Former Legislator Toby Nixon to Challenge Jessica Greenway on City Council

Former state legislator Toby Nixon, who lives in an area that will officially become Kirkland when annexation takes effect June 1, announced Monday he will run against Jessica Greenway for City Council.

Nixon said he had filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission to run for Kirkland City Council Position 4. Greenway, the incumbent, announced in April that she would run for re-election.

Three council positions will be contested on the Nov. 8 ballot: the one held by Greenway and those held by Dave Asher and Bob Sternoff.  Neither Asher nor Sternoff has announced his intentions.

Nixon, 51, a senior programmer for Microsoft, said he decided to run for Position 4 because he found himself disagreeing with Greenway’s positions more than the other two council members.

“I thought about it a long time and have been observing the council and members’ positions on the issues,” Nixon said. “I’ve worked with Sternoff on some issues and Asher, most recently on the ethics task force.

"I finally decided that among the three, I disagreed with Greenway more than the others.”

Greenway said Monday she welcomes the challenge.

"I expected to have a tough opponent and I think Toby will be a tough opponent," she said. "I think this is good for Kirkland civic life. It should be a contest. I think people will have a very clear choice here."

Nixon was a Republican state legislator from the 45th District, which includes the north part of Kirkland, from 2002 to 2007. Like most city councils in Washington, Kirkland’s is a nonpartisan panel.

Nixon, a Kingsgate resident, actively supported Kirkland's annexation of that northern neighborhood and those of Finn Hill and north Juanita. In fact, Nixon only becomes eligible for the council when annexation takes effect June 1.

Nixon noted that Greenway and Asher both voted to delay annexation in the final 5-2 council vote to move ahead with it last year.

“That was a factor in my decision to run against Jessica as well,” he said.

He declined to discuss at length other issues on which he and Greenway disagree, but noted that one was zoning and design requirements for new development.

“She is one of the most outspoken of the council members in terms of establishing detailed zoning and design requirements for new development,” he said. “The result is that the council has made it difficult for new development to occur – what I would consider micro-management from the council.”

Greenway said the annexation debate is "history" and that the focus now should be on making the process smooth and successful.

"That decision has been made, and I have stated clearly ... the main reason I'm running is to make sure annexation is successful," she said. "We need to focus on the future."

On zoning and design requirements, Greenway said she simply supports the city's comprehensive plan, which was developed through a long public process with input from all parties.

"My philosophy is that the decisions we make should reflect our comprehensive plan," she said, noting that she served for two years on the city Planning Commission before running for the council.

"The council has made some decisions favorable to property owners and developers because these are tough times," she added. "Our philosophy now is to remove barriers."

At the same time, she said, development in Kirkland must maintain a certain standard. "The goal is that any development should fit the comprehensive plan and should be high quality; that's what Kirkland is known for."

Nixon is also now one of three commissioners for King County Fire District 41, which in cooperation with the Kirkland Fire Department provides service to the annexation areas, but will dissolve when annexation takes effect.

He and the other two commissioners, along with Kirkland fire officials, took considerable heat earlier this year over a proposal by the district to locate a new fire station on almost two acres of King County’s Big Finn Hill Park. The plan, designed to provide better coverage and faster emergency response time on Finn Hill, was roundly criticized at a March public meeting by area residents, who said the land was too valuable as park to be used for a new station.

Nixon has also been an advocate for transparency in government, serving as president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, and for education, serving on the advisory council of the Lake Washington Schools Foundation.

He has been a resident of the Kirkland area since 1993, and he and his wife, Irene, have five children from the ages of 18 to 26. His website is at www.TobyNixon.com. Incidentally, Nixon said he has no known family connection to the former president of the same name.