Here are the pictures I promised from Monday Night's swearing-in ceremony. Rich had a great first meeting.

After all the campaign victory cakes, the city council retirement cakes, and the oath of office cakes, I've now eaten enough cake to last me a year. :-)

For those who did not see the council appointment at our council meeting last week, Dean Radford of the Renton Reporter has written a good play-by-play of the voting HERE.

Tonight is the night we appoint a new councilmember! If you want to learn the choice in real time, you can watch the meeting starting at 7:00 on channel 21 (or be at city hall in person).

The agenda is long tonight, so the appointment may be a while into the agenda.

It will be fun identitying the new council member, and having a full council again. I again thank all applicants for throwing their names into the ring.

(For background on this topic, including the list of applicants, click on the "council appointment" link below.)

Best Wishes,

Randy

We have eleven terrific council candidates to choose from at Monday's council meeting, to fill the vacancy left by Dan Clawson.

I wish to thank all of them for their participation in this process.

For those that have not seen the interviews yet, the interviews will be played on channel 21 during the week and they should soon be available on our city website. In addition, one of the candidates furnished us written answers to our questions (an alternative we offered for applicants with a timing conflict), and we will read her excellent answers aloud at the council meeting on Monday night.

This will not be an easy decision for any of the council members, as everyone of the applicants has unique strengths and experiences that they can offer to the council.

I am proud to have all of these eleven individuals already making a difference in our community... it was clear from the interview process that the eleven of them together are touching thousands of lives already with their engagement in Renton volunteer programs.

I have no idea whom my colleagues and I will collectively choose on Monday, but we know there is only one spot and eleven applicants.

So there will be ten who won't make it onto council on Monday, and I would like to share a little of my perspective and experience with them....

First thing to share is that when it comes time to face election, an appointment to city council is not the same thing as winning election to council. I've seen many cases of appointed candidates not winning in the first election cycle...I can think of two times that I have seen this in Renton School Board for instance. I think this is because the appointed candidate has very little time to get familiar with the responsibilities of the post while simultaneously gearing up for a campaign. They also have less time than an elected candidate to get to know people, and network with constituents, before facing the election cycle. Furthermore, they don't have the name recognition that comes from winning a previous campaign, and they are barred from saying "re-elect ......." in their campaign material and on their signs. While being the incumbent can give a slight fundraising advantage in a campaign, without being able to ask for "re-election" it may never be clear to many of the actual voters that they are the incumbent. And on the downside, even though they do not get many of the traditional advantages of incumbency, they can still catch blame for anything that is going wrong, the way everyone does in public office. While this can really seem unfair for someone who has only been in office for a year when they start- off their campaign... welcome to politics.

The second thing I wish to share is that these eleven have all already made a difference. By being available to serve, they have shown our community and our neighboring cities that we have smart people ready to step up and take the reins of our city on short notice. And they have made a difference by sharing their perspectives on some important topics, in such areas as our business plan, annexation, growth management, and spending priorities, and their opinions are important to us.

So, to all eleven who applied to this position, I wish to say thank you very much. I hope they will all see themselves as winners no matter what the outcome on Monday....that is how I see them.

Best Wishes,

Randy

I was surprised to read this news in today's Seattle Times.

I've enjoyed working with Connie Marshall in many regional transportation planning efforts. Among her many contributions, she once helped me convince the rest of the I-405 Executive Committee that the I-405/I-167 interchange deserved priority over almost everything else on I-405. She'll be missed by many.

(Bellevue will now be engaged in filling a council vacancy similarly to Renton)

Here is the story from the Times:

Former Bellevue Mayor Connie Marshall resigned from the City Council Monday night, saying she had "accomplished what I came here to do."

Marshall said her resignation would take effect after the Jan. 22 council meeting. She did not offer other reasons for her departure but said the city had become the center of culture, medicine and business on the Eastside in her 10 years on the council.


Read the complete story here

Here is the list of applicants:





1. Michael J. O'Halloran
2. Aaron Belenky
3. Mark Martinez
4. Rich Zwicker
5. Larry L. Sleeth
6. Raymond A. Giometti
7. Roxanna Johnson
8. Cheryle Haskins
9. Kimberly Unti
10. Ruth Gibbs
11. Elizabeth Stevens

It's a list of terrific, involved Renton citizens.

Out of consideration to these private citizens, and fairness to the candidate selection process, I would like to ask you to refrain from making personal, specific remarks about these candidates on my blog.

However, if you would like to make comments about the process in general, or if you have questions for me, please feel free to leave your comments.

Applications have been arriving this week for the vacant council spot. I only know a few names at this point, as I have made a point of giving this process very little thought, and not asking any questions of our city clerk, prior to seeing all the applications.

Tonight, at 4:30, we will begin reviewing the applications and talking about the process for down-selecting and making our final choice.

The meeting will be televised live on Channel 21, and be available on streaming video at the city's website, www.rentonwa.gov.

It's possible we could even make our decision tonight, although it is probably more likely that we will schedule some follow-up interviews. I can't say for sure, since I am only one of six, and I don't know how the other five feel about this.

I'll post again when I have more information.

Randy

Clawson's resignation surprises Renton council
By Karen Johnson

Times Southeast Bureau


Dan Clawson served for nearly 12 years.

In the midst of a high-profile lawsuit, Renton City Councilman Dan Clawson has resigned halfway through his third elected term in office.

He says he wants to focus more on his family and legal practice.

"It just got to be too much to keep up with things," Clawson said.

The Renton lawyer broke the unexpected news at a Dec. 10 City Council meeting.

"It was a total surprise," Councilman Don Persson said.

Clawson has spent nearly 12 years serving the city.

The Texas native was elected to office in 1995, but lost a 1999 re-election race to Persson. In 2000, he returned as an appointed member when Bob Edwards left to become a Port of Seattle commissioner. Clawson was re-elected in 2001 and 2005.

Although he is known for his avid support of affordable housing, downtown development and levee-improvement projects, much of his legacy will be marked by a lawsuit he filed in September against Denis Law, Persson, Randy Corman and Marcie Palmer.

Clawson accused his colleagues of violating the Open Public Meetings Act. Clawson said that the four council members communicated outside of council chambers before voting on an ordinance that would require builders to meet certain design standards on single-family homes, among other allegations. The four council members denied the charges.

Clawson says his resignation had nothing to do with the lawsuit, but it did create tension on the council.

"I'm kind of soured on the whole thing," Clawson said. "The political climate in Renton has turned so negative that it's almost a toxic environment."

Fellow council members said it was difficult to work on a team whose members were bickering.

"There's no question that Dan suing four members of the council doesn't work toward building positive relationships," Law said.

Clawson made no mention of the lawsuit during his resignation.

Dec. 10 was also the final meeting of outgoing councilwoman Toni Nelson and Mayor Kathy Keolker who lost her re-election bid last month to Law.

Clawson is one of three council members who endorsed Keolker.

He leaves his position Jan. 1 along with Keolker and Nelson. The City Council will appoint a replacement to fill his seat next year.

Clawson hopes his departure will help improve the atmosphere on the council. "If resigning will help them conduct more business, this will be a positive thing," he said.

Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com.

I spoke with our City's Chief Administrator and with Council Colleague Marcie Palmer today, to hammer out a formal announcement for the city website regarding the council appointment process. We think we have a pretty good plan, and a website announcement should be available by early next week (I think).

Essentially, it will clarify that council will determine the selection process at the January 7 meeting, and that the public will be able to formally apply for the position the following week. The website will give the details.

Someone wrote to my comment section in response to my last blog on this topic, and suggested this stuff all needs to be on the city website ASAP. I agree, and I thank you for the suggestion/extra push necessary to make sure it happened.

Best Wishes,

Randy

Marcie Palmer and I have spoken recently about the council appointment process. (Marcie will be Council President when the council makes this appointment, and I will be President Pro-Tem, so we are coordinating on a preferred approach)

Marcie has informed me that our city attorney has determined that, contrary to his preliminary assessment on the matter, Benson Hill residents WOULD theoretically be eligible for appointment after that are annexed on March 1. The new understanding is that for newly annexed areas the 1-year city residency requirement does not apply (as long as they have lived in the annexed area for the previous year.) However, city policy prescribed timelines would have us fill this position in January, and we are probably going to adhere to those unless there is a groundswell of support to deviate. Several citizens have pointed out that North and South Renton, West Hill, Rolling Hills, and other parts of Renton are currently not home to council members either, so it would not be fair to only consider an applicant from Benson Hill. And holding up appointments to get a Benson Hill applicant into the mix could put the final review process would give us another month or two with a missing council member, which becomes questionable policy-wise. We've not made a final decision, but I think we are pushing for a January appointment.

Marcie and I have also spoken about the tentative time-line I published earlier, which was developed by our city attorney and our City's Chief Administrator. After further review, we think we can shorten the process by a week or two, which would have us choosing an applicant in about mid-January.

Marcie and I want to hold a meeting with our attorney and chief administrator to firmly nail down a schedule, which we can then formally advertise to all interested parties. Meanwhile, many people have already expressed interest, and all of you (that the council knows about) will be notified of the formal application process.

The way things are shaping up, I expect to see somewhere around 8 to 12 strong applicants for this open position....maybe more.

Finally, I want to mention to applicants and potential applicants that Marcie and I felt it would be best if we decline one-on-one invitatations to meet with you at this time. While you are kind to offer to help us get to know you better, and we know your intentions are admirable, it could be perceived as unfair for those unable to get on our calenders. Furthermore, if you met with a majority of us, it might get close to the type of issue that Dan Clawson is alleging (falsely!) in his lawsuit.

If you have questions for me, please feel free to leave them as comments below, and I will try to get back to you quickly. As always, you can also email me and my council colleages at city hall, but going to www.rentonwa.gov.

Several citizens have recently asked about about the expected process we will use for filling the newly-identified council vacancy. These emails, from our Chief administrative officer and city attorney, will answer most of your questions. ( Read the emails by clicking here! )

There were some warm good-bye messages for our departing mayor and retiring council president tonight, as citizen remembered their combined 44 years of public service (24 for Kathy Keolker, 20 for Toni Nelson).  Then, near the end of the evening, Dan Clawson surprised everyone in attendance by announcing he was retiring from council as well, so that he could devote more time to his family and his business.  Dan has given 12 years of service as a council member.  His resignation is effective as of January 1.

All three retiring officials received standing ovations for their years of service, and they all received kind words from the public for their commitment to the city. 

I wish them all the best.

We won't meet as a council again until January 7.  At that time, we will lay out the procedure we will follow for choosing a replacement council member to fill the remaining two years of Dan's term. 

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