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I borrowed Marcie Palmer’s cell phone during our tour of the Landing, and accidentally forgot to hand it back to her. So the next day my family joined me in a horse ride to return the phone to Marcie’s house.
Airport Leases in debate: A letter of concern from Kennydale resident Mark Hancock
Many citizens are taking a closer look at Renton Airport Leasing policies following the debate about an Airport Jet Center earlier this year. Here is a representative email to city council, asking us to be careful about what we approve. The city’s transportation committee has decided to hold the subject leases in committee for further study.
Looking back on Almost Live!
Hororary Citizen of Renton John Kiester (wearing neck tie) sits with the final cast of KING5’s “Almost Live.”
Nine years ago, In May 1998, I and the rest of the City Council concurred in the proclamation by Mayor Tanner which bestowed the rank of Honorary Citizen of Renton upon John Keister, host of the hit television show “Almost Live.”
John Keister, bless his heart, arrived in person to accept the Mayor’s proclamation. Mr. Keister, who hosted the beloved comedy series though many emmy-winning seasons, and who was a part of the extraordinary comedy team for the show’s entire 15-year year run, was a crack-up at the council meeting. To amuse his many Renton fans in the crowd, he quipped that he would proudly display his Honorary Citizen of Renton Proclamation next to his coveted Radio Shack Battery-of-the-Month Club Membership certificate in his office. This comment drew howls of laughter from Mayor Jesse Tanner and all the rest of us who had the ability to look critically at ourselves, and recognize where our city could improve. John Keister also told us that we had done too good of a job over the previous few years, and it was getting hard to make fun of Renton anymore. I was gratified by this observation, being in my fifth year on city council, and Jesse Tanner was likewise gratified as he was performing remarkably in his third year as mayor.
One year later, in 1999, Almost Live went off the air.
I enjoyed reading the memory by Spirit of Washington Dinner Train Owner Eric Temple described in the Seattle Times:
Eric Temple remembers cringing, with a guilty laugh, when he first heard “Almost Live” host John Keister’s quip on late-night TV, back in 1992:
“I hear there’s a new dinner train,” Temple recalls him saying. “I guess things are going great for them — except once people get to the winery, they are refusing to go back to Renton.”The Times went on to give Mr. Temple his due credit for helping turn Renton’s image around.
I am very grateful to Mr. Temple, and others like him who invested in this community, for helping us improve our city and making it a more fun place to live.
When “Almost Live” went off the air in 1999, I missed the show immensely even though it poked fun at our city. Even as a Renton official I had looked forward to watching Almost Live each week. After all, Renton did have some significant issues we were working on. And the show was part of the Northwest experience of the 80’s and 90’s, like the Kingdome, Dick’s, the Elephant Car Wash, and Chubby and Tubby’s. Besides, “Almost Live” made fun of absolutely everywhere in the Northwest: Seattle Downtown, Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kent, Auburn, Olympia, Bellingham, Tacoma, Spokane, Oregon, and Idaho were all widely lampooned by the show. In addition, no Seattle politician, celebrity, or sports teams was immune.
Almost live was so successful that it was televised nationally on Comedy Central, and it launched impressive and well-deserved careers for Bill Nigh (the Science Guy), Pat Cashman, Ross Shaefer (the original host) and of course John Keister.
I am sure that if “Almost Live” was in production today, they would still find a few things to tease Renton about. Last year we would have endured countless jokes about lipstick on mirrors, for instance.
And right now, while we are still working to try to get the right mix of businesses at the Landing, I can practically hear John Keister reporting in the John Report: “The city of Renton has spent 38 Million dollars to bring in what they have called the greatest new urban village to ever grace the Northwest. The Anchor Store?..Ross Dress for Less!…Citizens of Renton are reporting that they have not been this excited since Sizzler held an all-you-can-eat steak night.”
Or how about, “Renton just spent $50,000 to figure out that the new Sonics owners never had any real intention of staying in the Seattle area…appearantly Renton and four people in a submarine at the bottom of Puget Sound were the only ones who did not know this.”
Well, we don’t need the Sonics, and the council will step in and push for the right mix of shops at the Landing. We just need to keep our sense of humor, not be afraid to admit our mistakes, and aim for the stars.
Stealing from Mr. Keister’s trademark style…
I am Randy, and this was my report. Thank You.
The truth about Sound Transit funding; where is Renton’s share?
In 1995, voters of Renton overwhelmingly joined voters of the rest of the Eastside in rejecting a six billion dollar Regional Transit proposal that focussed almost entirely on Seattle. Eastside voters said the proposal was too expensive, and they wanted a pro-rated, fair share of the funding to be spent to improve transit on the Eastside…the dollars generated in the Renton/Eastside sub-area should be used in the sub-area. This “sub-area equity” proposal went back to the ballot with a scaled down Seattle rail system and eastside Highway and Bus improvements, and was approved by the voters…giving birth to Sound Transit.
Renton voters will contribute 100 million dollars in tax money to the Sound Transit proposal approved in 1996, and the Sound Transit Board agreed that our city would receive two I-405 express HOV on/off ramps, one at Talbot and one at N 8th Street, along with expanded express bus service, in return for this huge investment. This is what Renton voters expected and deserved.
Sadly, Sound Transit began losing site of their bargain with Renton voters as they became distracted with bigger projects in Seattle and Bellevue. Mayor Jesse Tanner and several of us on council attended countless meetings to try to get Renton projects underway, but ultimately Sound Transit informed Renton that prices had escalated and they had under-estimated, and they could now only build the HOV on/off ramp at 8th street, and it would cost 80 million (with the other 20 million going to other cities).
When Jesse Tanner got this news, he informed Sound Transit that they would put the other 20 million back into RENTON projects, not send it elsewhere, and they would proceed immediately to plan and build Renton’s new off-ramp at N 8th street, before it got more expensive; AND… they would get our bus service going. When the King County Executive and the Sound Transit Board balked at Renton’s mayor telling them what to do, and threatened to ignore Renton, Jesse Tanner took the effective and intelligent step of withholding an easement that Sound Transit needed from Renton to support their north-south rail project until they returned to the bargaining table. Having been out-maneuvered by Mayor Tanner,and with the politics against Sound Transit, the Sound Transit staff capitulated and returned to the bargaining table. Renton and Sound Transit then held very productive discussions, and finally agreed that Sound Transit would build the 8th street HOV off-ramp post-haste, and that the 20 million would be used specifically to improve Rainier Avenue and Hardie Avenue so that Sound Transit buses could more easily reach our transit center from the south, something that the HOV off-ramp at at Talbot was supposed to have done.
But, alas, it did not end there. Next thing we knew, Sound Transit was telling us that the 8th street HOV off-ramp would now cost 160 million, because part of I-405 would need to be realigned to create better sight distances when the new project was installed. Sound Transit suggested that they should go ahead with the 20 million dollar Rainier Avenue improvements, and then work regional I-405 financing proposals to get the additional money. Renton reluctantly agreed to wait and see if voters would approve new I-405 money, but again Jesse Tanner made it clear that no matter what, the 100 million would improve Renton transit and not go elsewhere.
Jesse Tanner retired, and Mayor Keolker took office right around the time that voters rejected additional money for I-405. Sound Transit proposed to the new Keolker Administration that they would link our off-ramp improvements to the pending future voter approval of the mega-big Regional Transit Investment District (RTID) and Sound Transit Phase-Two proposal, a FIFTY BILLION dollar bond issue which would still need voter approval. Also, Sound Transit would prioritize our off-ramp project near the END of their list of Phase-Two projects, meaning even if we approve the 50 billion dollar Sound Transit/RTID Bond, Rentonites will not see our new off-ramp (promised in Phase one) until the year 2030, over 30 years after we paid for it. Sound Transit also determined that the Rainier and Hardie Avenue improvement, the other 20 million dollars in Sound Transit funding, was held up because Burlington Northern railroad had no interest or willingness to rebuild their Renton trestles and provide enough clearance for the new roadways. Sound Transit is attempting to back away from their promised improvements in Renton.
But those of us on Council have not let Sound Transit off the hook for the promised money, and earlier this year Marcie Palmer, Don Persson and I told Burlington Northern Railroad and the State DOT that we would fight their abandonment of the Eastside Rail line (and eviction of the dinner train) in Washington DC if they did not rebuild the trestles in Renton, thus freeing up the 20 million in Sound Transit money. The mayor let the three of us know that she did not like our request and pressure upon the Railroad, but as a council we prevailed. BNSF and State DOT are now working to rebuild these trestles, which will at LONG LAST get Renton taxpayers some value for their Sound Transit money thanks to the work that Marcie, Don and I did at this key meeting.
A bigger issue is how do we get our remaining 80 million dollar share spent to ease Renton congestion, if taxpayers decide not to approve the Phase Two (fifty billion dollar bond commitment)? The Council Transportation Committee certainly cares about this, and we will continue to pursue this.
Marcie Palmer is a “talent scout” as well as a heck of a good council member!
Here is a cute story from the Seattle PI. Congratulations to Haben Abraham and her family, and to Marcie Palmer who scheduled Haben for her big show!
Ocean Shores Beach House: Photo Blog
We had a great time in Ocean Shores this weekend.
Cathy and I, and our youngest three kids, joined some friends in a beach house for sand and surf, barbeque’s, kites, shopping, movies, and lots of other seashore fun!
You can see the photos by clicking the link below.
Railroad trestle work will add to our traffic maze this summer, but it will be worth the pain
We ARE trying to fix some of the traffic problems in town, but it will be a little painful this summer :-(.
We are replacing FOUR railroad trestles within a few months, and three of them span roads which will need to be closed temporarily.
This will ultimately allow us to widen Rainier Ave, Hardie Avenue, and Shatuck Ave, which will give us more North-South lane capacity through our city…yay!
This will also allow us to fully update these rail crossings while we still have the East Side Line to carry freight to Renton’s airplane factory, such that the city will have new crossings in place when the rail line through Renton becomes the only rail access to the Renton Boeing plant.
The Shattuck rail underpass (just east of Rainier Ave) will change from a one lane “cow-tunnel” to a two lane road, but it will still only have an 8 foot clearance…if you have not see this tunnel near the downtown Radioshack you may want to see it before it closes down…I understand it was originally designed to let cattle pass under the railroad track, but now it allows one car at a time to go under the track as long as the cars are not taller than about 6 feet….the top timbers of the tunnel are lacerated by cars that were just a little too tall but never-the-less driven into the tunnel!
Here is today’s Seattle Times Story on this forthcoming traffic maze:
Photo tour of the Landing!
The City’s Transportation Committee held a public meeting at “The Landing” construction site, and Gary Palmer captured the event in pictures.
Councilman Randy Corman and his wife Cathy
City officials and citizens standing near the center roundabout in the entertainment area of the Landing.
This Roundabout is between Park and Logan, on a new private entertainment street in the Landing, where it crosses a new 10th street. The center plaza will be planted and signed “The Landing”
It goes very close the the Boeing Final Assembly hangers…drivers and pedestrians will get views of Boeing Planes that they have not ever had in this area before.
This is the area that the Sonics wanted to purchase, north of the Boeing buildings that line 6th street. For those of you who work at Boeing, you will know this as the site of the 10-80 building. The street in the foreground is the new extension of 8th street…an all new segment that used to be inside the Boeing gate. This section of 8th street should be open for Boeing employees to get to work as of Monday (July 2.)
Verizon, Panda Express, and other shops will go in here
This is a new view down Park Avenue, from the intersection with the new 10th street. With all the new streets, traffic is predicted to flow better than many citizens expect. There will also be lots of parking, including a 700 stall parking garage.
Cranes hover over the start of the new apartments, which will be seven stories tall and provide housing for thousands. It’s not too early to look into renting if you are interested.
Another view down the new 10th street, near the roundabout
New view of Boeing Final Assembly hangers
New movie theater will have 16 screens
Another view down 10th
More construction shots
The city and developers are providing nice finishes on all the streets, and sidewalks that are 14 feet wide. All paving is being done in concrete, with different colors and patterns to add character and make it more clear how to get around. This grid pattern marks the edge of the street where parallel parking will be allowed. Major intersections will be done in brown concrete, which looks like larger tiles.
Still more street work! The City expects to have Park Avenue open for traffic in just two more weeks!!! Yay!
Hope you enjoyed this exclusive tour…leave me your commets please!
Thanks, Renton WA
Renton’s most prosperous business…
We are so fortunate to have Boeing 737 production in our city. With the incredible success of the 737 airplane model, and Boeing’s record breaking backlog of this and other aircraft, our local economy will enjoy the glow of this industry for years to come. In spite of the tone of this year’s Chicago Tribune story, the aircraft business is not on its way out or casting any type of “shadow” over Renton’s economy.
Indeed, for those of us analyzing future trends, we see it is not too early for
Renton to be working aggressively to manage and market our city as the right place for Boeing to build the replacement model for the 737 in ten to fifteen years, or whenever the time comes. We need to be sure to reserve the airport space, and necessary infrastructure, to make our city more attractive than other locations. Our Renton Transportation Committee pushed earlier this year to have some train trestles rebuilt, and we are currently working on airport lease policy which keeps some space reserved for Boeing production. However, we could be doing much more to market our city. We will most likely be competing against Paine Field, Long Beach California, and many other locations in the nation.
There is simply no other business in the world that sells products of this value or reputation for quality.
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Here is a story from Today’s Puget Sound Business Journal:
Boeing announces $4.4B in new plane orders
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) – 9:39 AM PDT Monday, June 18, 2007
The Boeing Co. said that Lion Air of Jakarta has ordered 40 more 737-900 extended range planes worth $3 billion at list prices, and GE Commercial Aviation Services has ordered six 777 freighter planes worth $1.42 billion.
The orders were announced Monday at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France.
Lion Air, a low-cost airline in Asia, now has ordered 100 of the extended-range 737-900 airplanes, which are built in Renton.
GE Commercial Aviation Services of Stamford, Conn., has ordered 39 Boeing-built freighter planes, including 14 777s, which are built in Everett. The first Boeing (NYSE: BA) 777 will be delivered in the fourth quarter of next year.
Don Persson does not need my campaign help anymore!
This will be great for Renton. This will also save both Don and I quite a bit of work, and allow us to focus on assisting some other Renton races we care about.
I never object to anyone challenging an incumbent for public office per our democratic process, but I feel strongly that Don clearly had earned re-election. He remains completely in touch with the citizens that have elected him twice before, and he is an all-around great guy.
Congratulations Don Persson!
Traffic Safety Enforcement Cameras to be installed in Renton
The City Council has approved a police department suggestion to install three red-light-running cameras, and three school zone speeding cameras in our city. These are cameras which take a picture of the license plate of a vehicle which is either failing to stop for a red light, or failing to abide by the school speed zone. The owner of the car is then mailed a non-moving infraction with a high fine…sort of like a $124 parking ticket. The camera system can not issue a moving violation in our state, because it is not allowed to take a picture of the driver’s face, and therefore can not be assigned to an individual….only to the owner of the vehicle.
The photos are checked by a representative from law enforcement (either a police employee or a contractor) before violations are mailed out, to verify that there was not a problem with the camera or a legitimate issue that caused the red light violation (such as a motorist getting out of the way of an emergency vehicle, or stuck behind an accident, or something like that)
The school speed zone cameras are tentatively scheduled to be placed in front of McKnight Middle School, Renton High School, and Benson Hill Elementary. They will be active during the hours that children are present in the schools, and there will be signs and flashing lights warning motorists that there is camera speed enforcement. It is expected that they will simply be set a nominal amount above the speed limit (just a few miles over…not a lot above), and that a ticket will be mailed to the owners of any cars that exceed this margin in the camera-enforced area.
The locations for the red light enforcement cameras have not been decided on yet, but they will be placed at the intersections that show the most violations. Maple Valley Highway and Sunset is a finalist for instance, as is Rainier and Grady. These will ticket any vehicle that has not entered the intersection the moment that the light has turned red. Note that while it is best to clear the intersection completely on the yellow light, the camera will ticket only those who enter the intersection on the red light. These violations usually occur when drivers are in a long queue waiting to get through the light, and they don’t stop entering even when the light turns red. The other way these violations happen, which is even more dangerous, is when a driver sees a green or yellow light a distance ahead, and steps on the accelerator to get through the light. Both of these situations will lead to a ticket in the $124 range.
The goal of the Renton Council and the Police is not to earn money, but rather to save lives by reversing increasingly dangerous driving habit; habits that are predictably getting worse as a result of frustration with all the traffic and congestion.
I know there are some members of the public who really favor this, and some who are opposed on orwellian (big brother is watching you) grounds. For me, the issue came down to statistics which say we will save lives. These lives might be yours and mine, or the lives of our dear loved ones. For this reason, I and the entire Renton council voted to take this step.
See the reader comments on Renton WA Myspace on this topic
Here is the link to last week’s council minutes which approved the use of thes cameras
Candidate filings for Renton Offices
Candidate Listing
August 21, 2007 Primary Election
City of Renton
Races listed on this page: 5
Mayor
Denis W. Law
3625 LAKE WASHINGTON BLVD N
RENTON WA, 98056
denislaw@comcast.net
(425) 277-3434
Kathy Keolker
532 CEDAR AVE S
RENTON WA, 98057
kathy@mayorkathy.com
(425) 255-0936
Council Position No. 3
Marcie Palmer
PO BOX 1702
RENTON WA, 98057
info@palmer2007.com
www.palmer2007.com
(206) 579-8804
Shirley A. Gaunt-Smith
4102 NE 6TH PL
RENTON WA, 98059
gauntsmith@comcast.net
(425) 228-8763
Council Position No. 4
Greg Taylor
PO BOX 1680
RENTON WA, 98057
info@electgregtaylor.com
www.electgregtaylor.com
(425) 917-8054
Terry Persson
2821 NE 8TH PL
RENTON WA, 98056
tpersson@comcast.net
www.electterry2007.com
(425) 228-5848
Council Position No. 5
King Parker
4601 NE 24TH ST
RENTON WA, 98059
king@kingandbunnys.com
(425) 226-9162
Donovan Boyd
2901 NE 8TH PL
RENTON WA, 98056
donovanboyd@earthlink.net
(425) 226-0152
Cheryl E. Haskins
P.O BOX 3370
RENTON WA, 98056
mrscherryk@comcast.net
(206) 391-3907
Council Position No. 7
Don Persson
538 RENTON AVE S
RENTON WA, 98057
dvPersson@yahoo.com
(425) 271-6935
Mark Martinez
4116 NE 5TH ST
RENTON WA, 98059
mark76w4@comcast.net
(425) 204-9275
Re-elect Don Persson to Renton City Council–Renton is lucky to have him!
Don Persson has been a very positive force on Renton City Council in his two terms of service. He knows the Renton Community better than just about anyone, thanks to his growing up in our community, raising his family in the Renton area, serving three decades in the Renton Police Department (including leadership as Deputy Chief), and eight years service as a Renton Councilman, all accompanied by extraordinary community volunteer work throughout his life.
Don watches the budget extremely carefully, and works hard to make sure Renton residents get good value for every penny spent by the City of Renton. He does not hesitate to ask very detailed questions to ensure that nothing gets past him, a quality which I’m sure also served him well in his police work.
He serves on numerous regional boards and commissions, and works cooperatively with other jurisdictions to build cohesive regional plans. But the other cities’ representatives know that Don is no push-over…he will not agree to any plan that does not give fair value to the citizens of Renton. He won’t compromise our city’s interests for anyone, and he is quick to keep the rest of the council informed about issues that could negatively impact us.
Even though he can be firm when he needs to be, Don conducts all his work with charm and grace. He has a sparkling sense of humor, and warm compassion for people in need. He’s resolved some requests that come to city council by simply reaching into his own wallet and generously supporting the less fortunate.
He is so well loved by this community that he is one of our city’s most sought-after volunteers. I suspect that if he didn’t have his family and city pulling on him, he would be grilling chicken, salmon, hot dogs, and hamburgers for different community groups every day of the year.
I have the honor of serving as Don’s campaign manager, and I enthusiastically ask all my readers to vote for him in November.
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