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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.
Considering Carmen Rivera’s history of pushing to defund the police department and curtail police ability to pursue law-breakers, and her inability as Public Safety chair to make progress on chronic nuisance properties that threaten our first responders, many Renton community leaders have been wondering why this valuable endorsement was given to her.
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.
I suspect we should chalk this up to Carmen’s sociopathic-like ability to bamboozle people into thinking she’s a decent human being.
But as the facts come out and are given to the Renton Police Guild they should carefully consider if they want to lose the public’s trust over this.
There’s hope. If I remember correctly, the guild pulled Ed Prince’s endorsement because of Carmen’s mother raising a stink about much much less. That whole family….
This endorsement is really hard to understand, given all the facts about CR as Randy has itemized above. Can anyone in the police guild give any explanation of WHY they endorsed her??? Please let us know WHY specifically you endorse her, telling Renton we should vote for her, what exactly does this endorsement mean to the people of Renton? Mary Clymer is so far above the incumbent in character, integrity, personal responsibility, and ability to connect with people. The *only* thing I’ve seen in 4 years is CR will stand up to the mayor. But not enough to make a difference. There hasn’t been any statement made by the Guild saying WHY they made this decision. Did the Guild membership vote on this? Or was it a very small group of the executive team that agreed to this? Can anyone give the public sound reasoning? Did they interview Mary? Is this the familiar trend of endorsing incumbents without properly weighing both candidates? We really need information on this, to reliably trust the police guild’s judgement. Why, why, why???
(Mary Clymer gets my vote regardless of this endorsement.)
As I understand it, people on the executive board based it on the interview. Mary wasn’t invited or didn’t show, and some on the board had no idea Carmen is that crazy.
I’d contact every office your know and let them know they need to fix this.
Our Renton Police shouldn’t be elevating domestic violence abusers.
Christopher Edwards of the Guild is a good place to start.
Cedwards@Rentonwa.gov
You’ve got to be kidding me, the police defunder got the police endorsement?
Today is a day of joy, of hope, and of courage. We celebrate not just an endorsement, but a breakthrough!
Today, the Renton Police have shown they understand something powerful: that real safety is about healing.
Defunding the police was never the end and it is only the beginning. The true path to safety is not cages, not jails, not systems that perpetuate harm. The true path is freedom, compassion, and investment in our people.
Together, with courage and clarity, we are building a Renton where we no longer lock away our neighbors, but lift them up. A future where we replace jails with schools, prisons with opportunity, punishment with care.
This endorsement proves that even institutions built on enforcement can grow, can listen, and can stand with the people for transformation.
So let us celebrate this victory! Let us also know that the work ahead is bigger. And we will meet it with joy, with love, and with unshakable belief that a world without cages is not only possible… it is fun!
Thank you, Renton. Thank you for believing. Thank you for standing on the right side of history
The Renton Police Guild’s Endorsement of Carmen Rivera is a Dangerous Mistake
The Renton Police Guild’s decision to endorse Councilmember Carmen Rivera isn’t a show of strength. It’s not strategy. It’s a mistake — one that undermines the very officers the Guild represents and betrays the community that has stood by them.
Carmen Rivera has spent years making police work harder and neighborhoods less safe. She has advocated for defunding and abolishing police departments. She has supported laws that ban traffic stops, restrict pursuits, and decriminalize open drug use. She has been one of the loudest voices tying officers’ hands — the same hands the Guild claims are “too tied” to protect the community.
This endorsement doesn’t reflect Rivera’s leadership. It highlights the Guild’s failure of judgment.
And judgment matters, because Rivera’s track record isn’t just about policy. It’s about behavior. A troubling pattern of harassment and intimidation runs through her public life:
She promoted and participated in “defund the police” rallies at City Hall, publicly grouping Renton officers with the Minneapolis officers who murdered George Floyd.
She smeared the Renton Police Chief online for not answering a weekend email, when she herself failed to follow protocol and call 911 to report a threat and put residents and children at risk. She never took accountability. She never apologized.
Officers have had to physically step in multiple times during council meetings when Rivera aggressively confronted constituents.
Community organizations like BeautyBoiz and Seattle Pride have gone on record documenting her hostile, bullying conduct. Axios Seattle recently published multiple accounts of Rivera berating and intimidating colleagues and community members. Officers and City staff have been utilized as “body guards” to attend council meetings and escort a colleague councilmember who was threatened and intimidated by her during the course of service the City.
Public records confirm she was arrested and charged in 2016 for domestic violence malicious mischief — another flashpoint in a consistent pattern of aggression.
Former colleagues have spoken or about her damaging behavior to staff, associates and clients during the times she now brags as “social service”. From those who worked along side her, additional reports of allegations, harassment and even complaints filed reflect a toxic environment consistent with reports.
This is not who the Renton Police Guild should be lifting up as a champion. And the public knows it.
Most residents don’t distinguish between the Police Guild and the Police Department. They see one badge, one uniform, one voice. And when that voice endorses a candidate who has vilified officers and bullied neighbors, it damages trust not just in the Guild, but in every officer who wears that badge.
The truth is simple: this endorsement does not make Carmen Rivera look strong. It makes the Guild look weak. It makes them look disconnected from the community, dismissive of their own officers’ challenges, and careless with the trust that officers have worked so hard to build.
Renton residents have defended our police time and again, even when Rivera sought to tear them down. This endorsement insults that loyalty. And it will cost far more in lost trust than any political endorsement could ever be worth.
The Guild must remember: public safety is not strengthened by aligning with those who weaken it. This endorsement is not just wrong — it’s dangerous.
This decision comes just weeks after the City Council voted on whether to countersue the police in an ongoing dispute. Councilmember Rivera voted against moving forward with a countersuit. The timing couldn’t be more convenient.
Yes, I think the countersuit was a mistake, and the city should not even be in a dispute with the Guild over the medical surplus. The Guild’s proposed use of the surplus for employee medical savings accounts would have been okay by me, and I was on Council when the original union/management partnership agreement was established that created the surplus.
The Police Guild and City Council should be working closely together as partners, since there is a lot of work to do and the Council has been spending a lot of money on things like $40,000 signing bonuses to get more great officers. The City should settle this issue collaboratively.
But if the Police Guild thinks Councilmember Rivera is somehow going to improve their partnership with the city in the long term, or lead the City toward better Police-Council relations, they are going to be extremely disappointed. They should read the Axios or Daily Mail accounts of so many other former allies of Councilmember Rivera, that were discarded and abused after she got what she wanted from them.
Councilmember Rivera spotted a potential wedge issue, and then instead of solving it, she exploited it in a way that served only herself. When the City Council launched the countersuit, no members of the public could tell who was being sued. There was no information given to the public, even though these actions are required to occur in open public meetings. Councilmember Rivera could have easily stopped the countersuit by announcing to the public what was happening, and moving to table the issue for a week or two for public comment. Only four Council Members voted for the suit, and CM Rivera needed to win over just one of them… a simple task that just requires basic debate and getting some public input. But she didn’t tell the public anything, because she does not really support the police and only wanted to utilize the police to try to win this election.
Mary Clymer is the candidate that could permanently fix this relationship. She works collaboratively, and knows how to build bridges–not destroy them. Our police officers were happy when her grandfather was Mayor, and the relationship between the Police Guild and Council was excellent. It was easy to acquire excellent officers back then. The Renton Police were also ahead-of-the-curve in being very community focussed, and like today, highly respected by Renton’s residents.
Why did we all email our Reps in Olympia to fix the police chase law? Carmen Rivera sure didn’t want to fix it.
How is this endorsement at all stunning?
Council member Rivera is an incumbent serving as Chair of the Safety Committee.
Crime in Renton is trending dramatically down from the wave during COVID.
Renton Police staffing is nearly at planned levels, unlike most municipalities in the country.
She led her opponents in the primary by 20%.
She has a long laundry list of organization and elected leader endorsements already.
I’m not stunned, but a bit surprised, MS Clymer whose policy positions on public safety are hard to find couldn’t find a way to get the Guild’s endorsement. Commenters here seem to believe there’s a very strong case she should have received the Guild’s endorsement.
Having decided not to endorse MS Klymer the Guild could have also decided not to endorse any candidate in the race.
Nevertheless, Council member Rivera sought the endorsement and with years of experience collaborating up close and personal with her, the Guild made a judgement.
Crime is coming down from the 3-year spike caused by the (now-rescinded) police non-pursuit law, the deadly law that Carmen Rivera vigorously promoted while the rest of the Council wisely lobbied against it. The law caused a horrible increase in fatal auto accidents as reckless drivers had their way on open streets and highways, aware they could not be chased by police– with the support of Councilmember Carmen Rivera. For those of us who know people who died in this carnage, it’s not just numbers.
And our homicide numbers are still high, having climbed back up to levels not seen since the late 1980s and start of the 1990s, before we finally got them reversed. We’re seeing about 5-8 murders per year, after a decade and a half of typically seeing one or two homicides per year, and some great years with none at all. There was just a heartbreaking triple-murder in my Renton neighborhood last month, a few blocks from my home, in which a child was killed along with two adults. All over town there are merchants not reporting burglaries because of fear of losing their insurance– and shoplifting is virtually not reported at all anymore. There’s nothing in these statistics which should leave the public or the police thinking that Councilmember Rivera has had a positive effect on crime in her four years on Council.
Yes, Renton has finally succeeded in adding the officers we budgeted for four years ago (by offering $40,000 hiring bonuses), but with the crime rates and the call volume we are dealing with we should have added an additional 15 or more by now.
Whats the crime trending in comparison to 2018/2019?
PD and Rivera seem elated crime is “trending down” compared to an all out spiked high after covid. I would like to know how its trending in comparison to a bar & standard that never should have existed to begin with.
“The Renton Police Department wants you to know what is happening in your neighborhood. The Crime Statistics page provides crime statistics for the City of Renton, and the Mapping page tracks and displays police reports by location and time frame.”
https://www.rentonwa.gov/City-Services/Public-Safety-Services/Crime-Statistics-and-Mapping
Again, I would like to see the statistics and trends since pre-covid. This link only reports from 2021 – when our bottom dropped out from below us and we saw crime environments not seen before.
Unless I am missing something on the link provided.
Thanks Anonymous for your comments, and for asking about long-term crime trends. I’ve just posted a blog on this topic which will hopefully provide you the data you are looking for.
Thank you for standing up for Carmen! It’s really not stunning at all when you look at the facts: Rivera has chaired the Safety Committee for years and is doing a great job. It it wasn’t for her, the Park and 6th wouldn’t even have fencing. She did that herself.
Defunding the police isn’t about chaos, it’s about love. We can have safe neighborhoods and restorative justice.
The Guild has worked directly with her and her beautiful idea: fewer people trapped in the cycle of incarceration.
That’s why this endorsement makes sense. It shows even those inside the system recognize that their “heroic” jobs are ultimately not needed.
Thank-you for the acknowledgement, but it is not my intent to defend Councilmember Rivera. That said, since I became aware and attentive to Randy’s blog here I have commented on posts which appear to be primarily focused upon attacking her. There are a lot. The comment section of those posts are mostly attacks on her. People have opinions and an unambiguous right to express them.
“Many Renton election watchers stunned by Renton Police Guild endorsement” is an opinion put forward without any evidence of fact. Regrettably, the sentence takes a structure we’ve heard quite a bit Many people are saying….
Politics ain’t beanbag, and Councilmember Rivera should expect criticism for public and personal actions. But Renton election watchers should be less stunned Councilmember Rivera got the politically valuable endorsement of the Police Guild, and maybe more stunned her opponent couldn’t, if the often repeated and amplified criticisms have meaningful validity.
If Elon Musk was suddenly endorsed by a federal workers union, many people would be stunned. Even someone supporting DOGE would be stunned. That is how the Police Guild endorsement looks to many of us that are familiar with Carmen Rivera’s lectures and writings on abolishing the police.
I would love to be in a world where opportunistic unscrupulous people never preyed on vulnerable people. If we lived in that world, I would share Council Member Rivera’s desire to abolish the police. But until we achieve that utopia, we need an effective well-staffed police force, that can be at our homes in less than two minutes if necessary, and is accountable to the public. With all her preaching on abolishing police, I don’t know why the police officers believe Councilmember Rivera is suddenly committed to fully supporting them.
(Lest anyone think me overly harsh, I’ve always supported teaching officers how to deescalate confrontations and succeed at collaborative community policing. I helped equip our officers with non-lethal weapons, warned our Chief never to deploy tear gas or riot gear, and I helped build improved training facilities for our officers. And I support second-chances for people who get caught up in bad circumstances and are redeemable. These were some of my guiding principles while I worked city policy for nearly 30 years.)
>> the Park and 6th wouldn’t even have fencing.
You do realize you’re full of it. It being s#!t.
You’re trying to press a tough case, flower_tierra. Here are photos from before and after Councilmember Rivera was elected and took over the Public Safety leadership position.
Real police arrest DV abusers and don’t endorse them.