Written by 
Richard Zwicker, from our North Renton neighborhood, was appointed to the vacant city council seat tonight.
He has been active in the leadership of his neighborhood, serving as president of the Neighborhood Association and in many volunteer projects.
He has also served on the board of Renton Technical College, and in numerous other community and civic organizations.
Rich was one of two out of the eleven applicants who has run for council before, having run for the seat currently held by Marcie Palmer in 2003.
I’ll write a more comprehensive bio when I have a bit more time.
Meanwhile, please help me in wishing Rich well in his new role.
Thanks,
Randy
Great choice – Congrats Rich!
Excellent choice — all of my interactions with Rich have been positive, and I know he has a great vision for what Renton will be in the future!
Colin Walker
Congratulations, Rich!
I liked Marcie Palmer’s observation that Rich’s responses to the interview questions were succinct. Indeed, I thought that fact helped him stand out from the other candidates (although several of them had very thoughtful, albeit longer, responses to the questions).
I said before that I thought the council would pick someone with a non-controversial and moderate background, with a very clear record of service to the community. Rich definitely fits that description, and his qualifications are above reproach. I’m sure a lot of people are disappointed that their favorite candidate didn’t get the appointment, but hopefully everyone can at least recognize that Rich is deserving of the appointment for what he’s done for our city, not who he knows. There’s a reason why he has earned the respect and trust of many of the councilmembers, and it’s not about political patronage — it’s about his record of community service, his leadership skills, and his ability to work well with others, among other things.
-Kevin Poole
Congrats to all!
It looks like Renton gets a good council member and Rich gets to do what he’s wanted for a while.
Good news for all!
Rich… stay away from the trash and lipstick and you’ll do fine!
Congratulations, Richard!
Thanks to Everyone!!
Thanks to everyone for the good wishes, thanks to those that supported my application, thanks to the Council for selecting me, but especially thank you to my ten co-applicants. Thank you for taking the time and effort to apply and for being willing to participate for the City’s greater good. I look forward to your continued participation in the City’s efforts and working with you all!!
– Rich Zwicker.
Re: Thanks to Everyone!!
I wish to express my sincerest congratulations to Rich for achieving his dream of serving the City of Renton as a council member, a position that was truly earned and greatly deserved!
I have known Rich for nearly 30 years and have always admired his intelligence, integrity, loyalty, determination and most importantly his passion for making sure that Renton remains a place that my children and my children’s children can learn & grow safely while kid’s and live productively & prosperously as adults.
With his nomination Renton’s political environment just got healthier and Renton’s future just got a whole lot brighter, he is a leader that believes in working together as a team to achieve the collective goal of bettering our community.
So again I say congratulations to Rich and to the City of Renton for having the vision to elect a winner in every sense of the word.
Sincerely,
Ron Park
Randy,
Why wasn’t Terri Briere there for the vote?
It was interesting for sure
I wouldn’t read too much into it, folks. It had nothing to do with the city council.
She had a family emergency she had to deal with… so council excused her.
It’s too bad that Randy Corman did not have the Backbone to at least stand up and recommend one of the other participants who took the time to contribute in running for the vacant city council seat of Dan Clawson. Instead when asked to select one of the eleven candidates he said “I pass”. Every time there is a major decision to be made in this city of Renton Randy lets his peer’s on the council steer the way the voting will go. As for the others on the council it was a given in who they would vote for. Marcie voted for her Campaign Manager, Don Person voted for his business partner, King Parker voted for his chum from the Chamber and Gregg Taylor voted for the one who supported his run for his Council position. The final vote by the Council was not a surprise to the community as a whole. We feel sorry for those candidates who should have at least been nominated, not just recognized for their participation in this unfair process. Again to you Randy, we will remember you continual marginal support to our community when you once again run for Renton City Council.
Rich Zwicker was my first choice
I passed because my top choice was already nominated; while I really liked several of the candidates, and would have happily supported them as compromise choices in follow-up rounds of nominations if necessary, my top choice was Rich Zwicker. He had already been nominated, so I passed.
You can argue about whether this was the best strategy….it’s a bit like a game of chess. But it worked out fine for me since I got my top choice, so I could not have been too far off.
Those are pretty serious charges, which major decisions are you saying Randy did not participate on? Is Rich the business partner of Don, that you are referring about?
These sound like those tinfoil hat folks from a few weeks ago… the mind rays must be back. After all, everything is a conspiracy, and there’s evil intent behind anything and everything that happens.
Can’t we all just get along! Why is it that whenever a choice is made in this city people have to look for sinister motives? I was at the council meeting on Monday and I believe the council picked the most qualified candidate. Seriously,that poster is either a scorned applicant or the friend of a scorned applicant. You put yourself out there which is commendable don’t waste that good will by being bitter.
City Council Seat
It’s unfortunate to see the direction some of the comments are taking. Rich is qualified for the position. I was one of the 11 candidates along with Rich, and participated in the process. While I’m sure each candidate would have loved to have been selected, the reality was there were 11 candidates for 1 position. Each individual had their strengths and experiences that they brought to the table. Rich has a lot of experience on various Renton committees. Rich was selected to fill the vacant seat. And I, for one, am happy for Rich to have this opportunity just as I would hope he and the other candidates would be happy for each other if anyone else had been selected. Rich has my support as he takes on these new responsibilities. We saw too many games and backbiting over the past few years. Rather than suspecting a plot or making negative comments about any of the individuals by name, let’s elevate our thoughts and move on to more productive efforts.
Congratulations, Rich!
Elizabeth
Re: City Council Seat
Elizabeth, I wish we all had as much tact as you. 🙂 I was very impressed by your qualifications, ideas, and communication skills, by the way. Thanks for your community service and for participating in the selection process.
Kevin
Re: City Council Seat
Thanks, Kevin, for your positive feedback!
Re: City Council Seat
Elizabeth was one of those at the top of my list. She’s super sharp, and my friend/former Mayor Jesse Tanner really admired her.
Jesse Tanner
Thanks, Randy! Jesse Tanner was a remarkable man and reminded me so much of my Dad. As I mentioned in the interview for the council seat, we moved here in 1963 because Dad was an electrical engineer for Boeing. Like Jesse, my Dad also had patents. And they both enjoyed showing how math is used in every day life. When Jesse retired from being mayor, I loved hearing Jesse talk about his mathematical formulas and the computer program he created to determine what length to cut metal pipes to recreate specific musical notes. Jesse and Jan Tanner, together, made beautiful windchimes and they were perfect pitch and a range of different scales. When my Dad retired he took up ceramics for a hobby and applied math to create some really beautiful pieces. They were so much alike!
I really admired Jesse because he grasped the importance of using business principles in running the City. The challenge for our city over the next few years is going to be managing in a fluid economy and quickly adjusting to some of the negative economic trends. I miss being able to just sit and talk with Jesse about these things. He was a brilliant man!
Elizabeth
Congratulations
I wish to express my sincerest congratulations to Rich for achieving his dream of serving the City of Renton as a council member, a position that was truly earned and greatly deserved!
I have known Rich for nearly 30 years and have always admired his intelligence, integrity, loyalty, determination and most importantly his passion for making sure that Renton remains a place that my children and my children’s children can learn & grow safely while kid’s and live productively & prosperously as adults.
With his nomination Renton’s political environment just got healthier and Renton’s future just got a whole lot brighter, he is a leader that believes in working together as a team to achieve the collective goal of bettering our community.
So again I say congratulations to Rich and to the City of Renton for having the vision to elect a winner in every sense of the word.
Sincerely,
Ron Park
CONGRAT’S
MY GRANDFATHER WAS GENERAL RALPH W ZWICKER .. beachmaster on omaha beach and then became G-3 of all operations of 2nd ID …………. he had a son richard zwicker …………he is a DICK ……………..HOPE u r in the zwicker line of men’s men