effort to protect these resources fosters imbalances in the community, creates inefficient land use policies, perpetuates a car-oriented development model, and ultimately increases carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Cities have a critical role in finding the right balance between environmental regulation and sustainable growth. My goal is to find that balance.
In high school, I founded the Sammamish Youth Board, the first public commission in the City of Sammamish, to give youth a voice to advocate for their needs in City Hall. After college, I was a public school teacher, teaching high school math in the Mississippi Delta as part of Teach for America. I have also served as a journalist, reporting international news from Singapore and Taiwan for global publications, including the New York Times, South China Morning Post, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and the Straits Times. I served as the President of the Peninsula Young Democrats of San Mateo County, California, and worked to elect Democrats to Congress in California's Central Valley in 2018. Five years ago, I established the Sammamish Independent, our city's only newspaper, and have trained over 100 high school students to be reporters.
Sammamish currently does not have a homeless problem within city limits. However, homelessness is a regional problem, and one of its main causes is the shortage of housing that has led to dramatic increases in rents and home prices. It is the responsibility of every city, including ours, to ensure that we provide an adequate supply of affordable and workforce housing to meet the heightened demand from a strong economy in greater Seattle. I am committed to delivering on Sammamish's target to provide 2,100 affordable homes by 2044, and maintaining our support to regional housing initiatives including ARCH, so that we can keep housing costs under control and avoid throwing more people who can't afford it onto the streets.
Sammamish has always been a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds, where neighbors help each other and ambitious residents step up to provide what our community needs. We need city leadership that can match our ambitions, and lead with the right policies to ensure that this is still a community where everyone can thrive. I want our City government to do better at supporting families, youth, seniors, and those who work hard every day to make a living. I will work to deliver what Sammamish residents have wanted for decades, including more retail, restaurants and services, diverse housing options, frequent transit service, a community center, fewer power outages, and responsible budget management. As our region progresses forward, we cannot let Sammamish fall behind. Let’s build a thriving Sammamish together.
