| Joe Marshall |
| Joe Marshall, running for re-election Kenmore City Council Pos. 2 |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| My name is Tracy Banaszynski. I am running for Kenmore City Council Position 2. |
| Joe Marshall |
| Kenmore -- having just passed its "middle" housing plan subject to state mandates -- needs to aim for a better balance in our locally tailored housing strategy, shaped by community input to our Planning Commission and Council. We need to better protect the environment, protect our unpaved surfaces and ecology, and demand concurrent infrastructure like sidewalks -- these are equity issues -- and encourage increased density near transit to keep Kenmore walkable, livable and responsive to all our residents' needs. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| I believe that everyone deserves stable, safe, comfortable shelter no matter their income or life circumstances. Through that lens, Kenmore should enable the production of housing that will meet the needs of our local communities. In addition, we have a legal state mandate to provide affordable housing at all income levels. In order to enable the production of housing to meet the needs of our local communities, Kenmore recently updated zoning regulations to permit more density and diverse housing types in residential neighborhoods. We can and should do more with our zoning code to enable the production of more housing. We instituted some parking reform – reducing the minimum parking required for some housing types in residential neighborhoods – but should take another look at our code with an eye toward more widely reducing minimum parking requirements, reducing minimum lot sizes (small houses on small lots), and unnecessary building codes that increase construction costs and limit housing options. The reason parking reform is important in reducing housing costs is that parking uses land that we could otherwise be using for housing people, making less land available for people and the available land therefore more expensive, and is expensive to build and maintain. Moving to form-based code that focuses on the physical form of buildings and their relationship to their surroundings rather than solely on land use classifications could increase housing supply to meet the differing needs of our community and is something I have long been interested in. In addition, we can look at our permitting process and ensure that it is streamlined, especially for affordable housing projects, in order to expedite and reduce the cost of housing development. Many of our neighbors are being priced out of Kenmore, many of those who work here cannot afford to live here, and some have either become or are on the brink of homelessness. Kenmore’s actions around housing have not always risen to meet the urgency of the moment. I will actively look for ways to accelerate meeting our housing targets, especially at the lowest end by rebuilding trust with county and state elected officials so that we can be a good partner on housing developments where regional and state resources are needed and study land acquisition, land trusts, social housing, and other innovative solutions that are not solely market-based. |
| Joe Marshall |
| We need to immediately examine, including our STEP committee, the December 2024 Biden HUD AHAR report, which suggests that more emergency housing should be built to address homelessness. We should also extend protection for our downtown mobile home park neighborhood, especially for our Latino neighbors whose park got less protection than other parks, which inequity I alone on the council at the time, voted against. We need to look for further support for our Women's Shelter in the old sheriff's station and for our church encampments. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| As related in the answer to question 2, I believe that everyone deserves stable, safe, comfortable shelter no matter their income or life circumstances. Through that lens, Kenmore should support members of our local region experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. In addition, we have a legal state mandate to plan for and meet targets for housing at all income levels. One thing that we should do to support members of our local region experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity is to simply build more housing. Some of my ideas about this are included in the answer to question 2. Loosening restrictions that slow housing production have been found by the Urban Institute to be, on average, associated with an uptick in new housing supply, and new housing supply is desperately needed. However, we need to acknowledge that simply building more market-rate housing is not sufficient to meet the needs of members of our local region experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. The gains are seen at the upper ends and despite supply-side ideas that this will lower housing costs at lower levels, this is not happening fast enough to expand the availability of housing that is affordable to all low- and middle-income households right now. This means that in addition to building market rate housing, we need to use other approaches to support members of our local region experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. We should consider pairing direct investments in housing subsidies—such as immediate investments in housing vouchers and project-based subsidies for affordable housing—with reforms loosening restrictions to address both short-term and long-term housing affordability. I am also interested in supporting community-based housing solutions such as Community Land Trusts, which can help create and maintain permanently affordable housing options for households who would otherwise be locked out of the market. Housing is a Human Right, an initiative of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, has an approach that we can consider in Kenmore. They recommend protecting tenants (prevent gentrification and homelessness by keeping rents under control and discouraging evictions); preserving communities (supporting progressive, sustainable land use policies that maintain neighborhood integrity and allow working- and middle-class families to stay in their communities); and producing housing (producing truly affordable housing through adaptive reuse and cost-effective new construction). Kenmore recently passed tenant protections, which can be revisited to look for opportunities to improve security and stability for renters. We can also continue to protect existing affordable housing stock, such as our mobile home parks. We should make sure that The Approach at Kenmore, a proposed project downtown near city hall that will create both rental and ownership units for low-income households, is supported so that roadblocks at the city-level do not exist. We should also support the expansion of temporary shelter/housing options. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has identified a significant gap in available temporary shelter/housing units in King County, and we can contribute by supporting the expansion of these options in Kenmore. While it is preferable for people to have stable, permanent housing, we should not leave people sleeping outside, in cars, or couch surfing while we are increasing the supply of affordable housing. We can also explore tiny homes with support services as a temporary solution for people who are exiting homelessness. Housing is just one of the things we need to provide to support members of our local region experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. We also need to enhance support services and coordination, which we could do by making sure our Housing and Human Services Manager position is fully funded. This position is necessary for us to be able to conduct needs assessments, secure grants, and coordinate with partner organizations to connect residents with services. Investing in programs that help people find and keep housing is critical, as is addressing systemic issues like racial inequality – BIPOC individuals are disproportionately represented in the homeless population. Kenmore can work with regional partners and service providers to address the root causes of this disparity and ensure equitable access to housing and support. |
| Joe Marshall |
| I am a public defender, and I believe we need to expand access to our community court program, look for more ways to reduce court fines and costs and increase treatment options for indigent defendants; examine ways to expand our RCR crisis response services so people with behavioral health crises hopefully get help and not arrested. I am proud to have convinced my council to adopt the "Blake-fix" legislation making simple possession of controlled substances a misdemeanor instead of a felony and emphasizing treatment and diversion. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| Kenmore is ranked as one of the safest cities in the state year after year. In 2024, reported crimes dropped 14.2% to 19.9 offenses per 1000 residents. That said, the current level of police funding – $11,007,281 in the 2025-2026 budget – is arguably not the best way to ensure public safety and is not sustainable. Continually increasing police funding doesn’t address all of our public safety needs and makes it challenging to fund other critical city services. We need to build and improve justice systems that ensure fairness, promote safety, and strengthen communities. We should prioritize community-centered, collaborative approaches to policing that are rooted in respect for the dignity of all people and supported by evidence. Policing priorities should focus on trust and relationship building between law enforcement and community members and direct police actions to those activities that are most likely to prevent crime and least likely to cause harm to community members. We should avoid over-reliance on arrests and stops for minor offences and focus on relationships and modifications to the environment that create safety (e.g., lighting, site activation). We should continue our participation in and expand successful initiatives like Community Court and the Regional Crisis Response (RCR) Agency that aim to care for the whole person. We could consider implementing initiatives like community advisory boards and regular dialogue sessions with our police department. Policing strategies should be continually evaluated by collecting and analyzing data on police-community interactions and that information should be made publicly available, and police officers should be held accountable for actions that cause harm to individuals and our community. |
| Joe Marshall |
| We need to look for further ways to increase access to the new Connections 23-hour crisis center in Kirkland; investigate how to increase access to Evergreen Hospital's new behavioral health outpatient services in Kenmore. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| We all need each other and deserve compassionate attention and care. Kenmore participates in Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) of North King County (provides resources beyond those available in the 911 system); the Regional Crisis Response (RCR) Agency (responds to behavioral health calls with Kenmore Police); and Community Court (provides alternative problem-solving to address underlying needs through support instead of punishment). We are also a partner city in Connections Kirkland, a crisis care center where anyone can walk in 24/7 to get urgent care for a wide range of mental health or substance use challenges, regardless of insurance. We should keep doing all of these things. Kenmore hired a Housing and Human Services Manager in 2023 and conducted a Human Services Needs Assessment in 2024 to identify investment priorities, including youth mental health and service access for older adults. The assessment indicated a gap between needs and available services, and identified barriers to access, including knowledge about existing resources; difficulty navigating systems; limited local providers; affordability; and transportation. Kenmore is currently identifying activities and programs to address needs. A Human Services Advisory Committee was supposed to be convened to further guide the development of a strategic plan to address these needs, but I believe this has been paused. I see a lot of potential for Kenmore to do more to enable access to human services. The strategic plan should be developed and explicitly address barriers to accessing services. Ongoing engagement with residents and service providers to gather feedback on the effectiveness and accessibility of existing services should inform iterative improvement. While resource/service navigation has been a funding priority, an additional step should be ensuring a clear and accessible central point for residents to find and navigate available human services, especially behavioral health and crisis services. This could be facilitated by leveraging technology, such as an improved online portal or chatbot. Another additional step should be defining and measuring outcomes related to access, recovery, and well-being, and providing support for evaluation and data sharing among partners. King County's Crisis Care Centers Initiative includes investing in the behavioral health workforce. Kenmore could explore local initiatives or partnerships to support this effort, potentially focusing on recruitment and retention of professionals to serve the community's specific needs. Human services are critical for a healthy, thriving community. In order for them to be available to everyone, we need to build policies and programs using a strong Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) lens. We need to fund human services planning, staffing; prioritize our most vulnerable communities (e.g., youth, seniors, low income and/or unsheltered residents, and BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals; partner with and resource community-based organizations; and work regionally. |
| Joe Marshall |
| We need to advocate harder for better bus services. Bring back the 61st/68th loop shuttle to serve this higher density corridor and hook up access to Bothell Way. We should continue to explore zoning options for corner stores and neighborhood hubs -- and we need to fight for A YOUTH CENTER AND PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL. We lost our regional pool -- the early 70s Forward Thrust Northshore Pool, at which thousands of Northshore student of all backgrounds got swimming lessons for several decades for free -- to a Bothell bar/hotel. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| It is critical that Kenmore works to ensure all residents have equitable access to transit, core retail like grocery stores and pharmacies, and key services. Kenmore has done a good job recently expanding our multimodal transportation network and should continue with these types of projects. Continuing to build and improve sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian signals, and bike lanes throughout the city – prioritizing areas identified as having limited access through the city's ADA Transition Plan inventory or community feedback and connecting residential areas with high capacity transit stops, retail, and key services on 522 – is important for accessibility; safety for those walking, biking, and rolling; and climate resiliency. In addition to improving safety and connections, Kenmore should improve the availability and security of bicycle parking and storage, from basic racks for short-term use to secure lockers for commuter use. Short-term use bike racks should accommodate e-bikes with cargo capacity. Our Transportation Oriented Development (TOD) District holds the promise of becoming a vibrant pedestrian-oriented mixed-use neighborhood where affordable housing, retail, and proximity to high capacity transit make core retail and key services easy to access. While the planning is in place, we haven’t yet seen our TOD come to life. Taking another look at zoning in that area to see if there are adjustments we could make to be more enticing to developers is something we could do in the next round of Comprehensive Plan updates. Updated planning for our downtown, which is near planned high capacity transit, is another opportunity to ensure all residents have access to transit, core retail, and key services. There is a lot of asphalt parking space across downtown and the TOD that could be put to better use to serve people – leaving adequate parking for those who need it – and I will support the city working with private landowners and developers to make sure that vision becomes a reality. Kenmore currently has two grocery stores, a handful of pharmacies, an urgent care center, many dentists, a branch of the Northshore Senior Center, and other key retail and core service providers. While the city cannot directly control where businesses open, we can influence and incentivize their location through land use and development agreements. I will support the city being good partners to grocery retailers, pharmacies, and other core service providers so that residents continue to have those services within Kenmore. When we are not able to attract core retail or key service providers to locate in Kenmore, working regionally with neighbors to make those services available and accessible to Kenmore residents will be important. I think the city should continue to support a variety of solutions to food access, including our new farmers market and the Northshore Senior Center Food Pantry. If services such as mobile food pantries or free rides to grocery stores and/or food banks do not exist, those can be explored. The city will likely not be the service provider in most cases, and so should collaborate with organizations addressing specific needs. Continuing to solicit and use community feedback should be prioritized so that we are meeting actual needs as identified by community members themselves. Access to all of these services must be equitable, which means that we need to evaluate policies and programs through the lens of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan and address any barriers including those related to communication and providing reasonable accommodations for those in need. |
| Joe Marshall |
| Arbitrary and capricious national tariffs will impact Kenmore residents. We will need to examine alternatives to the existing sales tax, which unjustly hits those who make the least. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| Washington’s tax structure, one of the most regressive in the country, disproportionately affects lower-income households by relying heavily on sales and property taxes. State policies dictate this regressive structure, and the truth is that reform needs to happen at the state level in order for this to substantially change. That said, Kenmore should do everything we can to reduce the impact of taxation on overburdened residents and make taxation more just. We can advertise current property tax exemptions and deferrals for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals so that eligible residents are aware of and using those programs. Advertising should be both broad and targeted to known eligible communities. I have heard from community members that it can be difficult to apply for such exemptions, so advertising is not enough. Connecting residents to support services to navigate the application process could help increase participation in tax relief programs, reducing the impact of taxation on those who are most in need. We should include communication and accessibility accommodations in both advertising and program support services. Equitable policy decisions are those that involve the community in discussions about revenue allocation and tax policies to ensure that decisions align with the needs and priorities of the community. The city has done a good job promoting public engagement in financial decision-making, including use of a public budgeting tool and convening a Financial Sustainability Task Force. I support the continued use of both of these tools and expanding their uptake and integration into decision making. The city should increase transparency regarding how tax revenues are collected and spent, providing clear guidelines and reports on how funds are used and their impacts on the community. When tax policy changes or alternative revenue streams are being considered, the city must consider them through the lens of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan to evaluate their impact on low-income households, BIPOC communities, seniors, and other communities who could be disproportionately affected. The end result should be the prioritization of policies that promote equity and fairness. Finally, the city should advocate for changes at the state level that could allow for more flexible property tax relief options for vulnerable community members, reduce the overall sales tax burden or explore methods to make the sales tax less regressive, and replace our regressive tax structure with one that supports working families, seniors, and vulnerable communities. |
| Joe Marshall |
| Keep up with our record of providing translation services; give more time during public comment to those using interpreters; investigate further outreach to our under-represented communities. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| Public participation is foundational to a healthy community, better government, and stronger democracy. In 2023, the Pew Research Center reported that 61% of adults rate their local government positively. This represents a decline from 66% in 2022 and 69% in 2019 and means a third of residents distrust their local government. This erosion of trust could be related, in part, to a lack of government accountability, transparency, and responsiveness to public needs. In 2022, the City Council adopted Kenmore’s first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Policy. It frames operational goals and establishes a citywide strategic initiative to promote DEIA in the city’s community culture, programs, services, and workplace while fostering a safe, inclusive, and welcoming community for all. Community engagement practices should be evaluated using the city’s DEIA Policies and those policies should be regularly reviewed and updated to make sure they reflect current needs and best practices. We should also consider collecting data about community participation in programs and events. When we identify specific populations with lower engagement, we can design outreach efforts tailored to their preferred language and ways of communicating. Building relationships with community groups, nonprofits, and agencies who are embedded in specific communities can also help reach those who have less representation. We should continue to implement current best practices, including addressing barriers to participation such as transportation, childcare, or meeting times and locations, but we shouldn’t stop there. We should consider support of civic engagement as an iterative, collaborative practice with many possible entry points and solutions that can be discovered through openness, curiosity, and deep listening to residents who have less representation in our city government. We need to be mindful that those most impacted by policy decisions often do not show up to city council meetings to share their perspectives. When community members affected by a policy decision don’t participate, policies suffer from lack of legitimacy, ineffectiveness, and unintended negative consequences. If vulnerable community members are not comfortable engaging directly, we should reach out to trusted community organizations and leaders who understand how policies might affect those community members. We should actively listen to concerns and build long-term relationships with these community leaders, maintaining ongoing communication and dialogue to build trust over time. We need to build and, in some cases, repair trust through transparency, consistency, authenticity, and mutual respect. Our words need to match our actions. If we promise something, we need to follow through. If a policy direction changes, the rationale should be clear and the new direction consistent with stated priorities and goals. If there is rupture in trust, we need to develop ways to reconnect and move forward together. Finally, the city should continually evaluate the success of community engagement efforts to learn how we can improve to reach residents that have less representation in our city government and/or are more at risk of impact from local legislation. |
| Joe Marshall |
| We should move forward with our Lakepointe clean-up proposal of the former landfill at the mouth of the Sammamish Slough, the top of Lake Washington, complete initial testing, and put to the voters the question of buying a public shoreline subject to a known clean-up cost and limited liability for the city. We need to better balance our housing plans and zoning to protect our natural unpaved surfaces, remaining ecosystems and trees and wildlife habitat. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| Whether or not future generations of every species inherit a habitable planet is in our hands. What we do right now matters, and we need to work harder, faster, everywhere to avert the worst of what is to come. According to the UN, cities are responsible for 70% of global carbon emissions. Climate change is a global problem that requires urgent local action. Relatedly, we are also living through a salmon crisis — most of the five Puget Sound salmon species are at all time low returns and have been for decades — which impacts our Tribal neighbors and the Southern Resident Killer Whales in ways that are devastating. Simply stated, if we don’t have enough salmon in our waters for harvest, we have violated Tribal Treaty rights, Tribes are at risk of their cultural and spiritual identities disappearing, and the Southern Residents will go extinct. To support environmental justice goals, I will: • Work in coordination with local, regional, and state leaders on climate change related legislation. • Align local climate policies with best available science and regional plans. • Center the needs of frontline communities to ensure a just transition. • Advocate for the most aggressive, evidence-based carbon reduction actions possible. • Support comprehensive planning that moves Kenmore toward less car-dependency and retains critical natural areas that serve as carbon sinks and support biodiversity. • Coordinate regionally on preparedness and resiliency initiatives (e.g., cooling centers) as shared resources. • Invest in sustainable, renewable, salmon-safe energy alternatives to fossil fuels. • Align land use and zoning with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife best available science for protecting salmon habitat. • Support Kenmore’s participation in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed Salmon Recovery Council as a way to coordinate salmon recovery actions with regional partners. • Collaborate with Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond, and other jurisdictions that have salmon habitat connected to the Sammamish River to create longer continuously connected healthy habitat. • Center Tribal interests in salmon recovery efforts. Environmental justice must be included in our climate and salmon recovery work. Environmental justice is not just about highlighting discrepancies. True environmental justice redistributing decision-making power back to vulnerable communities that are systemically impacted by the burdens of environmental degradation. Frontline communities need to be centered; we need to build trust and create opportunities for communities to participate in decisions impacting their environment and health. This could involve hosting regular community meetings, workshops, and listening sessions to ensure their voices are heard and considered in the planning process. Translation services, offering childcare, holding meetings at convenient times and locations, and designing outreach materials without technical jargon are all ways that we can empower community members to meaningfully participate in decision making processes. Acknowledging and compensating expertise is another critical environmental justice practice. Community members have valuable lived experience and knowledge needed to address environmental harms in their communities; this can be acknowledged by including them in decision making, acknowledging their expertise publicly, and financially compensating them for their participation in workshops, committees, and advisory panels. Kenmore should incorporate environmental justice into planning and policy by addressing potential environmental impacts on vulnerable populations. We should consider where green infrastructure projects, such as parks, green roofs, and green spaces, are placed to address environmental justice concerns and provide equitable access to these benefits; ensure that planning and zoning decisions do not disproportionately burden disadvantaged communities with environmental hazards while benefiting others; identify communities affected by historical environmental harm and work with residents to develop cleanup plans and support their health and well-being; evaluate and improve public transportation options to ensure that all residents have access to reliable and affordable transportation, especially those who rely on it for economic stability and employment opportunities; and ensure all communities have access to convenient and affordable waste and recycling services. Finally, we really need to promote transparency and accountability in our community on environmental justice issues. Our community needs access to accurate and transparent information about environmental risks and challenges, and we need procedures to track progress and ensure that policies and actions contribute meaningfully to environmental justice goals. We cannot be healthy if our environment is not. |
| Joe Marshall |
| I am a lifelong environmentalist and proud Democrat. I advocated and council passed Kenmore's first ever Pride proclamation; and I began the effort to re-name the former Squire's Landing park, which Tulalip Tribal Members in collaboration with the Kenmore Heritage Society subsequently restored the original name to: Tl'awh-ah-dees, "where something sprouts." I served on the Northshore Parks and Service Recreation Area Board when we moved ahead with the ultimately successful Senior Center refurbishment levy; and I served on the Cascadia Community College Board and as President of Northshore Rotary. |
| Tracy Banaszynski |
| Different groups of people are impacted differently by the issues raised (e.g., housing, human services, policing, and so on) in the questions above. We should make sure all community members, especially those most vulnerable to discrimination and hateful behavior, are safe, welcome, and belong in Kenmore. BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and neurodivergent community members may have needs we miss if we do not include their experiences in decision making. Missing them will make our community less safe and welcoming for them. I love Kenmore and am dedicated to making it a place for everyone and look forward to doing so in collaboration with you. Thank you for taking the time to read my answers to these questions! Please reach out if you have any questions or just want to connect: tracy@tracyforkenmore.com |