New Column: What Did You Say?

We apparently "opened Pandora's Box" (to quote an official in an off-record comment) with our story reporting on a decision to put a "road-diet" plan for Island Crest Way out to bid at the April 11 Mercer Island City Council meeting. Here's a selection of some interesting comments from the story:

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I will campaign hard against any city council member who thinks spending $3 million to reduce the lanes of a perfectly fine arterial is a priority, especially when every published study on the subject has concluded that a road with the peak hour traffic as high as ICW is too busy a street for a road diet.

Have they every commuted at a busy time of day? It already takes 10-15 minutes just to get to the north end during school hours 8-9am. How inconvenient do they want to make it for all the hardworking adults who live on the south end?

Ridiculous idea - the money could be spent more effectively on our children's educations or the needs of our public safety services on the island.

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I ran my 2009 campaign advocating "open and honest government." For 14 years, I have been very publicly advocating that and public votes on controversial issues. One issue, as shown in one of my six different campaign signs, was opposing the road diet. I also opposed tolling on I-90 and our loss of SOV center lane access, which is also going to happen. My opponent said he hadn't decided yet on the road diet; the Council scheduled a September vote on the road diet, which was pushed to after the election so the voters would not know where the candidates stood. Whenever the City asked for comments on the road diet, a clear majority opposed it. I showed how the so-called "citizen's committee" was rigged with those who had advocated the road diet at council meetings and in the newspaper. Historically, the City Council has only put two controversial issues on the ballot -- the golf course in Pioneer Park and City Hall at Mercerdale Park. In both cases, voters rejected the council majority's position. I am a scholar by training and temperament. As a junior at MIHS, I began using the UW research libraries and have a research Ph.D. from Stanford. I have been opposing the City Council based on documentary evidence gained from attending every council meeting and record requests. If the Jerry Gropp's of the Island believe that is being a "loose cannon," then they should stop naysaying and whining in the newspaper and accept what the wise guys at the City Council decide.

There were also quite a few coments on the recent criminal activity affecting the community, including the arrest of the man believed responsible for numerous local car prowls and an attempted robbery at Northwest Yeshiva High School:

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Fantastic job by the Mercer Island Police Department!!! The efficiency with which they were able to remove this dangerous individual to society off the streets is nothing short of highly commendable. Mercer Island is a much safer city today thanks to the MIPD.

Let us also praise the NYHS for their implementation of video surveillance, and the young students who were on top of it. Without even knowing what had actually happened, their concern was for a human being believed to have fallen.

I hope NYHS is able to further improve their surveillance of the grounds, to ensure crystal clear footage will always be available in case this happens again.

This is the debut of what I hope will be a new series here on Mercer Island Patch. Each week, I'll pick two or three of the most interesting story or Facebook comments, questions, or Twitter tweets sent to Mercer Island Patch. 

You help make it interesting because it's all about you. Comment on any story here, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.