My wife is trying to get though the Renton Reporter survey (earlier discussion here). She is determined to win the $3000 so she can take the family to New York to see some productions on broadway that we are interested in. 🙂

Her complaint is that only about ten percent of the survey asks about the paper’s news content, and the rest is all marketing demographics.

Some of the questions are kind of leading too, in a funny way,….like this one!…

“Including groceries, what percent of your shopping dollars are spent outside of the South King County Area?”

Another good question was “which of the following animals do you own”, and one of the choices was an “alpaca”. We’re talking detail here friends! (We used to have llamas, but alpacas were a bit too exotic for us)

Still, filling out the survey is probably a good thing to do for those who can find the time. It seems like she has spent about 35 minutes on it so far, and she still has a ways to go.

And our local paper is important to our community, so we should do our best to make it better.

Here is a beautiful comment I received from a North Renton reader.

We Agree . . . Renton is Beautiful . . . .

A walk along the Cedar River as you watch the salmon, the many herons, ducks galore, an occasional bald eagle(!!) and a beaver or two enjoy what the river has to offer . . . .

A crisp fall evening as the lights from Renton Memorial Stadium fill the night, along with the roars of the football and soccer crowds . . ..

The smell of fresh vegetables and herbs at the Renton Pea Patch . . . .

A stroll along the Cedar River Trail . . . .

A gathering of friends and neighbors at the Piazza for a farmers’ market . . .

Little League and softball games at Liberty Park . . . .

A quiet reading at the main branch of Renton Public Library . . .

A noisy day at Clayton Scott Field as you watch Boeing’s jets fly away . . .

The Landing . . . The Landing . . . . The Landing . . .

Welcome to North Renton. Renton’s Finest Neighborhood.

We’ll see you soon, because we truly are the “Heart of Renton.”

Last night’s council meeting was very productive, and a lot of fun for the council.  While we accomplished much serious business, some confusion and miscues left all of us laughing….at one point so much so that Marcie Palmer was nearly in tears, and most of us had a difficult time uttering “aye” during a roll-call vote.

We all seemed to share equally in the goof-ups that lead to the laughter.  Council President Toni Nelson was sitting in for Mayor Keolker, but Toni occasionally missed her cue when someone asked for the floor by stating “Madam Mayor.”  When this happened, Toni would silently look at whoever was speaking for a few moments, and then suddenly remember that she was in-fact madam mayor.  At which time she would laugh, and we would all laugh with her.  Don Persson thought he would be helpful by referring to her as “Madam Toni,” which cracked us up even though it was a practical solution.  We had a complicated docket of resolutions, ordinances for first reading and advancement to second reading the following week, ordinances for first reading and advancement to second reading last night, and ordinances that had been read before but required a second reading last night.    At one point, I tried to help Toni with the order, only to realize I was giving her bad advice and mixing her up further, which led to another laugh.  At one point, Toni called for a roll-call vote, and then proceeded to read the roll herself, a task that the clerk typically does.  She made it though just fine, with nobody saying anything about it, but laughed out loud when I whispered a reminder to her that she could leave that to the clerk.  After that, several members mixed up one another’s names, and made some other amusing comments.  Once we were all laughing, the laughter itself made us laugh harder.  When roll-call voting, I watched as one colleague after another struggled to say “aye” when their turn came up because the were laughing too hard for the words to come out.  Since I was last, it was most difficult for me…it was  not easy to compose myself enough to vote audibly.

Through all the laughter, we managed to get a lot of important business done, and we had a nice time doing it.  We set the property tax rate for next year (1% increase over this year), we took some zoning actions, voted to maintain the current driveway width standards, selected next year’s president and president pro-tem, and took care of other miscellaneous items.  For as long as I have known her, Toni Nelson has always done a nice job of managing council meetings.  For the council members, and the audience in attendance, this meeting was a productive, nice, upbeat session after a difficult campaign season.

Click here for more information about the proposed Duvall closure, from the City of Renton Website.

And below is an email where my council colleague (And Transportation Committee chair) Marcie Palmer directs our City Transportation Administrator to your concerns expressed on my blog. READ MORE »

The Coal Creek Parkway detour entry has attracted many interesting comments. I expect we will be taking this issue up at city hall in the next week or two. I have no idea what we will do, but I value your input. Please Click Here and leave your comments, so we will know your opinion on this topic.