Seattle Times: “Good Life May Soon be Redefined” — it may even include Renton ;-)

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

Renton gets a friendly mention in Seattle Times Columnist Jerry Large’s story on making economic adjustments in downturn:

Here is an excerpt:

My family is making the kinds of adjustments typical of middle-class Americans. We’re driving less ($55 to fill a tank), buying more frozen vegetables and fewer fresh ones, bringing lunch to work more often.

On Father’s Day, we ate fish and chips at Gene Coulon Park rather than going to a more expensive restaurant.

The park is in Renton, which is determined to become the new Kirkland or Bellevue.

The economy looks bright from Coulon, which is ringed by new condos and apartments. It’s on the edge of The Landing, a huge development still partially under construction.

This area has boomed in recent years, but we are now feeling some of the economic bumps plaguing the rest of the country.

Click here for the whole column.

Renton Police arrest suspect in multiple rapes

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

RENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
MEDIA RELEASE
June 19, 2008
Contact: Penny Bartley
Rape Suspect Arrested Office: (425) 430-7565 Cell: (206) 930-8823

The Renton Police Department has arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for three rapes in the Renton area in the past seven months. The suspect was arrested as a result of evidence collected from an attempted rape that took place just over two weeks ago. The suspect was arrested at his home without incident on Wednesday, June 18th, and the suspect is currently being held at Renton Municipal Jail.

In all of the cases, the female victims were approached by the suspect when they were alone. The suspect was conversational and friendly. In one case the suspect asked for bus directions and in another case asked for a ride. In all of the cases the suspect either showed or implied that he had a weapon. In some cases the suspect used the victims to get money in order to obtain drugs after assaulting them.

All of the rapes have occurred in the area of SW Sunset Boulevard (which is known as Martin Luther King Way beyond the Renton city limits) and Rainier Avenue South. The suspect lived at a nearby apartment complex and the suspect is registered as a Level III sex offender. Renton Police had previously done a community notification meeting and circulated bulletins regarding the suspect.

Police are concerned that there may be additional victims either in Renton, or in the Rainier Valley area where the suspect previously lived. The suspect is described as a light skinned black male, thin build, 5’ 07” with a scruffy, unshaved face. In all of the cases the suspect was wearing some type of covering on his head, either a cap, a sweatshirt hood, or “doo rag” type cloth.

Anyone with information regarding any of the sexual assaults is asked to contact Renton Police at (425) 430-7500.

###

Some candid writing about the night helicopter rides that have generated countless complaints

Written by Randy Corman 14 Comments

Email from our Mayor, our city attorney, our Public Works Director, and our Airport Manager about the recent night-time helicopter operations.

I don’t usually publish emails quite this candid and informal; but this email is already public record, and I wanted citizens to know that City Hall is taking this seriously.

From: “Ryan Zulauf” <rzulauf@ci.renton.wa.us>
Date: June 18, 2008 5:19:46 PM PDT
To: “Law, Denis” <dlaw@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Warren, Larry” <ljwarren@seanet.com>, “Zimmerman, Gregg” <gzimmerman@ci.renton.wa.us>
Cc: “Alexander, April” <analexander@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Briere, Terri” <tbriere@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Corman, Randy” <rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Covington, Jay” <jcovington@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Hahn, Peter” <phahn@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Medzegian, Julia” <jmedzegian@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Palmer, Marcie” <mpalmer@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Parker, King” <kparker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Persson, Don” <dpersson@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Taylor, Greg” <gtaylor@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Zwicker, Rich” <rzwicker@ci.renton.wa.us>
Subject: RE: Helicopter

These items have already been suggested and it is up to Mr. O’Leary to patch this mess up when he meets with the Mayor next week.
Ryan

>>> Gregg Zimmerman 6/18/2008 2:35 PM >>>
Thanks, Ryan. I think we need to try to obtain a statement from AirO regarding their intentions with this new line of business. Was this helicopter ride for the highschool students a one-time event? If they plan to do it next year, will they be willing to work with us regarding hours and routes? Do they intend to change the whole character of their presence at the airport and their impact on neighborhoods by expanding this line of business to other events? This would be good information to know so that we can better establish the approach that we need to take. Please ask Mike for a response to these concerns. This is information that the Mayor will want to know if Mike does give him a call.

Gregg

>>> Ryan Zulauf 6/18/2008 11:47 AM >>>
I spoke to Mr. O’Leary this morning and I suggested that he needs to call you directly and have a conversation about the graduation events.

Ryan

>>> “Larry Warren” <ljwarren@seanet.com> 6/18/2008 10:47 AM >>>

As wrong as it seems, the city’s hands are tied about the noise level, type
of craft and time of operation at the airport. Snohomish County is being
forced to negotiate with a commercial carrier for use of Paine Field for
trips to Las Vegas.
It seems that our best course of conduct is to work with the operator to be
a good neighbor. If there is no cooperation, then maybe the complaints
should be directed to the carrier and maybe to the FAA. Also, I suppose the
city could make a big deal about how its hands are tied and this particular
carrier is taking advantage of the system. Having your name on TV every
Monday night or even the subject of a public hearing might be cause to
decide to be a better neighbor.

—–Original Message—–
From: Denis Law[mailto:DLaw@ci.renton.wa.us]
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 6:31 AM
To: Ryan Zulauf; Larry Warren
Cc: April Alexander; Don Persson; Greg Taylor; Jay Covington; Julia
Medzegian; King Parker; Marcie Palmer; Randy Corman; Rich Zwicker; Terri
Briere
Subject: Helicopter

Larry and Ryan,
Please take a few minutes to examine the details surrounding the helicopter
use this past week at the airport. It seems ridiculous that we have no legal
basis to take action against AirO or others involved in negatively impacting
the community in the early morning hours with a use that only satisfies
their personal gain. While this time it’s for graduation, what prevents this
from becoming a fairly regular event?

I also want us to consider directing complaints to Michael O’Leary, and
anyone else responsible for the activity, unless you feel this is unwise. At
the very least, we may want to work the council to take a closer look at
how we plan to use any extra hangar space that becomes available on the
field, including restricting any additional space for users that will
negatively impact the surrounding neighborhoods. We may want to revisit
costs and funding options of building hangar space that we control and
lease.

Thanks.
Denis

Randy’s hundred-dollar study of Kennydale Creek

Written by Randy Corman 15 Comments

Thank you all for your supportive comments about the Blueberry Haven appeal (see blog from Tuesday below).

In that blog, I mention that I think we need a study to determine conclusively whether Kennydale Creek flows constantly, or is intermittent.

After thinking about it for a couple days, I decided I can do a study for free, or at most one-hundred dollars, depending on the outcome.

Here is my study.

I WILL GIVE $100 CASH TO THE FIRST PERSON THAT CALLS ME IF KENNYDALE CREEK STOPS FLOWING (as long as it has not been artificially damed up).

If it dries up, as has been claimed by some people, give me a call and get $100! My number is 425-271-6913. As an alternative, you can also post to my blog if it dries up, and I’ll drop by, see for myself, and then send you $100. (Be sure you leave me some contact info). This offer will never expire… so keep you eye on the creek this summer, next summer, the summer after that, and the one after that, etc!

For the record, I don’t think I’ll be having to give $100 to anyone.

Why I recused myself from the Blueberry Haven Appeal tonight

Written by Randy Corman 15 Comments

We reviewed three appeals tonight on city council, all of them as “quasi-judicial” land-use hearings. In quasi-judicial cases, council is not allowed to take new testimony, and instead is required to make appeal findings strictly from the public record that is already captured in the project file. In this special situation, the council is not acting as a normal political body, but is instead serving the role of judges or juries (hence, quasi-judicial).

In one of tonight’s three cases, the case of the Blueberry Haven Appeal, the public record contained contested testimony about whether Kennydale Creek in the highlands flows year-round; If it does, then it is not a class 4 “intermittent creek” as the city has officially classified it, and it requires larger land-use buffers than the applicant proposed. The Hearing Examiner has already had a hearing on this decision, and he heard testimony from a representative from the State Department of Fisheries, and from numerous citizens, indicating that this was a year-round creek. But the applicant insisted if flows only intermittently, and can not support life. This is similar to the official city classification that was assigned to the creek a few years.

After 20 years of living in the highlands, I have my own observations about Kennydale Creek. To me, it appears that the creek flows year round, every year. I have never seen it stop flowing in 20 summers.

Since I have made this observation on countless walks through my neighborhood, I could not think of a way to keep from being biased by my own observation that this creek seems to always be flowing.

I have seen attorneys reject potential jury candidates based on the candidate being too intimately familiar with a location or other aspect of a case. I understand judges recuse themselves for a similar reason in some cases. Since this was a legal matter based on the existng record, not a political question, I recused myself instead of arguing my belief that this stream is always flowing.

However, I still think it flows year round.

Council Member Marcie Palmer, a resident of lower Kennydale, recused herself for the same reason (as I understand it).

I should add that I feel that my other five council colleagues (who do not live near this creek) did an honorable job of evaluating the case record, and I don’t blame them for the decision they made.

I might introduce the idea that we have a new study commissioned to once-and-for-all decide if we have an intermittent creek or a year-round creek. It probably won’t affect the subject property, but it could affect others.

Eastside Rail Line

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

The idea of an eastside commuter rail line, which would utilize all or part of the Burlington Northern Rail Line, is getting a lot of traction lately. Puget Sound Regional Council is even setting up a committee to study this project.

Here is a note that city council received on this item:

__________________________________________
You all were copied on a letter from Puget Sound Regional Council to Mayor Law asking for our jurisdiction to appoint a representative to an advisory committee for a study of the feasibility of a commuter rail line on the BNSF Railroad’s Woodinville Subdivision.

PSRC and Sound Transit are establishing an Ad Hoc BNSF Eastside Commuter Rail Feasibility Study Advisory Committee to provide input on policy questions and how local jurisdictions view the potential commuter rail uses of this corridor. The Study Timeframe is quite compressed with the majority of the work occurring in the next 6 months. With that in mind, they are porposing to meet only a couple of times. First in late June to assist with study scope and evaluation criteria and review the compilation of existing studies and later in the fall to review the draft and final study reports.

The first meeting of this Ad Hoc Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning, June 25, from 9 am to 11 am in PSRC’s fifth floor Conference Room. 1011 Western Ave. in Seattle.

Are any of you interested in serving on this?

Julia

Great speech by Hillary Clinton

Written by Randy Corman 28 Comments

Hillary Clinton delivered a fine speech yesterday. Through her strong campaign, she has shown people everywhere that a woman certainly can be president of the United States. Clearly, if Barack Obama had not joined the contest with his message of change (along with his charisma and incredibly organized campaign), Hillary Clinton would have had the Democratic nomination.

And Ms. Clinton certainly brought the necessary commitment to the race to ensure she was never counted out. Her campaign was as historic as Barack Obamas, and will serve to ensure that the next woman who runs for president will never be underestimated by anyone based on her gender. In campaign management terms, Hillary Clinton’s strong performance will help woman get a more level playing field as they raise funds and build early support in seeking future nominations for president.

Along with Barack Obama’s official thanks to Senator Clinton, he has placed a thank you message on on his Myspace page which you can see here .

I love being American, and I’m particularly proud of our nation this year.

More excellent work by our Renton Police officers: Possible tragedy avoided

Written by Randy Corman 2 Comments

Denis Law sent this email to council today:

Our officers are continuing to do great work in the Cascade/Benson neighborhood. A recent traffic stop resulted in the arrest of a suspect wanted on warrants. And the alert action of one of our new officers may have prevented a tragic outcome.

Officer Scott Barfield made a stop on a car on Petrovitsky Road, and while waiting to confirm that the warrants were valid, Officer Steve Rice, who recently left Seattle Police to join RPD, observed the suspect reaching under the front seat. He quickly reached through the window of the car and grabbed the suspect’s hand and removed him from the car. The suspect attempted to flee and was arrested following a struggle with several officers. A 9mm semi-automatic, loaded with 13 rounds, was found under the seat.

The suspect is a known gang member and convicted felon. All of the serial numbers on the gun had been filed off. Slowly, but surely, the bad guys are learning that this community is no longer free of police protection!

Denis

King County budget cuts will hurt ability for Sheriff’s office to fight crime

Written by Randy Corman 17 Comments

If I lived in an urban area outside of city limits, this kind of story would be of significant concern to me. Click here

According to the news report, it’s almost as if the Sheriff’s office is giving up in tracking down some classes of criminals. It sounds like burglars, check forgers, identity thieves, car prowlers, and even cold-case murderers will be getting a free pass if they initially escape the scene of the crime.

I’m happy to report that Renton police will still be going after all these crooks if the crime occurs within city limits.

Just to be clear… Helicopter ordinance is still coming to city council…

Written by Randy Corman 6 Comments

I stated below that Charlie Conner’s temporary helicopter use permit (issued last year) has been overturned by our Hearing Examiner. The permit was tossed mostly on procedural grounds, based on a determination that the administration had erred in allowing a temporary use that was arguably not allowed by ordinance. The fact that city codes do not address helicopter use in residential areas, while allowing them as conditional uses in other zones, is interpreted to prohibit them in residential areas under the current laws.

However, I should have mentioned that a new ordinance allowing limited residential helicopter operation, as a conditional use, is coming to city council in the coming weeks or months. This ordinance would lay out terms for the keeping of helicopters in residentail areas when allowed by FAA. As a practical matter, the new ordianance and current FAA rules would only allow helicopters at a few properties on the lake. And, any personal heliport permits would have to be presented to the Hearing Examiner (the same one mentioned above), who would hear public testimony and could impose additional specific requirements on the use as part of the COnditional Use process.

So, council will weigh in on this, and depending on the outcome, possible turn Mr. Conner’s helicopter permit question BACK to the Hearing Examiner.

Since this is going to council, I wanted to raise a question I’ve been pondering. What are the chances that we are arriving at the future, where personal air travel may in fact become more commonplace? It’s possible that in coming years some of these companies working on new light-weight helicopters, and “flying cars” (lightweight aircraft that don’t require special skills to fly.

If so, do we leave it to the FAA, or do we do we attempt to prepare for the future in today’s city codes…?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Photobucket

Popular Mechanics, 1951

Photobucket

Clearly, the inspiration for the Space Needle

Charlie Conner’s Helicopter Use Permit revoked by Renton Hearing Examiner

Written by Randy Corman 18 Comments


The Hearing examiner has overturned the basis for Charlie Conner’s Temporary Helicopter Use Permit. My understanding is that he will now have to cease helicopter operations (possibly with a ten day grace period… I’m still checking on the process.)

The complete Hearing Examiner’s record is given Here

I read through the decision, and generally agree with much of the reasoning, but there is one point I have a question on. (Please note that this permit was originally issued under the previous administration–which you know my opinion of — and I was never consulted. So I have no strong bias either way on this topic)

I’ll keep that to myself until I check on it, but meanwhile I would be interested on other’s opinions.