Written by September 6, 1982
Posts in category Uncategorized
America’s spy agencies are developing their own “Myspace” for Spies
America’s spy agencies are introducing a top secret social networking site called A-Space, fashioned after MySpace, to encourage agencies and spies to share informal information with each other. There is high-hope that such a network could prevent the type of information failure that allowed the September 11 attack even while various agencies had a variety of clues beforehand (but no one agency was able to put the whole picture together in advance).
MySpace users and other bloggers have figured out that the social networking is a great way to expose and share all pieces to a puzzle, and I’m encouraged that our nation’s security experts realize there is real value in the this type of networking.
Your friends (and maybe even your kids) on MySpace are a lot more in-the-know than you may realize…if you are not familiar with social networking, you probably need a tutorial to fully comprehend the way information spreads through the medium.
I’m sure this information-spread is why Rupert Murdock, arguably America’s shrewdest and most forward-looking news media icon, has purchased MySpace, in addition to the Wall Street Journal, FOX, and hundreds of other major media properties he (and his company News Corp) owns.
Closer to home, I have been enjoying both MySpace and it’s competitor LiveJournal to share information with thousands of Renton citizens over the last couple years. (Right now Renton Myspace is getting ‘happy birthday’ comments from the many readers that are aware that the city’s birthday is September 6; bloggers are sharing candid inputs about the Mayor’s race; and residents are commenting about whether we should pursue a plaque or statue at Kennydale Beach Park to inform people about Clint Eastwood’s Lifeguard service there)
Click here to see the Renton WA MySpace Page
Here is the story about America’s spy agencies in today’s New York Times
175 first-time visitors in the past 7 days!
Thanks to all of you who have helped make my blog a popular Renton forum. Internet statistics counters show that I had 175 first-time visitors in the last seven days alone, with hundreds more of you returning!
Please consider adding your input to the comments. You can do it annonymously if you wish to; if you do, please keep your facts in order, or make it clear you are offering opinions. And I love the signed comments.
In the last year I’ve only deleted 2 annonymous comments, and I have never deleted a signed comment, regardless of how much I agreed with the author…so please, share your opinions.
Also, if you leave a comment and then wish to change your mind and remove it, just email me and I will delete it for you.
randy@randycorman.com.
Thanks!
Randy
Kennydale Beach Park’s most famous lifeguard
If you ever wondered where Clint Eastwood got those trademark squinty eyes, it may have been from staring into the sunset while lifeguarding at our own Kennydale Beach park.
“Lean and tall, stripped to his trunks, lolling in his chair or pacing the sand, Clint carved quite a figure at Kennydale Beach in Renton, where he was assigned. ‘He was a nice-looking young kid, well built, said George D. Wyse, the athletics supervisor for King County who hired Clint. ‘He drew quite a gang of young ladies around him.” “There are stories,’ added Penny Wade, chief of budget and personnel for King County Parks nowadays. ‘He never had to bring his lunch. He never had to do any of the normal duties like beach clean-up, because all the girls would do it for him.”
from; “Clint: The Live and Legend, By Patrick McGilligan”
“I said don’t splash…do you feel lucky punk?”
Clint Eastwood as he looked in that time period (location of photo unknown)
We did the right thing to open up our email to everyone
As my last act as council president last December, I requested that my council secretary place all my council incoming and out-going email in an open public file, available for anyone who wants to see it for whatever reason, without need to file a complicated freedom of information request. The action was quickly embraced and repeated by Councilmembers Denis Law, and Marcie Palmer, and soon all of the council…as we set a new bar in terms of public access to council email.
Today’s Seattle Times article about public email is further evidence that we did the right thing:
Are e-mails public records?
By Maureen O’Hagan
Seattle Times staff reporter
Most workers know the boss can track their computer use: Send too many personal e-mails, visit too many Web sites unrelated to work, and it could spell trouble.
State workers get the same warning. But unlike workers at private companies, their business, by law, is open to public scrutiny. So what happens when a state worker uses his office computer to send e-mails about things like dating habits, weekend plans or family turmoil?
Do taxpayers have a right to see those messages?
State officials are grappling with that question as citizens have begun demanding broad swaths of e-mail records under the Public Records Act, according to Tim Jaasko-Fisher, an assistant attorney general.
“Ten years ago, asking for everything on someone’s computer wouldn’t mean that much,” he said. “Now we’ve reached a point in society where the vast majority of communication, whether it be in a government office or the private sector, is electronic. … Maybe now, people are figuring out that they can make these requests.”
Valerie Witt, a Centralia mother of five, is one of them. In demanding years of e-mails sent or received by a particular Department of Social and Health Services worker, she has placed herself in the middle of a battle that pits the public’s right to know against privacy rights and puts a little-noticed Court of Appeals decision to what could be its first major test. The fact that the state employee is facing possible discipline over her computer use makes the case all the more touchy.
The 2000 court ruling that addressed the issue — by denying the release of a government employee’s e-mails that were intensely private — still hasn’t been fleshed out, so its implications aren’t clear. Witt’s case seems poised to answer those questions.
The dispute began after Witt filed a lawsuit in 2004 in Thurston County claiming DSHS failed to protect their son, Nathan, before she and her husband adopted him and four younger siblings in 1995. Witt alleges it took more than 30 complaints of abuse and neglect before state workers finally removed Nathan from his birth parents.
In addition, she argued that the state failed to get Nathan needed treatment — even after he began hurting himself and others, even after experts said he needed psychiatric counseling, even after the court ordered that he get help. Nathan, now 21, still has problems and is living on the streets, according to medical records in the court file.
One caseworker named in Witt’s lawsuit was Brenda BigEagle, who worked with Nathan when he was a teen. Witt didn’t think BigEagle handled Nathan’s case properly. Witt also said she heard rumors that BigEagle often used her work computer for personal business.
So Witt asked the state for items on BigEagle’s computer, including a list of every Internet site she had visited and her e-mail records.
BigEagle’s lawyer declined to comment on the case.
By state law, all government records are presumed to be open to scrutiny unless they’re specifically exempted.
State workers spent months preparing the records Witt requested. From Witt’s point of view, the results were mixed.
The state turned over a list of Web sites visited on BigEagle’s computer, including hundreds of apparently personal sites dealing with everything from banking to dating.
“She has no business using the state computer” for those Web sites, Witt said. “It gave me red flags.”
As for the e-mails, the state released several thousand pages, but blacked out big chunks of them, citing privacy reasons. Some of the blacked-out information was about other children’s cases. But numerous personal e-mails were, too.
For that, the state relied on the Court of Appeals ruling, which involved an employee of the Spokane prosecutor’s office who was fired after supervisors found she spent too much time on personal e-mails. After a reporter asked to see the offending e-mails, the employee tried to block the release. It turned out that she had been sexually assaulted, and much of her e-mail was related to that.
The court ruled that the content of the e-mails was not a matter of public record. The purpose of open-records laws, the court ruled, is to let citizens scrutinize the conduct of government. The e-mails didn’t have anything to do with government, and releasing them would violate the woman’s privacy.
“It is the amount of time spent on personal matters, not the content of personal e-mails or phone calls or conversations, that is of public interest,” the court ruled.
Jaasko-Fisher, who represents DSHS in the Witt matter, said BigEagle’s e-mails meet the two-part test in the Spokane case: They have nothing to do with the operation of government, and they would be considered “highly offensive” to a reasonable person.
“Largely, until now, the idea [behind the Public Records Act] has been to look at how government is functioning and to hold government accountable,” he said. “What it is not for is to target a particular individual and monitor their doings just because they happen to be employed by the state.”
Greg Overstreet, an attorney specializing in open government who until recently worked for the attorney general, disagrees. He thinks the facts of the Spokane case were so unique that the decision has limited application. What state employees do during work hours by its very nature is related to the conduct of government, he said.
“Unless the e-mails in this case are similar to the horrible facts in [the Spokane case], then DSHS is risking losing a legal case,” he said.
As the state was poring over all the e-mails in question, BigEagle went to another court and tried to block the release, arguing that some of it was “potentially embarrassing to myself and others.” She cited “hundreds of personal e-mails” that should be protected. The judge granted a temporary order preventing the release of about 900 pages of e-mails.
Under the temporary order, the state can’t release those records even if it wants to.
A hearing on the temporary order is scheduled for today. Jaasko-Fisher said he’s hoping that case will be transferred to Thurston County, so it can be consolidated with Witt’s case. No ruling is expected for some time.
Maureen O’Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Coulon Beach Park swim closure
It is frustrating to see Coulon Beach Park closed with increasing frequency due to fecal coliform. With its 55 acres of land and a mile of waterfront, it’s too valuable of a public asset for us to sit by and watch the beaches get closed for yet another weekend due to pollution. Our Northwest summers are too short already.
For years we’ve had no closures of this park, in part because we have been paying about one-hundred-thousand dollars per year to keep geese away from the park and to stop the geese from breeding.
But last year, and this, we seem to be getting a new source of pollution from an as-yet undetermined source. Even though we have the goose population much reduced from years past, the fecal matter is getting worse and we have to do something about it.
Some possible causes are failing septic systems or broken sewer pipes in older neighborhoods around the lake. Maybe… but I sometimes wonder if Metro’s own sewer interceptors, which run right along the lake shore and even under water (carrying sewage from Mercer Island and the entire East Side of Lake Washington), might be the source.
It’s not right for the responsible jurisdictions of Metro, King County, and the State of Washington to sit by and watch as Renton maintains this priceless public property with the highest quality of care all year; then watch as we hire life guards, summer maintenance assistants, extra police, and a cadre of other summer help so that the entire south County may have free public access to Lake Washington compliments of Renton taxpayers; AND THEN SHUT OUR BEACH.
The mayor should demand that Metro fix this situation immediately…if she can’t turn the situation around, the city council may have to step in.
1958 campaign poster to encourage voters to form Metro, to clean up Lake Washington
Coulon Beach Park, 50 years later
For King County information on beach closures click here
More Pictures!..Click here to see more pictures from the Coulon Beach park closure
Various freeway on-ramp closures this afternoon
On my way home from work I noticed a line of cars waiting to turn onto northbound I-405 at Sunset, where a state patrol car and flares were blocking the on-ramp.
I believe this is because President Bush is in transit between Bellevue and Seatac Airport, and the police agencies in the eastside and south county area are providing assistance to the secret service.
I’m not sure if they had the entire freeway segment closed off or not…it would seem rather extreme to do this during the evening commute.
Camping on Orcas Island
I have not updated my blog in a few days, as I was enjoying some family vacation time on Orcas Island. Our family joined with many of our friends for a 39-person group camp out, with kayaks, canoes, fishing, speed boating, games, cookouts, biking, etc for four great days.
This is the EXACT reason we don’t want to send Renton inmates to Yakima anymore
We need to count our blessings that it was not a Renton inmate who was barbarically killed while in the custody of the Yamkima County Jail yesterday. It could have been.
There is no excuse for this kind of violence to be allowed in any jails, period. The press release below is not clear on whether this man was even convicted…it only says he was arrested for domestic violence. But even if one assumed he’s guilty, then this man had a debt to pay but not with his life; and now this inmate’s relatives will grieve for him the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to ask ourselves how we could EVER expect someone in jail for domestic violence to become reformed in such a violent climate…95% of those incarcerated will be released at some point. It looks like Yakima was training him to get tougher, meaner, and more threatening.
Psychologists know that we can not subject inmates to extreme violence in jail, and then turn them loose in our cities and expect them to behave like model citizens. Furthermore, you can not let the jail system kill someone’s brother, son, or daughter, and not expect to get resentment, lawsuits and other fallout from their law-abiding relatives on the outside.
Our Renton jailers have been concerned about conditions in Yakima for the last couple years, and we have quit sending inmates there. We are currently in a legal battle with Yakima County because they want us to send our inmates back.
I must see REAL REFORM in Yakima before I ever consider voting to put inmates back there.
Seattle Sidewalk Price Tag: two million dollars per mile
Sidewalks are costing up to two million dollars per mile in Seattle. This is a daunting pricetag, and we are seeing sidewalk prices heading this direction in Renton as well. The reason for this is that new ADA provisions, along with stormwater, curbing, and other road design requirements prevent us from simply using the old four-inch-thick-slab-of-concrete-at-grade mentality. Each sidewalk now has to be architecturally designed and engineered to meet the latest standards. This truley is for the public benefit, and really helps those who are mobility challenged; I support this improved design, but boy is it ever expensive. I hope we can find ways to slow these cost increases, or even reverse them (maybe?), in the future.
ready for the next pour…:-)
When I was a kid, I remember when I and a group of school classmates were informed by a city engineer that new freeways cost over one-million dollars per mile! “No way” we all said, in disbelief that a freeway could cost so much. Who would have guessed we would be paying twice this amount for a sidewalk in 2007!
More about development, privacy, and impacts to existing homes
I received the note below as a comment on my Bamboo Gardens blog, and I thought it was worth a blog of its own. Clearly, we need to protect existing homes from the impacts of development however we reasonably can. I’m about to experience this again first hand (I’ve been through it before when the condo’s were built behind me). I would like to do more to help others in this situation. Tighter enforcement of the noise ordinance would be a good start (and I’ll work on this), but I would love to get everyone’s ideas for ways to better protect existing homeowners.
______________________________________________
Dear Randy
I just watched my neighbor spend 4,000 dollars to gain back some privacy from the new development next door. It looks great, but it will be years before it provides any real privacy because of the new homes size and height. While the city gorges itself on new development and continues to clear cut, it’s not easy to watch. The big surprise will be when the heavy machinery and construction begins, having a contractor start using a nail gun at 6:00am and continue until 8:00pm is no easy task. Things will get worse when they continue to do it on Saturday. Hoping they will leave you alone Sunday. As far as I am concerned the city could do a much better job about enforcing construction start and stop times. I have lost my privacy and I too have to make a decision. Do I spend $4,000 or move.
RW
Link to Renton City Collection Program
Here is the link to the garbage collection pilot program, along with my continuing encouragement that the mayor’s office add this link to our city home page.
You can see from the maps whether you are affected by this pilot program or not (You also would have been advised by mail, and you will recieve new garbage cans if you are affected). If you are affected, you can use this page as a resource for calendars and information. If you are not directly affected, then your garbage service will continue as it always has, but you may still find it interesting to read through this and give the city feedback on whether any of the proposed pilot changes sound good or bad to you.
Click here for information on the Renton Collection Pilot Program
Click here to see the latest request from citizens asking us to make this link availble
Less than one month….
…until Cathy and I celebrate our 25th anniversary!
Here’s my beautiful bride opening a present on her last birthday. In addition to years of love and companionship, she has given me five wonderful children…two girls and three boys. We like to quip that two of a kind plus three of a kind make a full house; but that has not stopped our family from adding to the vivacity of our home by hosting exchange students, extended family, friends, and a menagerie of animals through the years. So many blessings.
(Cathy and and my youngest daughter Susie are in the beach town of Mendicino, California attending a wedding right now, so the boys and I are bach-ing it for a while. I’m missing them today, which prompted me to write this.)
Let’s not let our own red-tape stop Renton from having a beautiful five-star hotel
Michael Christ’s Seco Development has already built these beautiful apartments on the lakefront at Southport.
While we have very publicly been working on the Seahawks Headquarters, the Landing, and an ill-fated Sonics proposal, a key piece of Renton’s renaissance has been quietly shaping up on the shore of Lake Washington next to the airplane factory. Michael Christ has opened up shoreline to the public that was inaccessible for decades, and he is building world-class office space, shopping, dining, and housing. He built a commercial-sized dock to establish lake cruises, and a venue for weddings, concerts, and outdoor movies (the first movie is tonight).
He also has plans for a hotel, and has the capital, know-how, and determination to put in a four or even a five-star hotel right here in Renton! (…think Four Seasons). Such a hotel, when completed with the office park, housing and retail he plans, will rival the Landing in terms of the cost of the development. And it will put our city in a new league in terms of entertaining, and hosting visitors….in short, a dream for our visitor’s bureau and Chamber of Commerce.
Unfortunately, our own processes and inadvertent zoning changes have made the approval journey unreasonably complicated, a classic red-tape problem.
But this is one of the main reasons we employ an Economic Development staff, and I am confident they can work through this quickly. If possible, I would like to see any holdups in front of council in a matter of days, so that we can get them in front of the public, resolve any open questions, and take action soon–before the opportunity goes away. His proposed improvements to the hotel appear to be within the 10% change allowed by the code…but even if they exceed 10% , we should fast-track our review of this project. Unlike many of our other mega-projects in work, Mr. Christ has not been asking for taxpayer assistance. He also sets an extraordinarily high standard for quality.
So if you see Mr. Christ around town, encourage him not to lose heart, and tell him how you feel about his investment and hard work. And think about asking him how to book a reservation for your visiting friends from out of town…this will be an extremely popoular place to stay with its proximity to the Landing, the lake, Seatac airport, and Coulon Park walking trails.
Here are some emails on the topic, that can be found in the official public record:
To: ‘Alexander Pietsch’; Daniel Clawson; Denis Law; Don Persson; Kathy
Keolker; Marcie Palmer; Randy Corman; Terri Briere; Antonette Nelson
Cc: April Alexander; Bonnie Walton; Jay Covington; Julia Medzegian;
Marty Wine; Neil Watts; Peter Hahn; Suzanne Dale Estey
Subject: RE: RE: Meeting
It just sounds so red-tapish….
I’m just venting, but we worked like heck to get Harvest Partners to put
in a hotel at the Landing (which they said the market won’t support),
and spent $30,000,000 in taxpayer money trying to make the Landing all
it can be. Then we battled Westfield, and practically declared war on
Australia in the process in order to get the type of construction we
wanted. Then we spent $30,000 on a study to try to sell an Arena, and
we told the public that we could handle basketball games without traffic
problems….not to mention we were talking some untold millions of
dollars of Renton contribution if the arena went forward.
Now, when Michael Christ steps forward to build a 5-star hotel, I hope
we don’t spook him more than necessary with process issues and “risks”
from appeals. It’s right to work through the process, but let’s be
careful not to discourage him. He seems to be the only builder that is
willing to build our vision for this area without asking for millions of
dollars from the taxpayers to get it done.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now. 🙂
Thanks,
Randy
—–Original Message—–
From: Alexander Pietsch [mailto:Apietsch@ci.renton.wa.us]
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:05 PM
To: Daniel Clawson; Denis Law; Don Persson; Kathy Keolker; Marcie
Palmer; Randy Corman; Terri Briere; Antonette Nelson
Cc: April Alexander; Bonnie Walton; Jay Covington; Julia Medzegian;
Marty Wine; Neil Watts; Peter Hahn; Suzanne Dale Estey
Subject: Fwd: RE: Meeting
Councilmembers…
I know several of you have had conversations in recent months with
Michael Christ. He is very excited about moving forward with his planned
development at Southport and has expressed an interest in expanding the
scope of his original plans to a 350 room hotel (130 units more than
previously planned) and 1+ million square feet of office (he is
currently permitted for 750,000 sf).
We, too, are very excited about seeing this project built. Neil and I
have been talking with Michael recently about how to move his expansion
plans forward. Unfortunately, it may not be as easy as Michael would
like. Below is an e-mail from Neil to Michael outlining Southport’s
current entitlements.
If he would like to increase the project’s scope beyond these
entitlements, he will need to go through a new environmental review
process. This isn’t the end of the world, and could be completed in a
few months. But, it does open his project up to possible appeal, and as
we all know too well, that is a risk.
I wanted to let you know about the situation, as he may approach you
about it.
Staff continues to be extremely supportive of Michael’s efforts to build
Southport (at either scale), and we will continue to work with him to
ensure that he can proceed to construction in accordance with City and
State processes and regulations.
Please contact me or Neil if you have any questions.
Alex Pietsch
Administrator
Dept. of Economic Development,
Neighborhoods & Strategic Planning
City of Renton
425.430.6592 voice
425.430.7300 fax
http://rentonwa.gov
>>> Neil Watts 8/15/2007 5:19:19 PM >>>
Michael
I have been reviewing the documents and different options for the
Southport site. If we are to proceed under the approved April 2000
Level 2 site plan, and the limitations of the planned action, I do not
think any of the proposed alternatives, including the described max
allowed will work without additional SEPA review. Yich!
Running rough trip generation numbers, I think we would be able to
proceed with the following size project:
383 apartment units
22,919 sq.ft. retail
13,000 sq.ft. restaurant
353 room hotel
720,205 sq.ft office
This project size is probably the maximum that will comply with the
planned action and the approved Level 2 site plan. It appears that the
project approved in the Level 2 site plan is the maximum permitted, and
cannot be furthered increased without new SEPA review.
We will still need to complete a Level 1 site plan review for the hotel.
A modification will be required to the Level 1 site plan already
approved for the office building.
The planned action lists various maximum limits, and only specific
limits include discussion about a maximum 10% change. The other limits,
including the listed traffic generation limits do not include the
additional 10% change. Page 4 of the approved planned action (Ord.
4804) lists maximum limits for AM peak, PM peak and daily total trips.
We cannot go beyond those numbers without additional SEPA review. This
would include a new traffic study, with current conditions. I believe
that the project scope I have listed is near or at these trip generation
maximums. I welcome a more detailed traffic analysis based on trip
generation formulas and reasonable assumptions for pass-by trips and
internal trips.
Please also note that the Level 2 site plan, the planned action EIS and
the code requirements of the COR 3 zone limit height to 10 stories, not
to exceed 125 feet in height.
I think it is possible to retain the existing vested entitlements to
this property while exploring additional approvals for a larger project
scope. We will need a updated traffic study, a supplemental EIS, a new
planned action and a new master plan approval for this larger project
entitlement. We would also be operating under the new UC-N zoning,
rather than the old COR zoning. This expanded option is more
challenging, and we should discuss further when I return from Spokane.
Neil Watts, Director
Development Services Division
City of Renton
1055 S. Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057-3232
(425) 430-7218 = phone
(425) 430-7300 = fax
nwatts@ci.renton.wa.us
Recent Comments