Category: Uncategorized

Note: I received a comment on my previous blog that is perfect for starting a new topic. The commenter, who goes by the moniker “Union Hat”, provides some interesting and well-thought-out suggestions for making improvements to downtown. His ideas already started a dialogue, so I captured it below his comments as well. Please review Union Hat’s suggestions, add your views on whether they would work, and add your own ideas! Thanks to Union Hat for this and other great comments, and thanks to all of you readers for your attention and ideas.
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Pictured: The storefront west of the Piazza, where a new library had been proposed to replace this tired building. While voters rejected moving the library from it’s over-the-river location, most citizens I have talked to feel it is worthwhile for the council to focus on further revitalizing this section of downtown Renton. I have heard many good ideas proposed

(From Union Hat)

The vote on the library location is in: Renton Wins!

Cedar River Library lovers get to keep the location we all have appreciated for nearly half a century. Awareness of the need for real revitalization in the oldest part of downtown Renton has not been this great since the local improvement district was created in the late 60’s.

There is still lots of work to do, but we have a chance to get things moving in a productive direction. Here is a To Do List to jumpstart the creative dialog between Economic Development Department, the City Council and the downtown business owners. Please add to my relatively random list of ideas.

Pass an ordinance requiring a private kitchen and bath for rented rooms in the historic district and providing tax credits for renovated office space.

Provide property tax credits to owners who strip off all of the ugly 1970’s upgrades to the building facades and/or restore the brick and stone exteriors and windows to their original design using energy efficient materials. For buildings constructed after 1920, encourage modifications that harmonize the visual appearance of the exteriors with the buildings constructed between 1900 and 1915.

Replace all of the old, ugly and increasingly unsafe sidewalks on S 3rd between Main and Smithers. Replace the odd gutters at the corners. Choose a concrete finish that is safe and durable, but reminiscent of the original wood sidewalks or Renton brickworks sidewalks or both. Include modest midblock sidewalk bump-outs for easier pedestrian street crossing and sidewalk vendor kiosks. Include utility hookups.

Replace the odd 1970’s street lighting and the remaining corner mounted traffic signals. Choose a pole and lamp style reminiscent of early 1900’s gas lamps. Consolidate the little hand holes, and improve the underground conduits to add capacity and provide a building entrance to every structure in downtown. This will allow connection of very high speed fiber to the second story offices. Combine superfast Internet with low cost office space on the southern end of the eastside tech corridor and you create a high-tech startup incubator.

Realign SR-900. The Historic District along S 3rd suffers from far too much vehicle traffic and too little foot traffic in part because they are in direct conflict with each other. By extending MLK way diagonally through the Safeway parking lot to connect with S 2nd and doing a modest widening of S 2nd there could be nearly the same traffic carrying capacity on S 2nd as there is now using both S 2nd and S 3rd.

Reduce S 3rd to a single west bound lane with diagonal parking along both sides. Provide traffic calming planters at each intersection with small street trees and low growing vegetation. Consider stained concrete intersections as we have in The Landing. The finish could reflect roadway bricks made at the Renton brickworks.

Bathe the historic district in very high speed, free wi-fi. Include Rainier, The Landing and the Ikea Shopping District. Perhaps Sunset between N 10th and N 12th and parts of N 4th should be included. Municipal wi-fi is not nearly as cool as it used to be, but is increasingly expected as part of any desirable destination. Very young tech startups might ride on free wi-fi for the first year.

DO NOT spend 10 million dollars to renovate the Cedar River Library. Do an essentials only renovation for about $2 million. If KCLS insists that there needs to be an entrance near the south parking lot, put an attractive rain roof over the pedestrian bridge leading from the parking lot to the existing entrance. When the economy improves a more extensive remodel and expansion to a Ragional library can be considered.

DO spend about 2 million renovating the existing Big 5 structure and relocate the Police Patrol Operations Division into the building for at least 5 years. There has been talk of building a new City Hall building in the old downtown for several years. That is not going to be affordable for a decade (never if we get Barack’d again on Nov. 6th). We can do some stimulus and a lot of crime prevention by putting the police who chase criminal’s right into the belly of the beast. Once West Hill annexes, that location will be a more central location for most of the high crime areas in Renton.

Vacate Mill Ave. S between Bronson Way and S 3rd and expand the parking for the Library and the Museum. With the expanded traffic volume on S 2nd/Bronson the Mill and Bronson intersection will no longer be viable anyway. Put a large bus stop bump out on Bronson where Mill used to be. Include a large sign identifying the KCLS library.

Get KCLS to pay for including the Cedar River and Highlands Libraries in the Renton Wayfinding sign system. They promised us some signs, we should hold them to their promises or they will continue to have no reason to respect Renton.

Yes the projects described above will cost something like 200 million dollars and it will be difficult to amass that much cash. It does not need to be done all at once. Something like 15% to 20% must be local matching funds, but once you have the 30 to 40 million budgeted, it is possible to get federal, state and county improvement grants that could provide practically all of the remaining money needed to actually revitalize Renton. The 10 million we dumped into the parking garage might have attracted 50 million outside dollars. We could have SR-900 realigned already if we had leaders with a little less impatience and just a little more vision and faith in our community.

Get the Administrator of the Community and Economic Development Department to move into town. Strongly encourage the other department heads to live here as well. Their perspective needs to be that of a participant, not a detached management consultant.

If you don’t like my crazy ideas, please post some of your own. It is time to come together to move Renton ahead.
Reply

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Commment to above, from RentonBen

I like all of them – a series of rational improvements, and no expensive boondoggles.

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Follow-on Comment from Union Hat

OK Ben,
How about this? Annex West Hill and extend Renton level police service west to Seattle. Cleaning up crime in downtown Renton needs a regional approach and the King County Sheriffs don’t get the funding they need to hold up their end of the deal. If we are going to beat the crime in Renton and West Hill, we need to join West Hill to Renton first.
Still rational?
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Readers, please join this discussion with your ideas by clicking on the comment button!

Many Renton residents are not aware that the taxpayer-funded Gateway Park west of the Piazza, including mature trees and landscape, will be torn out if the Big 5 (Piazza Site) is chosen for the new library.  This is because the Gateway Park square footage must be combined with the former Big 5 parking lot and the former Big 5 building in order to accommodate the new building and it’s entryway.  The landscape and trees are finally reaching maturity in this park.  Taxpayers paid approximately $250,000 to have this designed and landscaped around 1999, and to have an elaborate irrigation system installed (which has been helping the plantings grow and thrive for twelve years).  Like the parking in the area, the cost of this park has never been included in estimates for the cost of the Piazza Library.  If land purchases, off-site parking, and the cost of this park were included in the Piazza library cost, then the total price of this option would be between 11 and 12 million dollars, compared the the 10.1 million estimated for remodeling of the Cedar River Library.

If the Piazza Library site is chose, there will be an outcry when these trees get cut down. (Many Renton citizens have been complaining already about tree-losses downtown, primarily due to widening of nearby Rainier Avenue.)

Happy Thanksgiving Renton!

I love this picture of my Mother (far right in blue) and her family during a Thanksgiving celebration around 1955. I had to say goodbye to my mother this year, but I am forever thankful for the five decades of love and support she gave me.

There are so many blessings in our lives that I’m glad we take a day each year to pause and appreciate them. I hope you are all enjoying family, friends and treasured memories on this Thanksgiving day.

(By the way, while the above photo was shot in Oklahoma, there are a couple of Renton connections in it. My Mom’s brother Ken, seated at the end of the table, is a current Renton resident; and the photo hanging on the wall at the right is of humorist Will Rogers, who is one of the two men we have named our Renton Seaplane base after.)

Many West Hill residents were hoping to get a chance to vote early next year on annexing to Renton. While some West Hill residents have expressed interest in staying in unincorporated King County and others have expressed a wish that Seattle would annex them, there are a large number that have been expressing desire to annex to Renton. (The West Hill is in Renton’s potential annexation area, so it would take pro-active actions from multiple jurisdictions to bring about an annexation of West Hill to any other city. )

Renton Council has previously expressed tentative support of holding an annexation election (with a 5 to 2 council split), with the intent that IF residents of West Hill expressed a majority interest in annexing, Renton would make a final review of whether we could make the annexation work financially. The financial determination would be heavily dependent on an annexation funding sales tax “rebate” from Washington State, which was set up a few years ago specifically to enable cities to close the budget gap when annexing unincorporated urban areas.

But last week, Governor Gregoire revealed that she may propose eliminating this annexation funding. If she did, the budget gap for a West Hill annexation would grow from about ten million dollars over ten years (depending on the assumptions used) to about thirty million dollars over ten years– a gap I predict is too wide for a majority of Renton Councilmembers to accept.

In other words, if Governor Gregoire persuades the legislature to cut this funding, Renton could not afford to annex West Hill.

Here is an article with more information on this topic, as it relates to the city of Burien.

Renton is very fortunate to have the Northwest Federal Aviation Administration Headquarters in our city. They are one of our largest and most stable providers of family-wage jobs, and they help keep us a major center of aerospace activity. People fly in from all over the northwest to meet with FAA officials, and they often stay in our hotels and eat at our restaurants when they visit.

The FAA had been looking to move to a larger facility than their office on Lind Ave, but they have temporarily tabled their plans due to economic considerations. We were working on finding them a new site in Renton in the event that they moved, but we could not be certain they would stay in town. So their choice to stay in their existing Lind Avenue facility until at least 2015 gives us some certainty that we will keep these jobs in town.

Here is more detail in the Seattle Times.

As a reminder, I’m encouraging Renton voters to choose Ed Prince, Don Persson, and Greg Taylor for Renton City Council.

Ed Prince and I in front of my home this afternoon.

Ed Prince is a leader who has served as Planning Commission Chair, helped found “the Next Curve” service organization, and has helped build our community in many other ways. He has been endorsed by six Renton council-members, the mayor, numerous other elected officials, and countless Renton residents. I’ve known Ed for many years through his active community participation, and I’m looking forward to serving with him on council. His complete bio, positions, and endorsements can be found at his website here.

Don Persson is an outstanding councilman– so outstanding in fact, that I readily accepted the honor of serving as his campaign manager. Don has been serving Renton citizens for four decades, first as a police officer, then as deputy police chief, and for the last 12 years as a creative and committed council-member. Don has had a major positive impact on public safety, transportation, and careful oversight of the budget during his three terms on council. He has been widely endorsed by public officials and citizens. He takes his legislative responsibilities seriously while remaining fun-loving and engaged everywhere in town, and has barbecued for most of the residents in the city at one time or another. You can find out more about Don Persson from his website here.

Greg Taylor is running for his second term, and has easily earned the privilege to represent all of us again. Greg carefully studies all the issues before us, and prepares thoroughly for all of our meetings and workshops. He is extremely sensitive to community needs and he is an elegant spokesperson for those facing challenges. I’ve been very impressed by his work in his first term, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him better. He has a long history of community service in Renton, and great financial experience in the banking industry. Like Don Persson and Ed Prince, he has received countless endorsements from citizens and officials in our area. Please read more about Greg Taylor by clicking here.

Please consider voting for the above candidates for Renton City Council. They will keep our city in great shape, and give all residents fair and knowledgeable representation.

Cathy and I enjoy excellent vegetarian food at Renton’s newest restaurant, Blossom Vegetarian.

In a very positive trend, Americans are starting to become focused again on healthy eating. Several documentaries have come out in recent years covering the many positive impacts of a proper diet and the negative consequences of too much junk food.

My favorite recent documentary on healthy eating is the inspiring story of Joe Cross, an Australian who dramatically lost his excess weight and eliminated the need for medicine to control an auto-immune disease by increasing his fruits and vegetables consumption. By eating fruits and vegetables, primarily in the form of juices in his case, he eliminated his hunger for less-healthy processed foods. In filming his story, he caught the interest of others who were suffering from obesity and illness, and they too had their lives transformed by changing to a diet high in fruits and vegetables. The documentary, called “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” is available at Amazon.com, and averaged five stars (the highest possible) by the 99 people that have left reviews. I encourage you to read the user comments about this video on Amazon.com here. This is an enjoyable film that everyone should see. It is also available on streaming Netflix (so Netflix subscibers can watch it for free).

Joe Cross, the star and producer of this incredible documentary is speaking at our Renton Community Center tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM. You can get in for five dollars. I am going to try to make it after the council meeting, if there is still room. (I’ll be arriving late).

In keeping with this trend toward healthy eating, Renton now has a restaurant that specializes in providing delicious vegetarian cuisine. “Blossom Vegetarian” is now open on 305 Burnett Ave, in downtown Renton. I attended the Grand Opening celebration last week, and I found the food to be amazing. The restaurant is the latest offering by one of Renton’s premier restaurateurs, Gene Sens.

As Joe Cross discusses in his film, the average American diet includes only about five percent fruits and vegetables. But humans thrive when we eat about 80 percent or more fruits and vegetables. I’ve increased my fruit and vegetable consumption dramatically in the last few months, and I’ve been very happy with the way it makes me feel.

Here are a few pictures from Blossom’s Grand Opening last week.

Above, Blossom Vegetarian restaurateur Gene Sens holds our granddaughter Carolyn at the restaurant grand opening celebration.

Congratulations to the students, teachers, parents, and leaders in the Renton School District. And a big thank you to their many supporters in the Renton community as well, which pretty much includes everyone. Test scores are on the rise in our school district, and we have all the ingredients to see them go much higher. Renton has well-educated citizens, and has many high-tech and professional jobs. We host the headquarters of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Our school district can and should be tops in the state. Our school and community leaders know this, and everyone is making a major push to enhance the district’s performance. Our School Superintendent and our School Board have provided us new ideas and great leadership. Our representatives in Olympia have rallied for Renton education under leadership of 41st District State Representative Marcie Maxwell, a former Renton School Board member herself. And Renton businesses have challenged one another to give deeply to the Renton School district, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for valuable programs. Citizens challenged one another as well, and have donated many thousands of dollars to support student, build new programs, and keep existing assets such as the pools at Hazen and Lindbergh. I’m grateful to everyone who has contributed to our district’s successes and improvements, and I’m proud to be part of Renton.

Here is some more information in the Renton Patch.

University Book Store will be opening up a branch at the Landing. Read more about it here.

This is great news. A book store has been high on the list of desired shops at the Landing.

I’m publishing this journal entry to support my next one regarding the Shoreline Master Program. As public officials in Renton we have been trained repeatedly on Appearance of Fairness, Open Public Meetings Act, Public Record Retention, the importance of getting public input, and general transparency in decision making.

This email below, which we received just last week from our city clerk, is very typical of the kinds of information we share regularly to ensure open, honest, and fair decision-making as we conduct the people’s business.

For anyone not familiar with Washington’s Appearance of Fairness doctrine, I recommend you read this and help hold your council and your other public officials accountable.

MRSC Publication No. 32 Revised
Bonnie Walton
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 4:22 PM
To:
Denis Law; Jay B Covington; Don Persson; Greg Taylor; King Parker; Marcie Palmer; Randy Corman; Rich Zwicker; Terri Briere; Alexander Pietsch; Gregg A. Zimmerman; Iwen Wang; Kevin Milosevich; Larry Warren; Mark Peterson; Marty Wine; Nancy Carlson; Terry Higashiyama
Cc:
Zanetta Fontes
Attachments:
Appearance of Fairness MRS~1.pdf‎ (381 KB‎)[Open as Web Page]

Attached for your information is copy of MRSC’s recently updated publication, Appearance of Fairness.

If you would like a hard copy ordered, please let me know.

Bonnie Walton
City Clerk, x6502

A recent photo I took of our granddaughter Carolyn at Disneyland. Co-grandparents, Bob and Donna Jones, are in the background

Sorry for the long delay in posting– I just enjoyed the longest council break I’ve had in 18 years, and given the stunningly beautiful weather we were having I took full advantage of it. I even managed to get my family down to Southern California on an extended trip which included visits to Disneyland and Hollywood. All five of my kids made the trip with us, along with our son-in-law, daughter-in-law, granddaughter Carolyn, and our son-in-law’s entire family (parents and siblings), and several close friends– 17 people in total.

Here are a few photos:
Corman and Jones families and friendsThunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland

Cathy swoons at Johnny Depp’s star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Susan Bressler of the Renton Patch informs us that RTC is closing its Child Care Center. This center provides care for young children of parent-students who are attending classes, and the center provides a place for students in RTC’s Childhood Education Program (who are training for careers in child care and education) to get practical experience. This facility has also hosted parenting classes for area residents through the years.

I’m sorry to see this valuable facility close. My wife attended classes with our children at this center, and my son Kenny worked at the center caring for children while he was an RTC student.

Here is Susan’s article in Renton Patch.

This case is unspeakably tragic. Beloved Lindbergh senior Kathy Chou disappeared last year. Here is the latest on this case.

Latest charging info from King County Jail Website

Here is the City of Renton press release from today:

July 11, 2011

For more information contact:
Terri Vickers, Public Information Officer, Renton Police Department, 425-430-7520

Ongoing Investigation – Disappearance of Kathy Chou

On 7/9/11 at approximately 9 p.m. human remains were recovered in the area indicated by the suspect. They have been released to the Medical Examiner’s Office and are believed to be the remains of Kathy Chou, who was reported missing on April 18, 2010. An autopsy and identification confirmation via dental records is pending. Several search warrants have been served in this case, and the investigation continues.

The suspect in this case, Ezekiel Watkins, is expected to appear in court in Seattle today. Charges have not yet been filed on a second subject, who is believed to have assisted in the burying of the remains.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact Detective Barfield at 425-430-7534.

When the whether clears up, like it did today, the long days are amazing here in the Seattle area. I enjoyed how striking the light was in my front yard shortly before the sun officially set at 9:11 tonight.

Photographers will often call this time the “Golden Hour” or “Magic Hour” because of the diffuse light, the reddish tones, and the long shadow that can add color and drama to photographs. (The light was so nice tonight, I wish I had headed out with my camera… not just in the front yard).

Cutest. Baby. Ever.