Bosworth wants to keep the peace on Sammamish City Council
Kerry Bosworth, 46, is dedicated to improving Sammamish. To stay aware of city events, she has been watching city council meetings for the past three years. Over time, she observed a notable shift in the tone of dialogue within the council, a shift she believes is characterized by increased respect.
Bosworth said she is running for a council seat to further promote respectful dialogue, and to push for sustainable development in Sammamish. Currently, her notable endorsements include the 45th Legislative District Democrats, 41st Legislative District Democrats, 5th Legislative District Democrats, and Councilmember Karen Howe.
A relatively recent transplant to our community, Bosworth has nevertheless stayed involved. After moving to Washington state in 2013, and Sammamish in 2018, she volunteered for four years with her HOA board and has served on Sammamish’s planning commission since 2022. She believes her experiences will make her a valuable asset on city council.
When Bosworth first moved to Sammamish, she noticed that members of the community always interacted in thoughtful ways, and saw this as a good differentiation that Sammamish had over other places she had lived in.
“When I first moved here, what stood out to me was that I [quickly] developed special bonds with [my neighbors],” Bosworth said in an interview with the Sammamish Independent. “Now [I want to] extend that to the whole community.”
However, Bosworth was disappointed when she did not see the same behavior from the council majority between 2019 to 2021 that was led by then-mayor Karen Moran. Because of this, she decided to challenge Kent Treen, who was part of that majority. Bosworth believes Treen harbors the very negative attitudes that harms a sense of decorum.
“The minorities [on the council] were bullied, and they had to be more defensive,” she said. “Unfortunately, it came down to people and personalities.”
One of Bosworth’s other priorities is to improve the mix of tax revenue sources for the city. While Sammamish is legally permitted to increase property tax rates by 1% each year, Bosworth does not believe this option is the most favorable for homeowners.
“I do not want to rely on tapping on homeowners to fund our city,” she said.
Instead, she wants to push for development in Sammamish to generate additional revenue. Specifically, she wants to continue the town center development in order to add a new source of sales and property tax revenues to balance the city’s finances. She has been involved with establishing the town center in the Comprehensive Plan through the planning commission.
“The town center provides an opportunity to improve our revenue,” Bosworth said. “We do need to diversify our revenue, so we can have a little bit more [money] to do more things.”
Bosworth also wants to ensure that any development is sustainable for the community. To meet this goal, two of her other priorities are sustainable housing and environmentally sustainable climate action. She cited her involvement in projects such as the Housing Action Plan and Economic Development Plan as examples of experiences that will allow her to succeed in these goals.
As a candidate, Bosworth believes her most defining personal trait is her ability to project calmness and promote effective dialogue in tense situations.
“Cities are like humans—we need dialogue, expertise and good conversations,” she said. “I want the city to move in a good direction.”
Kerry Bosworth is running for Sammamish City Council position #4.
