There is an important election on the horizon for Fairwood residents. They will soon need to cast ballots relative to whether or not they wish to form a new city. This is an important vote because King County continues to make public statements about curtailing urban services to communities like Fairwood, which puts pressure on these communities to either incorporate as an indepedent city or annex to an existing city.

I am neutral on Fairwood annexing to the city of Renton. As I stated in my June 17 entry to this journal;

“There are many neighborhoods bordering our city that are looking at the potential of annexing over the next few years. People in this position often have many questions and concerns, and I’m not going to try to address them all with one journal entry this morning.

I would instead like to convey my basic position on annexations, and invite readers to contact me at 425-271-6913 or leave comments below with any questions they have of me on the topic.

My basic position is this:

If you are in our Potential Annexation Area (PAA), and the majority of your neighborhood wishes to join our city, then I welcome you with open arms. If you are in the PAA, but the majority of your neighbors do not wish to join our city, then I understand and I have no issues with that..peace to you, and your settlement :-). Lastly, if you are outside our PAA, and you wish to join our city, we should work with other jurisdictions to update the PAA and go from there.

My only wish is that you and your neighbors have accurate facts and data to work from (this is my inner engineer’s voice), Therefore, I support our staff’s printing of materials that explain how your situation is affected by annexation. I want this material to be politically neutral, accurate, and readable.

I will generally not plan to attend meetings of King County residents who are weighing an annexation decision, because I don’t want to put myself in the position of taking their decision personally. If I’m not at their meeting, I won’t have my feelings hurt if they decide not to annex…better for them, and better for me!

In summary, if you are in our PAA, treat it like an event invitation. Ask your questions, get the facts, and make the decision that works for you. I’ll support you either way.”

I wish to clarify that I a neutral because I realize that my opinion, whatever it may be for a given annexation, is completely trumped by the opinions of the people living in the affected neighborhood (in this case Fairwood). The choice Fairwood residents make will affect their daily lives, as they experience everyday things such as water and sewer service, stop lights, parks and libraries, tax payments, and building permits…around the clock…winter, spring, summer, fall…for countless years into the future. The choice may also affect the more anxious moments of their lives, such as the way police or fire services are dispatched in an emergency. While it’s true that their choice may also affect residents of Renton here and there, any impact on existing Renton residents is very small compared to the impact on the Fairwood households. Many Renton residents wont even notice the apparent nuance of Fairwood being unincorporated versus incorporated versus annexed, and those that do will generally forget all about it in a week or two. If I saw a family in my neighborhood having a passionate argument about the choice of carpet they were installing in their home, the last thing I would do is walk over and tell them that they should go with my choice because I sometimes visit their home and I want it to look just right for me, or because I am worried that their carpet choice may affect my property value. While I may in fact hold an opinion on their carpet, I am wise enough to know that their collective opinion simply overwhelms mine, that they are the ones that perpetually live with the choice, and I should stay out of it. The same is true for an annexation discussion.

I have recently been told by a Fairwood resident that there is still confusion about what will happen if the area votes against incorporation. Up until a few weeks ago, I would have said that I expect that nothing would happen unless the residents formed an annexation drive. However, Renton Council recently got a surprise in the Maplewood neighborhood along Cedar River a couple meetings ago, when the King County Boundary Review Board increased the size of an annexation by five hundred percent, after some citizens had made an application to annex. I would have expected such a change to go to a vote or petition, but it did not. In this case, the majority of the residents of the affected area seemed to be in favor of the expansion, and I was extremely happy for Wonderland Estates residents that benefited from this decision. But the surprising turn of events left me with questions about how the 2006 annexation process really works. I have promised the inquiring Fairwood resident that that I will seek clarification on what happens if the vote for incorporation fails. When I sort this out, I will post the answers here.

Best Wishes,

Randy