Record

Record

These will be my main themes during my tenure:

Financial Transparency and Management

Since Diane’s appointment in 2010, her record reflects actions to enhance transparency, clarity, and accuracy of monthly financial reports. She was instrumental in having these monthly reports, patterned after the City of Redmond, made available to the public and published on the website. In 2012, Diane saved the City $5.0 million by challenging the Administration’s interpretation of receivable taken from the City’s books. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board found her analyses of the receivable/payable transaction to be accurate and the City had to unwind the transaction and republish the Audited Financial Statement. She was instrumental, along with a Long-Range Financial Task Force, in implementing a “Fund Balance Policy” which was key to the City receiving its first ever AAA bond rating, which represents the highest level of credit worthiness a municipality can achieve and allows the city to borrow money at the lowest commercial interest rates possible.  With these conservative practices under Dave Earling, the City had over $13M in reserves at the beginning of 2021.  Unfortunately, through the course of four years, the City overspent, added staff, rewrote job descriptions, increased wages, found loopholes in contracting limits and many Council approval was pushed through by a simple majority in 2021-2022.  The lack of transparency or approval from Council coupled with a runaway “Wild West” spending habits now puts the City in 2025 about $13M in the hole (depending on how you calculate).  I wrote an expose in 2025 about how the City allowed the removal of $3.5 million from published reports.  This changed was never reconciled by the City and so I shared my concerns to the public and here is the link to that story.  What folks also need to realize is that the ending fund balance of $16,714,223 was now reported at $11,902,952 with a difference of ($4,811,271) and City did not ever footnote this or explain.

Environmental Stewardship

With various marsh community groups and Students Saving Salmon, Diane has seen remarkable citizen interest in restoring our marsh, creeks and streams. Remarkably, in 2022, volunteers daylighted Shellabarger Creek on the West side of the Highway which has a significant impact since Willow Creek on the west side also empties into the Marsh. Since 2010, Diane represented Edmonds on the Watershed Restoration Inventory Area Salmon Recovery Council (WRIA 8) and was appointed to the Puget Sound Partnerships’ (PSP) Salmon Recovery Council. PSP asked her to be featured as part of the Infrastructure Bill sent to our Federal Regulators. Largely as a result of these efforts, the City has been successful in putting the Edmonds Marsh and Perrinville Watersheds onto the WRIA 8 Priority Lists which allows for more grant funding opportunities.

Diane has always advocated for the Citizens’ Tree Board, which actively encourages the planting, protecting, and maintaining of trees for the long-term community benefit. The Tree Board was influential in establishing an Urban Forest Management Program to help guide future decisions about the role, value and overall management of Edmonds’ urban forest as well as educating citizens, city planners, and developers alike on the importance of maintaining/enhancing our tree canopy as well as the “Right Tree in the Right Place”. Most importantly, just creating the Tree Board resulted in Edmonds receiving the Tree City USA recognition in 2012 and their accomplishments have helped maintain that designation. Diane recognizes that many citizens continue to have concern about our tree canopy and the loss of trees due to development activities. As such, Diane is a proponent of initiating a tree voucher program to encourage citizens to plant trees on their private property.

Economic Vitality and Tourism

Diane appreciates the uniqueness of Edmonds and recognizes that Edmonds is a coastal, artsy community with a vibrant, charming downtown that attracts local and distant tourists. She recognizes a key to sustaining economic vitality is collaboration with the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce; the chamber promotes Edmonds’ existing businesses, while the City works towards establishing a business-friendly environment to attract new and diverse business interests.

Community Safety and Well-Being

Diane was committed to addressing and enhancing community safety and well-being. During her tenure a number of citizen boards and commissions (i.e. Tree Board, Youth Commission, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Commission, Economic Development Commission) were created to help expand Edmonds citizens’ voices in current and future policy and prioritization decisions; there are many citizens with unique talents and the desire to contribute to the betterment of our community!  Unfortunately, in 2025, the City Council has cancelled all Boards and Commissions because of finances.  So, the City still has outdated codes, and inadequate and incomplete 2024 Comprehensive Plan and Environmental Impact Statement not to mention the lack of transparency regarding the financial issues and how the City will be dealing with the Fiscal Emergency Crisis.  The Administration must work collectively with the Council to become more transparent in communication with the citizen taxpayers.