The Redmond FAQ says:
Q6: When did the City learn about the County’s desire to locate a HTH facility in Redmond?
A: In spring 2021, King County informed the City that they were actively exploring locations in Redmond and in late May 2021, Redmond was made aware of the County’s intent to purchase the Silver Cloud Inn. As this was a private real estate transaction, it was kept confidential, as requested.
Q8: Did the City recruit the County to locate a HTH facility in Redmond?
A: No, the City did not seek out a HTH facility in Redmond.
Yet, City of Redmond Internal emails reveal a completely different story: Mayor Birney approached King County Executive in 2020, and invited the county to place homeless facilities in Redmond.
On Friday, October 30, 2020 11:32 AM, Nina Rivkin to Carole Helland said “ Would you be able to have staff look into hotels/assisted living facilities located in Redmond and let the Mayor and I know if there are any that you think the County would be interested in acquiring. “
On Friday, October 30, 2020 6:38 PM, Nina Rivkin to Carole Helland said “This is why the Mayor wants to meet with Dow, to specifically discuss City needs and the spending of some of this revenue in the City. “
On Monday, November 2, 2020 4:19 PM, Carol Helland to Beverly Mesa-Zendt said “I would suggest she make a list of all of those facilities in Redmond and then star the ones that might be suitable for conversation (because they are old and/or have high vacancy rates). “
On Monday, November 9, 2020 11:45 AM, Sarah Stiteler to Nina Rivkin said “Are you also interested in considering other properties that are 20+ years old? “ and Nina replied “Yes, this list should include all facilities, regardless of age. It is the older facilities that may be at risk of closing, not the newer facilities. “ Sarah then replied “The questions in my previous email were whether in addition to the information re: senior facilities and hotels, if you would like a list of apartments/condos in Redmond that are 20+ years old and have potential for conversion with 1509 funds.“
Mayor Birney then met Dow on November 30, 2020. The top two hotels on the list that Mayor prepared for Dow were the ones the county pursued. Owner of Redmond Inn changed his mind. Silver Cloud Inn was the one the county ended up purchased.
On Thursday, December 10, 2020 5:57:37 PM, Carol Helland to Nina Rivkin said “Nina – I have been asked by the Mayor to reach out to Leo Flor regarding the hotel purchase proposal that he discussed with her. ”
On Thursday, December 10, 2020 8:22:01 PM, Carole Helland to Mark Ellerbrook at King County said “Mark – I believe that Mayor Birney shared these with Executive Constantine when they met on November 30. Attaching them for your reference. Thanks for taking my call today. “
On Thursday, December 10, 2020 8:29:34 PM, Carol Helland to Nina Rivkin said “ Keeping you in the loop. Extended Stay America has expressed an interest in selling its hotels to the County. There is one that was identified as being located in Redmond when Leo Flor talked to the Mayor. The hotel is actually located immediately south of the Microsoft campus, but it is across the jurisdictional line and located in Bellevue. I have advised Leo Flor (through Mark Ellerbrooke) of the correct jurisdictional location information. “
On Tuesday, December 29, 2020 9:29 AM, Mark Ellerbrook to Carol Helland said “ First, thank you for sending the list of hotels. I appreciate it. Taking that a bit further, and maybe a step back, I wanted to circle back to a broader discussion on Health Through Housing. “
Mayor Birney’s other lies:
At the September 28, 2021 council talk, CM Vanessa Kritzer asked what the council can do to influence after the public hearing on October 5th. Mayor Birney told council members that they could not do anything. Mayor Birney told the council “This this is the hearing on the NRM official control which you have already voted on. There is no action taken at this meeting. But what does happen and I might call it director Helen, if I get this wrong, she might clarify. But this this issue will go does go to the Planning Commission for them to do the permanent changes. But right now this is because of the changes that the legislature made. We needed to do this. ” This is a complete lie. The authority to pass and amend city ordinances resides with the City Council. The Mayor has not authority to tell the City Council whether they can or can not amend a city ordinance.
After being asked to clarify the City Council’s authority over city ordinances, Mayor Birney finally admitted that the City Council indeed can amend Ordinance #3059 and modify the Interim Official Control.
The Mayor’s intention to prevent the City Council from amending Ordinance #3059 and modifying the Interim Official Control was on full display on October 5th. Although reluctantly admitted that the City Council indeed has the authority to amend Ordinance #3059, she threw in more lies and road blocks. She told the City Council that their effort to amend Ordinance #3059 “would add additional process without potentially tremendous added value”.
Why Mayor Birney attempted at every opportunity to derail the amendment to the Interim Official Control? Because the Interim Official Control regulates how the county operates the Redmond HTH hotel. Permanent code change won’t be finalized till at least Q2, 2022, too late to regulate the Redmond HTH hotel.
Fact: Chair of the Redmond Planning Commission, Sherri Nichols, was Mayor Birney’s campaign treasurer in 2015.
Mayor Birney has clearly breached public trust.
If you are outraged by Mayor Birney’s breach of public trust, please band together with all concerned voters, and take back the City of Redmond. We can’t let Mayor Birney get away with misleading the people, and running the city without transparency. We need an independent City Council to rein Mayor Birney’s power.
This year, there are 3 City Council candidates endorsed by Mayor Birney. With your committed votes, Mayor’s attempt to control the City Council can be blocked. Only 7,000 votes are needed to block the candidates hand-picked by the Mayor from taking over the City Council. Below are the candidates:
| Redmond City Council | Independent Candidates | Mayor Birney Endorsed |
| Position #2 | Steve Fields | |
| Position #4 | Dennis Ellis | |
| Position #6 | Jeralee Anderson |