Lam seeks second term with focus on sustainable growth and affordable housing
In 2021, Amy Lam became the first Asian American woman ever elected to the Sammamish City Council.
Now, she is seeking to retain her Position No. 1 seat in the Nov. 4 election.
During her first term, Lam worked to strengthen the city’s public image and broaden representation. At the time, U.S. Census data showed that 36% of Sammamish’s population was Asian, but the council was entirely white.
“Since I’ve gotten on council, we’ve made a much stronger effort in being more inclusive and I’m really proud of that. Our Lunar New Year celebration is much larger. We also, as a city, strongly encourage women and minority-owned businesses in requests for city work,” Lam said in an interview with the Sammamish Independent.
Lam also focused on improving walkability, citing sidewalk expansion as a major accomplishment. Under her leadership, the annual sidewalk budget grew from $1.2 million to $2.4 million over six years.
This sidewalk program is paid for by the city’s 340 Fund. The fund gets money from traffic impact fees and real estate excise taxes. The fund is dedicated to transportation capital projects. This keeps the sidewalk program separate from the city’s general fund, where budget shortfalls often lead to cuts.
Lam’s push for walkability involved more than just building sidewalks.
“On 218th, I noticed people were walking in the road in order to get to Big Rock Park South. There’s no shoulder there and no way for people to even walk in the grass. So, I asked staff: Can we open up Beaton Hill? People are now able to kind of cut through that park instead of walking on the street,” Lam said.
Lam also worked to strengthen Sammamish’s relationships with neighboring cities.
“When I got on council, I was really kind of disheartened to learn how other cities view Sammamish. Sammamish wasn’t going down to Olympia to lobby for projects, and we weren’t participating in the discussion around affordable housing, the biggest issue that is facing our region right now,” Lam said.
Since then, Sammamish has begun collaborating more with nearby cities.
For example, under Lam’s leadership, Sammamish began regularly participating with neighboring cities in ARCH (A Regional Coalition for Housing) events.
That collaboration helped earn Sammamish recognition from Futurewise, a Washington land use organization, which honored the city with its “Excellence in City Planning for a Small or Mid-Sized City” award for its work on affordable housing.
“It’s a big honor considering all the cities updating [their] Comp Plans, and it’s an award that we would not have received in the past,” Lam said.
On fiscal policy, Lam said she supports the recently passed 6% utility tax, though she acknowledged that it has been unpopular.
“We did it to maintain our current level of service. However, we also work to ensure that the people who are most affected—people that are lower income and people on fixed incomes—are less impacted. That was why I advocated that our city offer a yearly rebate of $200 instead of $100 to offset that increased burden,” Lam said.
According to a previous City Council presentation from Finance Director Vicky Carlsen, a household with about $300 a month in utility bills would pay about $216 a year under the 6% tax. With Lam’s proposed $200 rebate, the net cost would fall to $16.
She has also voiced support for development in the Town Center area, saying it could generate more revenue while creating more affordable housing, boosting local business, and improving transit infrastructure.
Addressing concerns from residents who oppose the Town Center project, Lam said some claims circulating about the plan are misleading.
“A lot of people are kind of confused seeing those signs posted around Sammamish. Those housing units aren’t going to happen overnight. Since the Town Center plan was adopted in 2008, we’ve only built 326 units. So if you extrapolate that, it will take a really long time to build that 4,000,” Lam said.
Committed to turning plans into action, Lam said a second term will focus on ensuring Sammamish’s policies reflect the community’s evolving needs while maintaining fiscal discipline and sustainable growth.
Amy Lam is running for Sammamish City Council Position No. 1.
The Sammamish Independent reached out to Lam’s opponent, Harlan Gallinger, but did not receive a response as of the time of publication.
Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly indicated that the annual sidewalk budget was initially $200,000. This has been corrected to $1.2 million.
