News from former Councilmember Randy Corman, your Renton City Hall insider. (All views expressed in journal entries are Randy Corman's personal views, and not the official position of the City of Renton or other city employees. Views expressed in reader comments are those of the commenter)

Posts in category Storytelling

Renton School District earns another “F” in math and ethics as they ask for more money

Jul28
2025 1 Comment Written by Randy Corman

This Renton School District chart is deceptive. It shows taxes dropping on a home “valued in 2025 at $750,000.” But the value of the unrealistic house in this chart is $750,000 every year (not just 2025). Real Renton houses doubled in value during these ten years and had major increases in their taxes.

Renton School District is preparing to ask voters to renew operating and technology levies on the November ballot.  While I support schools, I’m alarmed (again) by the misleading and unethical way District leaders are making the case for the money.

Their current website has a chart for an “Example home valued in 2025 at $750,000,” and shows the taxes dropping from $4,012 in 2016 to an expected $2,542 in 2026.  That sounds great, except it is completely wrong.

A typical home worth $750,000 in 2025 would have been valued at about half that in 2016, or approximately $375,000.  Hence the Renton School District local taxes would have been $2006, not $4012 back then.

So 2026 taxes on an “Example home valued in 2025 at $750,000” have risen about 25% over the time period, NOT dropped by 37% as errantly shown.

This chart has earned an “F” in both mathematics AND in ethics.

READ MORE »

1 Comment Posted in School District, Taxes

Welcome news regarding asphalt plant creates another PR mess for Renton Mayor’s office

Jul17
2025 13 Comments Written by Randy Corman

Renton Mayor’s office was pedaling backwards

Months before the news broke this morning that the Asphalt Plant was halted, “Save the Cedar River” leader Bob Baker was on record with a Churchill-like fortitude  “We have every intention of stopping this project. We will take this to the very end. If it takes another five years, it takes another five years.” Similarly, County Councilmember Reagan Dunn made his position clear in an open letter to the King County Council,  calling the plant a “Mistake of Monumental Proportions” which threatened the “Cedar River- the drinking water source for 1.4 million people in the region, and critical habitat for Chinook, Coho, Sockeye, and Kokanee salmon..”

Bob Baker’s “Save the Cedar River” organization and Councilmember Reagan Dunn worked to protect salmon spawning grounds and our drinking water aquifer

In contrast, Renton’s Mayor Armondo Pavone published a lengthy press release five months ago undermining Mr. Baker’s  and Mr. Dunn’s strong positions, titled “Word on the Street.”  This press release attempted to assure the public that the Asphalt Plant proposal was “relatively low” risk. It included two pages of arguments like “The contamination risk is further lessened by on-site requirements of the asphalt plant.” and “Any spills from those tanks would be confined to the containment areas to allow for cleanup.”  The Mayor’s press release characterized the many environmental concerns broadly as “misinformation.”

The ridiculous “misinformation” label frustrated Mr. Baker so much that he confronted the Mayor and Council directly on the environmental issues at a Renton City Council Meeting this past March.

Now that Bob Baker, Reagan Dunn, and Lakeside Industries have succeeded in saving the Cedar River and its underlying aquifer from the risk of contamination by the asphalt plant, the Renton Mayor’s office is scrambling to articulate a new position.

READ MORE »

13 Comments Posted in Aquifer, Water Quality

Renton School District sends out new mailer that continues to mislead public on taxes

May30
2025 1 Comment Written by Randy Corman

Renton School District has sent out another quarterly mailer that misleads 130,000 residents about their taxes.  Renton’s school taxes have been on a fast-rising trend since 2020 as shown in the chart below. Where the mailer says “we continue to see a decrease of our school district total combined tax rate even as our voters support school construction measures,” district leaders appear to be either: (a) trying to mislead the public into thinking that taxes are dropping because of their good stewardship; or (b) demonstrating they don’t understand math.  Either way, it raises issues about whether they are qualified to teach our children math.  School tax rates-per-thousand are dropping simply because assessed valuations are skyrocketing, and the net effect is that our actual taxes paid for schools are going up sharply.

The District did drop the most flagrant sentence from their last mailer that said “that’s a $1500 savings for the owner of a home valued at $715,000” after I posted about it, but even without this statement the graph and verbiage remains misleading.

Since they are leading an educational system, I look forward to one day receiving a mailer that says “Yes, we acknowledge your school taxes are going up, and here are the reasons we think you are getting good value for the extra money you are giving us”  followed by a list of achievements and plans proving they are spending every dollar wisely in a way that improves student performance.

I’ve voted for every school bond issue in the past, and I care deeply about our schools.  In return for this support I expect an honest accounting of the cost trends and results from the district.  Whoever is suggesting that they make it look like our taxes are dropping in every one of these mailers should be sent for retraining or serve a time-out in the corner.

I’ve provided a more in depth analysis on this topic in my previous blog entry on this topic here.

 

In reality, the taxes for the school district are rising quickly. This is a typical Renton Highlands house (owned by my son) valued at $723,000 in 2025. This house appreciated at a normal rate with all the others, with no remodeling. The local school taxes went up significantly.

 

 

This 2021-2025 chart for my son’s typical Renton home comes directly from King County’s Tax Transparency Tool. The red bar is the local schools tax, and the blue is our state school tax. 56% of our property taxes goes to schools. Total school tax has increased from $3,134 to $4,092. Local school taxes have increased from $1,658 to $2,469, up $811, a 32% increase (about twice the rate of inflation).

1 Comment Posted in School District

Renton leaders focus on “storytelling” as residents ask for data, assistance and transparency

Feb25
2025 5 Comments Written by Randy Corman

As several controversial projects and long-festering problems reached a boiling point in last night’s Council Meeting, residents urgently requested more detailed and specific information, and intervention from their elected officials.  But at the meeting and its aftermath, it’s clear that most residents felt they were just getting a story from the council, not the facts.

This appears to have been by design by the City, and it failed pretty spectacularly last night.

The Council has recently adopted a new communication plan and funded two additional new communication positions in the Mayor’s office (adding to several already there).  The plan literally focuses on “storytelling”, and very little on providing comprehensive information and easy-to-find public records.

Perhaps “Storytelling” has a place in a marketing campaign, but this Communication and Engagement plan provides the structure for government officials and city employees to communicate with their constituents.  We’re looking for data and assistance, not a story.  Large companies get in trouble when they tell stories to their regulators.

Following are some excerpts from the plan.

 

Renton recently adopted a new communication strategy, and added two additional personnel to Communication roles

 

 

What if residents are looking for facts, and don’t wish to be told a story?

 

Someone asking about a dangerous building or an asphalt plant is probably not looking to be told a story

 

 

That’s our story, and we’re sticking to it. We’ll “tell our story again and again.”

 

Communications and Engagement Strategic Plan_090624 (1)

5 Comments Posted in Representation

Response to the Mayor’s statement on the Airport, with links to the facts and source data

Apr14
2024 10 Comments Written by Randy Corman

The Mayor issued a statement about the Renton Airport on Friday. The complete statement can be found here. 

 

The Mayor issued a statement on Friday about the Renton Airport which focussed on specific subjects I had been covering in my blog.  I’m not sure who prepared the statement for him, or if he did it himself, but it has numerous errors in it.  If it was prepared by individuals making decisions at our airport, it unfortunately validates concerns I’ve heard voiced about a shortage of experience and engagement in Renton’s airport leadership.

I have reviewed the Mayor’s statement paragraph-by-paragraph, and inserted my comments in bold or in blue or purple underline.  My blue or purple underlined comments link to more detailed blog entries, which in turn link to the source data (like leases, emails, documents, etc).

The Mayor’s words are in italics.

_______________________________________

April 12, 2024

Good afternoon, Renton –

I’d like to take a moment to address a few points of interest I’ve heard garnering a lot of attention around the Renton Municipal Airport. There’s a lot of speculation out there, and some misinformation – and the fastest way to address that is to focus on the facts.

A primary source of misinformation is this Mayoral statement. If someone wrote it for the Mayor, they need some retraining.  I’ll respond with accurate blog posts that include proof.  

1. Is there a brand-new business coming into the Renton Municipal Airport?

One of our longterm existing airport tenants (Pro Flight Aviation) has sold their existing business to a new operator (Dark Horse Aviation). Under the terms of the 35 year lease, the existing tenant has the express right to do this. The only role the city can play is in evaluating the new operator’s financial capacity, experience in running an FBO, or fixed-based operator business, and compliance with Airport Leasing Policy.

There are many ways the city, RAAC, and community can influence the selection of tenants at our airport, and the FAA-approved Sustainability Management Plan expects us to do so.  Click here for details

This is not a new business, but a potential shift in focus of the business. The purpose of a Fixed Base Operator (FBO) is to provide fueling services to aircraft as well as ramp services for visiting aircraft. Proflight’s lease also specifies many other services that are propeller-airplane focussed, like a flight school, airplane rentals, aerial photography, and aircraft repairs and modifications.

Pro-Flight Aviation has operated this business from 2009 forward. The new firm is looking to try to service jets shut out of Boeing Field; however, this was going to occur naturally as Boeing Field is taking on greater importance as a cargo hub and site of large business aircraft. Renton opposed this for the 28 years I was on City Council, and it is not consistent with our FAA Approved Airport Sustainability Management Plan.  Pro-Flight Aviation has traditionally serviced jet aircraft and sells Jet A fuel as well as Av Gas for propeller planes.

2. Will Renton Municipal Airport be opened up to 24/7 jet traffic? No, any business operations will be subject to the air traffic control tower operation hours – from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM in winter; and 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM during summer. This is obviously not true.  As Renton’s own website clearly says, the airport is open to traffic 24/7, and gets significant traffic at night.  This statement is a demonstration of a stunning lack of understanding of our airport by whoever wrote this statement. 

The existing ramp operated by Dark Horse Aviation can only accommodate 6-8 medium/small jets. The Renton Airport operates within certain limitations due to Airport Rules and Regulations and Airport Minimum Standards. These rules and regulations are produced by the aviation and community representatives on RAAC, a body which the Mayor wrongly diminishes below. 

FBOs are required to maintain public buildings, like customer lobbies, offices, pilot lounges, restrooms, and adequate parking. They also have to provide a ramp area for aircraft parking for at least five aircraft. An FBO is also mandated to have regular operation hours schedule, open for a minimum of eight hours per day and seven days per week. After-hours fueling services must also be available either through on-call employees or shared schedules, but the operational and regulatory demands contribute to the limitations on the airport’s 24/7 operations.

3. Shouldn’t this have been reviewed by the Renton Airport Advisory Committee? In short, no. The only role the city has in this scope is to review the new operator’s feasibility and have city council approve this. There are specific provisions noting that consent should not be “unreasonably withheld, conditioned or denied” by the council. If we took any other action beyond what is described in the lease, the city could have been open to an FAA Part 16 Complaint, or a potential lawsuit for damages as a result of losing the sale of the business. As stated above, there are many ways to influence the lease, and they are encouraged by the FAA-sponsored Renton Airport Sustainability Plan.

RAAC has a limited scope as an advisory committee, and can make suggestions, but are not in charge of setting policy or changing lease agreements. City staff introduced a new Airport Director and updated the RAAC on airport construction at their February 2024 meeting, and advisory committee members will be introduced to the new operator at an upcoming meeting. RAAC is far more than a “limited scope as an advisory committee.”  RAAC has much more influence and authority over aircraft in flight than does the Mayor, Council, or Airport Manager.  Since RAAC includes pilots, aviation professionals, FAA, and neighborhood representatives, they have the leverage to manage aviation-related procedures better than our local elected officials.  

4. Are City staff operating outside of their roles? No – in fact, our city staff works tirelessly to keep the city in compliance with all guidelines, including the potential of future legal action. Renton has an abundance of excellent staff, but any staff members who helped the Mayor write this statement clearly do not know enough about aviation or our airport.  I presume this was our Airport Director and Public Works Administrator.  Their decision-making have people in the aviation community concerned, and this statement will further validate their fears.  It’s disorienting and worrisome to our Residents when a Mayoral statement can include so many obvious falsehoods like our airport closes at at 8:00 PM in Winter and 9:00 PM in summer.

5. Is there a business leaving the Renton Municipal Airport?

The City of Renton is moving through the legal process of eviction of a tenant for a long-standing non-payment of rent. The occupied buildings in question were originally scheduled for demolition in 2015. The buildings occupied by the Landing Gear Works, the old tower building and hangars, have never been scheduled for demolition. 

The occupation of these buildings were at a deeply discounted rate, with an understanding that any repairs needed would be at the expense of the tenant. This statement is false. Landing Gear Works hangers are priced like all other Renton airport hangars.  The old tower building was leased for the highest rate the Airport could get after it had been vacant for months.Airport management had responsibility for maintenance of common areas and the tower of the office building through most years of the tenancy.

The natural end of the lease was slated for July 2024, we have moved forward with a lease termination date of March 31, 2024 in light of nonpayment. This more accurately would say “in light of an ongoing rent dispute that began when we improperly billed the tenant, then ignored his concerns while we played musical chairs with our airport managers, and finally denied him and his employees their First Amendment rights to communicate with their elected officials.”

It is the responsibility of the city to maintain safe, functional and market-rate buildings for future tenants. It IS the city’s responsibility, and the city has unreasonably tried to get out of it by arguing that the building is going to be replaced in the future.  It’s also the city’s responsibility to ensure that private buildings are safe, and they are failing in many places.

One of the core pillars of our city administration is to communicate regularly and clearly with plain facts and direct language.  The Council, not the Administration, is responsible for leases under state law.  The council members have never publicly discussed this lease issue with each other, or communicated in any way with the tenants.  An attempt to reach out was made by one council member, and was apparently shut down by the city attorney.  This complete lack of council involvement and communication is shockingly different than council behavior and actions in the past. There were many steps where a collaborative discussion between the tenant and  the airport manager or council members would have quickly and peacefully resolved this dispute.

At all times, the City of Renton strives to operate openly, transparently, and in the best interests of our residents. After a memorable far-reaching uprising about jets in 2007, Renton just leased to a jet center without informing the RAAC or the community.  The community knows about it because of my blog, not the City of Renton’s communication system.  Unlike the Mayor’s statement which is one false statement after another, I put links to prove my statements are true.

I welcome any questions and conversations about this topic, please reach out at mayor@rentonwa.gov. Your Mayor, Armondo Pavone

I welcome your comments on this blog, below.  You can also email me at racorman@comcast.net, or phone me at 425-271-6913.

10 Comments Posted in Airport, Representation

Airport buildings were not “scheduled” for demolition; city should have continued maintenance

Apr14
2024 Leave a Comment Written by Randy Corman

A statement from the Mayor claims the historic old control tower building, along with two popular airport hangars, were “originally scheduled for demolition in 2015.” This is false.

 

A public statement issued by the Mayor two days ago provided inaccurate information about the buildings occupied by The Landing Gear Works. “The City of Renton is moving through the legal process of eviction of a tenant for a long-standing non-payment of rent. The occupied buildings in question were originally scheduled for demolition in 2015.” 

The statement says “buildings” plural, indicating that the old tower building together with the hangars leased by Landing Gear Works were all scheduled to be torn down in 2015.  Discussion of tearing down the hangars in 2015 is nonsense, as they were in good shape and in high demand. They should only be demolished if better replacements are planned and shovel-ready.

Potential long-term replacement of the old tower building has been discussed notionally for years, and an appropriate advisory statement was added to the lease. But the building was never “scheduled for demolition”, and still isn’t to this day.  The building was designated Aircraft Manufacturing space in the 2017 FAA-approved Renton Airport Layout Plan with no reference to possible removal, and this status was unchanged until 2022.

The lengthy process for demolishing and replacing this building involves an airport layout plan revision, public notification, RAAC review, Council approval, FAA approval, environmental review, Requests for Proposal, bid openings, new building plans,  lease negotiations, and many other steps– a process that generally takes years.   In the nine years elapsed since 2015, the only step taken has been the first one, the 2022 Airport Layout Plan now says the building might possibly be replaced at some future date.

So why does the Mayor’s statement say these building were scheduled for demolition? Unfortunately, this looks like an excuse for the airport neglecting the old tower building since 2015.

According to a 2019 email from Landing Gear Works to the Airport Business Manager, the airport stopped repairing the un-leased sections of this building– the historic tower, hallways, bathrooms, and other public areas– many years ago. (These areas were not leased to The Landing Gear Works.)  One would expect these areas to be professionally cared for by the airport.

It is not okay to stop maintaining a building in Renton just because the owner decides it will be torn down at some future date.  This is unsafe, and contrary to building codes. They city should set a good example, not a bad one.

Renton’s code enforcement division has allowed vacant buildings to become hazards in our city.  For instance, the large seven-story glass office buildings on Park Avenue, that served as Boeing offices until 2021, have become dystopian and deadly, with broken glass, missing fire protection, and reported open elevator shafts. Residents have been pleading for action from Renton code enforcement. City officials say not to worry because the buildings are scheduled for demolition in the future, but the danger is real today.  Will the Landing Gear Works building be next?

Missing doors and broken windows allow thieves to steal metal from fire protection systems in the seven-story office buildings on Park and 6th,  vacated and sold by Boeing in 2021.  Broken glass, fire hazards, and fall hazards put curious youth in peril.

 

Just a few days ago Landing Gear Works  repaired a leaking 2 inch water main in the old tower building. Fortunately, they discovered it quickly, repaired the pipe, and cleaned up the mess. The leak would have flooded the entire building if it had been vacant.

A few days ago Landing Gear Works made an emergency repair on a gushing 2″ water main in their ceiling; if the building had been vacant it would have flooded

 

We need our Public Works office and Code Enforcement to help keep all of Renton’s buildings looking their best, regardless of how many years the buildings have left.   Working with Landing Gear Works on roof repairs would have been the easy, cost-effective approach to protect the airport’s old tower building while they complete the lengthy public process for making eventual improvements.  If they insist on going through with the eviction, they must have a plan to keep the building safe and looking good until final decisions are made about its future.

Below is an email from Tom Anderson, President of Landing Gear Works, in 2019, asking the  the Airport Business Manager to properly maintain the public parts of the old tower building.  Tom eventually did the maintenance himself.

 

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Thomas Anderson <tom@tlgw.aero>
Date: Wed, Dec 4, 2019 at 2:15 PM
Subject: Building issue/Leven Lease
To: Casey Boatman <CBoatman@rentonwa.gov>

Casey,

I hope you had a great week.

As I am sure you are aware that we have been fighting water leaks here ever since we moved in. The airport initially took care of us in 2013-2015. Fixing items as required and maintaining the grass that merged into the public ramp area. In 2016 we finalized and leased the whole building and three hangers in building one. There is also public areas still here that we do not lease, hallways, bathrooms, the tower, etc. We had always complied  with the terms of the lease and made sure minor repairs were done.The airport leased us a supposedly turn key building as so we can make a living and contribute to the community. In 2016 the airport stopped or greatly cut down on the services we had depended on. The roof is in very poor shape and we have attempted under airport guidance to make repairs, bandaids at best. At first the trade off for reasonable lease rates made it possible for us to afford the maintenance. However the Airport and the transportation division of the city has used its advantage to reduce our working area in building 1 and thus we have now used every square inch of 295 prime space. Three times in the last 2 years we had to move everything out of 800 square feet to keep office furniture, office equipment, sensitive records, drawings and such safe from water damage. I am asking for help here as the public areas above the halls are the main area that the airport, in my humble opinion, should be maintaining.

The next question is where are we at with our lease application proposal? We are now more than ever wanting to take over the SW corner and move into a nice useful and mutually beneficial facility. There is an unconfirmed rumor floating around that the Leven Estate will be granted a 10 year extension over the original lease. Is this true? If my opinion is worth a nickel, it should be legally challenged. I am sure there is a way through our legal efforts to make sure businesses like ours are fast tracked into space that is GA community beneficial, safe, dry and spacious. I doubt if the original lease holder is true to the original intention. Bruce died and his estate really does not use the space as was intended. It probably can be shown one or two corporate aircraft and businesses are not related to the ideas of the original lessee.

Let me know as soon as you can what the airport can do for us, possibly a credit for currently condemned space, options for possible partial use of a closed building to the south, building 1 or the old Kaynan main hanger that does not have major leak problems. Any future ideas we may find attractive? I do wish and hope to grace these grounds as TLGW grows in support of Renton and this awesome airport.

Best wishes

Tom

 

Leave a Comment Posted in Airport, History

The Mayor is mistaken; Renton Airport Advisory Committee is not just advisory to council

Apr13
2024 1 Comment Written by Randy Corman

A RAAC meeting was held in 2023, after a one and a half year period of no meetings

 

In a statement yesterday, Mayor Pavone dismissed one of the most important tools we’ve used to maintain a livable city; The Renton Airport Advisory Committee (RAAC).

I’ve written about this committee frequently, providing background here.  In this entry I want to address a comment that shows his fundamental misunderstanding of the role and effectiveness of this committee

The Mayor diminished the effect they’ve had in the past by writing  “RAAC has a limited scope as an advisory committee, and can make suggestions, but are not in charge of setting policy or changing lease agreements. “

The Mayor’s comment is wrong, just as it would be wrong to claim that the Chamber of Commerce is merely advisory to the City Council.  The RAAC is made up of pilots, aviation professionals, and residents, who have authority in their planes and neighborhoods that the Renton City Council does not possess.

To put it succinctly, as soon as a plane is airborne, city council has no more influence over them.  Residents can have some influence, lodging FAA complaints if they feel unduly impacted and they track airplane tail numbers.   This is where RAAC shines.  Pilots, aviation professionals and other airport users work with neighborhood representatives to establish voluntary standards that keep complaints to a minimum.  The FAA has a representative on RAAC that participates, and so does city council. This work is not subordinate to Renton City Council.

When RAAC is working smoothly, it’s an excellent forum for creating operational documents, voluntary noise standards, airport layout plans, lease policies, fuel policies, and other important work.  With such an organization at our disposal, staffed with aviation experts freely giving their time and talent, it’s a terrible waste to not activate them.  There is strong precedent for them setting lease rates and providing other leasing decisions.

Unfortunately, because the Administration appears to think “they have limited scope as an advisory committee,” the RAAC has been effectively grounded most of the past few years.  This has allowed relationships to get more tense at the airport, and noise levels to increase in our neighborhoods.  Soon jets that are three-times noisier than prop planes will start landing regularly for fill-ups, and we will have missed our chance to engage RAAC to mitigate the issues.

All of this because the administration does not understand the RAAC’s capability or role.

READ MORE »

1 Comment Posted in Airport, Representation

The City of Renton does not have to be a victim in airport leasing decisions

Apr13
2024 Leave a Comment Written by Randy Corman

Renton’s Pro-flight hangars are being marketed for jet parking.

 

In a statement yesterday, Renton’s Mayor claimed that there was nothing the city could have done to prevent Proflight from selling their facility for private jet parking. His capitulatory statement almost rolls out the red carpet to jets from Boeing Field.

“One of our long-term existing airport tenants (Pro Flight Aviation) has sold their existing business to a new operator (Dark Horse Aviation). Under the terms of the 35 year lease, the existing tenant has the express right to do this. The only role the city can play is in evaluating the new operator’s financial capacity, experience in running an FBO, or fixed-based operator business, and compliance with Airport Leasing Policy.”….”The new firm is looking to try to service jets shut out of Boeing Field; however, this was going to occur naturally as Boeing Field is taking on greater importance as a cargo hub and site of large business aircraft. “

This position contrasts with many Renton officials of the past, who have worked hard to prevent a Jet Center in Renton.  Mayor Jess Tanner, a former FAA executive living just west of our airport,  become involved in city politics when he was appointed to the city’s aviation board overseeing the Renton airport after his retirement in 1980. He was determined to keep our airport focussed on prop-powered general aviation along with new Boeing takeoffs.

Mayor Tanner appointed an Airport Manager who shared Mayor Tanner’s affection for diverse, accessible general aviation, and understood the airport would thrive if it had both aviation community and Renton community buy-in.  This manager helped draft the Proflight lease in a way that encouraged propeller airplane services, like flight training, aerial photography, rental aircraft, and repairs,  ahead of jet parking.  The lease was negotiated with the owners of Proflight when they sought to build their beautiful new building, and needed a long-term lease.

This effective Airport Manager took another important step, spearheading the city’s work in creating the  Renton Airport Sustainability Management Plan.    This plan, which the FAA helped sponsor with $150,000, could assure we had a sustainable, effective, neighborly airport into the future.  The Renton Airport Advisory Committee (RAAC)– composed of industry representatives, airport tenants, residents, Renton officials, and FAA — worked with a consultant to create and approve this plan.

The Sustainability Management Plan would be an important tool for introducing new tenants and working with them toward a successful future.  But for the plan to work, the Airport Manager has to make it work.  There are daily, monthly, quarterly and annual, and biennial tasks for the Airport Manager in the plan, and few of these were getting done as the airport leadership changed five times in the past five years (with one airport director working remotely from out-of-state).

If the Airport Management sustainability tasks had been getting completed, and the RAAC had been empowered to meet regularly to assist, other attractive uses for Proflight might have been available.  Or Proflight could have received a rent-reduction, in exchange for a lease that further limited future jet activity.  Or when the new lease was signed with Dark Horse, they could have been advised that they would only be allowed to expand in the future under certain conditions, like preserving prop-powered airplane services.  Or new voluntary noise agreements could be reached in exchange for future consideration, or operating hours might have been agreed to. The new tenant could have been informed they had to study the sustainability plan and commit to it, as is expected with other Renton standards and procedures.  I’m sure many other levers for influencing the future were available, but cast aside.  Instead, the Mayor’s statement says there’s no way to influence it.

Below is some of the specific language in the Proflight lease that encouraged a community-focussed facility over jet parking.  With collaboration, this could have been further improved on over the years:

READ MORE »

Leave a Comment Posted in Airport, Representation

Mayor says jets can’t land at night, but city website says Renton Airport is open 24/7

Apr12
2024 5 Comments Written by Randy Corman

An airplane lands at Renton at 10:15 tonight

 

I was surprised to see the Mayor issue a statement tonight defending the Airport Director’s actions at the airport.  In my blog entries on the topic, I had not mentioned the Mayor, but his statement shows that a lack of knowledge of aviation goes all the way up to the Mayor’s office.

I immediately spotted many errors in the Mayor’s statement, and I don’t have time to respond to all of them right now.  I will point out a very obvious one for starters.

The Mayor’s statement includes this question and answer:

2. Will Renton Municipal Airport be opened up to 24/7 jet traffic?

No, any business operations will be subject to the air traffic control tower operation hours – from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM in winter; and 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM during summer.

 

But Renton residents under the flight path need to merely look up at night to see that our airport is open 24/7.  When the tower is closed, pilots self-report their arrivals and departures.

Residents can confirm the airport’s hours on the City of Renton’s own website. Our airport is a 24/7 operation.  Note paragraph 3 below says pilots can not be directed when or where to fly. Here is an excerpt.

Excerpt from Renton Website

 

After working for 33 years in aviation, with 28 years on City Council, I feel like this is a lop-sided debate.

Tomorrow I plan to address problems with the Mayor’s statement regarding the jet center, the RAAC, the lease policies,  the current eviction, and the statement that the old control tower was scheduled for demolition in 2015.

The full Mayor’s statement can be found here.

5 Comments Posted in Airport, Representation

About the author

Hi, I’m Randy Corman. Welcome to my blog!  I served on Renton City Council for 28 years, 1994-2021, with six years as Renton Council President.  I’m also a mechanical engineer and manager, and worked for the Boeing Company for 33 years, from 1984- 2017.  My wife and I have five kids and six grandkids, and we all live in Renton.  I’ve kept this blog for 19 years, and get thousands of readers each month. Please share your feedback, ideas, and opinions in the comments.

Subscribe for updates

Enter your email below to receive notice of new blog entries

Please Comment!

Your comments are very appreciated and they add value to this blog.  You may comment anonymously by leaving your name and email out of the comment form (there is no sign-in required).   Please keep your comments civil and respectful; policy discussions are encouraged but avoid personal attacks.  No threats of violence against anyone, or inciting violence in any form.  No racist, sexist, or hateful comments of any kind. Be truthful. Do not make allegations of criminal, unethical, or other personal wrongdoing that you do not have proof to back up.  Avoid profane, obscene, vulgar, lewd, discriminatory, or sexually-oriented language.  Honest, respectful, good-faith discussion of public officials’ actions and their results are protected speech. Private persons deserve more discretion, so avoid any unfair criticism of them.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Calendar

March 2026
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  

Meta

Back to Top