Discussion about council appointment process
Fire Department Promotions and Recognitions
Fire Chief David Daniels, with the help of the mayor and city council, awarded several promotions and merit recognitions at our council meeting on Monday night.
Promotions, complete with new badges, were awarded to Craig Soucy, Mike Proulx, John LeCoq, and Mark Peterson. Craig Soucy and John LeCoq also received new hats, as the colors needed to be changed to reflect their new positions.
As is the tradition in the department, wives and family members helped pin the badges on.
Recognition awards were given to Greg Hartman, Chuck Hagood, Judy Hayward, Henry Dyke, Chris Sproat, and Ken Peterson. (See the Renton Reporter story below).
Photographer Gary Palmer provided me with these photos of the event.
Two fires today in Renton Highlands; both from improperly discarded ashes
For Immediate Release Contact: Deputy Chief Mark Peterson
News Release # 1 Phone Number: 206-534-5070
Date: 01/16/2008 Time: 1:48 PM
Structure Fires are a Result of Improperly Discarded Ashes
Renton firefighters responded to two separate structure fires within 24 hours of each other. Each was the result of improperly discarded fireplace ashes.
The first fire, on January 11, 2008 at 1:50 p.m. in the 2800 block of NE 8th Street, displaced two people and resulted in $125,000 in damages. The fire destroyed one unit of a duplex. The cause was determined to be fireplace ashes in a paper bag left in the living room. Renton firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, limiting heat and smoke damage to the one unit.
The second fire in an apartment in the 2600 block of NE 4th Street was reported January 12, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. The occupant of an apartment had cleaned her fireplace and placed the ashes in a plastic bucket on an outside deck. The fire burned the bucket, siding, storage door, and extended into the soffit and roof area. The fire did approximately $10,000 damage. The occupant was not displaced by the fire.
There were no reported injuries in either fire. These two fires are a good reminder to all that ashes may still be smoldering even if you think they are out. When cleaning out your fireplace ashes place them in a metal container and remove them from the structure. Wet them down prior to disposal. Never place a container of ashes on a combustible surface.
After weathering an eight day power-outage last year, my friends installed a fireplace
Some good friends of ours got so cold during last winter’s power outage, that they installed a fireplace in their home this winter. My wife and I offered to help them out with the chimney installation.
Scott is one of my favorite project friends, and we had a nice day to work. But chimney installations have to be taken very seriously, because of the poisonous fumes that must be contained, the heat that must be protected against during normal use, and the extreme heat that can be generated by a chimney fire. For this reason all ducts must be double or triple walled, with adequate clearances, which very at different points in the installation. And the installation must be permitted by the city, and inspected.
Here are some of my pictures:
Knock Knock. It’s your friendly neighborhood census enumerator
Last week I made a few calls to find out more about our upcoming census in the Benson Hill neighborhood. Here’s the latest:
So Saturday afternoon there was a knock at my front door. No one ever just stops by anymore, well unless they think we’re having a yard sale because our front yard is kinda cluttered if we’re say, oh, cleaning out the garage, or just looking hard for something we might have stored in our garage. But our yard was clear and I was the only one home. I figured there was a real reason for this knock.
Sure enough there was my friendly neighborhood census enumerator, wearing her City of Renton badge and kindly asking me if I would be willing to take the annexation census survey. The poor, poor woman! I was headed out to a church meeting, so I was dressed like a normal person, but when I opened my mouth she clearly thought I must be extremely strange.
It’s just a census survey. It’s just our names.
Yep, but I’m still all worried by it.
Today I was talking with my favorite punk-rock-girl-scout teenager about the annexation census. She was of two minds, just like me. (see? I knew I liked this girl) She said that maybe it’s the “stand-up-guy” kind of thing to do, if you’re going to use the fire department and the street sweepers and all the good city services, maybe you owe it to the city to tell them your names and be counted. But she also thought that maybe just opting out wasn’t the worst thing either. Her green hair distracted me a little, did she dye it green because she’s a girl scout? Probably not. But I agree, with both her points.
So, this week I’ll probably send in my census survey on line so that nice woman doesn’t have to come and knock on my door again. I’ll be the stand up guy.
And maybe I’ll even dye my hair green! OK, not. But it would take my mind off this census!
That’s my news from Benson Hills for this week.
Kari Kopnick
West Hill Potential Annexation Area
A few years ago, the Renton City Council held a hearing regarding the West Hill/Skyway area, and the possibility of adding the area to Renton’s Potential Annexation Area (PAA).
Residents in the West Hill area seemed evenly split on the idea, with some wanting annexation to Renton, but many others being very adamantly against it. Some were very clear that they did not want to be part of a city, as the sign below indicates.
As we have gathered more data on the costs of annexation in recent years, it has become increasingly clear to me that Denis Law’s position was the right one for West Hill. We have found that there is no way that the city can annex this area without a major subsidy from all the rest of us in the city of Renton, on the order of many millions or even tens-of-millions of dollars.
With Denis in the Mayor’s office, he will likely get council support if he choses to revisit this issue. While state growth management law does not make it easy for us to remove West Hill from our PAA, it’s possible we could find a way to do it. Even if the area stays in our PAA, Denis has promised voters that he will be slow to annex the area if it costs existing residents too much….and I will support him in this view.
Renton and the West Hill is starting to look like a marriage which will never make it to the alter. I would encourage the residents of this area to put thought into where they really want to end up, and let the governments of King County, Seattle, Tukwila, and Renton know their preferences.
This area has some pretty dramatic public infrastructure needs, as well as a clear need to bring in private investment dollars. Here are a few more pictures, along with the shot of the dilapidated building with the No On Annexation Sign…that pretty much says it all.
The “No Annexation” sign says it all. While it was put up by West Hill residents, it could have just as easily been installed by Renton officials
Bellevue council member/former mayor Connie Marshall resigns
I was surprised to read this news in today’s Seattle Times.
I’ve enjoyed working with Connie Marshall in many regional transportation planning efforts. Among her many contributions, she once helped me convince the rest of the I-405 Executive Committee that the I-405/I-167 interchange deserved priority over almost everything else on I-405. She’ll be missed by many.
(Bellevue will now be engaged in filling a council vacancy similarly to Renton)
Here is the story from the Times:
Former Bellevue Mayor Connie Marshall resigned from the City Council Monday night, saying she had “accomplished what I came here to do.”
Marshall said her resignation would take effect after the Jan. 22 council meeting. She did not offer other reasons for her departure but said the city had become the center of culture, medicine and business on the Eastside in her 10 years on the council.
Eleven fine candidates applied for city council vacancy
Here is the list of applicants:
1. Michael J. O’Halloran
2. Aaron Belenky
3. Mark Martinez
4. Rich Zwicker
5. Larry L. Sleeth
6. Raymond A. Giometti
7. Roxanna Johnson
8. Cheryle Haskins
9. Kimberly Unti
10. Ruth Gibbs
11. Elizabeth Stevens
It’s a list of terrific, involved Renton citizens.
Out of consideration to these private citizens, and fairness to the candidate selection process, I would like to ask you to refrain from making personal, specific remarks about these candidates on my blog.
However, if you would like to make comments about the process in general, or if you have questions for me, please feel free to leave your comments.
Council discusses the Council Appointment for the first time this evening
Applications have been arriving this week for the vacant council spot. I only know a few names at this point, as I have made a point of giving this process very little thought, and not asking any questions of our city clerk, prior to seeing all the applications.
Tonight, at 4:30, we will begin reviewing the applications and talking about the process for down-selecting and making our final choice.
The meeting will be televised live on Channel 21, and be available on streaming video at the city’s website, www.rentonwa.gov.
It’s possible we could even make our decision tonight, although it is probably more likely that we will schedule some follow-up interviews. I can’t say for sure, since I am only one of six, and I don’t know how the other five feel about this.
I’ll post again when I have more information.
Randy
Agreement with King County helps Renton with Benson Hill to the tune of 1.7 Million
The King County Council has approved 1.7 million dollars of County funds to help us defray that costs of annexing the Benson Hill neighborhood. This was money we were counting on based on an agreement we had reached with the County last year, and the money is earmarked for new equipment, hiring, and other start-up costs related to Benson hill. So it is not exactly a windfall, but it will certainly help prevent existing Rentonites from having to take a hit in service as a result of the annexation.
Our City’s annexation specialist, Marty Wine, worked very hard to put this agreement in place. She did an outstanding job bringing this funding to us.
Marty Wine
Here is the complete story, covered very well by the Renton Reporter:
Airbus/Alabama teaming up to compete against Boeing/Washington State
The possibility of a US manufacturing plant for Airbus Aircraft has potential implications for our state. As Norm Dicks says, it’s likely the Airbus proposal is “a Hail Mary at best” on the part of Airbus, as it’s hard to imagine such an arrangement coming together and being approved by congress in the desired time frame. Still, Washington lawmakers, Everett and Renton officials, and labor representatives will want to keep an eye on this.
I like Mobile, and they have some wonderful people there. But they seem a bit remote for locating a major airline factory, and they are right on the coast in the heart of hurricane territory.
Randy
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Here is the story:
Saturday, January 12, 2008
By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter
Airbus will play a last-ditch trump card Monday in its bid to beat Boeing for an Air Force refueling tanker contract worth tens of billions of dollars.
Chief Executive Tom Enders plans to announce that if Airbus wins the tanker competition, it also will assemble commercial airplanes in the U.S.
Enders and Alabama politicians are to announce the plan in Mobile, where the tankers would be assembled.
A Must-See video for all Seattle area residents!
This a really entertaining video that Bill Gates put together about his upcoming retirement from Microsoft.
He includes funny performances from many celebrities and politicians like George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Bono, Al Gore, and many others.
The theme is what Bill Gates plans to do after retirement….it’s self-deprecating, very silly in places, and good light-hearted fun.
Enjoy!
Burlington Northern Trestle progress and Rainier Ave Closures
Here is the latest from our city Transporation Department:
January 8 Update:
We just had a meeting with BNSF and its contractor regarding the schedule for Rainier Ave. Closures. The start date is still January 14.
1. The full closures are going to be at night, 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. (first night might be an hour longer; still being discussed) Hardie is the main detour.
2. Partial closures — one lane in each direction — will be added in the eveing, 9 p.m to 11 p.m. except for the first day when the long girders (125 ft.) are installed (we’ll add one, maybe two hours, in the evening — this is still being discussed).
3. The full duration for this work will be until Feb. 8. Hardie Ave. welding will also take longer with some closures.
4. Businesses are being notified; media too; Renton Reporter doing a story; Boeing has been notified.
5. Everyone is being told to check www.rentonwa.gov for the most up to date information.
6. BNSF staff were seen today already beginning to measure and plan for the Houser Way concrete panels (based on city council approval Jan. 7).
BNSF is still pushing hard to have the new track laid and everything ready by the end of February.
Peter
January 7
Dave Barry’s annual recap: Another year down the (airport) toilet
This is a pretty amusing essay that ran last week. I’ve always enjoyed Dave Barry’s sense of humor, and this column seemed particularly funny to me.
Dave Barry’s annual recap: Another year down the (airport) toilet
2008 Council meetings bagan this week, highlighted by swearing-in of new officials.
Gary Palmer captured these great pictures from our first council meeting.
The first picture is the council and new mayor, as we posed for our official photo. The second is a shot of the crowd that was present for the meeting and the ceremony.
There are several dignitaries in the audience, including State Attorney General Rob McKenna (who swore in Denis Law).
I really like these photos. Unfortunately, the council portrait will be out-of-date in a month, when we add our seventh member…so we will have to re-shoot it at that time.
The photos can be enlarged by clicking on them. If you see yourself in the audience, and you are not too shy, let me know in the comment section below!
