Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, March 14, 2014
www.issaquahreporter.com
Comp plan review will keep city council busy BY LINDA BALL
Sammamish residents and Peace Corps volunteers Ronda and Glenn Olson pose at their lunch table in Cimislia, Moldova. They are currently in the 23rd month of their 27-month agreement.
ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
COURTESY PHOTO.
SERVING TOGETHER Sammamish couple joins Peace Corps
BY KELLY MONTGOMERY ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Glenn and Ronda Olson have always been drawn to the idea of promoting and expressing peace. But unlike most Peace Corps participants, the Sammamish couple waited many years to fill their volunteering void. “The seeds were planted when I was in high school,” Ronda said. “One of the seminars offered during career day was on the Peace Corps. What always stayed with me was that there is a great big world out there and I just may be able to do something.” Glenn, 64, and Ronda, 63, aren’t new to volunteering. Glenn built the Little League baseball field that sits between Margaret Mead Elementary School and East Sammamish Park, and Ronda has worked with local PTAs, the Boys and Girls Club and co-founded the Plateau Youth Action Committee in 1992. However, the Peace Corps is their first time contributing overseas. And it only took 40-something years to make it a reality. “Totally over simplifying, the process went something like this:
“I felt if I didn’t apply, then I probably never would” – Ronda Olson
Glenn and Ronda Olson. COURTESY PHOTO. dating in college, wedding bells, diapers, coaching Little League games, college tuition, and eventually an empty nest,” Glenn said. “Ronda and I rekindled our thoughts about Peace Corps. We started reading and talking about it for about five years and then I decided it was time for a change, and Ronda agreed.” Ronda said she wasn’t set on leaving home. However, what she did know is that she didn’t want to be away from Glenn for two
and a half years and she wasn’t getting any younger. “I felt if I didn’t apply, then I probably would never do so,” she said. “So I followed recommendations, took classes in Spanish through Bellevue College, and tutored a wonderful young woman from Columbia in English.” Then, in June 2012, Glenn and Ronda left for the adventure of a lifetime. They are currently serving in Cimislia, Moldova, and are in the
23rd month of their 27-month service agreement. Glenn is in the Small Entrepreneur Development department, so his primary responsibility is consulting the Strategic Planning Department and their various projects. He also translates for the communications department, works on a recycling and solid waste information grant campaign, helps with a construction grant project for schools, and works to educate and promote health issues within the area through a NGO called ‘Youth for Youth’. SEE PEACE CORPS, 4
The fervor over the Klahanie Potential Annexation Area still has not calmed down, based on the public input at Tuesday’s Land and Shore committee meeting at Issaquah City Hall. And now, there are even more land use issues for the committee to review and bring to the full council, including a thorough look at the city’s comprehensive plan, required every seven years. However, almost all of the public comment turned back to Klahanie and the failed Feb. 11 annexation vote. Dave Guzzetti, who lives in the Hunter’s Ridge neighborhood of Klahanie, asked the committee to release the PAA because they are surrounded by Sammamish and want to move on. Kirstin O’Malley, who is active with the grassroots group Klahanie Choice, said unlike Issaquah, Sammamish would not need a super majority in a vote to annex the PAA. “We’re tired of the voting,” O’Malley said. “We’re ready to move on. If you guys start carving up the PAA it may not look as attractive to them (Sammamish).” O’Malley was referring to the suggestion by supporters of the Issaquah annexation to slice off the southern portion SEE COMP PLAN, 19