News from former Councilmember Randy Corman, your Renton City Hall insider. (All views expressed in journal entries are Randy Corman's personal views, and not the official position of the City of Renton or other city employees. Views expressed in reader comments are those of the commenter)

Budget discussions are going well; expected to be complete by November 17

Oct29
2008 Written by Randy Corman

In spite of the rough economy, our Renton City Budget discussions are going very well. The Mayor and city staff did an excellent job on the draft budget, and our work has been focussed and productive.

Citizens can weigh-in at public hearings on November 10 and 17, or by sending us an email (or even by commenting to me here on my blog). The budget document is online HERE.

We expect to be able to finalize the 2009 budget on November 17, almost a month ahead of the schedule we followed in other years. This will give staff a little more time to put it into motion, and give us a little more breathing room during the holiday season.

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Shannon Harvey, Prinicpal of Renton’s Cascade Elementary, wins a coveted national award

Oct29
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Congratulations to Ms. Hudson! Her performance at Cascade Elementary has been amazing.

Mayor Law briefly left our budget retreat today to represent us all at the award presentation. The council was very excited to hear the details when he rejoined us.

Here is the story in the Associated Press:

Last updated October 29, 2008 10:19 a.m. PT
Renton elementary principal wins national award

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENTON, Wash. — The principal of Cascade Elementary School in Renton is the Washington winner of a prestigious national award that comes with a $25,000 prize.

When state schools chief Terry Bergeson visited Shannon Harvey’s school on Wednesday morning, the principal thought Bergeson was giving the school a new state award. News that she won the Milken Educator Award came as a surprise.

Bergeson spoke of Harvey’s vision: her ability to keep the school running smoothly day-to-day while also achieving long-term goals. Under her leadership, Cascade has gone from 48 percent of students passing the reading test of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning to 81 percent passing the test.

Harvey has been principal at Cascade since 2004.

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Council will work on the budget all day on Wednesday

Oct28
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Denis Law delivered his first budget proposal to us last night. He did an excellent job on the presentation, and my first impression is that the budget does a good job of achieving essential levels of service in a very difficult financial year. Denis proposed a number of position freezes, in which we leave openings vacant, but has formulated a budget which appears to require no layoffs. He also has not tapped the rainy day fund; although he does take appropriate advantage of multi-year funding streams, such as equipment rental funds, to ensure the city continues to operate smoothly.

Tomorrow I am taking the day off from Boeing to spend eight hours going through the budget details with the rest of my council colleagues. We will surely have questions for the mayor, and his department heads, as we make Denis’s budget into a council budget.

I’m sure the end product will not be vastly different from what was proposed; we have been working different aspects of the proposal over the last few months, and Denis and his team have outstanding management skills and a good understanding of council priorities.

I was impressed to hear the list of things we have accomplished in 2008, even with the souring economy.

Here is Denis’s complete budget message along with highlights of his proposed budget. The total spending under this plan would be 2% higher than the 2008 budget.

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Ken Usui, a friend and colleague from Boeing, leaves us too soon

Oct27
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Ken signed the FAA submittal paperwork for all the airplane deliveries out of Renton for about ten years during the 1990’s. He was a great guy, and a nice friend. He died while dancing on October 18. I’m going to miss him.

Here is his memorial in the PI

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King 5 News: Renton Man Dies in Heroic Act

Oct26
2008 Written by Randy Corman

A Renton man helping save victims in a Califonia car accident was killed by another driver. Read the story here

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Accused sign thief identified…

Oct24
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Chares have been filed against Randall Goulet in the case of the yard sign thefts. Here are more details in the Renton Reporter.

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Pictures from the Regal theater opening at the Landing

Oct23
2008 Written by Randy Corman

The Regal Cinema at the Landing opened last week. It’s a beautiful place, with super-comfortable seats and ample free-parking in the adjacent new garage. Those of us living in Renton Highlands finally have a theater close by.

Here are a few shots from the opening event.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

READ MORE »

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Sheriff Sue Rahr says public safety is in peril; meeting in Skyway tonight

Oct22
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Sheriff Sue Rahr has been sounding the alarm that proposed King County budget cuts are putting public safety “in peril”. City council received a notice, sent to a wide range of city officials, on this topic last week.

Tonight, she is hosting a meeting in Skyway to discuss what these proposed cuts could mean to the Sheriff’s office, and to citizens who rely on King County for local police protection (unincorporated areas). This is one of four “town-meeting” style forums she is planning on this topic.

The politics are interesting, since Sheriff is an elected position– just like King County Council and King County Executive. Hence, Sheriff Rahr is on solid ground making a pitch to constituents that she needs more money or else they will see a cut in services. How this will play to the King County Council budget writers remains to be seen.

Renton City Council and Mayor Law continue to make local public safety our highest priority, and we do not anticipate any police policy shifts or noticeable service shifts as a result of the current economic downturn. Bad guys in Renton won’t be getting any slack. But the county police issues can still affect us when we travel/work/shop/etc in unincorporated areas.

Tonight’s meeting details are as follows:

October 22nd
7:00 – 8:30 pm
Skyway United
Methodist Church
11800 Renton Ave S
Seattle, WA 98178

Here is a King 5 Story with more information about the proposed cuts

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Dog Park may become a reality this time

Oct22
2008 Written by Randy Corman

After many years of discussing the pros and cons of a dog park, we finally have a proposal with real teeth 🙂

I like the work the Dog Park Task Force has done so far, and I will personally be advocating for a way to find the funds as soon as we can. I think dog license fees, which we have kept to the lowest levels in King County (ten bucks a year for spayed/neutered animals, twenty bucks for unaltered), could sustain a small increase to pay for the park. I also think the dog park would be a great way to help enforce the liscensing requirements; we should post the requirement that all dogs must be licensed to enter the park, along with information on how to obtain a license. That step might also help with revenue, since we still have non-compliant dogs out there.

Here is a Renton Reporter article about the work done so far on the dog park proposal. Click Here

My hat is off to the Dog Park Task Force, the Parks Commission, the city staff, and the Mayor, who have progressed this proposal to the council approval/funding stage. Thank you all.

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Just back from California….

Oct21
2008 Written by Randy Corman

I just got back from California, where Cathy and I were visiting many relatives.

The weather was great, and our extended family is doing fine.

I shot this cute photo of my wife sitting with her brothers and sister, with her Mom and Dad standing behind them.

You can see where Cathy gets her beauty.

Photobucket

My father-in-law’s shirt gives the picture a political touch. (California is a blue state in this election)

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A neat picture from 8th street in Bellevue

Oct20
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Artistic evening picture in Bellevue, from a local photographer…


Photo courtesy of M.V. Jantzen

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Renton’s “Film Frenzy” competition covered by Seattle Times

Oct20
2008 Written by Randy Corman

The Renton Marketing Campaign is sponsoring a “Film Frnzy” competition for budding film makers to demonstrate their skills right here on our own streets. The Seattle Times gave this nice coverage in yesterday’s paper. See the article by clicking here

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My father-in-law, a nuclear physiscist at LLNL, passed this bit of humor along to me….:-)

Oct20
2008 Written by Randy Corman

The Heaviest Element Known to Science

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of morons promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

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Trader Joes IS CONSIDERING a Renton store!!! Now’s the time to encourage them!!

Oct20
2008 Written by Randy Corman

The Mayor and Council President report that Trader Joes is seriously considering a store at the Landing right now. You can help by letting them know they are wanted!

Please click the link below, and register your support with them. Also, tell everyone in my comment section that you want to see them in town… I’ll make sure they see your comments!

Thanks,

Randy

Here is the note from the Mayor and Council President:

> It’ worth a try. Let’s get the word out!
>
> Marcie
>
> ————– Forwarded Message: ————–
> From: denislaw@comcast.net
> To: denislaw@comcast.net (Denis Law)
> Subject: Trader Joe’s
> Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:49:52 +0000
>
> We understand that the developers of The Landing are having additional
> discussions with Trader Joe’s about locating a store here in Renton, and there
> is some interest. They recommend those who would like to see a Trader Joe’s to
> fill out a simple “vote” to register your support. Feel free to encourage your
> neighbors and others to also vote:
>
> http://traderjoes.com/location_requests_form.aspx
>
> Thanks.
Denis

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Renton Police looking for suspect in sexual assault in the Highlands

Oct18
2008 Written by Randy Corman

Renton Police looking for suspect in sexual assault in the Highlands

The Renton Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a black male in his early 20s who sexually assaulted a 45-year-old Renton woman on the night of Oct. 3.

The victim told police she was assaulted at about 11:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of Sunset Boulevard Northeast by a man who got into the passenger side of her car. She had just returned to her car from a local business.

She described the suspect as a black male, 20 to 25 years old, medium height, slender build and squinty eyes. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, dark puffy jacket and saggy blue jeans.

Read the full story here

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About the author

Hi, I’m Randy Corman. Welcome to my blog!  I served on Renton City Council for 28 years, 1994-2021, with six years as Renton Council President.  I’m also a mechanical engineer and manager, and worked for the Boeing Company for 33 years, from 1984- 2017.  My wife and I have five kids and five grandkids, and we all live in Renton.  I’ve kept this blog for 17 years, and get thousands of readers each month. Please share your feedback, ideas, and opinions in the comments.

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