Council races | Whitten, James, Schaer on the Eastside

The description "small city" has become outdated on the Eastside, where tremendous growth ratchets up the pressure on local governments.

Creative, agile leadership is needed to address clogged roads and improve city services. • For Position 4 on the Sammamish City Council, The Seattle Times endorses: estate-planning attorney Nancy Whitten, a first-term incumbent who helped shape the city's business and civic core; and John James, a real-estate broker who favors collaborative efforts with county and state agencies to address Sammamish's clogged roads.

The city of 40,000 is sandwiched between larger siblings Redmond and Issaquah, and has been challenged trying to manage the rapid growth of the suburbs. A moratorium on development was lifted after developers threatened litigation.

• On the Issaquah City Council, this page endorses Joshua Schaer, a criminal-defense attorney and decadelong precinct committee officer for the 41st and 48th Legislative Districts.

Schaer plans to focus on transportation and technology, two critical areas as Issaquah grapples with its ascent from a bedroom community to a full-scale city. Among Schaer's proposals for improving the city's quality of life are sidewalk and crosswalk safety, and managing the city's commercial development visions for the Issaquah Highlands and the historic downtown district.