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Rubber ducks race under our beautiful and iconic Cedar River Library in the 2019 Rubber Ducky Derby, raising money for children’s charities. Courtesy Gary Palmer
Today a newer resident told me that they heard that all of Renton City Council had once tried to move the library off of the Cedar River. This is simply not correct. Three of us on Council– Marcie Palmer, Greg Taylor, and I– put up a tireless battle to keep the library right where it is over the river. Of the three of us that fought to keep it in its rightful spot, I’m the only one still in public office.
The controversy arose shortly after King County Library System (KCLS) took over the management of Renton’s Library System, and needed Renton to either remodel the existing library or build a new library of approximately the same size. Three of us on Council wanted to remodel, and the other four wanted to build a new library at the Piazza. After weeks of debate and public comment, the three of us were out-voted.
The public was so upset by the decision that Renton resident Stuart Avery prepared and circulated a formal election petition to put Proposition 1 on the ballot to reverse the council’s decision. I signed his petition along with thousands of Renton’s voters, far more than the number of signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.
But City Council had to place the proposition on the ballot, and the council members that voted to move the library argued that the Proposition was too late. They and our city attorney argued that since contracts had already been signed with KCLS, there was no going back. I argued back that we had to put the Proposition on the ballot, and any questions about existing contracts or constitutionality had to be decided by the courts after the voters made their decision; there was no place in the process for the city council to make a legal decision about constitutionality of a citizen’s proposition. I documented my arguments here. I ultimately convinced the Mayor and the majority of the council that I was right on this legal point, and the issue went to the ballot. I helped ensure the ballot title was fair and that the ballot wording was also fair and that the community had input.
Marcie, Greg and I then joined with Stuart Avery and many other volunteers to launch the Save The Cedar River Library campaign. We did all the normal campaign stuff, flyers, shirts, doorbelling, a River Days Booth, and even a parade entry back when our parade overflowed with political entries. I also assisted the campaign by analyzing cost data and other issues, and sharing my findings in a dozen or so journal entries like this one on cost and this one on size.
Former Mayor Don Custer, who had been Mayor in the 1966 when the library was built, joined us for the exuberant victory party at Marcie Palmer’s house on election night, August 7, 2012. When the returns came in at 8:15 PM, 76 percent of Renton residents agreed the library should remain over the Cedar River. The margin was so overwhelming that the battle over the library’s location ended that night. KCLS agreed not to raise objections to writing new contracts with Renton, and our iconic library was saved for future generations.
To see all my blog entries on this topic click here
Photo courtesy of Gary Palmer
Nice to see that you, who I hope gets elected, helped Renton decently in the past!
Here’s a link to Gary Palmer’s photos of the Celebration at our home as the election results came in (including former Mayor Don Custer):
