Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, December 2, 2011
A new home
www.issaquahreporter.com
– a new
YWCA housing gives woman chance at education, career
life
Issaquah may cut 20 jobs to end redundancy Consultant tells city to focus on bringing in more business
BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
H
BY CELESTE GRACEY
aving begun college courses five different times, Kim Nieves is done with starting her college career. For the new YWCA resident, it’s time to finish. A single mother, she wants to get an education as a linguist and to pick up a third language, but living so far from school made it hard to keep up with classes and spend time with her son. Now, the new low-income housing in the Issaquah Highlands has made it possible for her to live close to Bellevue College, where she plans to enroll this winter. Nieves isn’t alone. The Eastside could use a few more low-income complex’s like Issaquah Family Village, but the area faces the stereotype that the poor don’t exist there, said June Wiley, a regional director for the YWCA. It’s not just a matter of having lowincome housing available in the region. It’s a matter of having it on the Eastside. “Just because we’re not in a higher income bracket, it doesn’t mean we don’t want to be in nice surroundings,” Nieves said. She came from a shabby, onebedroom apartment she rented in an Auburn house. The space was so small, she shared a kitchen. She was constantly worried about her son’s safety in the neighborhood, but there wasn’t space for him to hangout inside. Gazing from the windows in her new two-bedroom apartment, Nieves commented on the beauty of the Issaquah Alps, which were highlighted by yellow fall leaves. A generous courtyard, carved for
CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
Kim Nieves new apartment at the YWCA Family Village in Issaquah gives her direct access to Bellevue College and a chance to finish her schooling. CELESTE GRACEY, ISSAQUAH & SAMMAMISH REPORTER
community, turns through play areas. “It’s peaceful here,” she said. “I don’t worry.” The move hasn’t just been good for her education, it’s been exceptional for her eighth-grade son, Ruben. He earned a fair share of A’s in his former district, where he was invited to enter a leadership program. When he transferred to the Issaquah School
District, he found he was behind the rest of the students. A diligent student, he started coming home on the late bus, so he could spend extra time studying. When Nieves asked him where he had been, he told her that he knew she wouldn’t be pleased if he didn’t bring home A’s. SEE NEW LIFE, 10
The City of Issaquah could lay off up to 20 employees in February, after a consulting firm pointed out a major redundancy in its operations. The plan would save the city enough money to start an economic development department, which would focus on bringing in more business. “This city is not broken,” said Tom Krippaehne, a managing partner of Moss Adams, which provided the report. The city’s finances were in “reasonable shape,” but they need to be strengthened. While the city wasn’t surprised by the issues the firm pointed out, details about actual changes weren’t certain until Tuesday. City Administrator Bob Harrison proposed merging Public Works Engineering and Public Works Operations under Sheldon Lynne, who runs PWE. Lynne’s number two, Keith Niven, would receive a promotion to the head of the new economic development team. The major changes will happen by summer 2012 with the layoffs complete in February, Harrison said. Making staff changes right away is good for the city, because people work best with some certainty in their jobs, said John Traeger, Issaquah City Council president. Over the past few years the city has slimmed back its staff to the point where key administrators were doing clerical work. This has been a poor use of resources, and the city needs to hire more support staff, Krippaehne said. So while 6-20 employees could lose their positions, the total number of staff could stay about the same. The city is offering a buyout option to the city employees, which would pay severance, but not allow workers to take unemployment benefits, Harrison said. Moss Adams ran through a list of suggested improvements, which ranged from SEE CITY, 3