My words from yesterday seem prophetic today: “… it’s been said that the people most-likely to accuse others of stealing signs are the ones doing it themselves. People should consider this before baselessly accusing others.”

Randy Corman

Now take a look at this…..
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From Kevin Poole’s blog at rentonfacts.blogspot.com:

Cheryl Haskins’ Supporter May Be the Real Sign-Stealer

Just when I thought things had calmed down, I received this email:

Date: November 1, 2007 5:52:47 PM PDT
To: info@rentonfacts.com
Subject: Haskin’s signs

Hello Kevin,

I spoke with Cara Soloman [of the Seattle Times] this afternoon after reading her article to get your web address. I wanted to share something with you.

On Monday as I was driving home from work, I observed a woman removing what I thought to be Haskins campaign signs from the south entrance to Gene Coulon Park. It angered me that someone would stoop that low.

I looked up her website, knowing nothing about the candidate and called them and let them know. My feelings were whatever side of the political spectrum they were on, this was just wrong. My mistake. I gave them the physical description of the woman and her license plate number and description of her SUV.

I grew up in Renton and work there, but live in Seattle about 1000 feet outside the city of Renton’s line – I say this to cover myself because I wasn’t paying attention to the campaign as it’s out of my area.

When I got home tonight I had a voicemail from Det. Barfeild (sp? – I have his tel. #) ) from the Renton Police Department. I returned his call and he asked me if I had seen this woman actually pull the signs out of the ground. I told him no, but I had seen her walking from the area where pol’s signs were clustered and she threw the sign in the back of her SUV. The officer told me that he had checked out the address of the licenses plate holder and that they had Haskins signs in their yard, so he assumed they were supporters simply maintaining her signs. I now realize that this supporter wasn’t pulling Haskins signs, but yours – they are very close in color and design.

I had not researched Haskins and had no idea of her positions or funding till after I had done this. In hindsight it was a bad move.

I’m a 45 year old gay man and will have been with my partner for 21 years come March. We registered as domestic partners last month. Needless to say I regret my action – but it wasn’t in my area and I wasn’t paying attention [to Renton politics].

My question to you now is, how can I help you? I need to make amends –

Thanks for reading

Brad Crane

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Talk about irony! Imagine, Cheryl Haskins filed a report with the police, and now probably knows that one of her own supporters was actually stealing one of my signs!

Obviously, Brad has nothing to be ashamed of, as he was just trying to do the right thing by reporting the incident. Brad has agreed to go public with the story, and I commend him for his bravery, especially since he has seen how the Haskins campaign has tried to intimidate me over the past couple of days.

I also have the email Brad originally sent to the Haskins campaign with the SUV’s license plate number and the description of the woman, but I’m choosing not to publicize it. It will be interesting to see how the media and the Haskins campaign respond to this bombshell.

More irony: on Cheryl Haskins’s campaign website, she makes a big deal about the police report that was filed, along with the “perpetrator’s” license plate. Hee hee. She also goes on to describe the complain to the PDC against me, which will apparently not be investigated further.

Cheryl Haskins’ October Surprise has now become a November Surprise.

Click here to see Kevin Poole’s statement on his own blog

A recent commenter called me on  my quip about “major league sports teams our citizens don’t want.”  And he/she was right, there are some citizens who wanted this.  It was an exciting proposal in some ways, and I don’t blame the commenter or anyone for wanting to have local access to events.  I should have said “that a majority of citizens don’t seem to want. ” The majority that I heard from seemed to have serious concerns about getting home during game days, and other issues.  I personally liked the idea of having an arena for concerts and events, but became concerned about how much it would cost our city to maintain it and police it over the next two-decades.  Virtually all of the taxes from the arena were slated to go back into the state financing for it, which would make it a financial liability for Renton (unless it got more private funding).

Here is some of the citizen feedback I received about the Sonics Arena proposal.  Click HERE  Other input came in though email, which can be viewed at city hall.

Update:  There are so many comments on this blog *yay* that system is hiding some of the older ones unless you click on them.  (Click the blue name of the subject, or the words no-subject   to see the comment)

Interesting recent opinions about crime on this blog entry . Click here to see all the comments.  And please feel free to add your own!

It sounds like we may be hearing directly from one or more of our police officers in the comments on an earlier, related blog. Be sure you see for yourself what people are saying about the letter from our police officers and fire fighters if you have not seen it already.

From today’s Seattle Times. My only comment is that anyone could have downloaded Kevin Poole’s graphics, and pasted them on Cheryl Haskins yard signs. And anyone could have stolen her yard signs, or they could have blown down, or been ravaged by brush-cutting equipment. Everybody loses yard signs. Cheryl Haskins should not have accused Kevin Poole of stealing her signs, especially to a newspaper with millions of readers, without evidence. Mr. Poole’s method of getting the word out appears to be through his website and his own signs, not through law-breaking.

I don’t think Cheryl is taking down other’s yard signs either. But it’s been said that the people most-likely to accuse others of stealing signs are the ones doing it themselves. People should consider this before baselessly accusing others.

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Here is interesting news from the Board of Directors of our health plan; this board, established under Mayor Tanner, is comprised of representatives from our major three unions, and our City’s chief executive officer (who sent this email in response to campaign news about domestic partners) Continue reading →

Here is an article on the topic from today’s Seattle Times:

Former 787 chief says Boeing rethinking its global manufacturing approach

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I hope our regional law-makers look at some of these options before removing the entire eastside rail line.
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This was posted on Kevin Poole’s website. It’s his response to the latest editorial and letters in the Renton Reporter.
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I really enjoy the hometown greeting as I arrive back in Renton from my job near King County Airport (Boeing Field). Lately, more often than not I’ve spotted sign wavers at one or more of the intersections on my way through town.

 

To all of you who care so much for your city that you are out there smiling at motorists, and sharing your choice for mayor or councilmember, I commend you. Your enthusiasm and dedication really show.

And to all Renton Citizens, let’s all rememeber to get those ballots in the mail, and tell our friends to be sure and vote in this important election.

Best Wishes,

Randy

This is sad news. I sure wish there was a way we could bring this train back to Renton.
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Dinner train shuts down after move to Pierce County
By The Associated Press

TACOMA — After less than three months, a planned 10-month experiment with a dinner train transplanted from Renton to Tacoma has ended with the shutdown of Spirit of Washington Dinner Train service.

Dinner train owner Eric Temple says higher-than-anticipated costs coupled with lower-than-projected ticket sales doomed the train’s run in Pierce County.

The shutdown means about 50 employees will be laid off.

The last run was Sunday.

The city of Tacoma had a 10-month contract with the dinner train for use of the city-owned tracks.

The train operated successfully for 15 years from Renton to Woodinville along Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks along the east side of Lake Washington before a planned freeway expansion cut off the southern part of the rail route.

The dinner train moved to Tacoma Rail tracks in early August.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Alas. I didn’t invent the internet…but I met the man that did 🙂

Well, really Al Gore didn’t invent it either. But he showed up to support our SPEEA Strike in 2000, during his presidential campaign. And our baby Susie, who is now 9 years old, gave him a political photo op. I was shaking hands with him myself, so I didn’t get the photo of him shaking Susie’s hand. I thought of these pictures a few days ago when Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize.

I was SPEEA striker, and the council president, during this time. 
Al Gore visits striking SPEEA workers in 2000

My wife Cathy and daughter Susie show their support for Al Gore

For you fright-lovers, this attraction is right here in Renton!

Even their website is scary! Click here to see it!

KUBE 93 Haunted House
From Billy Watson,
Your Guide to Seattle / Tacoma, WA.

KUBE 93 Haunted House:

The KUBE 93 Haunted House is by far the premiere Halloween attraction in Seattle. The Seattle Haunted House features over 20 rooms with different themes that all deliver fright and gore for adults and teenagers. Unlike many haunted houses, this one is actually scary. The recommended age for visitors to the KUBE 93 Haunted House is 12 years and older.

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I think this is a well-written editorial. The only thing I would add is that Denis Law does not claim to have all the answers to our growing pains…. but he has overwhelmingly demonstrated the skills to lead the community in the productive dialogue necessary to find these answers.

As an aside, I’m proud of the fact that the article points out that Renton’s Economic renaissance has occured over approximately the last fifteen years– these are the years I campaigned-for, and then served as a Renton Councilman (I was first elected in 1993). It was an honor and privilege to be a part of this great turn-around.

read the article here

Update:

I’ve added the link to the article.  I also wanted to add that I disagree with Mayor Keolker in the strongest terms regarding her characterization of the Highlands being the fault of the city council.  (I think Dean Radford did a good job reporting on Mayor Keolker’s comments, but I don’t agree with her comments. ) It has been well established that I wanted action on the highlands, but with public input.  I especially wanted input from the rightful owners of the property we were discussing, as well as the residents in the immediate area.  You can read more about the highlands history by clicking here.

Also, I am surprised that she is now denying that she wanted to use the pavilion building for a carousel horse museum.  She promoted this idea to the council, and even took a trip to Oregon to work on the details with a company that owned the wooden horses (as was mentioned in a comment below).  The idea was quaint, but too expensive, as it would have required a city subsidy in setting it up and running it.  Council also doubted whether such a museum could retain popularity unless it had a lot of operational and fresh attractions.  So the council eagerly supported Eric Temple’s Event Center proposal, and the mayor was upset by this.

Original entry:

There is a very detailed, comprehensive story about the mayor’s race in the Saturday Renton Reporter (I got my copy delivered tonight). I was impressed by the amount of information Dean Radford managed to cover in the two full pages. The photos are good too. There is a lot there to digest and comment on.  Here is the Link.

Meanwhile, I would love to start getting your reaction to it….please let everyone know what you think about the coverage.

kindly leave your comments below!

Thanks,

Randy