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Renton’s Airport helps bring billions of dollars of revenue into our community, and the airport must maintain tight security to keep air traffic and airport businesses running on schedule.

Unfortunately, starting around the time of the pandemic, there has been an increasing number of trespasses, thefts, break-ins, and other security breaches at the airport. Some of these have been incidences like unauthorized visitors in secure area or stolen cars in the parking lots.

The latest such event happened Friday morning, five days ago.  In this latest break-in, seven general aviation airplanes used for pilot training were damaged, a building was broken into, and computers and tools were stolen.  I’ve been told by a knowledgeable but unofficial source that at one point during the break-in, the thief even made an unauthorized call on a flight radio, communicating with air traffic controllers who were understandably confused about who they were communicating with.

Preliminarily, the aircraft damage appears to be mostly broken windows, but full evaluations will be needed to assure the safety of these and other nearby aircraft.

To the thieves and those following the latest crime trends in Renton, these airport break-ins may look like a simple extension of an increasing crime wave. With automobiles being stolen and vandalized at about three times the rate they were a couple years ago, it may seem like airplanes at our airport would be next.

But for those of us who have worked around aircraft professionally, we recognize these airport break-ins as much more serious than a simple escalation of property crime.  These attacks on airplanes are Federal Offences, involving serious felonies that can potentially put the public and air traffic system in danger.  Under Federal Regulations 18. 32, (a) “Whoever willfully … sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce….shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both.”

A potential twenty-year prison sentence is harsh, but considering that lives can be lost due to unauthorized tampering with aircraft, the federal government understandably takes these breaches very seriously.

The Friday morning break-in is under investigation, and the authorities do have some leads.  Because the crime is under an active investigation, I’m not going to share any further details about it here.

Airport management and airport businesses are reviewing their security needs, and making further perimeter enhancements.  What we need to do as a greater community is work together to reverse the crime trends that are increasingly putting our airport in harm’s way.  The safety of the flying public and billions of dollars in local revenue depend on us maintaining a secure airport.

Follow-up:

 

I was shocked and saddened to learn of the emailed bomb threats and death threats against the Brewmaster’s Taproom and its owner. The Taproom is a family and dog-friendly venue that embraces diversity in our community.

Per the Renton Reporter, “The bomb threats were sent to Brewmaster’s owner Marley Rall via email and included an extreme homophobic rant against the storytime event as well as death threats toward several named individuals and the Renton Police Department. The email also claimed that the surrounding area needed to be evacuated because there were “enough fertilizer bombs there to make the Oklahoma City bombings look like a firecracker.”

I served as a public official in Renton for 28 years, and I know these felonious, frightening and cruel threats are antitheses to the widespread feelings and values of our loving, caring Renton community. I’m hoping our Renton Police are successful in tracking down the source of the threats, and I’m also hoping the threats did not originate from within our city.

Marley Rall deserves our appreciation for her steadfastness and courage as a business owner and caring member of our community, in the face of these malevolent, despicable threats.

 

Back in the first week of 2020,  before the pandemic, I observed that I  had more years of experience as a city elected official than all 9 of Seattle’s City Council Members plus their Mayor PUT TOGETHER.   At the time, I saw this as a potential signal that it might be time to retire.  But now, looking at what has happened in Seattle since then,  I see it quite differently. It was not a problem that I had too many years helping manage a city– Seattle’s officials had too little experience.

Seattle, once known for being one of the cleanest and safest metro areas in America, now has the distinction of being worst for people needing to move because of the safety of their neighborhoods.

Experience is critical for recognizing the long-term unintended consequences of every decision, and avoiding costly or dangerous mistakes. Their council’s decisions like defunding the police, decriminalizing fentanyl, deeply limiting police pursuits, allowing encampments on sidewalks needed for safe ADA access, and even discussing a “crime-of-need” defense for theft of items like a contractor’s tools or catalytic converters– these and other mistakes have made Seattle less safe.

 

 

 

I’m very grateful to Nancy, Steven, and Camila for their endorsements in my campaign for Renton City Council Position 7.  They all ran excellent campaigns, and Renton would do well to put them all in public office soon.

With your help I made it through the primary for Council Position 7! It was a seven-person race, and as of today I have 25.6 %, which puts me in the top two. While this is fewer primary votes than the incumbent, I’m gathering endorsements from other candidates that will help guarantee a competitive general election and hopefully a win in November. I wish to thank the other candidates for position 7 for an excellent race! Also, thank you to my supporters for the great assistance so far, and thank you to Renton voters for your support. Here are the complete results as posted today at 4:00 PM.

We’re nearing the end of the primary election cycle, and ballots are due on August 1st.  That’s just nine days away.   Please get your ballots in, and remind your friends and neighbors to do the same.  This primary is important for getting Renton on a safe and prosperous trajectory that will make all our lives better.

For those readers supporting my campaign, please digitally share my flyer below with anyone who has not seen it. (Note there are two images: the front and back of the flyer. Right click on the images, download them, and share in email and social media.  Thanks!)

 

 

Kennydale Beach Park is the oldest of Renton’s two beach parks, dating back to the post-war 1940s.  Long-time area residents tell stories of a young Clint Eastwood (the actor and director) sitting in the Kennydale Beach lifeguard stand squinting into the sunset and keeping an eye on swimmers.

During the park’s nearly 80-year history, every visitor has used an upper and lower steep narrow stairway to access the park from Lake Washington Boulevard.  The park has been inaccessible for anyone unable to climb these steep stairs.   The Eastside Railway that ran along the right-of-way between the staircases made any hope of improvement nearly impossible during that time.

Now, with the railway being transitioned into a permanent multi-use trail, Renton has an excellent opportunity to allow people of all mobilities, as well as families pushing strollers and pulling wagons, an opportunity to enjoy this park.  In the pictures below I describe how this could be done.

I’ve always been an outspoken advocate of improved accessibility to our waterfront and other public amenities.  In 2011 the Department of Ecology was pushing for Renton to build future and replacement docks at a width of no more than four feet.  I knew this narrow width was out of compliance with ADA guidelines, which would have made these docks hazardous for residents with mobility issues as well as young children. I pushed back on the errant Department of Ecology guidance, along with my council colleague Marcie Palmer, and we eventually won over our full Council, ensuring we came up with a design that both protected the fish and preserved safety for our residents with mobility challenges.  Other Washington State cities followed Renton’s lead afterwards, and our state’s docks are safer and more ADA compliant for this work.  This debate is captured in this blog entry here.

 

 

 

 

Five months ago I shared a story told by Melyza, a young single Mom working two jobs, whose life was turned upside-down by an attempted car theft in her apartment parking lot. The extensive damage to her car caused her to lose her UberEats income, made it harder to care for her daughter with special needs, and left her worried about covering her rent.  After working extra shifts in a local gas station for several months, getting her tax return check, and with a little help from friends, Melyza was finally able to put a downpayment on a replacement car and start putting her busy, productive life back in order.

Then a few nights ago, just when things were sorting out for her, Melyza was terrorized by a prowler trying to break into her apartment while she and her daughter were in their beds.  Here is her story in her own words:

“Saturday night at around 11:40 pm as I was laying down for sleep. I jumped out of my bed which is in my living room because I heard a loud banging on my sliding glass door, it was aggressive and I ran into my daughter’s room who was also scared and she hid in her closet.

I called 911 and talked to dispatch who said officers were on the way. An officer did call my phone to let me know that they did not see anyone around the property at all. I had then called my boyfriend who lives in Federal Way and told him what was happening and as he is getting ready to come to us, I hear glass shatter in my daughter’s bedroom and I screamed her name and ran right to her, she was still in the closet. 

I grabbed her hand, hung up on my boyfriend and we ran out the sliding glass door as I’m on the line with dispatch again explaining what just happened and that we are running and finding a place to hide. We hid behind a semi truck in the visitor parking lot.

The police came and picked us up from that spot and checked my entire apartment to make sure nobody was in there. As we are talking and explaining things, they are unable to find the person who did this.”

Melyza explained that the police are investigating the attempted break-in, and they have some possible theories.  For instance, the police and the property manager are considering whether it could have been someone who had stalked a woman in the same apartment before Melyza moved in, perhaps believing the target of his obsession still lived there.  This theory was publically suggested on Facebook by another resident of the complex.  At this point the police are seeking evidence, and asking if any residents have camera footage or other information.  Meanwhile, Melyza is living with fear and will need time to recover from the trauma.

“My boyfriend has been staying with us every night and we are camping out in the living room. This was a very traumatic experience for both me and my daughter. We are still jumpy and fighting hard to change units so we don’t have to stay in this one anymore.”

The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) has released its annual Washington Crime report which compiles crime data from across our state for 2022

The 593-page crime report and their summary press release show that from 2021 to 2022 crime rose dramatically in our state, with homicides up 16 percent along with comparable increases in other violent crimes.  Meanwhile, other major metro areas in the US have shown decreases in crime rates on average, with a composite reduction in homicides of 4%.   (Renton saw a 133% increase in homicides during this period).

The report also highlights another dismal fact for those wanting to feel safer.  Washington State had a net reduction in police officers last year, and now trails all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the number of police officers per capita.

These trends must be reversed before we reach a tipping point we can’t come back from.  As crime has gone up and police officer count has gone down, the impossible workload has made it harder to recruit and retain qualified police officers.  Continuing claims by public officials of over-policing and cries for defunding the police, in the context of already the lowest number of officers per-capita in the US, also frustrate our ability to hire officers.  And far from helping,  our state legislature has continued to place new restrictions, burdens and liabilities on our overworked officers, such as the complex rules that largely ban peace officers from pursuing fleeing suspects that refuse to pull over after smash-and-grab burglaries, car thefts, reckless driving, and sometimes more serious crimes.  In another example, the State Legislature recently considered making new police officers and their families personally liable for any failures by the State-run police academy to thoroughly train them.

 

 

Seattle City leaders have had to work cooperatively with Renton leaders to build and maintain (for the past 92 years) a Seattle water pipeline through our city.  Renton’s leaders collaborate with Seattle while protecting Renton’s interests relative to land use, development, and safety.  While Seattle might prefer otherwise, Renton has insisted on our rights to drive and conduct business over their pipeline in downtown.  This is one small example of Renton asserting local control. 

As voters select their City Council Members, it’s helpful to remember why cities go through all the work and expense of incorporating.  It’s easy for an area to stay under county zoning, and rely on county services, county laws, and state laws to govern them.  If one googles “Why do cities incorporate,” they will find thousands of results telling them the answer is to have local control.

Since local control is why Renton incorporated 122 years ago,  it’s important that Renton elected officials put Renton’s local needs first.   That’s how advocacy works. When we elect City Council Members we’re not trying to replace our County, State, and Federal officials.   We have those representatives already, and we are paying many of them generous salaries for their representation. In some cases they represent the jurisdictions that inspired Renton to seek local control.

Renton Mayor Jesse Tanner, a former Federal executive and very effective two-term mayor who helped us create the Piazza, Henry Moses Aquatic Center, the skate park, the veterans park, the Landing, our modern City Hall and Police Station, and many other amenities,  used to remind me “Randy…cities don’t have friends, they have interests.”

I became adept at working cooperatively and professionally with neighboring cities during my 28 years on council, and I served on more regional committees representing our city than I can list here.  My colleagues on these regional committees had an amicable relationship with me, but they always knew I would put Renton first, the way I expected them to put the interests of their cities at the forefront.  That was my job, after all.  That’s what the taxpayers paid me to do.  That is local control.

So as you are choosing your council members in this and future elections, look at who is backing them, whether that support is tied to Renton, and whether you are confident they will put Renton ahead of other jurisdictions and other outside interests. Does the candidate give you confidence you are going to get the local representation and the local control you are paying for?  Will they fight against state laws that don’t work for Renton?  Will they insist on a fair share of county services and desirable facilities, like metro service and a Sound Transit light rail station?  Will they push-back on Renton having a disproportionate share of the county’s undesirable facilities, like sewage treatment, landfill, composting, and other facilities no one else wants? Renton Council Members need to be committed to Renton’s interests to give us the local control we’ve been paying for since incorporating in 1901.  If they don’t put Renton first,  we might as well just let ourselves be run by King County again.

Update-  The Renton Police have provided this statement to the Facebook Crime and Safety page:

“We did have two shootings, one being a homicide as victim did not survive his injuries. That was tweeted out last night and occurred @ S 4th St/Morris Ave S @ 10:18 p.m. No other information at this time on that one. (Case #23-8090) Second shooting details: Officers were dispatched to NE 4th and Queen Ave NE just after midnight (7/15) to an illegal discharge call where multiple shots fired with sounds of vehicle speeding off. The victim, male, was able to call dispatch and told them he had just been shot by an unknown suspect(s). When officers arrived they found the victim who had been shot in the face. Victim was transported to the hospital. At least 11 shell casings located. Detectives were then called in to handle the investigation. Unknown motive or suspect details at this time. Case #23-8095 If you have any information on either of these cases please call 911 and reference case #.”

Original Post:

 

A 26 year old man was tragically shot to death in South Renton last night.  There was a second reported shooting later in the Renton Highlands; I don’t have details yet on the whether there were injuries, and how serious they were, from that shooting. [Post-publication note: there was an injury- See update above] My heart is with the victim (or victims) and their loved ones today.

In addition to the overwhelming personal loss for the victims and their families, these shootings are tragedies for our community. We need to protect our residents to the best of our abilities and not let violence become worse each year.  Every time a homicide is reported on social media, more of our residents discuss their need to find a safer place to live.

 

 

 

In the past couple years the city has been struggling to keep its momentum in environmental protection as deadly drugs and paraphernalia are carelessly discarded, litter has been building near sensitive waterways and natural areas, and crime has caused us to backslide in our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.  I provided a detailed analysis showing ways in which crime has worsened our environmental sustainability in this blog entry three months ago.

During my 28 years on City Council from 1994-2021 I worked hard to help make Renton a leader in environmental sustainability and protection of our natural environment.  I’ve always loved the outdoors, and protecting our lake, river, watersheds, trees, native species, and natural areas has always been a priority for me.  I covered many of our sustainability achievements in a blog entry four years ago here.

 

Even when taking a break from City Council, I worked hard to protect our environment along with the health and safety of our residents.  In this blog entry I covered my efforts to ensure Renton had a hard drug law that would not only save lives, but keep hazardous paraphernalia out of our parks and public areas.

I’ve seen us do better than we are doing now, and if re-elected I will help put Renton back on track to a continuously-improving environment.

 

When Puppyland opened in Renton a few years ago, several of their business practices seemed out-of-step with the City of Renton’s Mission Statement. Our Mission Statement includes the words: ” Provide a safe, healthy and vibrant community”; and “Building an inclusive, informed and hate-free city with equitable outcomes for all in support of social, economic, and racial justice.”

The Renton Puppyland store is now closed, and the company is under investigation by the Attorney General for a number of issues including selling sick puppies, predatory lending and using threats to silence online reviews.   All of these alleged violations are inconsistent with our Renton Mission Statement.

From the Attorney General’s press release:

“Puppyland’s standard purchase paperwork included an illegal non-disclosure provision that attempted to prevent consumers from sharing truthful information about their experience. Individuals who signed the paperwork agreed not to “disparage, defame, sully or compromise the goodwill” of Puppyland, or face the threat of legal action”

I gave some history on this topic, including the controversy regarding the approval of the anti-puppy-mill ordinance that Renton implemented in response to this store, on a blog post on July 1st.   As with most of my posts, an online discussion arose in the comment section, and a Puppyland lobbyist joined in.   In her comments the lobbyist offered the opinion that Puppyland actually supported equity by giving more people an opportunity to have dogs.  I and other readers argued against that claim, saying predatory lending, outrageously high prices, and ongoing veterinary costs are not what any residents need, that they can be destabilizing for family finances, and there are better ways to get a dog.  The online comment discussion heated up and soon became enlightening on its own, and I encourage readers to review it.

I remain very sympathetic for the customers of Puppyland who were taken advantage of, and I hope those who have not lost their puppies to health issues (or repossession if that’s ever happened) will find joy in their cute new family members in spite of the business and health issues they may have encountered.  It’s not the puppies’ fault, and the little bundles of joy deserve all the love our community can dish out.

As a Council Member and Renton resident I always worked to help us demonstrate the values and achieve the goals our City of Renton Mission Statement and Business Plan, a document I helped write and modify over many of years on City Council.  This plan is extremely important, and as a co-author of it, it summarizes my values very well.

Readers can read the entire comment stream here.

 

In 1904  Renton’s Lower Kennydale neighborhood was platted in what-was-then King County.  The “Garden of Eden” plat included a grid street pattern, along with some additional right-of-ways that could be developed into alleys to potentially allow the residents to get their horses and carriages behind their homes.  Some of these right-of-ways were eventually formally abandoned by Renton, and others have remained on-the-books but undeveloped and unopened for the past 100 years. The unopened “alleys” now host large native trees and gardens, and in some cases sheds and other backyard uses.

Starting about eight years ago, Renton’s building codes began to dictate that new homes that are built on alleys should take garage access from that alley.  (This code was intended to affect only new construction, not existing homes.)  A developer is now proposing a new house on one of these lots with an unopened right-of-way behind it, that runs from Park Avenue to Burnett between homes on N 31st Street and N 32nd Street.  In a preliminary review the city has said the developer should get access from the (unopened) “alley”, and the preliminary decision has left neighboring residents upset and crying foul.

Kennydale residents turned up in large numbers at last Monday’s council meeting, describing in detail why they are concerned about an alley being built through their  neighborhood after all these decades. The development pattern has been set for 100 years, and an alley is now more disruptive than it is helpful for residents of most or all of the historic homes.  Among the worrisome issues identified, residents are concerned about saving 100-year old trees, preserving camaraderie with long-time over-the-fence neighbors, preserving their yards and gardens, and needlessly creating new security concerns behind their homes.

Residents have petitioned the city to abandon the right-of-way under the official “vacation” process identified in city and state laws, instead of developing it into an alley. I think they make a strong case.   While I am not a lawyer and I am offering a political–not legal–opinion, this right-of-way appears to never have been formally opened (i.e. turned into an actual alley). If it had not been part of a plat, and simply deeded to the County as a stand-alone right of way, it likely would have expired after five years of not being opened under RCW 36.87.090.  ( If it had been platted a few years earlier before 1904, when RCW 36.87.090 went into effect, it also could have expired by now even if it is part of a plat.)   There should be deference given to the street pattern established at the time an area is developed, and changing it after 100 years is not a step that should be taken lightly.

The process for vacating a right of way can be expensive and complicated for residents, and the Renton City Council will ultimately have decision-making authority on whether this right-of-way is vacated and how much compensation is charged for the land.  (The price set for vacated land could be anywhere from zero to 100% of current appraised value, depending on how the land was originally acquired by the government and other factors.)  I encourage Council Members to look carefully at the facts and long history in this case, and make this process as easy and fair as possible for the residents.

 

 

 

 

 

Related topic: It’s common for surrounding residents to use unopened/unused right-of-ways for incidental purposes in conjunction with their homesteads (such as gardening, recreating, or storage.)  The University of Washington Law review published an article about this tendency, and the legal precedents surrounding it.