SPENCER OPENS | Kenmore’s newest development [12]
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McMenamin’s | New business incorporates city’s past [2]
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015
Local woman raises awareness, funds for breast cancer research
Strokes on the water
BY DEANNA ISAACS disaacs@bothell-reporter.com
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Kenmore kayaking and canoe team competes at USA time trials From left, Kayak Olympic Champion Greg Barton and Kenmore-Cascade junior team member Ben Karlinsey practice on the Sammamish River Slough in Kenmore. The two athletes are part of a team with members from Kenmore who competed at the USA time trials. For the full story see page 11. DEANNA ISAACS, Bothell Reporter
othell is full of many caring individuals. Nidhi Mehta Seth, Bothell resident and mother, recently hosted a dance-a-thon in Redmond to raise funds for cancer research. Seth is from India, where women’s health issues are not part of public awareness, so she took it upon herself to raise awareness of cancer. “I had heard about it and had supported other walkers’ fundraising [for the Susan G Komen three-day walk in Seattle] by donating, and I wanted to take the challenge and walk,” Seth said. “The more I heard about it the more I wanted to do it.” First, she started doing small events to raise awareness among her In-
dian community, especially those of her family still back in India. Her main goal was to get women to start a conversation with their doctor about breast cancer, a goal she has reached a few times over. “Growing up, I’d never heard anyone talking about breast cancer in India,” Seth said. “I don’t remember if my mom went for a mammogram or a checkup, or even if she was checking herself. At that moment, I heard about something and thought ‘if I do the walk maybe my aunts and cousins back in India will hear about it and will get more aware about…breast cancer.” She feels that it’s still considered taboo to talk about breast cancer in India, but she’s making waves nonetheless. “The whole intention is to be fit and healthy, [ more CANCER page 10 ]
WCOG says Bothell City Council violated law by discussing Wayne purchase Bothell Reporter
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ccording to the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WCOG), after reviewing a Bothell Reporter investigation, the Bothell City Council violated open meetings laws by discussing the potential purchase of Wayne Golf Course during a 2013 executive session, and then allowing the right of first opportunity to purchase the back-nine property to lapse
without taking the issue to a public council meeting. “Any time you make a decision in an executive session, you’re almost always breaking the law, because decisions are not supposed to be made outside of public meeting,” said WCOG Vice President Michele Earl-Hubbard, who is also a lawyer for Allied Law Group. According to the city, Earl-Hubbard is currently in litigation with the municipality concerning other open government issues. The fact that the council
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discussed more than just the sale price of the property and came to a consensus to not take action is a violation of state law. “The executive session regarding property is… to discuss the price you are going to offer or the price you are going to accept; it’s not meant for making decisions whether or not to lease things, whether or not to buy things,” Earl-Hubbard said. During a Bothell City Council meeting held on April 7, a motion was passed to open a discussion on the
closed executive session from fall of 2013, during which the council discussed the opportunity to purchase the back-nine of the Wayne Golf Course. Issues discussed in executive session are closed to the public and only opened by a vote of the council. The motion enabled all councilmembers to speak about what took place in the executive session since there are no notes or recordings from the 2013 meeting. “As I recall, there was no discussion other than if we had the money, ‘yeah, we’d
The Bothell City Council discussed, April 7, the actions taken during an executive session in 2013 that led to an investigation by the city’s insurance company. YOUTUBE SCREEN SHOT
like to do it,’ but there was nothing [no money],” said Bothell Deputy Mayor Del Spivey during the April 7 meeting. “No discussion to seek a consensus to come to the dais and make a motion to take any type of
action… Everybody essentially remained quiet on the topic and, when we did return to the dais, there was not a motion made by any of the councilmembers.” [ more COUNCIL page 6 ]
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BY DEANNA ISAACS AND MATT PHELPS