Kari Kopnick begins documenting her family’s transition from King County to Renton

Kari Kopnick, above right, is part of the 17,000-person Benson Hill annexation area. Kari has agreed to document her experiences in transitioning from life in King County to life in Renton. I promise you will enjoy her writing style. This is her first installment.

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Here it is December. Finally. For me November was one of those months where you put your head down and charge through everything without even looking up. Whew, so glad that’s over. So, here it is, December, I have a little time to breathe again, and hey, today there was a beautiful snow fall! What a great time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. I hadn’t been for a nice walk in a month.

I headed out the door. The snow was falling, my kids had been out in the snow and had a great time. It was my turn. As I walked up the hill by my house it was almost twilight and the some of the neighbors had holiday lights on their houses that were starting to turn on as I walked past. It was so pretty! As I walked my thoughts wandered to what happened in the month I worked straight through.

“Hey! I know one really big thing!” I thought as I walked past the neighbors with a 20 foot tree decorated just like the tree Charlie Brown chose. “We’re really part of Renton, now!” That’s right, the most intense local election I’ve ever followed happened in November and now my Benson Hill neighborhood is really a part of the City of Renton.

So, I wondered, what does that really mean? I mean, yes our schools don’t change and our water services are still provided by the same folks. When we call the police they’ll come faster that the sheriff could, that’s great. And our taxes will go up a couple of lattes worth every year, sounds worth it. Come on though, what does it REALLY mean!?

I know; cheaper admission to Henry Moses Pool on those super hot days in the summer. OK, that’s good, that’s really good. But what else? Well, at Renton River Days we get to stand proud as real City of Renton residents. No more cousins from unincorporated King County! And our streets will be maintained, our zoning enforced, and what used to be a struggle to figure out who to call (stray dog? King County or Renton?) is no longer a question. We’re part of Renton. We’re Rentonites.

I like that. Rentonites. Very cool.

And the walk was excellent.