Council President Marcie Palmer spent time down at the city shops today to staff the phone and respond to callers. She sent a followup email about how things were going, and I’ve attached it below.
I also did some checking on my own today, in response to a Seattle Times article about the controversy surrounding the City of Seattle decision to not use any salt to thaw the streets. I found out that here in Renton we DO use de-icer in some areas, but it is not salt. It will not corrode your cars the way salt will. But it is a sticky substance which you may have to scrub off your fenders after the snow is gone, even though it will not cause any damage.
(I thought Seattle’s concern that the salt would get into Puget Sound sounded strange. I would think that the amount we are talking about would not affect the salinity of a such a vast body of salt water. But I haven’t really studied it)
Here is Marcie’s latest update:
__________________________________________
Gregg & Peter-
You must be so proud of your very hard-working Staff. I sure am!
As you know, I spent about 3 hours at the Shops, after having about a half hour tour of streets which had been phoned in as needing City attention. First, not only were all the major streets and arterials looking good, many neighborhood streets/”secondary” streets had been sanded this morning as well.
At the Shops, the calls had calmed down considerably by the time I got there to be a backup and take angry callers, so I helped wrap gifts for the adopted families and listened (& learned!) to what was going on. Gosh the Staff looked weary but they were in good spirits and ready for whatever the next 24-48 hours bring.
While the rest of us are worrying about last minute shopping, wrapping gifts, cooking, cleaning, how to get to/from Renton during the next couple of Christmas days, Staff was checking in for their next assignment, verifying who was going to be where & then either heading back out on the streets or heading home before reporting back in 12 hours. Yet the majority of calls this morning were from residents complaining the City had plowed their street and now there was snow blocking their driveway. There were also some folks with medical needs (i.e., in need of kidney dialysis, medication, etc.) and the Shop Staff was coordinating with Emergency Services & Human Services to get help to them.
The City of Renton has a higher standard in dealing with snow & ice, and our residents may not fully appreciate that high level of service compared to other municipalieties. When folks complain the City isn’t doing enough, they are unrealistic and/or unaware of what a good job we are doing. While it may not be perfect for some people, overall it seems residents were appreciative of the hard work and there were a number of those kind of calls as well.
To all Staff in ALL departments, your dedication and hard work is very much appreciated. I couldn’t be prouder to work alongside you. Thanks for letting me get a close-up glimpse of what goes on at the City Maintence Shops & on the streets during this kind of event. It would be my pleasure to help again, in any way, & I’d love to “ride along” to help write down the needed info. Hopefully in the next 3 years of my term I’ll have additional opportunities to experience what every department is really like. With the budget tight, having some first-hand knowledge at the “street or counter level” will help Council make increasingly tough decisions that truly are the best for the Citizens and Businesses of Renton.
Here’s wishing you a Happy Holiday Season, whether you get to spend it with family & friends or have to work. Thanks again!
Marcie
(PS- FYI, I started doing this on City email, but got timed out before I could hit send and lost it all. Since I really wanted to get this out, I resorted to my home email.)
I’ll vouch for Renton’s crews!
Kent is horrid compared to Renton – as I crosses the border between Kent and Renton it was like night and day.
Thanks for keeping up plowed!
….
We need to use rock salt when things get really bad – not all the time, just when it gets really bad. You have to balance the environmental damage of rock salt with the environmental and bodily damage of car crashes.
Another view
Although this sounds like great PR work, having a councilperson answering angry phone calls, In all my years as a city crew member, that never happened. Sounds like someone is not doing their job. I see no problem with seeing the yard in action and listening to the radio calls, even bringing food if they wish, but taking phone calls from angry citizens, is a city workers task. A department head would have been a better choice. If I was a department head and I had to have a councilperson come to my shop and help in this way, I wouldn’t be getting my job done. Jay take note!
Re: Another view
I tend to agree that it seems a bit inappropriate for a council member to be involved in the day-to-day workings of the City. Seems like that necessary separation is one of the reasons City employees can’t be council members.
That being said, I too echo Marcie’s comments that the City workers have done a great job under extremely tough circumstances.
Re: Another view-answer from MP
Oh, honestly. I didn’t go answer phones because the Staff wasn’t handling their job. It was because I was unhappy to hear that Renton residents were making those angry calls, which I think is very selfish and unreasonable. As it turned out, by the time I got there, the call load was pretty light and not 1 angry call came in while I was there. My purpose was to hear for myself what people’s concerns were, and hopefully also give encouragement to some pretty tired employees. Stop insulting the Union and managers.
Yes, I probably did insert myself into the day-to-day life of City Employees more than is usual. It was a simple desire to learn, encourage and have a new experience that may (or may not) give me information for future Council decisions. Of course I’ve learned to expect criticism as a political figure, but I’ve got to admit: these kinds of comments are what discourage people from wanting to serve the public. However, since the commenter wasn’t brave enough to put any kind of identification, who cares what a cowardly “Anonymous” person says!
(It’s not too difficult to narrow down to a few who wrote this…)
My next door neighbor sent a crock pot of delicious hearty soup, bread, butter, cookies and Planters peanuts for snacks. I enjoyed laughing, joking and getting to know employees I’ve only met in passing. And, keep in mind, I don’t drive in the snow, so my sons helped me walk all that up to 7-11 so no one had to drive down to our house because of the very icy hills getting there.
Thank you again to ALL the hard working Renton Staff, and supportive Residents. You make living in Renton a wonderful place to raise our family!
Marcie P.
Re: Another view-answer from MP
God Bless you Marcie. I think what you did was awesome! Believe it or not, that means a lot to the city employees. The next thing you should do is go on a ride a long with the police dept, you’ll have a blast! TCC
TCC – Shopping at Target Yesterday?
TCC, I think I saw you at Target on Christmas Eve morning around 10:00 am or so. Am I correct?
Re: TCC – Shopping at Target Yesterday?
Nope, I was at home. Who’s asking? TCC
Re: TCC – Shopping at Target Yesterday?
Just someone that’s trying to figure out who you are!!
Re: TCC – Shopping at Target Yesterday?
Just a conservative guy that’s not afraid to voice his opinion. I have many friends that work for the city. Mayor, council, fire, police, etc. You’ll figure it out someday. TCC
Re: Another view-answer from MP
Thanks Marcie for sticking your neck out and doing something positive.
Keep in mind that there was only one bugger who thought you were doing the wrong thing, and even then, their complaint was mild.
….
Merry Christmas to all!
Traffic cameras
Maybe I’m just missing it somewhere, but are Renton’s traffic cameras online? One of the ways I decided whether to go in to work this week was by keeping track of Bellevue’s traffic cameras (http://trafficmap.cityofbellevue.net/). I could see what the roads looked like.
I’d like to be able to do the same thing in Renton. There has to be a network of cameras located throughout the city. Can you ask the administration to look into this? I don’t necessarily think we need the traffic flow map like Bellevue has, but knowing whether conditions a mile down Sunset are decent or not would be helpful.
Randy,
Renton has done a great job compared to Kent, Seattle, and Bellevue.
I just left Bellevue and some of the side street are still a diaster zone. I almost “swim” my car out of a side street right next to downtown bellevue. Not even one plow has came by while my street in Kennydale is flatten by crews and sanded.
Good job to Renton’s crew.
-H