Renton airport in summer 1966. The Boeing Everett factory opened the following year.
This colorful picture of Boeing’s 727 flight line in the summer of 1966 has been shared at least a couple times on Reddit. The original poster three years ago also provided information on how long each of these individual airplanes performed in service. Several of them were flying until at least 2005, and one flying until 2014.
When I joined Boeing in summer of 1984 the company was still making 727 airplanes, but the last one was delivered to Federal Express a few months after I started work. Most customers looking for single-aisle airliners switched to ordering 757-200 airplanes (certified December 1982) and 737-300 airplanes (certified November 1984).
This photo serves as another reminder of Renton’s proud history in aircraft production. Renton is the birthplace of commercial jet aviation, and Boeing has played a major role in our city’s success for over 80 years. Renton should strive to keep Boeing building airplanes here for decades to come.
I’ve written more about Boeing’s significant contributions to Renton’s economy in a previous blog entry here.
The detailed information for these airplanes is below the break.
KOMO news photo of the property that was the subject of many complaints, before dogs from the property maimed a jogger
King County has agreed to pay a severely-injured woman $21,000,000 in a negligence settlement for failing to act on complaints about squatters with dangerous dogs. There is an important lesson here for all municipalities to act on complaints, and not sweep resident concerns under the rug.
Renton auto theft rates have become much worse over time, spiking during the (now-rescinded) police pursuit restrictionsUS auto theft rates have trended down since 1990
A commenter on my previous blog entry requested long-term crime statistics for Renton, and I’m providing the information here. The data was originally gathered by Renton Police Department, and then submitted to and maintained by the FBI. The FBI Crime Data Explorer, where I acquired this data, can be found here. The reporting systems aren’t perfect, but to my knowledge this is the best data we’re going to find for this time period. (Renton provides five-year crime statistics on the City’s website, as I’ve previously discussed here, but does not supply statistics going back further.)
I’ve chosen to show homicide rates and auto thefts as representative samples on this post because these crimes have a high likelihood of having been consistently reported through the years, and they can help determine meaningful trends.
Unfortunately many serious crimes go unreported. For example, it’s estimated that as many as 75 % or more of rapes go unreported, so an increase in reported rapes from one year to the next might represent an increase in reporting versus an increase in the crime. Many assaults and domestic violence crimes also go unreported. But homicides have usually been reported through the years.
Similarly, shoplifting, petty theft and even burglaries have increasingly gone unreported in our state, but auto theft is usually reported due to insurance and licensing implications. Auto theft is is also correlated to increases in other crimes, as autos are frequently stolen to facilitate both property crimes and violent crimes.
Lasty, I’ve included statistics on highway fatalities, since about half of fatal accidents are related to criminal driving offenses like DUI and reckless driving, and car crashes have a devastating impact on many people’s lives. For every fatality, there are about three serious maimings that impact victims’ long-term quality of life. Much routine patrol work in our city and state is dedicated to reducing these crashes by pulling-over errant and criminally-reckless drivers.
In summary, while local crime trends have somewhat improved in the last year, Renton and Washington crime numbers are near all-time highs, and have not kept pace with the reductions in crime across the US overall.
The following three charts are homicide statistics for Renton, State of Washington, and US from 1986-2024:
Renton homicides from 1986-2024Washington state homicides from 1986-2024US homicides 1986-2024
The following three charts are automobile theft statistics for Renton, State of Washington, and US from 1986-2024:
Renton auto thefts from 1986-2024State of Washington auto thefts from 1986-2024
US auto thefts from 1986-2024
The following two charts are auto fatalities trends in Washington State and US:
Washington State Traffic Fatalities; increased 50% from 2019 to peak in 2023. Source LinkUS Traffic Fatalities; increased 18 % from 2019 to peak in 2021; Source link
This photo (taken two days ago) shows the continuing deterioration of the deathtrap Park Avenue office buildings through a gap in the unmaintained security fence. Councilmember Rivera, chair of Renton’s Public Safety Committee, has repeatedly promised the public that the City has reached agreement with property owners to secure this site. The lack of follow-through puts the public and first responders in danger.
In a move that looks a bit like Superman endorsing Lex Luthor for City Council, the Renton Police Guild leadership shocked many local election watchers by endorsing Councilmember Carmen Rivera’s reelection bid against challenger Mary Clymer.
Recent publications have shown that Councilmember Rivera also has serious anger-management issues that she won’t acknowledge or own up to. She has left a trail of grieving victims of her bullying, many of them former allies that once trusted her. She’s been arrested for domestic violence in the past, and caused at least one current council member to request legal protection from her.
In contrast to Councilmember Rivera’s record, challenger Mary Clymer has a long history of supporting Renton city employees and the community. Ms. Clymer has a commitment to safety that she learned from her grandfather Earl Clymer, a two-term mayor of Renton who helped reverse rising crime rates in the early 1990’s. And rather than let derelict buildings become blight, Ms. Clymer has been beautifying our older buildings through her dedication to public arts, often helping organize community murals and other beatifications– even wielding the paintbrushes herself.
I respectfully encourage the Guild to reevaluate this endorsement. I would have expected this endorsement to go to the deserving Mary Clymer, who will make an extraordinary Renton City Council Member.
Renton’s well-equipped police station can trace its roots to a study that Mayor Earl Clymer commissioned in 1994. This study recommended a larger police station, which ultimately was the impetus to move Renton City Hall (including the police station) to its current larger location.
This 2010 Public Service Announcement law ensures public officials running for election don’t get unfair benefit from publicly-owned communication channels. This law was recodified in a new chapter starting next year, but the basic law will remain the same. (See new version at the end of this article).
A Councilmember acquiring a municipal leadership certificate by attending Association of Washington Cities training and workshops is not exactly breaking news. Outside of a handful of Renton City Hall insiders, few people could typically tell you which Council Members have this certificate. In recent years Renton has sometimes announced the awarding of these certificates, largely to make the public aware of how Association of Washington Cities (AWC) programs positively contribute to the City of Renton education and functioning. Renton pays dues to AWC for these services.
However, per RCW 42.17A.575, cities must be very careful not to include public officials running for election in Public Service Announcements, to avoid using public facilities to help a candidate. Ironically, the prohibitions about using city resources to campaign is one of the many topics on ethics that Councilmembers might typically learn in AWC training.
The law says “No state elected official or municipal officer may speak or appear in a public service announcement that is broadcast, shown, or distributed in any form whatsoever during the period January 1 and continuing through the general election if that official or officer is a candidate.”
So Renton should be careful about timing announcements about candidates so as not to prop up campaigns with public dollars.
This week’s City announcements were the most unfair timing possible. In the hard-fought race for Renton City Council Position 2, the third-place finisher Raman Mann (who got nearly a quarter of the primary votes) just TODAY endorsed second-place finisher Mary Clymer. Ms. Clymer now has a strong chance to unseat the incumbent Carmen Rivera, who is so mired in controversy that the British “Daily Mail” just reported on her campaign troubles to its tens of millions of readers.
The same day Raman Mann’s campaign made his endorsement of Mary Clymer, the City of Renton was flooding social media sites, the City’s email list, and the City’s website with flattering stories about Councilmember Rivera’s AWC certificate.
The City’s website article is quite lengthy, and includes so many testimonials by and about Councilmember Rivera that it reads precisely like a voter-pamphlet submittal: “Renton raised me, and I’m honored to give back through public service…(more content)….the training strengthens the work I do every day fighting for equity, transparency, and practical solutions that serve our entire community…(more content)…Born and raised in Renton, Councilmember Rivera resides in the Tiffany Park area with her spouse.”
This statement appears to be exactly the kind of city-sponsored support piece that the state legislature determined should NOT be paid for with taxpayer dollars in an election year, let alone in the critical weeks between a primary and what is sure to be a close general election.
I’ve included samples of the City Facebook post, the City Bulletin (which is distributed to a mailing list), and the City Website that were all just published promoting the incumbent, the same day that the challengers were combining their campaign teams to make a winning run in the general election. The Renton City YouTube Channel also features a council meeting presentation of the award. Taxpayers pay for the staff time to film, write, edit, prepare, and upload all of these statements.
An agenda bill at Monday’s Council Meeting announced that Renton taxpayers will have to pay even more money for having hosted a King County Shelter in our former Red Lion Hotel.
Renton’s former Red Lion Hotel and Convention Center, once a vital anchor of our Renton Village Shopping Center before it got destroyed during use as a pandemic-era shelter, continues to cost Renton taxpayers money. As of this week the hotel will cost Renton taxpayers another $600,000, and will cost Renton’s insurance carrier another $900,000, for a total of $1.5 million. The money settles a lawsuit that the hotel owners filed against Renton asserting that Renton’s 2020 zoning changes, which restricted the size of homeless shelters, lessened their opportunities and profits on the property.
While I have not been party to the legal negotiations and won’t comment to the validity of any of their specific claims, I will point out that the public record shows they purchased the hotel for about $8.8 million, and sold it to King County less than ten years later for $36.2 million. This represents more than 400 % return, or about 40% per year on their investment. They also reportedly rented the property to King County for $330,000 per month for several years, for an additional payoff of somewhere between 6-10 million dollars.
The aftermath of Friday’s demolitionThe restaurant on 423 Airport Way as it looked a month before demolition. It had been in Renton School District possession for many months. The District paid six million dollars for it right before it was scheduled to open as a freshly-remodeled Asian restaurant.
Many Renton residents on social media yesterday were asking about the restaurant getting demolished on Airport Way. This is just the latest in a string of demolition projects– up to as many as 32 homes and 8 businesses– to make way for expanded athletic fields at Renton High School.
Even though the demolition is happening today, the replacement ballfields won’t be open for use for about five more years (the school has four other ballfields onsite they are using now). In addition to the heavy human toll of destroying homes and businesses, the high prices of these downtown Renton properties likely makes this the most expensive high school baseball field in our nation’s history. I covered the controversial timing of these demolition projects more extensively in a previous blog entry here and in another entry here.
I fondly remember dining on this once-inviting dining patio with Boeing colleagues in the summertime. The patio and building became neglected under Renton School District ownership
Like many long-time Renton residents, I have warm memories of this restaurant at 423 Airport Way. I first knew it as Schumsky’s All City Diner, a popular choice for those of us working in nearby Boeing Renton facilities. In addition to satisfying and fast lunch service, the All City Diner offered us a large bright upstairs banquet facility that we used for retirements and other celebrations. And during summer days we enjoyed dining on their outdoor patio. This was one of five restaurants owned by well-known Renton restaurateur and active community leader Don Schumsky.
Around 2006 the restaurant switched from a diner to a sports bar format, and was known first as Home Run, and then later as Touchdowns. I was working at Boeing Field at that time, so I visited less, but I heard it remained popular with Boeing employees.
Most recently the restaurant was purchased by partners that were preparing to run it as an Asian restaurant called Kirin. The new owners had completed years of expensive remodeling and upgrades on the building to get it ready, and were just weeks away from opening. As they made final preparations for opening day, the School District lawyers informed the owners the property would be purchased under threat of eminent domain.
The School District paid the owners six million dollars for the property. They then neglected the building for months as they prepared to demolish the neighborhood.
