Interesting essay from the Institute for Justice….
Eminent Domain Abuse in Washington: “Can’t Happen Here”
is becoming, “Happening Right Now”
by William R. Maurer, Executive Director, Institute for Justice Washington Chapter
06-18
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo decision has deeply shaken Americans. The ruling says the U.S. Constitution does not prevent state and local officials from seizing people’s homes and small businesses and giving them to private developers. READ MORE »
From:
pkplmarcie@comcast.net
To:
racorman@comcast.net (Randy Corman),Jmedzegian@ci.renton.wa.us
Subject:
Email public access
Friday, December 22, 2006 15:30:36
Randy, I just came from your website and saw the entry about our Council email. Julia, please do the same with mine. I totally agree that we should make our public information available to the Public. It will be interesting to see whether anyone is interested in reading it throughout the next year.
Marcie
From: Corman, Randy
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 12:51 PM
To: ‘Julia Medzegian’; Jay Covington
Subject: Making council email more accessible to the public
Julia, Jay – Please forward appropriately for me. Thanks, Randy
______________________________________________________________________
Dear Council, Mayor, City Clerk, and City Attorney
I’m writing to let you know that effective immediately, I’ve asked
Council Liaison Julia Medzegian to process my council email in a new
and more public way. She has agreed to place hard copies of all of my
incoming and outgoing email correspondence into a notebook at her
desk, that will be available for the public to access and review.
I am confident that this change is within my authority, and will have
many positive benefits to the public. It will allow the public to
better understand the nature and volume of council email, which I
predict will reduce the number of Freedom of Information requests (and
expense associated with them.) It will also further trust in Renton’s
government, which we can never have too much of.
Perhaps this change may even be a stepping stone to an eventual
end-state where all public-official email is available and searchable
online. Since email is a public record, an on-line data base would be
welcome by many, and would help keep the public informed of government
activities on a daily basis.
Since we do not receive privileged legal information or executive
session material via email, I have not given Julia any limitations on
what she places in the file. Every email I have ever seen at city
hall seems to me to be a valid public record. And of course, the
public is so-advised on our website when they write to us.
Best Wishes to all of you for a happy holiday.
Randy
The Highlands Neighborhood center had power following the big windstorm, even when many surrounding neighborhoods did not. As a result, the city opened the center to overnight visitors who needed a warm place to sleep. The success of this shelter prompted the HCA president to make thw following suggestion. I like his idea, and would add a shower facility to the list of improvements.
Dennis, Randy, Marcie and Don
Question to each of you. Would it be possible to identify the Highlands Neighborhood Center on Edmonds as a permanent emergency shelter? This center housed over a hundred people during the recent power outage. If this is possible, I would recommend the following.
1. Direct the City Administration to issue an RFQ to accomplish the Following.
a. Installation of a permanent full time generator to support electrical service during power outages.
b. Construction of an additional out building that would be used to store emergency supplies.
c. Identify cost of Emergence supplies to support 200 people for a week.
d. Distinguish associated costs to form a resource team who could quickly be pulled together to man the center during any community emergency.
I know this is a basic request, but as your are aware, we currently do not have in our community any full time facility that can be quickly be set up and manned by qualified resources if we had another long term electrical outage or some other type of natural disaster in our area. Currently the Kennedale Association is looking at pulling together supplies that would be stored in large shipping container that could be used if there is a need.
This is a great start but we need to go beyond that and develop a full time plan that would support a large segment of our community who would need both food and shelter in the advent of another neighborhood emergency. I would like this to be a pilot program and if sucessful expanded to other areas in Renton that would have the same consideration for this type of project.
I would like to talk to each of you further on this subject. If you have a few minutes, please give me a call.
Thanks for you help.
Terry Persson President
Highlands Community Association
Home Phone: 425-228-5848
Cell Phone: 425-306-0320
All of our council email is public record, and I feel that the public needs better access to it. Therefore, starting immediately, I will ask that my council email be printed and placed in a notebook for public review. I’m optimistic that this will set a positive example for other elected officials, help reduce the number of Freedom of Information Requests, and save taxpayers money. When I shared this idea with Councilman Denis Law, he loved the idea, and immediately told me he wants to do the same thing. The same was true when I mentioned it to Councilman Don Person. I stopped my conversations after speaking with two of them, but I’m hoping other councilmembers will follow suit.
With so many projects going on in Renton recently, and email becoming an increasingly significant share of council and mayor correspondence, the city of Renton is awash in email-related Freedom of Information requests. This is because unlike council and mayoral letters, which historically get logged into a file for inspection by the public, email is generally kept from the public unless the public files a Freedom of Information request.
The worsening situation has left some elected officials berating members of the public for filing ‘too many’ Freedom of Information Requests, and we now have a citizen making Freedom of Information Requests specifically to find out what Freedom of Information Requests others have filed.
In addition to generating hard feelings, unfair criticism, and suspicion, the current trend is becoming increasingly expensive to taxpayers. The 2007 budget adds a new assistant to the clerks office, at an approximate cost of $50,000 per year, primarily to handle the paperwork associated with the growing number of Freedom of Information Requests. This paperwork consists of countless word-searches and phrase-searches of email records, followed by packaging a separate box of email printouts for each request. A single email message with the word “Landing” or “police” for instance, could end up in a public records box dozens of times, and never actually be an email that the public is very interested in. The money to do this digging, photocopying, and packaging could be saved by taxpayers or used on something more productive if our elected-official email records were simply printed one time and placed in notebooks for public inspection, so citizens could do their own searches. Other cities in our state and nation have been moving toward such systems.
The notebook system would really just serve as a stepping stone toward the best system of all, which would be to have all of the email electronically recorded into a log that the public could read and search on the web. After being set up, such a system would cost virtually nothing to administer, and would be excellent for keeping the public informed.
I received significant pushback from one of the other council members when I suggested we consider making all our email public (before we budgeted and hire the new clerk), so I do not expect to have a consensus right away on making our email public.
However, it occurred to me that I do not need other council member’s agreement to set an example by making all of my own council email public, and challenging my colleagues to do the same. So, starting immediately, I will do my part to restore openness in government, save taxpayer money, and try to stem the need for Freedom of Information Requests. I have asked our council liaison to put print-outs of all my council email (which she already creates for city archives) into a public notebook in her office where any member of the public can review it. I suspect this will amount to two or three large notebooks over the course of a year, and if the email is simply inserted in the order received, the retrieval should be pretty easy. Citizens will find that most of my email has been received by all members of council, so this action will significantly improve public awareness of email correspondence between Renton elected officials and the public. In addition, the public will find occasional dialogue between me and a constituent, or me and one or more council colleagues (but never a majority); this will help the public understand my personal motivations for making the decisions I make.
Note that privileged information regarding land acquisition, personnel matters, collective bargaining, and litigation never come to me via email, so this is not a concern.
Also note that I use a separate personal email account for correspondence with friends and family, and for political campaign activities. In fact, by law these can not be done over the taxpayer-funded city system. On the rare occasions that a constituent emails me only at home or work regarding my official city duties, I will forward the email to my city hall account where it will be included in the above public files.
Mr. McKenna was the Eastside’s and Renton’s King County Councilman for many years prior to winning his State Attoney General post. Here is an article about his work to further open access to government records.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
McKenna proposes ‘Sunshine Committee’ to keep records open
By DAVID AMMONS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Rob McKenna urged the Legislature on Wednesday to create a “Sunshine Committee” to promote disclosure of public records.
We thank God that Renton police officer Larry Strauss was not killed when he was shot in the neck by a career felon earlier this year. Officer Strauss was already one of Renton’s greatest heros for preventing a possible massacre at an office building in Renton Center in 1991, even after being knocked down by a gunman’s bullet at the scene. In that incident, Officer Strauss was the first officer to arrive in response to a desperate 911 call. Upon arriving at the scene, he was shot by a gunman who was actively stalking/pursuing an ex-girlfriend, and who was about to enter a crowded building to catch her. The bullet knocked the officer to the ground, but because Officer Strauss wore a protective vest and was extremely courageous, he was able to get back on his feet and return fire, preventing the gunman from entering the building. There is no telling how much of a tragedy he prevented.
So tragic that our beloved Larry Strauss would be shot again by another career felon, making him the only living state police officer to endure two potentially fatal shootings
While most people believe most criminals deserves a second chance, this article from the Seattle Weekly shows some of the heartbreak that comes from giving too many chances to certain violent felons. The threat is particularly high with felons who would threaten a police officer, as these felons would have even less concern threatening or attacking an average citizen.
Couch: Brandon, Katie, Cathy, Randy
Front: Danny, Susie, Andy, Kenny
Kenny, Danny, and Susie helped us Cathy and I chose a pretty spruce from the Lions Club lot. It almost touches the ceiling. Katie, Brandon, Andy, and Kathy (Andy’s girlfriend) are joining us to add the final decorations!
A vote by the BNSF Corridor Advisory Committee has voted to leave train tracks in all sections of the Eastside Rail corridor, with the exception of the Renton to Bellevue section that is needed by the dinner train!
Here is an excerpt from Dean Radford’s story in Sunday’s King County Journal….
The committee took votes on the fate of four segments of the corridor. The (Renton) council member, Marcie Palmer, voted no on the committee’s recommendation for the segment from Bellevue to Renton because to her it precluded using the corridor for trains in the next 5 to 10 years.
She’s still hoping to keep the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train in Renton, but there’s no chance of that happening if the track is gone. Eric Temple, the train’s owner, is already talking to Woodinville about moving the jumping off point there.
But keeping the rail possibility open in a shorter time frame “would leave the door open a little more,” Palmer said.
Temple’s fate likely is sealed anyway because BNSF Railway Co. is going to abandon a section of the line at the Wilburton Tunnel in Bellevue. That will allow the state transportation department to save millions of dollars in construction costs in the Interstate 405 widening project because it wouldn’t have to accommodate trains through the project.
The Renton City Council voted to protest the abandonment but has not formally done so. Burlington Northern is addressing some of its concerns about ensuring that The Boeing Co. will continue to get its 737 fuselages delivered to its Renton plant by rail without disruption, according to council president Randy Corman.
This has been disappointing for Renton, as we would have liked to keep our beloved dinner train.
Yet another gorgeous sunset at Coulon Park
Photos courtesy of Gary Palmer
Jockey Russel Baze, who raced many years at Longacres here in Renton, has just become horse racing’s winningest jockey ever!
He still has strong ties to our city, as his brother Dr. Randy Baze is a very likable and successful chiropractor in our city. Dr. Baze is just about to open an all-new office next to the East Valley 13 movie theater. Dr. Baze began his study of chiropracty after first seeing how effective it was on race horses.
_________________________________________________
Saturday, December 2, 2006 – Page updated at 12:00 AM
Baze breaks jockey record
Jockey Russell Baze, far right, rides Butterfly Belle in the fourth race at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, Calif., Friday, Dec. 1, 2006. Baze finished first. It was Baze’s 9,531st victory to eclipse Laffit Pincay Jr.’s career record to become thoroughbred racing’s winningest jockey.
Russell Baze
SAN MATEO, Calif. .. Russell Baze fell off a horse when he was a teenager, and his father thought he didn’t have a future riding the animals.
Good thing Baze didn’t listen to dad.
Baze, who grew up in Granger, Wash., and began his career in the state, became Thoroughbred racing’s winningest jockey Friday when he broke Laffit Pincay Jr.’s record with a victory aboard Butterfly Belle at Bay Meadows, with his father, Joe, looking on.
Win No. 9,531 came in the fourth race, when the 48-year-old Baze found a hole along the rail and drove through it. He whipped the filly right-handed down the stretch to win on the Longden turf course, named for Johnny Longden, who once held the record Baze broke.
“When I got started galloping horses, it was so thrilling and challenging,” said Baze, who had ridden three Longacres Mile winners and is in the Washington and national racing Halls of Fame. “From the start, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I was just praying I wouldn’t outgrow the profession.”
He didn’t.
Baze started riding in Yakima and raced for five seasons at Longacres in Renton.
Victory No. 1 came at Yakima Meadows on Oct. 28, 1974. The 16-year-old apprentice came from just off the pace aboard Oregon Warrior to win a 6-furlong race for $1,250 claimers. The purse was $700. The winner was trained by his father.
His ties to the Northwest go back to the day he was born .. Aug. 7, 1958 in Vancouver, B.C. Baze was born in Canada because his dad was riding at Exhibition Park (now Hastings Park). Joe Baze was an outstanding jockey during his riding career, winning many races at Longacres and in the Bay Area.
After winning two races from 20 mounts in 1974, Russell Baze made his way to Longacres for the 1975 season. His first win at Longacres came on May 31, 1975 aboard G. G. Hill (trained by his father) and he finished the season with 72 wins in 444 starts (16 percent) good enough for second place in the jockey standings.
Baze rode regularly at Longacres the next four years.
Baze moved to the Northern California tracks in 1980, and has dominated there since, except for a time in the late 1980s when he tried the Southern California circuit.
Baze has won at least 100 races each of the past 28 years, and has led the nation in yearly wins eight times. His best total was 448 in 1995.
Baze has won eight races (in 40 mounts) at Emerald Downs in Auburn, including two Longacres Miles: with Sky Jack in 2003 and on a Adreamisborn in 2004.
Baze, a 5-foot-4, 115-pounder, is nicknamed Russell the Muscle, and he needed his muscle aboard Butterfly Belle, who was crowded and forced to check out of the starting gate. She went two-wide into the stretch and was stuck behind a wall of horses.
“I was looking for a way out,” Baze said. “When [the hole] started developing, I immediately headed for it. I was just glad it stayed open until I could get through it.”
The win came on a 4-year-old Washington-bred filly whose only other win came at Emerald Downs in 2005. Crossing the finish line, Baze said he felt “elation that I had won the race and become the winningest rider, and relief that now it’s over. Everybody can go home.”
Baze doffed his riding helmet to the cheering crowd.
“I’m not going to do much celebrating,” he said. “I’m going to do a lot of relaxing.”
Pincay had owned the mark since Dec. 10, 1999, when he took it from Bill Shoemaker. Pincay, 59, was on hand for his fifth day of watching Baze, who had won one race each of the previous two days.
Shoemaker had been the king for 29 years after surpassing Longden.
“Who would’ve thought 32 years ago a skinny little kid with no experience would be standing here today,” Baze told the sparse crowd as he stood in the winner’s circle. “I could hardly believe this would happen.”
Baze’s mounts were heavily bet down from their morning-line odds by fans seeking souvenir $2 win tickets. Butterfly Belle went from 6-1 to the 9-5 favorite.
Pincay said he bet on every horse except Baze’s in the historic race.
“I was trying to jinx them,” he said.
Baze only had moderate success when he rode in Southern California and he has ridden in just two Kentucky Derbies .. 10 years apart. He is 0 for 3 in the Breeders’ Cup.
“I gladly would’ve been a big fish in a big pond,” he said about his brief stint in the big time. “I’m still available if someone wants to give me more chances.”
Times handicapper Gary Dougherty contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company
Renton has a lot riding on our dinner train. We could lose a lot of downtown economic activity if BNSF and WSDOT force Eric Temple and his Spirit of Washington dinner train out of town.
The Railroad and the Agency have been working on a frustrating deal in which Washington State DOT will pay BNSF about 30 Million dollars instead of rebuilding the railroad’s connection over I-405 in Bellevue during their upcoming widening project. While the money works well for the Railroad and DOT, this deal breaks the Eastside Railroad line and takes away most of the track for Mr. Temple’s dinner train. (It also takes away redundant rail access to the Boeing plant.)
Two years ago, Mr. Temple offered to put $200,000 of his own money into finishing our vacant Pavilion building downtown, to lease it from the city and manage it as a community event center. He proposed catering these Pavilion events with the same modern commercial kitchen he built for catering the dinner train, in the train depot he leases and beautifully maintains downtown. Council chose this offer over an alternative plan, which was to bring in salvaged carrousel horses and create a permanent museum in the pavilion building. The carrousel museum plan would require a long term city subsidy as well as $250,000 in public start up costs. Mr. Temple’s Spirit of Washington Event Center has been extremely successful, hosting nearly 200 events per year and giving Renton over one hundred thousand dollars in extra revenue each year.
As the crowds and trees both grew at the adjacent outdoor Cinema at the Piazza, and the noise from Pavilion events and movies co-mingled, Mr. Temple offered to pay for hosting the Outdoor Cinema a few blocks up the street at a more spacious, grassy, and child-friendly Liberty Park location. Council took him up on the offer, and Mr. Temple became a major contributor to activating three regions of our downtown; the train depot with his dinner train, the Pavilion with his many events, and Liberty Park with his sponsored movies.
Council has been trying to save the dinner train by challenging the closure of the eastside rail line. And we have been working to assure that in any case Mr. Temple will still have his train depot to cater his Event Center.
Democracy is the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people. Oscar Wilde
Some land-use appeals generated a heated debate between private citizens at Monday’s council meeting.
Those of you who have been reading my journal know that in late summer of 2006 I was concerned we were moving too hastily on the highlands land-use planning, with the risk of leaving some people and their concerns out of the process.
Thankfully, council finally convened a citizen task force in October, which worked long hours to deliver highlands recommendations to council on the very day they were needed for incorporation into the 2006 Comp plan amendments. This task force performed well, reaching unanimous task force agreement on rezoning, text amendments, and comprehensive plan changes for the highlands.
After so swiftly completing so much work affecting so many already-developed acres, it’s not a huge surprise that we are now receiving a few appeals.
As these appeals make their way through the process, the important thing to remember is the appeals do not diminish the work that has been done. Appeals may do nothing, or they may lead to fine-tuning of the final product or supporting analysis, but they do not replace the hard work of the highland task force.
Furthermore, it’s important not to get upset with the parties making the appeals. Appealing a decision is a right under our law, and it is not productive to combat citizens for exercising their rights.
Instead, we should celebrate the fact that we live in a democracy that guarantees due process to all citizens, whether or not they hold the majority opinion. There is an established legal process for working through land-use appeals, and we need to simply give this process time to work. Democracy is the best system around, but no one has said that it is the fastest.
And please let Oscar Wilde’s funny quip remain only a quip…greet your fellow citizens with kindness, and let’s say ‘no’ to bludgeoning ourselves while the process works things out.
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