Category: Uncategorized

We received the following email at City Hall through our City Clerk’s office. We’ve been trained on most of the information before, but it is nice to have it all in one place on the web. Citizens may find it interesting to see how broadly public records are defined, and how much access you have to them. Page 6 of the website also provides a good reminder that “Public records include both records that an agency creates and records that an agency may receive or collect.” This is why we often remind people emailing city hall that their comments are part of the public record, and can be seen by others. (As an example, if you are a developer emailing a council member asking for support of a project, your email is a public record. Likewise, if you email a council member asking for a project application to be denied, this email is a public record.)

As a matter of courtesy, I’ve tried to use discretion over the years when sharing these records, often dropping citizens’ names unless they have told me using their name did not bother them. I’ve also passed on posting many items that have come across our email that did not have public policy value, or were just too personal (such as a thank-you to our emergency services for handling a family crisis).

I suspect that as more and more public controversies get played out on the internet, more of these public records will get posted in their entirety on “Pro” and “Con” websites. So, every citizen (including me) should: (1) strive to be really thoughtful about what we write to each other, (2) have a friend proof-read our writings whenever possible, (3) sleep on anything that we write that we feel emotional about, and (4) most importantly, remember that anything we write having to do with public policy could end up on the front page of the Seattle Times.

Here is the info on the new website:
___________________________________________

On Behalf Of Koziara, Leslie
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 1:47 PM
Subject: New online – “Public Records and Public Officials”

The Office of the Secretary of State and Washington State Archives are pleased to announce the addition of an interactive online resource titled “Public Officials and Public Records.” This new module is intended to introduce newly elected and newly appointed public officials to the new world of public records and their new responsibilities. It will be updated from time to time.

Secretary of State Sam Reed welcomes each participant and emphasizes his connection to public records and stresses the importance of public records in our democracy. State Archivist Jerry Handfield encouraged the development of this online resource to provide information on the ever changing world of electronic records and to provide easy access to the many resources available for the preservation of public records in Washington.

Also, this module reminds everyone of the importance of records management and that “All public records shall be and remain the property of the state of Washington. They shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors….” (40.14.020 RCW)

Seasoned public officials may also find it useful as a reference guide.

Here is the link: http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement/PublicOfficialsandPublicRecords/index.html

Thank you,

Washington State Archives

From Denis Law
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 9:20 PM
To: Council

I’m out at Safeway on S. Third St., where two people have been shot. The shooting took place on 3rd near the entrance to the parking lot. A young man and a female were both taken to Harborview with what is believed to be non-life threatening Injuries. Media is here and detectives are on their way. Multiple shots were fired by a group of youth that fled on foot. k-9 track was unsuccessful.

(Photo credit– State of Washington)

Renton officials have been coordinating with King County, Washington State, and the Federal Government to install charging stations in preparation for the newest chapter in personal transportation; mainstream all-electric automobiles. While the vehicles are expected to have a range of over 100 miles on one charge, enough for most commuters to make it to work and back, there will still be a need for public charging stations for motorists traveling across the state. Ultimately, as more and more drivers opt for all-electric vehicles, we would expect to see private filling stations springing up to help address this need. Note that there are generally three types of charging stations; 110 volt trickle charge, 220-volt faster charge, and high-speed charging. The high-speed charging will be part of a second phase of this plan, and will require public/private partnering.

Our County Executive issued a press-release on the County-wide plan back in September. You can read the press-release here. The press release includes county-wide details on where all of the charging stations are planned.

Thirteen public charging stations have been proposed for Renton:

Two in the Renton Landing Parking Garage

Three at Renton City Hall

Two at Valley Medical Center

Two in the Renton City Center Parking Garage

Two at the Renton School District Headquarters

Two at Renton Technical College

The county-wide project is part of a state-level “Electric Highways” plan that is being managed jointly by the Washington State Department of Commerce and the State Department of Transportation. They are getting their initial funding from federal stimulus dollars. Here is a website with more information in the state-wide program.

The project has been enabled by new legislation enacted in Olympia. You can read the new law on this topic here

Ford CEO Alan Mulally, who worked many years here in Renton as Boeing’s Commercial Airplane Chief, introduced the automaker’s first-ever zero-emissions vehicle earlier this month in his keynote address at the 2011 CES convention in Las Vegas. (Photo owned/hosted by CNET )

Susie made Panda cupcakes today. She got the idea from a library book titled “Hello Cupcake.” Susie is extremely talented at cooking, and has made some very elegant recepies in the past. While she is the youngest in our family, in the last two years she had been in charge of our Thanksgiving dinner.

After seeing Susie’s creation today, I sent my son Andy down to the Landing to get us all lunch from Panda Express. Funny how the mind works.

My daughter Susie (number 10) watches intently as her shot swirls around the rim before falling into the basket for her team’s second score of the game.

The City of Renton offers a wonderful selection of classes, team sports, outings, and other activities to enrich our lives and keep us at maximum health. For instance, yesterday my wife and oldest daughter were attending city-organized belly dancing class tonight, my youngest was at basketball practice in a city-hosted league.

My daughter’s team played its first game on Saturday. (The Seahawks were stomping the Saints at the same time, so we were glad the Community Center had televisions during the breaks in the basketball action.)

Here are a few photos showing Susie’s first game, as well as the apparent transformation of our Main Community Center into a second Seahawks headquarters.

Susie off the court with my wife Cathy

Meanwhile, the Seahawks are trouncing the Saints!…

Click here for more photos

Fluoride has been in the national news lately. Last week the federal government lowered the recommended levels for fluoride in municipal water systems. Then yesterday the EPA announced that it was proposing banning certain pesticides that leave fluoride as a residual product on treated fruits, nuts, and beans and such products as coffee and tea. These actions were taken primarily because when fluoride concentrations are too high, it actually harms teeth instead of helping them–excessive fluoride can cause dental fluorosis, which produces spotting and weakening of the teeth.

In my opinion, these revised federal policies are positive, and they will help achieve a desirable compromise in the persistent debate regarding fluoride in our water systems.

Last year I published this blog entry giving background on the pros and cons of water fluoridation, and asking readers to share their view on water fluoridation– at the time, the debate was once again raging in Issaquah, a city which does not fluoridate its water. I received twenty reader comments on the topic.

I also shared that a close family member has a sensitivity to fluoride and therefore must try to avoid fluoride as much as possible. When she consumes too much fluoride she experiences stomach cramps. She has a reverse osmosis filter to remove fluoride in her home and we have installed one in our home (where she often drinks and dines) just to reduce her total fluoride consumption. She also must currently be careful with tea, nuts and fruits (seeking organic whenever possible) because of fluoride-containing pesticides. Fortunately the EPA ban on these pesticides should resolve this issue.

She got a break from monitoring her fluoride consumption during a year she lived near Tokyo. Japanese municipalities do not fluoridate their water, and they use fewer pesticides that would leave fluoride residues. She was symptom-free all the months she lived there.

In summary, the reduced fluoride levels will help reduce the cases of dental fluorosis in children; and for my daughter and others who must manage their fluoride consumption, the lower federal-recommended levels will be a tremendous advantage.

At our Monday council meeting I referred the subject of Renton’s Water Fluoridation program into our Utility Committee. I’m hoping we can lower our Fluoride levels consistent with the new Federal standards– thus improving our health (fluorosis and otherwise), bringing some compromise to the fluoride debate, and perhaps even saving Renton ten or twenty thousand dollars a year.

Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, pictured here with her husband Mark, was shot in the head by a gunman today. (photo from her campaign website)

It’s a sad day for Arizona and our nation, as one of our members of congress battles for her life after being attacked by a gunman. While information is still coming in, it is known that Gabrielle Giffords and her aides and bystanders were attacked today at a public event with constituents.

The gunman is alive and in custody, but his history, motivations and mental condition are not publicly known at this time.

In my lifetime I can only remember one congressional assassination, and that was of Leo Ryan at Jonestown when I was in high school. That attack was initiated by Jim Jones, one of the craziest people of all time. If there were other assassination attempts on members of congress, I can’t remember them as if this writing. These types of attacks are very rare in our country, which is obviously a very good thing because they are an immediate threat to our democracy.

My prayers to all of those directly affected by today’s tragedy, and for the continuing freedom and security of Arizona and our Nation.

UPDATE at 1:25:

The news is getting more tragic… according to an update on MSNBC a federal judge and child were killed in this attack. Here is the developing story.

Renton gained 28 businesses and 161 full-time jobs in 2010. This is not bad performance considering the brutal national economy of 2010.

Our city’s economic development staff worked hard in 2010 to nurture a climate for 423 new businesses to open, exceeding the 395 closures that were primarily victims of the tough financial climate.

The growth in jobs and business is obviously important for helping more of our residents find work. This growth also plays a big role in maintaining our property values and reducing the number of citizens that get “underwater” in their homes– owing more than their home is worth.

In addition to admiration to our city’s economic development team, I greatly appreciate those business owners who have found the courage and capital to invest in our city when the economy is so rough nationally. I also with to extend a parting thank-you and best wishes to the owners and employees of the 395 businesses we lost in 2010– these are businesses that sustained our city and employed 1367 people in 2009, as well as building our city in prior years; I’m hoping you all find new opportunity, and that Renton is at the top of your list.

_________________________________________

From: Linda Weldon
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 9:32 AM
To: Adriana Johnson; Alexander Pietsch; Bill Taylor; Iwen Wang; Jennifer Davis Hayes; Jennifer T. Henning; Kristi Rowland; Mark Santos-Johnson; Neil R. Watts; Patrick Roduin; Sabrine – Chamber; Steven Burke; Suzanne Dale Estey; Tina Hemphill; Vivienne Lietz; Zong Her
Subject: December – 2010

Attached are the new and closed businesses for December 2010.

For the year, we had 423 new businesses and 395 closed – with a difference of +28

For FTE’s, we had 1528.45 new and 1367.07 closed – with a difference of +161.38 FTE’s

Linda L Weldon
City of Renton
Business Licenses/Passports

My wife Cathy (top photo below) bought me a new camera for Christmas. I’ve been practicing with it. Below are some of my photos from the holidays. I’m experimenting with the settings and with different lenses. I really appreciate that this camera can take pictures with just 2 to 5 percent of the light (depending on the lens) required by my 4-year-old Panasonic camera. This allows the camera to shoot pictures indoors without a flash, even at night. The light in the room often produces much nicer photos than a flash. I’m looking forward to bringing it to blog-worthy events. The new camera is a Nikon D3100.

see more photos by clicking here

Having been born in the colorful sixties, I’m nostalgic today as the world says goodbye to Kodachrome. Today is officially the last day that any lab will process this film, after its 75-year run. As a kid I often shot lesser quality print film with my “instamatic” camera (remember film cartridges and flash cubes?), but during this time my father-in-law had smartly gravitated towards shooting slides with Kodachrome film.

Thanks to his good film choice and excellent camera skills, we’ve enjoyed some wonderful slide shows over the years. Many of his slides still have excellent color.

Below are a few samples of his work, featuring my wife Cathy as a youngster.

And at the bottom of this entry I embedded a youtube link to the Paul Simon tune Kodachrome, which is accompanied by a nicely done fan video.

Friend Jim Nissen’s 1916 Curtis Jenny, in Livermore California.

Six-year-old Cathy (in red) and her sister Laura catch dinner at a trout farm
Cathy on her sister’s back, with her mother holding brother Billy in the distance…at their home in Livermore California.

Cathy and her sister Laura, on their move across the country from Delaware to California at age six.

Cathy and Laura stop by a lake near Yellowstone.

Cathy explores the hills of Livermore California, at age seven.

Cathy (in pink) with her sister Laura (in yellow), and her mother, grandmother, and baby brother Billy.

 

Cathy and her sister Laura in Yellowstone

Christmas when Cathy was six.

Cathy, her sister, and her brother, on picture day at school (Cathy was in second grade).

Eleven-year-old Cathy, already a good rider.

A trip to Half Moon Bay, South of San Francisco, when Cathy and I were seventeen.

Below is Paul Simon’s hit song “Kodachrome” embedded in a fan video posted on youtube. The producer of the video is such a fan of the film that he owns the domain Kodachrome.org.

My wife Cathy and daughter Susie enjoying crepes on opening day of the 2010 farmers market

Renton is seeking a Farmers Market Coordinator to nurture and improve on our already-well-established farmers market. The position is a part-time position which requires a very broad skill-set, including technical understanding of agriculture and markets, promotional skills, event planning, ability to recruit and inspire volunteers, and tact and patience. For the right person, the job could be a lot of fun and very rewarding. Apply at www.rentonwa.gov if you are interested.

Here is the listing:

City of Renton invites applications for the position of:
Farmers Market
Coordinator – Limited Term
An Equal Opportunity Employer
SALARY: $25.37 – $30.87 Hourly

OPENING DATE: 12/22/10
CLOSING DATE: 01/14/11 05:00 PM
UNION AFFILIATION: Non-Represented
DEPARTMENT: Community and Economic Development – Economic Development

BASIC FUNCTION:
PLEASE NOTE: This position is pending Council Approval. The position is currently a part-time
position with a limited term of one (1) year.
Under direction of an assigned supervisor, provide leadership, direction, organization, and
coordination of activities for the Renton Farmers Market in collaboration with volunteers.

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES, KNOWLEDGE, AND ABILITIES:

*Act as the Coordinator for the Renton Farmers Market, coordinating with volunteers,
vendors and City staff to ensure ongoing and long-term health of the Farmers
Market. Specifically, these duties include coordinating pre-market planning and postmarket
wrap up efforts and supervising all market functions including soliciting new
vendors, coordinating with local and regional farmers market organizations, managing
market logistics, internal and external communications, managing the market budget,
bookkeeping, volunteer recruitment and support, and maintaining and analyzing weekly
market statistics.

*Work with market stakeholders (vendors, customers, volunteers, Farmers Market
working group, sponsors, Chamber and City) to enhance existing market activities and to
resolve problems effectively.

*Develop and prepare program budgets with volunteer participation; monitor and
manage budgets including approval of expenditures; prepare and submit periodic budget
updates as requested.

*Help secure sponsorships and additional external financial support and coordinate
related agreements and relationships.

*Attend a variety of meetings and serve on City committees as requested; prepare and
deliver formal and informal presentations at City Council meetings and community
gatherings; provide staff support to the City Council, and boards and commissions as
assigned.

*Maintain communication and effective working relationships with City employees,
government agencies, community organizations and groups, and the general public;
coordinate operations with other departments.

*Develop and approve City and Farmers Market website content, features, and
information for areas of responsibility.

*Prepare publicity materials, including newspaper articles, brochures and flyers;
perform other program promotion as needed.

*Attend conferences and training.

*Remain current with relevant technological advancements as it relates to field.

*Maintain regular, reliable, and punctual attendance; work flexible evening and/or
weekend hours as required; ability to travel as required.
Perform related duties as assigned.

*Denotes an essential function.

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES:

Continue reading →

Wishing you all peace and joy during the holidays.

Renton has just gained an additional professional news source. The Renton Patch www.renton.patch.com went live yesterday, and the online newspaper promises new professionally-written stories about Renton everyday. In addition, the Renton Patch will incorporate contributions from a cadre of paid columnists and free-lance writers, who will submit stories on a variety of topics related to living in Renton.

The Renton Patch is one cell of a national “Patch” system, which creates online newspapers in communities throughout the US using a common format. Each individual community cell has a professional journalist overseeing the website, and contributing his or her own stories on a daily basis.

The Renton Patch is being edited and managed by professional journalist Jenny Manning (photo from www.renton.patch.com)

Renton’s Patch page is being managed/edited by a professional journalist named Jenny Manning. Ms. Manning has already become a fixture at city events, and she can be found all over town investigating stories and taking pictures. She has met with city council members and the mayor, and is catching up to many other local decision makers as she gets oriented in her new role. Ms. Manning’s bio can be found here . She resides in an apartment at the Landing, and she’ll work from her computer on-site where news is happening, and in local coffee shops, restaurants, libraries and other locations where people get together. (As a virtual newspaper, there is no brick-and-mortar office.)

The Renton Patch joins Renton Reporter and Renton Magazine as professional news sources dedicated entirely to our city. We also get coverage as part of the region from Seattle Times and Seattle PI, KOMO, KIRO KING5, and other specialty journals like The Business Report.

And thanks to the internet, there are a variety of blogs (like this one), facebook pages, and other internet sites that also cover Renton events.

Citizens of a community benefit when the number of information sources increase. It’s healthy to have more reporters looking for news, and more perspectives on big events when they occur.

Be sure you visit the Renton Patch and leave your comments. And if you run across Jenny Manning please welcome her into our community and thank her for her contribution to the flow of information.

The Sunset Terrace Redevelopment Concept Master Plan is one of several projects that could improve Renton Highlands. This concept and other projects were discussed at Renton City Council Committee of the Whole on Monday night

On Monday night our Senior Planner Erica Conkling gave us an update on Renton Highlands Revitalization Planning efforts. She and her colleagues have been working on a district-wide Environmental Impact Statement for the Sunset Corridor in the vicinity of Harrington Avenue, which will facilitate some attractive and much-desired redevelopment. There are some promising projects already being sketched-out by property owners in this area, and others are more likely to come forward once the EIS is complete. Furthermore, the competed EIS will make it easier for us to obtain grants for public infrastructure improvement in the area and/or make the area eligible for other state-sponsored economic incentives. Ms. Conkling and the team have done excellent work, and the presentation was great. Her Department Director, Alex Pietsch, also assisted in the discussion Monday night. It’s clear that Highlands revitalization remains an Economic Development/Planning Department priority in sync with the City Council.

Here is Ms. Conkling’s presentation from our Monday Committee of the Whole meeting. (It’s a large file, so it may take 30 to 60 seconds to load on your computer)

Today we received the following email from Deborah Needham, our Emergency Preparedness Manager. While a “Pineapple Express” is predicted to hit this weekend, experts are currently not predicting flooding of the Cedar River or the lower Green River near Renton. However, the mid-section of the Green may experience minor flooding in rural areas. (Note that any torrential downpour can cause local flooding on streets if storm drains get plugged or overwhelmed, so small pockets of local flooding are always a risk during a “Pineapple Express.”)

___________________________________

Subject: Pineapple Express according to the National Weather Service (2 pm briefing)
Importance: High

You may have heard the media describe the incoming weekend storm as a pineapple express. This is indeed the wettest storm system the National Weather Service has seen in two years. However, for those who have been anxiously watching the Green River due to the problems with the Howard Hanson dam, this is NOT our big one.

Here’s what to expect from the heavy rainfall that will begin Saturday:

Cedar River: NO flooding.

Green River: NO flooding in the “Lower Green” (where we are); minor flooding in the “Middle Green” (the rural areas)

Urban and small streams: Localized flooding possible due to heavy and rapid precipitation beginning Saturday.

Landslides: Steep slopes with saturated soils are more at risk of landslides with this storm event.

The EOC Duty Officer will continue to monitor conditions through the weekend. EOC activation is not anticipated, but to reach the EOC Duty Officer if field conditions suddenly require activation, call 425-766-2720 (24/7 number). If the call rolls to voicemail, please leave a message and we will return the call immediately. For email contact, please email eoc@rentonwa.gov. The EOC email is always forwarded to all three EOC Duty Officers in the rotation.

If conditions change there will be another update. Otherwise, silence is golden. Here’s hoping for a quiet weekend.

deb