I have just learned this week that there may not be money in the 2010 budget to afford youth sports programs for 2010. Please click here to find out how you can help fix this problem.

Click here to read Mr. Maddock's other insights about this election.

In overpowering numbers, monetary supporters of Mrs Bird are University Place residents while the monetary supporters of her opponent come from OUTSIDE University Place, again, in overwhelming numbers.  Boy!  That really ought to tell us something.

Linda has received the endorsement of The News Tribune in the November 3rd general election.

The News Tribune’s editorial board endorsed Bird in the primary because she has been part of a council majority that has been a force for dramatically positive change in University Place. One need only look at its parks, sidewalks, streetlights and other amenities to see what Bird and her colleagues have accomplished for the young city.

Bird, a pioneer of incorporation, deserves another term. Her opponent has not made a compelling case for unseating her. Indeed, some who have served with him on other boards describe him as divisive and inflexible – two qualities that would not serve him well on the City Council.

You know what they say about sunlight. (click to enlarge)

Pat Maddock maintains the entertaining and informative University Place: What's Up? blog that chronicles the local goings on as well as developments in the University Place real estate market. He is the former President of the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors, current Vice-President of the Washington Realtors, serves on the board of directors of the University Place/Fircrest division of the Tacoma-Piece County Chamber of Commerce and, last but not least, serves on the Economic Development Commission of the City of University Place. Mr. Maddock, a resident since 1953, offered the following thoughtful and generous endorsement of Linda's re-election:

In Linda Bird, not only do you have the leading reason why our young city has accomplished so very much in it’s brief existence but I and MANY other U.P. citizens see clearly that in this dedicated, intelligent and respectful public servant lies the most sound future we can envision for our city.  My public endorsement for Mayor Linda Bird stands.  I encourage each of you as enthusiastically as I possibly can to vote for Linda Bird and more importantly to urge your neighbors to fill their ballots out and return them before the 18th, too.

Linda has received the endorsement of The News Tribune.

"If anybody on the University Place City Council embodies the spirit of the city, it is Bird.

She was the campaign manager for UP’s cityhood effort in 1994, and was called “the mother of incorporation” in tribute to her leadership. She is one of five remaining members of University Place’s first City Council who took office in May 1995, and now she is seeking another term.

Voters should give it to her – not just as payback for the hard work she has put into the city but also because she’s the best of the three candidates running for Position 1.

Bird – who is currently serving as mayor – has been a champion for parks, sidewalks and expanding the city’s tax base."

The University Place Engineering department has started doing Town Center hard hat tours. The tours will be taking place from 4:30 to 6:30 on the first and third Mondays of every month. There will be about 10 people to a group and the tour will take about 45 minutes. The tour groups will leave from Town Hall and will make their way through the Library/Civic building and Market Square. These tours will be on-going until Market Square is open to the public.

Drop-ins are welcome from 4:30 to 5, and then by appointment only from 5:30 to 6. There will be two engineers scheduled on the first and third Mondays of each month to stay and be the our guides. If you would like to make an appointment for a tour please call Diana Neufeld at 253-460-2526 or email DNeufeld@cityofup.com.

Everyone is welcome to take a tour and we encourage everyone to invite your friends and family to take this opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Town Center project.

Accuracy in the information I distribute is very important to me. I have discovered a typo one of my campaign fliers. The flier states that since becoming a city the average UP property taxpayer has saved approximately $11,000  in property taxes. The flier should have said $1,500 in property taxes, not $11,000 as printed.

News Flash!!!

The City of University Place has received news of another federal grant award. The city has been allocated $750,000 from the “Safe Routes to Schools” grant program to build curb, gutter, sidewalk, and bike lane on the east side of the street between 27th and 19th along Grandview Drive!!!  

Also, did you know you can take a “hard hat” tour of the Town Center “Market  Square” project every Monday afternoon when there is a Council Meeting scheduled for that evening. The first tour will  start on July 13th  at 4:30 PM. No reservations needed.

Dan Burden, an internationally recognized expert on the topic of walkable communities, visited Grandview Drive recently. He sent the following note to some of his colleagues about his encounter with longtime resident, and U.P. parks benefactor, Dr. George Hess.

I have to share this story. I have tried to tell it on voice mail to two folks, but broken down with emotion each time. This is a story to emphasize that what we do in our careers to help others, matters. While videotaping for two hours on Grandview Drive, in University Place (Pierce County), Washington today, this story unfolded.

Pierce County never required, nor built sidewalks for this population of 30,000. The City was formed in 1994. When I first visited, in 1996, the city still had no sidewalks. My wife, Lys and I came here on request, inspired them, and now the city has completed 27 miles of sidewalks, many miles of bike lanes, put 7 roads on a road diet (lane reductions), and built both the state's first roundabout, then 7-9 more roundabouts, and now is preparing to build a city center.

While observing and photographing one of the roundabouts along Grandview Drive I noticed a very senior, senior citizen using a walker moving toward me at about 1 mph. He completed his 1/4 mile journey in about 20 minutes, with a few pauses along the way. He arrived at the roundabout, then used his walker for a sitting place. He was watching me. And so, I crossed the road and went up to him.

With my videocamera recording our visit I asked him if he took these walks daily. He said that he did, with a huge smile on his sun protected face. I asked him how long he had lived there. "Since 1925, he said."  I then asked if he didn't mind, to tell me what his profession had been. He told me that he had been a physician. We talked about how healthy these walks were for him. Then, I told him that I had helped inspire this street and the sidewalks. He grabbed my hand and shook it. He then said, "I am pleased to know who inspired this street." My guess is that he has reached the age of 98 for many reasons ... and that the daily, walks, and the people he meets adds to his longivity and the quality of his life.

Dan Burden, Principal and Senior Urban Designer
Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin