ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, November 11, 2011
www.issaquahreporter.com
ELECTION 2011
Incumbents hold seats Results were conclusive after Tuesday’s count in Issaquah, Sammamish and school races BY LINDA BALL AND CELESTE GRACEY NEWS@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
The counts are in for the Issaquah and Sammamish local races, and all of the incumbents held on to their seats. Voter turnout was only about 30 percent in Sammamish, and not much better in Issaquah with 32 percent, after the Wednesday night count. More ballots will continue to come in the next few days.
Once a single mother working a side job delivering pizzas, Toni Nielsen now owns Extreme Pizza in Issaquah. is inundated with pizza places, and competition keeps coming. CELESTE GRACEY,
Sammamish City Council
The food cart closed down after a couple months because cold weather scared away sales before it could build a customer base, said co-owner David Meyer. Tuscan Stone cooks up madeto-order, thin-crust pizzas in a applewood fueled oven in just over a minute. While he food cart tends to compete with other food trucks, it brought notable competition to businesses on Bellevue’s Main Street. When the trailer, setup outside a boarded up fast-food joint, started drawing customers from Issaquah,
Tom Vance has a hefty lead for Seat 6 as of Wednesday night. Vance was leading his opponent, Jesse Bornfreund, with 68 percent of the count compared to Bornfreund’s 32 percent. Vance garnered 4,546 votes to 2,125 for Bornfreund. Vance, who was at home, said he was Tom Vance honored, and complimented his wife, Mary Lynn for being his number one supporter, editor and treasurer. “I think I ran a good campaign, I think I got my message out,” Vance said. Vance made an unsuccessful bid for city council in 2009. He is a former chair of the planning commission, who worked on the town center plan. “It’s not looking good for the home team,” Bornfreund said. Bornfreund was more disappointed with the low 30 percent voter turnout in Sammamish. He said 50 percent of the people he talked to Monday while out campaigning, had not sent their ballots in yet. “I’m not upset, I worked hard,” Bornfreund said. “At the end of the day, the people who voted are the winners.” For seat 4, Ramiro Valderrama was leading Jim Wasnick, 57 percent to 43 percent. Valderrama had 3,922 votes compared to 2,987 for Wasnick. Both are first time candidates. Valderrama, who mobilized Citizens Ramiro Valderrama for Sammamish, said although these are preliminary results, he was very humbled by the support of the citizens of Sammamish. He added his compliments to all of the other candidates, acknowledging all the hard work each one put in to their campaigns. Wasnick was already out picking up signs as numbers came in.
SEE PIZZA, 6
SEE ELECTION, 16
Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
Pizza Crazy | BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
A
single mother who once worked a pizza delivery job on the side, Toni Nielsen knows best why the hot pies are so popular in Issaquah.
With three teen boys, who grew about an inch every time she turned around, the convenience of bringing home a hot pizza pie was unbeatable. She now owns the pizza place she was delivering pies from, Extreme Pizza on Front Street North. She
Issaquah is clearly in love with those pies
hopes someday to open five more. In a small city filled with pizza places, restaurant owners are doing surprisingly well. Their success can be contributed to a cocktail of diversity, disposable income and the large number of families that fill the Issaquah foothills. “People are so busy in this area,” Nielsen said. “Convenience makes a big difference.” Issaquah, with about 30,000 residents, has 11 pizza restaurants, and a 12th is on the way. Tuscan Stone Pizza, a popular food cart in Bellevue, plans to reopen its trailer on East Lake Sammamish Parkway in the spring.