City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a Redmond City Council special meeting held on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026, commencing at 6:40 p.m. Uh, council members in attendance are Council President Stewart, Council Vice President Noea Camina, Council Member Foresight, Council Member Chryser, Council Member Parsy, Council Member Parker is online, and Council Member Sony is also here in person. Uh this special meeting is being held to interview parks, trails, and recreation commission candidates. Lindseay Falenberg, parks planning manager, will introduce the candidates.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you all. Um I'm so excited to introduce three uh candidates for the parks, trails, and recreation commission. I'll start left to right. Um, first up we have Eugene Vidales who is a Redmond resident and a daily parks and trail user who you who brings both technical expertise and strong community engagement to his candidacy. An electrical engineer and a project integrator, Eugene Eugene has contributed to major infrastructure projects, including work on the downtown light rail station. He currently serves on the move Redmond board and has participated in the city city's signage and wayfinding community engagement efforts, which you all will hear about later. With a background in leadership, volunteer service through HopeLink, and a passion for active transportation, Eugene offers a thoughtful user focused perspective on maintaining and improving Redmond's parks and trail system. Next up, we have Jose Gonzalez, who is a longtime educator and outdoor professional with over 30 years of experience in um experiential education and recreation programming. His career has focused on connecting people to the outdoors while promoting equity, inclusion, and environmental stewardship. Jose brings deep expertise in curriculum development, community engagement, and youth programming, and is passionate about ensuring Redmond's parks and recreation system continues to serve all residents. His leadership and commitment to community wellness make him a strong candidate for the commission. And then lastly, lastly, we have Cindy Yun, who is an active Redmond Parks user and dedicated parks advocate who has built a strong rel has built strong relationships with the Paraggo Park community, specifically on the pickleball court. Known for her proactive approach, Cindy regularly communicates resident feedback to the city, helps resolve conflicts in public spaces, and fosters a welcoming environment for park users. She brings over a decade of experience in the tech industry, along with a strong background in leadership and board service, including roles with the Seattle Symph Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Cindy's strengths in communication,

collaboration, and community building position her well to support the continued growth and inclusivity of Redmond's parks and recreation system. Thank you so much for Lindsay for introducing the three of them. I'm really excited to um have the these three candidates get interviewed by the council. I'm have been I was so impressed um with each interview. I'm really grateful that they're willing to step up and serve our community in this way. And so we'd love to open it up for questions. What we'll do is have a council member ask a question and then we'll have each of them answer. Um so uh hopefully it works out for everybody. So who would like to begin? Council Vice President Nova, please. Thank you, mayor. Well, welcome. It is so wonderful to see some familiar faces again. So, welcome to being here and and going through this process and volunteering this time. Um, so my question uh and it'll be the same for each of you. So, whoever you know is what does success look like for you in this role after two years? Uh, I think success for me would be uh more understanding and of like the park system like as a whole and being like knowing like like the ins and outs of it and the details of it. That's what I'm hoping to get out of this. Um, I like using parks and I like um like from outsiders perspective of just like the user, but I kind of want to know the inside of the of the park. So I don't know if you can become an expert in two years but that would be like the dream.

All right. Um first of all thank you again for the opportunity. I'm very happy to be here. Success will look like uh very similar. I would love to have an understanding of the comprehensive programming as well as facility and and the whole operation. And I will also love to move the needle and help contribute with both my passion and expertise in um the agenda and the strategic plan that we have for parks and reck. Um I guess uh to define the success in two years, it would be great to understand the key performance indicators, KPIs that would be set for the commission members. Um as well as have a voice and you know voicing the feedback back from the public um the residents and the non-residents who regularly use the parks and trails and recreation activities in Redmond. Um, for me, I would say the more um residents and non-residents that are able to utilize all of our services and activities. That would be a key success. And um hopefully in the two years we can all work together, the nine members with city hall um council to make sure that we're like he said, moving the needle in the right direction. And you know, the more participation the better.

Thank you. What's next? Council member Critzer.

Thank you so much for volunteering for these really important roles. There are a lot of work and are all volunteer. And uh I'll just note many of us um on the council, served on many of our commissions before we're on council. Uh and so it's it's just such a wonderful way to be able to get more voices into the city. Um so really excited to see you all here today. Um a question for you all. each bring really interesting uh backgrounds and experiences. I'm curious if you could each speak to um some of the unique skills uh and experience that you think you'll bring that will be most helpful to your work on the commission. Uh so my day job is like a project integrator which is kind of vague but I mostly work on like automated like HVAC lighting and security systems but a big part of that is getting a project um like done. So usually my I'm a control I'm in a controls company and usually they're come uh we're placed near the end of a project. So as all the concrete has been built, the rail has already been done like all like the drywalls have been done but somebody needs to finish like the very end like somebody needs to get all of the little details cleaned up so that the station is actually like ready to be opened. Um, so that's kind of like the the part that I want to I want to like be put into or the uh I want to use kind of those skills on the parks. So in terms of like infrastructure being built. So if if uh if a project if a park needs like the play set being replaced or whatever, I want to kind of be involved in that and making sure that all the details get checked off like oh we wanted a swing set, we wanted a park bench. Did the park benches get installed correctly? Did all like the was all the painting done correctly? like all the just like small details like that. That's kind of what I'm hoping to to bring. Make sure all the details are are finished. Um so I'll speak about from two different perspective. the first perspective and I think that the one that maybe this

initial um question comes from it's in terms of like from a professional lens and that will be um bringing my expertise in recreation management from a both an academic side when I was teaching at California State University. I was preparing the next generation of park rangers and uh people working at parks and my goal was really to understand what is it that they need the skills knowledge and attitudes to be able to be successful at their jobs and so I will bring that here also in my profession I work at understanding systems and how can we improve them to elevate the programming and the um efficiency of what we do and so I'll bring that expertise as well And lastly um I will look at the risk management component. I think about the way that I define risk management is not just physical uh risk but also thinking about uh psychosocial risk uh reputational risk. So thinking about what are the elements of parks and wrecks that we're looking at and what are the risk involving those things in hazards. Um, more importantly, I will put my other hat on, which is to be I'm a father of two boys and so my um lens or my expertise in that area will be how can I create a or or help um move the needle again for the next generation. So my two boys can enjoy the not only the programming but also the the trails and everything that we have here to offer. Um, I'm also a pickle ball player. Um, we haven't played yet, so I'm looking forward to playing pickle ball. Um, and going to the um old school house on Sundays and and playing pickle ball and and understanding that there's a community around the sport and how can we uh again use this as the entry point

for building community uh so we can enhance where we live. So that will be the two ways that I think that my expertise could um help in this commission.

Um with my extensive marketing background, I um could definitely help market some of the key um initiatives that maybe we have as the commission as well as perhaps market some of the activities better. For example, I noticed that for um an activity that's listed on April 24th, we only have one person registered and it's called the City Nature Challenge with Amy Whitam. And the reason why this um really um piqued my interest was on Sunday I watched a segment on CBS Sunday Mornings where they mentioned the same app, I naturalist. It's a great app and the reason why it's so important is that the scientists also utilize this app to find um like new species. And I thought, wow, how wonderful would it be if the city of Redmond encouraged all residents who walk at these trails and go to these parks, if you see something interesting, take a picture and upload it to I Naturalist. And who knows, we may actually discover a new species of a bug of a plant for the scientists that are really utilizing this app. So that would be an example. Um and then also I would say just more to focus I can help with inclusivity and accessibility. Um, those are also some passions of mine. And one example also was sustainability. Since we play so much pickle ball at all the various parks and I've been to every single outdoor Redmond park that has a pickle ball court. I know the ins and outs. What courts suck? Excuse my language. That needs to be updated. And I know we have budget and that's another area I can definitely help with. I have um managed

budget for major corporations um as much as 3.5 million as an individual person managing that budget. Um budget of course is super important. Um, I would say that, you know, one of the ideas is that the pickle balls that that we use are made of plastic and we dump so many broken um, pickle balls into the trash bins at these parks and there are organizations that we can send the balls to to be recycled properly. Um, the other suggestion is a lot of different cities have started utilizing these broken pickle balls to create major signage on the fences that spell out the city's name. So, for example, in Samish um they're already spelling out the word Samish across the longest fence and it's actually pretty cool. So that's like an initiative that we can also do um in Redmond, especially at Pariggo because that is the premier pickle ball court where it's not just Redmond residents that utilize it. We have people coming from all over and I mean like even from across the passes because that is the only place where um there are lights during the summer and winter and the diehard fans will come play where there is light and there are courts. Um, and I would say that in terms of inclusivity, um, especially at the senior center, the rec centers, it might be nice to add like things like ma jang, chess, Chinese checkers, activities like that that may perhaps bring in another segment of people. Um, I notice that those activities are not currently being offered, but things of that nature is where I think I can contribute. you. I think we have time for one more question. You want to do you wanna maybe um maybe

I'll have Oh, and Vivet cast one. How about we do this? Council member Foresight, why don't you ask one of them one question? We'll have Mega uh Council Member Sony ask one and we'll have uh Council Member Pria ask the last person, the last question. So, this is more of a poperri more of a poperri. Okay. Who would you like?

Well, this question was kind of answered in your answer. Um so, I will choose in the middle here. Um, what is something that you see as either innovative in in one of our own parks, another park you've been to or another city's park, um, or something that's lacking that you would want to bring to your service? Um, so in terms of innovative in like in terms of innovation, I think uh like my favorite park is downtown park. And I think one of the nice things about that is how it's used like during the summer constantly almost like every weekend or every other weekend for some sort of large scale event. And um I love that especially as like a new park. I think it's like been designed so it has a lot of like plaza area and like the circular nature of like the lawn uh just like invites putting booths in a circle, you know, and so I think uh I don't know if that was intentional, but I hope it was. But uh I really like that as a new park it's built with like events in mind. And so I I love that aspect and I would love to see that at the other large scale parks like the other community community community parks have like the space to kind of have like logistics so that um a bunch of like vendors can all come in and build around that. And then in terms of like lacking and stuff like that, another thing that downtown park has is nice and uh clean and maintained bathrooms. And I would love to see bathrooms like expanded to other high demand parks.

And yes, that park was designed that way. Yeah. Um, council member Sony, who would you like to ask your question of? Sydney, because already answered, so I would uh ask this question to Jose. Uh, what does a truly inclusive playground looks like to you? Apart from just being ADA compatible,

apart from being ADA compliant, what is the like, you know, what does the definition of an inclusive playground to you? Yes. Um I mean I know that I have a short time. Um we I think about inclusivity about think about what are the what is getting on the way for us to make sure that everybody feels that they belong. What is it getting on the way for people to uh feel that they have access to the same opportunities that everybody else have? Um, I I think about inclusivity also about putting the mirror in front of me and thinking what is it that I'm not doing to make sure that I break down the barriers for that entry point for somebody to go on a hike or go play pickle ball? Is it is it the equipment? Is it the um uh the time? Is it the location? Right? Like is it the transportation? And so understanding um barriers that prevent us from being inclusive I think is a starting point. Um I also think about uh looking at it from a community standpoint. So let's understand the community and see um why is it that they are not either participating or um getting to know what we are offering. Um and so I think that again inclusivity we can go into um many other layers of uh what are those barriers or what are the things that are preventing folks from um accessing parks and wrecks. And I think that um if I can close it with um a statement will be uh what is it that we can do proactively to make sure that everybody feels that they belong. Yeah. And council member Kraa, can you uh ask your question?

Yes. Uh thank you so much um Jose Eugene Sydney for being willing to step up and serve our community. We are running quick on time. So kind of a lightning round. I would just love to know one thing and Sydney you kind of answered this in the last question but one thing you're really really passionate about um like a specific feature of a park or a trail that you would love to see more of. Okay, my main passion would be playing pickle ball. So hopefully that answers your question. Um, and just to tie in the inclusivity, um, maybe we can offer people in wheelchairs. I've seen this in other cities where, um, you can have people in wheelchairs play pickle ball with an able-bodied person um, to play doubles. So maybe that's something we do kind of offer to and I don't even know um what the population demand would be but that would just be a thought.

Thank you and uh thank you council for those great questions. I know we had um could have talked a lot longer. I think um these are um three exceptional candidates. So thank you all very much. Um I don't see any frowny faces. So, I'm I'm thinking everyone is good um for our candidates to go forward to the next business meeting on um April 7th um for the consent agenda. And if you would like to bring um family or friends um and if you can be here that night, you'll get sworn in after the consent agenda is passed. You can take pictures if you want. Um but I really want to thank the three of you very much and thank you Lindsay and your team for finding such wonderful candidates. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for

Thank you again for the opportunity. Yeah. Thank you. And with that we are adjourned.