Posted: April 3, 2025
By Chelsea Rudd
Edmonds
Link to My Edmonds News Article
Editor:
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, 250 Edmonds residents filled the chambers, with over 60 pleading with the council to remove Hummingbird Hill Park and Frances Anderson Center from consideration for rezoning, sale and commercial development. However, the next day it was reported by King 5, “Multiple city leaders say the public is misinformed.”
We were not misinformed. Concerned for the parks, I had emailed city council and received a reply from Councilmember Vivian Olson asking if me and my neighbors might want to buy Hummingbird Park as an investment and mused that a 55+ community would make for nice quiet neighbors. I would be willing to share the entirety of these emails with any member of the public.
The city asks for public engagement, yet when the public engages, we are gaslit. Despite the public’s feedback, the council has still not officially removed the two parks from consideration for rezoning and sale. Efforts to discredit residents is how citizens lose faith in their government.
A busy mom of two young children, I had never been to a city council meeting before. I’m sure that was the case for many of us who showed up. Unfortunately this experience has left me worried about the future of our parks and about the integrity of our government.
What next? Contact Vivian Olson and Neil Tibbott. Ask them to officially and PUBLICLY remove the parks from consideration. And perhaps, the mayor, for an apology, after the city slandered so many of its most earnest residents.