Category: Uncategorized

Important Blog Comment about Helicopter briefing/action schedule

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

Recieved earlier today:

Re: Conner’s helicopter

IP Address:(146.129.243.130)

The Planning Commission is NOT holding a hearing tonight.

The Planning Commission is going to be briefed on the issue of whether or not to allow heliports on water front lots with a conditional use permit. The Commission will accept audience comment after the staff briefing. Anyone interested in this issue is encouraged to attend. You may also submit comments in writing, but they must be accompanied by your full name and mailing address.

A public hearing before the City Council will take place on this issue, after the Planning Commission review and the Environmental review for this proposal are complete.

If you would like more information on this issue, please contact me at (425)430-6578 or econkling@ci.renton.wa.us

Erika Conkling, Senior Planner
City of Renton

Renton Police are aggresively working Highlands crime and neighborhood traffic issues

Written by Randy Corman 15 Comments

We recently received email from Mayor Law, with the following note and the attached memo. The memo provides the results from spending an extra $150,000 (in overtime funding) in 2007 on neighborhood policing, something the council asked to include in the 2007 budget. The police, using this overtime money, delivered strong results from the extra patrols.

Here is Denis’s note:

Dear Councilmembers,

As part of an effort to keep you informed on items you might be interested in knowing, or should be aware of in a timely fashion, I’ll be sending out occasional e-mails if I have something to share. We’ll talk a little about this tomorrow.

I do have an item that Chief Milosevich prepared for you (attached), which provides results of the traffic emphasis the council requested last year that was paid for with $150,000 in the police overtime budget. I’m impressed with the results and welcome your feedback. The Chief agrees that we should continue this effort. This is a classic example of responding to concerns by the public.

In terms of the Highlands effort, I also want to let you know that the Department has worked hard in the area to provide extra service in the sub-area, as requested by Council. The amount of crime occurring in this sub-area was actually much less than originally reported (incorrectly listed at 20% of the city’s crime). A review of the actual stats from Jan. through Nov. of 2006 put the serious crime totals at between 4% to a high of 8% of certain crimes. While this is much lower than we thought, the Department is still placing an emphasis in the area.

Don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions.
See you tomorrow.
Denis

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The sink hole repair from I-405 is continuing, with a new culvert being placed under the freeway

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

Here are some dramatic photos of the Sinkhole, provided by the state DOT.

Photos by Washington Department of Transportation

In the days after the Dec. 3 rainstorm, crews discovered a large 30-foot-deep by 30-foot by 80-foot sinkhole just 12 feet from the southbound shoulder of I-405. Crews immediately closed the lanes and poured 1000 cubic yards of rock into the hole to prevent more sliding. In the following days, the materials sloughed away. Upon closer examination, they determined the 400-foot long culvert that carries Thunder Hills Creek from the east side of I-405 to the west was failing. The culvert collapsed and a sinkhole formed immediately above it. WSDOT engineers are designing a plan to replace the culvert. That work could take up to six weeks.

Independants outnumber Democrats and Rubublicans in national polls

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

It looks like Independents are starting to outnumber Democrats and Republican these days. That will make the future of all races in our nation and in our state very much up for grabs in the coming years.

I’m glad city council and mayor are non-partisan positions, as we have been able to avoid getting bogged down in many partisan allegiance issues. But King County Council, and other state positions, are going to have to reckon with the fact that neither party actually represents a majority of the voters. In fact, the graph below makes it look like the Democrats have more support than Republicans, but independent voter ranks are already greater than either of them, and growing faster.

I have long allied myself with the Democratic party, but like many others in Renton I have been frustrated in recent years with the party’s becoming involved in our Renton elections, especially when they make such poor choices.

There are still many excellent people in both major political parties, and I think they need to work extra hard to reach out to these independents if we hope to maintain a viable two-party system of government.

The other choice is to end up with a three-party or more-party system, but if this happens we may need to get used to a plurality (less than 50% of voters) electing our presidents and legislators.

_____________________________________________
Here is the Time’s Story

Party ties mean less as voters shift their allegiance
By David Postman

The middle is back.

Political independents are the hot commodity in the 2008 presidential campaign after all but disappearing into the void left when the nation cleaved into a 50/50, red/blue, Bush/Gore, Us/Them, pick-your-side battleground.

click here for the full story in the Seattle Times

Toni Nelson’s Retirement Party

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

Many people turned out for Toni Nelson’s retirement celebration at City Hall on Tuesday.

There were many speeches honoring Toni’s 20 years of service to the city of Renton, and many decades of additional service to Renton volunteer organizations.

The City Council and Mayor’s office got a laugh from our gift to Toni. 12 years ago, when Earl Clymer retired and a memorial bench in his honor was placed at Coulon Park, Toni was heard saying she would probably only get a “three-legged stool” at her retirement. Our council secretary at the time, Billie Dumphy, heard Toni say this, and made a note in Toni’s file that we should remember this upon her retirement. Our Legislative Aid Julia Medzegian found this note, and made sure we had a little fun at the retirement party.

We presented Toni with a three legged stool and reminded her of her comment twelve years ago, which got quite a laugh from Toni and the crowd. Then, we followed up by showing her that a special recognition bench and an engraved stone, will be dedicated to Toni’s service in the Downtown Piazza. The Piazza is a very fitting place given Toni’s work on downtown and the farmers market. This final presentation, done by Denis Law, created a touching moment.

A slideshow at the party featured council photographs going back 20 years, to the start of Toni’s service. I enjoyed seeing these, as they reminded me of councils past and other people I used to serve with.

Here they are for your entertainment.


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1988- Toni’s first year– (she is at far left in photo)
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1990

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1991

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1992

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1994

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1998

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2000

 

Fire Department Promotions and Recognitions

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

Fire Chief David Daniels, with the help of the mayor and city council, awarded several promotions and merit recognitions at our council meeting on Monday night.

Promotions, complete with new badges, were awarded to Craig Soucy, Mike Proulx, John LeCoq, and Mark Peterson. Craig Soucy and John LeCoq also received new hats, as the colors needed to be changed to reflect their new positions.

As is the tradition in the department, wives and family members helped pin the badges on.

Recognition awards were given to Greg Hartman, Chuck Hagood, Judy Hayward, Henry Dyke, Chris Sproat, and Ken Peterson. (See the Renton Reporter story below).

Photographer Gary Palmer provided me with these photos of the event.


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See more pictures, and read the story from the Renton Reporter

Two fires today in Renton Highlands; both from improperly discarded ashes

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

For Immediate Release Contact: Deputy Chief Mark Peterson

News Release # 1 Phone Number: 206-534-5070

Date: 01/16/2008 Time: 1:48 PM

Structure Fires are a Result of Improperly Discarded Ashes

Renton firefighters responded to two separate structure fires within 24 hours of each other. Each was the result of improperly discarded fireplace ashes.

The first fire, on January 11, 2008 at 1:50 p.m. in the 2800 block of NE 8th Street, displaced two people and resulted in $125,000 in damages. The fire destroyed one unit of a duplex. The cause was determined to be fireplace ashes in a paper bag left in the living room. Renton firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, limiting heat and smoke damage to the one unit.

The second fire in an apartment in the 2600 block of NE 4th Street was reported January 12, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. The occupant of an apartment had cleaned her fireplace and placed the ashes in a plastic bucket on an outside deck. The fire burned the bucket, siding, storage door, and extended into the soffit and roof area. The fire did approximately $10,000 damage. The occupant was not displaced by the fire.

There were no reported injuries in either fire. These two fires are a good reminder to all that ashes may still be smoldering even if you think they are out. When cleaning out your fireplace ashes place them in a metal container and remove them from the structure. Wet them down prior to disposal. Never place a container of ashes on a combustible surface.

After weathering an eight day power-outage last year, my friends installed a fireplace

Written by Randy Corman 4 Comments

 

Some good friends of ours got so cold during last winter’s power outage, that they installed a fireplace in their home this winter.  My wife and I offered to help them out with the chimney installation.

Scott is one of my favorite project friends, and we had a nice day to work.  But chimney installations have to be taken very seriously, because of the poisonous fumes that must be contained, the heat that must be protected against during normal use, and the extreme heat that can be generated by a chimney fire.  For this reason all ducts must be double or triple walled, with adequate clearances, which very at different points in the installation.  And the installation must be permitted by the city, and inspected.

Here are some of my pictures:

Continue reading →

Knock Knock. It’s your friendly neighborhood census enumerator

Written by Randy Corman 3 Comments

Last week I made a few calls to find out more about our upcoming census in the Benson Hill neighborhood. Here’s the latest:

So Saturday afternoon there was a knock at my front door. No one ever just stops by anymore, well unless they think we’re having a yard sale because our front yard is kinda cluttered if we’re say, oh, cleaning out the garage, or just looking hard for something we might have stored in our garage. But our yard was clear and I was the only one home. I figured there was a real reason for this knock.

Sure enough there was my friendly neighborhood census enumerator, wearing her City of Renton badge and kindly asking me if I would be willing to take the annexation census survey. The poor, poor woman! I was headed out to a church meeting, so I was dressed like a normal person, but when I opened my mouth she clearly thought I must be extremely strange.

It’s just a census survey. It’s just our names.

Yep, but I’m still all worried by it.

Today I was talking with my favorite punk-rock-girl-scout teenager about the annexation census. She was of two minds, just like me. (see? I knew I liked this girl) She said that maybe it’s the “stand-up-guy” kind of thing to do, if you’re going to use the fire department and the street sweepers and all the good city services, maybe you owe it to the city to tell them your names and be counted. But she also thought that maybe just opting out wasn’t the worst thing either. Her green hair distracted me a little, did she dye it green because she’s a girl scout? Probably not. But I agree, with both her points.

So, this week I’ll probably send in my census survey on line so that nice woman doesn’t have to come and knock on my door again. I’ll be the stand up guy.

And maybe I’ll even dye my hair green! OK, not. But it would take my mind off this census!

That’s my news from Benson Hills for this week.

Kari Kopnick

West Hill Potential Annexation Area

Written by Randy Corman 9 Comments

A few years ago, the Renton City Council held a hearing regarding the West Hill/Skyway area, and the possibility of adding the area to Renton’s Potential Annexation Area (PAA).

Residents in the West Hill area seemed evenly split on the idea, with some wanting annexation to Renton, but many others being very adamantly against it. Some were very clear that they did not want to be part of a city, as the sign below indicates.


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Mayor Keolker was pushing to add West Hill to the PAA, and the council somewhat reluctantly went along with it. I voted with the majority, who voted to expand our potential annexation area, but Council Member Denis Law voted against the proposal. He was understandably very concerned about the costs to the city in taking on an area with so many infrastructure needs, and the impact such an annexation could have on our ability to serve existing residents.

As we have gathered more data on the costs of annexation in recent years, it has become increasingly clear to me that Denis Law’s position was the right one for West Hill. We have found that there is no way that the city can annex this area without a major subsidy from all the rest of us in the city of Renton, on the order of many millions or even tens-of-millions of dollars.

With Denis in the Mayor’s office, he will likely get council support if he choses to revisit this issue. While state growth management law does not make it easy for us to remove West Hill from our PAA, it’s possible we could find a way to do it. Even if the area stays in our PAA, Denis has promised voters that he will be slow to annex the area if it costs existing residents too much….and I will support him in this view.

Renton and the West Hill is starting to look like a marriage which will never make it to the alter. I would encourage the residents of this area to put thought into where they really want to end up, and let the governments of King County, Seattle, Tukwila, and Renton know their preferences.

This area has some pretty dramatic public infrastructure needs, as well as a clear need to bring in private investment dollars. Here are a few more pictures, along with the shot of the dilapidated building with the No On Annexation Sign…that pretty much says it all.

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The “No Annexation” sign says it all. While it was put up by West Hill residents, it could have just as easily been installed by Renton officials

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Bellevue council member/former mayor Connie Marshall resigns

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

I was surprised to read this news in today’s Seattle Times.

I’ve enjoyed working with Connie Marshall in many regional transportation planning efforts. Among her many contributions, she once helped me convince the rest of the I-405 Executive Committee that the I-405/I-167 interchange deserved priority over almost everything else on I-405. She’ll be missed by many.

(Bellevue will now be engaged in filling a council vacancy similarly to Renton)

Here is the story from the Times:

Former Bellevue Mayor Connie Marshall resigned from the City Council Monday night, saying she had “accomplished what I came here to do.”

Marshall said her resignation would take effect after the Jan. 22 council meeting. She did not offer other reasons for her departure but said the city had become the center of culture, medicine and business on the Eastside in her 10 years on the council.

Read the complete story here

Eleven fine candidates applied for city council vacancy

Written by Randy Corman 36 Comments

Here is the list of applicants:

1. Michael J. O’Halloran
2. Aaron Belenky
3. Mark Martinez
4. Rich Zwicker
5. Larry L. Sleeth
6. Raymond A. Giometti
7. Roxanna Johnson
8. Cheryle Haskins
9. Kimberly Unti
10. Ruth Gibbs
11. Elizabeth Stevens

It’s a list of terrific, involved Renton citizens.

Out of consideration to these private citizens, and fairness to the candidate selection process, I would like to ask you to refrain from making personal, specific remarks about these candidates on my blog.

However, if you would like to make comments about the process in general, or if you have questions for me, please feel free to leave your comments.

Council discusses the Council Appointment for the first time this evening

Written by Randy Corman 2 Comments

Applications have been arriving this week for the vacant council spot. I only know a few names at this point, as I have made a point of giving this process very little thought, and not asking any questions of our city clerk, prior to seeing all the applications.

Tonight, at 4:30, we will begin reviewing the applications and talking about the process for down-selecting and making our final choice.

The meeting will be televised live on Channel 21, and be available on streaming video at the city’s website, www.rentonwa.gov.

It’s possible we could even make our decision tonight, although it is probably more likely that we will schedule some follow-up interviews. I can’t say for sure, since I am only one of six, and I don’t know how the other five feel about this.

I’ll post again when I have more information.

Randy