At last night’s Committee of the Whole meeting we went over several major topics, including garbage and recycling, a federal grant for additional fire department staffing, the Strander Boulevard Extension from Renton to Tukwila, and Economic Development updates and emerging issues.
I’m really proud of our city staff, and I want to communicate about several of these items in the near future; better still, Jenny Manning from the Renton Patch will make it easier. She was at the meeting, and she has already covered the discussion on the Landing in great detail. Among the questions answered last night, and reported in the Renton Patch, were “when will Dicks and Panera Bread open.”
Click here to read the Renton Patch article about updates at the Landing . Then keep checking back for updates here and in Renton Patch for other economic development updates, such as activities in downtown, as well as stories on some of the other topics mentioned above.
The City did spend a great deal of effort and funding to improve the heart of downtown in the recent past. If it hadn’t, we’d still have car dealerships where the Piazza, transit center, and new apartment and condo buildings now sit. If developers came in and bought up land downtown and wanted to redevelop it (like they did at The Landing), I’m sure the City would be more than willing to make the same sort of investments again. But until the existing property owners downtown decide to either sell or redevelop their properties, many of whiuch are in sad states, there’s not a whole helluva lot anyone can do to improve downtown beyond the incremental improvements that are made now and again by forward-thinking property owners. The City can’t come in and re-do all the streetscaping and utilities unless they feel that the cost will be made up for later in tax revenue from businesses, which is obviously what’s happening at The Landing.
I’d much prefer to see vibrant new businesses prosper downtown, but we can’t expect downtown to hold the same allure as The Landing for business development. The Landing has the huge advantage of being just off 405 (and visible from it), with room for giant anchor tenants that draw people in. That will never be the case downtown. If downtown is going to reinvent itself, it will need rely on the desire of the local populace to have high-quality restaurants, shops, and services in a slower-paced, small-town setting. Look at parts of downtown Kent; the City of Kent and small business owners have done a fantastic job of revitalizing that area, even with the competition from Kent Station right down the road. Every time I’m down around 1st Ave. in Kent, I think, “this is what I’d like to see in downtown Renton.”
Federal Grant – Fire Department Staffing
So I have to ask, with what appears to be more firefighters than police officers, with less work load, what is the need or intended use of these new firefighters? Grant now, budget later has to cover this cost so there is a cost to this so what is the pay-off?
I understand the argument of “leveraging” outside developer money… but it just strikes me as unfair that the business in downtown Renton are paying taxes so that the city can build infrastructure for their outside competition.
There’s an old phrase “Dance with the one that brought you” that seem to fit. I value loyalty and the constant chasing of outside developers over the mom-and-pop businesses that have stood by Renton seems disloyal for a lack of a better term.
I’ll have to admit that I’m a bit weird in this regard, so feel free to chalk my ideas up to “RentonBen being a Pollyanna again”
They get the new library.
Re: Federal Grant – Fire Department Staffing
Well, as much as I can poke fun at it, seriously Randy, what is the need and plan to sustain once the grant runs out and the city gets to pick the tab up?
Retirement
While it makes some sense Randy to be prepared for the retirement of firefighters my question is why the Fire department for this action? The police department also deals with constant retirements and the city’s stance as I understand it is you essentially cannot backfill until that person is gone in any department. Is that grant specific to firefighters or was the funding criteria open enough that it could incorporate other positions?