Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, August 22, 2014
www.issaquahreporter.com
Sammamish says Klahanie fiscal report is positive According to the city of Sammamish, if residents in the Klahanie annexation area vote to join the city, they will pay lower taxes and receive better services than they do now as part of unincorporated King County. In addition, no changes will be made to current Sammamish resident's taxes or services. "We're required as part of the annexation process to provide a fiscal analysis," City
Manager Ben Yazici said. "I'm happy to say the report didn't turn up anything that should give people heartburn." The fiscal analysis, conducted by Butkus Consulting, Inc., was presented to the Sammamish City Council on July 15. After counting additional operating expenditures against additional operating revenues, the city says that upon annexation, Sam-
mamish would likely net a positive balance of approximately $1.24 million a year. However, consultant Pete Butkus cautioned that the report did not include major capital expenditures. The city's commitment to spend at least $3 million on Issaquah-Fall City Road, for example, was not folded into the fiscal report numbers. "That's a corridor we want to improve for
Skyline grad takes fourth trip to Uganda
SEE KLAHANIE, 11
Issaquah High School workshop to look at future to help present Fifty student leaders from middle school and high school will convene Friday, Aug. 22 at Issaquah High School for the first 2050 Workout. The 10-hour event will feature systems thinking, scenario mapping, and public speaking practice. After the workout, student teams will present their findings in a public forum from 6-7 p.m. at Issaquah High School, 700 2nd Ave. S.E., in the black box theater. The community is invited to attend. The goal of the 2050 Workout is to empower youth to catalyze community sustainability by forecasting scenarios for community sustainability in the year 2050 and then working back from 2050 to establish school-by-school sustainability plans for the 2014/15 year. Throughout the day, students will mix and match key principles from a range of planning and performance frameworks including: King County Green Schools criteria, the seven
Morgan Vanderwall says first trip was “life changing” BY KELLY MONTGOMERY ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Morgan Vanderwall was 12 when she first visited Uganda. “I don’t think I would be the person I am today if I hadn’t gone to Uganda in 2009,” she said. Vanderwall, a recent Skyline High School graduate, became intrigued when a family friend, who started a school in Uganda to honor her brother who had died of AIDS, organized a travel group to accompany her to the country. Vanderwall’s dad also was in Uganda, working through his own secular nonprofit called “Expressive Business Strategies,” which teaches people in Third World countries how to be successful with their businesses. Vanderwall said that when the opportunity came up, she knew she had to go. And so she did, spending approximately two weeks aiding in educational efforts with one of her best friends, Isabella, by her side. So when the summer of 2010 rolled around, Vanderwall became eager to get back to the country she fell in love with. The Vanderwall’s family friend constructed another team, and they went again for two weeks. In 2011, they went again. But in 2012, the family
our current residents, many of whom use it as a commuting route, and for Klahanie residents, as well," Yazici said. "But the ultimate scope and cost, and the amount of grant money we'll be able to obtain, is not yet known." The fiscal report, more than 40 pages
SEE WORKSHOP, 12
Vanderwall smiles with a child from the Watoto Church in Uganda. COURTESY PHOTO. friend decided to take a break from her yearly trips. “There was a big three year gap where I couldn’t go back,” she said. Eager to get back, Vanderwall began researching mission groups and stumbled upon the Watoto Church and its “Global Missions Team.” For $2,200, not including her flight, Vanderwall could spend three weeks helping people in Uganda. She applied for the program, was accepted, and began raising money through GoFundMe.com. On July 2, Vanderwall took off for Uganda with the same friend she went with in 2009. “I have fallen in love with
the country every time I’ve gone,” Vanderwall said. The two spent their entire two-and-a-half weeks in Uganda with the children of Watoto Church, helping out wherever the could. The church is the biggest in Uganda, taking in children who have lost their parents due to disease, war or abandonment. They hire nannies, or “mammas,” who are often refugees themselves, to take care of the children and raise them until their ready to go off on their own. Vanderwall said the church works both ways, because the children are gaining a family, but the mothers are as well. “We would help the nannies
and mammas with whatever they needed to give them some relief during the day,” Vanderwall said. “It’s not like when we go over (to Uganda) we’re the first white people they’ve ever seen. It’s one of the most typical countries that people go to do mission work, but I don’t think they take anything for granted.” Vanderwall said that even something as simple as changing a diaper means the world to them, and that the people she’s interacted with over the years are some of the most joyful and welcoming people she’s ever met in her life. SEE UGANDA, 11
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