Thank you for all who supported me as a candidate for Black Diamond’s Mayor. I appreciate your confidence and believe that the city can still do a better job of communicating with our citizens.

A little history:  in the 1990s the state of Washington mandated that King County and its cities prepare plans for future growth. This unfunded demand made it necessary for Black Diamond to apply for grants to fund specialist who helped write our city plan along with city staff, the volunteer planning commissioners, the elected officials, and with citizen input.  After many years this plan was formulated and is named the Black Diamonds “Comprehensive Plan.” It is available to read on the city’s web site. I think it is a very good read. King County declared Black Diamond and some of its surrounding areas as an urban growth area to accommodate projected population growth. A large development firm named YarrowBay acquired 1,500-plus acres of the city and designed a 20 year master planned development or MPD for these properties.

This plan is huge and required many specialists to be hired by the city to oversee the city’s interest in the formulation of this plan. YarrowBay has funded most of these specialist positions in an effort to support “growth pays for growth.” The development is due to be completed by the year 2033 or beyond. As the development progresses it must follow the city’s comprehensive plan with checks and balances monitored by city staff and officials. As most of you know these plans have been and are very controversial with our citizens and people who live adjacent to the city. So far the MPD plans and the city have been tested in the courts and found to be legal. How the city monitors the plans will be crucial to our city and how elected officials act to protect the city and its property owners, including YarrowBay, will take a lot of wisdom. The last thing the city and its officials need is to be sued for hindering the property rights of the developer.

I believe we are at a cross road that separates the “stop YarrowBay at any cost” movement advocated by small groups of residents such as Save Black Diamond or Toward Responsible Development and those of us who realize that the development is going to be built. Stopping the development by forcing the city into bankruptcy is not a good choice. This kind of action would throw our city onto the laps of the King County Council who would most likely want us to be annexed to Maple Valley or Covington. The development would continue to be built and we would have lost local monitoring control and our city.

The present mayor, city administration, and city staff have followed the law in dealing with land owners and have not hindered the property rights of the developer or any other citizen’s property rights. They have met many challenges, have had to overcome adversities, and deserve encouragement and support.

I would suggest that we maintain our current mayor, Rebecca Olness, but add diversity to the City Council by voting for three young men who will give us a new and positive stance in government. I urge you to look to Patrick Nelson, Shawn Oglesbee and Bill Roth for new leadership and support them for Black Diamond’s City Council.

Please vote in November — and do not write my name in on the ballot — make sure your vote counts by voting for the present mayor.

Keith Watson

Black Diamond