A scene playing out many times per day: a stolen Hyundai is recovered in Renton Highlands with body damage, wrecked ignition, broken glass and crime-related tools and debris inside.

Renton Police have released their March crime report, and auto thefts have jumped to a staggering new high.  147 cars were stolen in March in Renton, about five per day.  Each one is another sad story that brings misery and often financial hardship to it’s heartbroken owner.  People are having a hard time getting wrecked cars repaired with auto shops all working at max capacity and parts on backorder. Motorists are even having difficulties getting rental cars right now, and  the extra demand from car theft victims is a factor.

Renton Police and most Renton elected officials have been asking the state to restore some authority for pursuing car thieves.  The state legislature appears to be moving forward with a small improvement to the police pursuit law, but the revisions will still not allow police to pursue stolen vehicles unless the police have evidence of certain violent crimes related to the car’s occupants.  Stolen vehicles continue to be a primary tool for conducting property crime since they can’t be chased, making them just the ticket for any thief to make a clean getaway.

The report shows other types of theft dropping, but unfortunately much of this is likely a result of people giving up on reporting.  For instance, the vast majority of shoplifting cases are now going unreported.  Shoplifting used to account for a large percentage of theft cases.  Car thefts reports are among the most reliable. When a car gets stolen, the owner needs a police report to collect insurance and clear themselves of liability, so car thefts get reported.  But when a lawnmower, power saw, or kids bicycle gets stolen, and they cost less than the deductible on an insurance policy, many increasingly-disheartened residents think reporting the loss is no longer worth their time.

A police forensic specialist dusts for prints and gathers other evidence from a stolen car, but the odds are low that the thief will be found after the car has been abandoned.

Southport’s office plaza, complete with dragon to welcome Wizards of the Coast

Two months ago I wrote about an exuberant discussion with Michael Christ,  the visionary developer of Renton’s Southport, as Renton was finally going to extend Park Avenue from the Landing to his office towers.  This project took longer than it should have because of complex railroad negotiations and other issues. The delay in extending Park Avenue slowed the leasing of Southport’s beautiful Class A office towers. The pandemic and work-from-home trend added further delays.  Mr. Christ and I reminisced about how his project had sprung from planning work Renton started in the 1990s, in my early days on Renton Council, when our legendary Economic Development Director Sue Carlson set about diversifying our economic base for the future.  Mr. Christ had embraced Ms. Carlson’s ideas and ran with them, and his results three decades later are stunning.  My February 9 blog entry includes much more detail, and I hope you’ll find time to take a look at it here.

Upon news that lenders are pressing him to sell some of the property, I phoned him yesterday to remind him how much his visionary work meant to the City during my 28 years on Renton City Council, and to me as a resident of Renton enjoying his facilities. His hotel (that he personally helped design) is the first choice for many of my visiting friends and relatives, and his Dock and Brew, with it’s live music and summertime lakeside sunsets, is unmatched anywhere in the area. Southport hosts numerous weddings (sometimes several at a time), conventions, and other wonderful events, and his restaurants are among Renton’s finest. My sons hope to eventually work out of his inviting offices, and not have to commute to Seattle. He’s made an incredible, indelible mark on our city. Bringing Wizards of the Coast to the office complex was a perfect fit.

Negotiations are in the hands of lawyers so Mr. Christ and I didn’t discuss those details.  But I valued the opportunity to remind him how so many of us in Renton appreciate him.  My personal hope is that the lenders and any additional stakeholders will be smart enough to realize that no one–absolutely no one– could do a better job managing or growing Southport than Mr. Christ.  He is the person that could best market the office space, and he’s the one who knows what Renton residents will seek in future amenities. His vision was perfect, but the unforeseeable timing issues were cruel. Mr. Christ and his wife have been the talent that has made Southport possible, and I hope they maintain a lead role in its future.

Former Renton Council Member Marcie Palmer with Southport’s Michael Christ in one of Southport’s office towers, at the 2019 Chamber of Commerce Holiday Gala. (Photo credit Marcie/Gary Palmer)

Council Policy 800-09 was written and adopted by Council

In my previous entry I discussed an incident in which a Council Member emailed the Police Chief at 1:00 AM instead of phoning 911, and then publicly complained about the Chief’s half-day response time, wrongly implying the lack of immediate response to the email was somehow intentional and that it put people in danger.  (Any danger was actually due to not phoning 911.)  This blog describes a council policy that was violated by this Council Member’s action. Running a city is serious business, with 110,000 Renton lives in the hands of the elected leaders and the people working for them.  City employees including Council Members need to make an effort to follow the policies that are put in place to guide them.

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