Councilmember Craig Reynolds Shares His Latest Recap-2026-01-20
OPINIONCITY GOVERNMENT
In this column, Council Member Craig Reynolds shares his perspective on recent issues before the Mercer Island City Council as well as insight in to how he votes and shapes city planning and policies.
January 20, 2026 Council Meeting Update
On January 20, 2026 the City Council had its regularly scheduled meeting at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. All members were present, with Councilmember Anderl attending remotely.
AB 6845: Mercer Island Municipal Court
AB 6850: Facilities Planning Appropriation Request
AB 6849: 2026-2027 City Council Liaison Assignments
AB 6839: 2027-2028 Budget Planning Overview
This was not a controversial meeting. Every vote was 7-0 in the affirmative.
AB 6845 - Municipal Court
Judge Gregory provided the Council his report on the activities of Mercer Island Municipal Court. In summary, things are going smoothly, with a great team, despite the logistical challenges of operating offsite in a space not really designed to be used as a court room. Our court only meets one day a week, and in addition, the city provides contract services to Newcastle one day a month. On other days, the Judge serves in a pro tem role for other jurisdictions, and his team deals with the administrative aspects of court operations. I asked Judge Gregory what the advantages are of having our own court versus contracting for services from another city. I don't think I got a satisfactory answer, and I plan to follow up.
AB 6850 - Facilities Planning
This item was a last minute move from the Consent Agenda to Regular Business. The Council approved two motions unanimously.
Carryforward the funds remaining from the 2025 Public Safety & Maintenance Facility Project (approximately $130,000) and appropriate the funds for completion of the site work and geotechnical assessment on the City Hall and Public Works Campus.
Transfer $587,594 from the Street Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund and appropriate $150,000 to complete the space planning analysis at the 9655 Building and the Luther Burbank Admin Building; revisit the City Hall and Public Works Building renovation cost estimate; complete the PSM Project Review; and return to the City Council in March 2026 with findings and preliminary project alternatives.
Together, these motions gave the City Manager authority to press on to prepare plans to create a revised plan for a new public safety and maintenance facility. With the recent purchase of the 9655 building (purchased without new taxes), I am optimistic that we will find a way to:
Return more city staff to in person work.
Move selected staff to the 9655 building, allowing a smaller new public safety and maintenance building.
Side note: I really don't like the name "9655 building". I hope that when design is complete, and we better understand how the space is being used, that we will be able to come up with a more meaningful name.
AB 6849 - Liaison Assignments
The purpose of this agenda bill was to alert the Council to the liaison appointments made by the Mayor for 2026-2027. I was very pleased with the assignments I was given.
I have served as liaison to the parks and recreation commission for four years now. While this is a non-voting role, and I play only a limited role in influencing policy, I get a first look at parks activities and can occasionally offer additional insights on issues before the commission.
Islanders care about the health of our businesses. I believe we all benefit from an activated town center, and I look forward to working with the Chamber of Commerce to learn more about what the city can do to support economic development.
The King County Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C) is a group of dedicated government officials who work collaboratively to inform each other on actions they, or the legislature, are taking to address climate change issues. Recently the County eliminated the staff positions that supported K4C, so the functioning of the body will change this year. But, chaired by Councilmember Weinberg and facilitated, at least for now, by Mercer Island staff, we hope to continue to meet and share best practices.
The LEOFF 1 Disability Retirement Board was created by the state legislature to determine the reasonableness and necessity of disability and post-retiree medical claims for police officers and firefighters that served during the limited effective period of LEOFF 1 (later replaced by, not surprisingly, LEOFF 2). LEOFF 1 is an extremely generous plan. It covers ALL reasonable and necessary medical expenses for covered members--with no deductible or copays. It includes coverage for nursing home care, eyeglasses, dental care, and pharmaceuticals. I have served on this board for four years now, and I am troubled by its generous approvals. I am fully supportive of giving our retired police officers and firefighters care that is reasonable and necessary, but in many cases the board has approved claims that I do not believe are really medical care, including providing room and board for someone in an assisted living facility because they are old and do not know how to cook, even without material associated identified health issues. They also seem to have no structured process to define what a "reasonable" cost is. Finally, I find its procedures sloppy, with claims approved even when the submitted paperwork is internally inconsistent or incomplete.
I am always skeptical (for many reasons I would be happy to discuss) of the mantra that "government should run more like a business", but in this case I think it may apply. I am the voice of fiscal responsibility here, but I am often outvoted 3-1. I will keep trying.
AB 6839 - Budget
This was a sneak preview of coming attractions later in 2026. Finance Director Matt Mornick provided his usual careful and informative presentation. He has his work cut out for him as he proceeds to prepare the budget for 2027-2028. As always, this will be a struggle, with the continuing structural imbalance between the rate of growth of property tax revenue (our primary source of revenue) and the inflationary impacts on city costs. In particular, he is currently forecasting (unless something changes) a $1.6 million deficit in the general fund and a $0.8 million deficit in the YFS fund in 2027. By law we have to balance the budget, so something needs to give.
Upcoming unusual expenses include:
Remodeling the 9655 building to ensure it can be efficiently and effectively utilized.
Updating the Comprehensive Plan to comply with the recent Growth Management Hearings Board decision.
Considering police body cameras (and the associated material expenses required to respond to associated public records requests).
Replacing an aging mid-size fire engine.
As always, I will be watching the budget process with sharp pencil and calculator at hand.