About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

BCC Candidacy Filing Fees and Statement


As promised in the 5/08/15 post, I went online Monday to file as a candidate for the Bellevue City Council.  I chose to file for Position 7 knowing full well I was unlikely to win over Jennifer Robertson, the incumbent.  While she reneged on her promise 4 years ago to “use the permitting process to improve East Link”, her efforts in other areas merit reelection.

Again, I filed online Monday, received a confirmation, and had $205.84 payment from my Visa account was “pending” to L2GKC Elections on 05/11/2015 and paid on 5/13/2015.   Friday afternoon I finished my “Candidates Statement” for the Voters Pamphlet and decided to submit it.  However, when I went to the website, I wasn’t listed as a candidate on the 3:23 update.   

Rather than trying to contact King County Elections I filed again, this time including the below “Candidates Statement” and agreed to pay another $205.84.  This second effort was successful and I am now listed as a candidate.  However, they have yet to respond to my query about the second payment which is currently listed as “pending” on my account.  In the meantime I thought “viewers” would be interested in “why I run”.


Candidates Statement
I am once again filing as a candidate for the Bellevue City Council, not for votes, but to attract viewers to my blog http://stopeastlinknow.blogspot.com.  It explains why the council should not approve the permits Sound Transit needs for East Link.  The blog as well as my initial candidacy were prompted by ST, BCC, and the media choosing to ignore three years of emails and personal appearances attempting to raise these concerns.  Since then more than 24,000 have “viewed” the 240+ posts without a single rebuttal.

I urge anyone who cares about transportation to pay particular attention to three of the posts.  The 12/20/14 post explains why light rail will never have the capacity to justify ST spending billions on Prop 1 extensions.  The 2/10/15 post details ST incompetence in dealing with cross-lake commuting and how their mendacity regarding light rail noise impact on the Mercer Slough has made a mockery of the whole environmental review process.   The 1/22/15 post provides the details of the financial debacle awaiting the entire area from construction and subsequent operation of the Prop 1 extensions.   

I’m certain many who chose to do so will agree the BCC should stop East Link by disallowing permits.

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