Marcie Palmer has my endorsement.  Click images to enlarge.

and she has put together a record sum of money for a Renton council race.

Click here to read more

We had a great time at Greg Taylor's fundraising event tonight at the Red House. Gene Sens, the owner, is an exquisite chef and a gracious host. And the conversation and fellowship was wonderful. Greg will be an excellent Renton council member.

A little later in the evening, my wife and I attended a very exciting campaign meeting at Denis Law's new downtown headquarters. The headquarters is beautiful, well-equipped, and professional. And, as usual, his campaign remains extremely organized. The senior campaign manager, Barbara Chadwick, runs excellent meetings. Having participated in countless labeling and sign making parties in rec rooms, garages, and front lawns in the past, I can say Denis's campaign has set a new standard for organizing in our city....Renton is really growing up. It was a very upbeat meeting, as doorbellers and online polls are showing Denis way out front in this race. Yay!

Dan Clawson resigned from his own neighborhood association, citing complaints about the last neighborhood picnic.  I'm not making this stuff up folks!  He leveled specific complaints against some of the neighborhood leadership.

Perhaps some of these folks may want to keep their garbage cans locked in their garage until they hear the trucks coming..

Seriously, several people have asked me whether I know how long Dan Clawson has been going through garbage cans at city hall.  Was this  something he had just done for the first time on Monday night, or has he been doing this for years?

I don't know the answer to this.  But I do know that I keep my office door open all day, so that other's at city hall can use my office as a meeting room when I am not present.  While I have absolutely nothing to hide, it never occurred to me that Dan might be going into my office and looking though my garbage until this week. 

For me, it's not so much a question of ethics or policy as it is a question of general creepiness. The only thing I remember putting in the garbage can under the council dais was my food scraps on Monday night, and what did he touch after he went through it?  And what if  I had dropped a private note from my wife or my kids into my council garbage.  Would Dan have taken this home with him?  Yikes.

Look at what his close relationship with Kathy Keolker has done to him.

Randy Holt, owner of the Future Look Hair Design barber shop in Renton, brushes off Greg Taylor after cutting his hair. Taylor is running for a position on the Renton City Council. Holt put down his roots in Renton 32 years ago, and some of his customers have been returning for decades.

Click here to see the story in the Seattle Times

As my last act as council president last December, I requested that my council secretary place all my council incoming and out-going email in an open public file, available for anyone who wants to see it for whatever reason, without need to file a complicated freedom of information request. The action was quickly embraced and repeated by Councilmembers Denis Law, and Marcie Palmer, and soon all of the council...as we set a new bar in terms of public access to council email.


Today's Seattle Times article about public email is further evidence that we did the right thing:

( click here to read the Seattle Times Story )

New picture of Marcie Palmer, taken by her husband Gary. Marcie is running for reelection to city council.

Click on the picture to enlarge it!

Click here is more information about Marcie Palmer!

Go Marcie!

When we were having the debate about whether the council should review city contracts between 20K and 50K (see my previous posting below), we were covering a lot of ground in our debate. Don Persson explained it was our duty to make sure we knew in advance where money was being committed; I agreed and pointed out we could easily and swiftly approve contracts as consent agenda items if they were provided to us in advance of our weekly council meeting. But Dan and Terry kept insisting that for the fifty annual contracts between $20,000 and $50,000, the council should not see them, and that Don and Denis and Marcie and I must simply be untrusting. I went on to point out that often the issue is priorities more than trust, e.g. when we spend money for new economic development studies it should be for areas of interest to the council....the mayor and staff may not know what we want. The debate went back to Terri, Don, Dan, and Denis a few times, and then I began asking for the floor again but not getting recognized. Then the mayor recognized Toni, who said that our finance director does a good job keeping receipts (which is true, but a bit beside the point), but then she closed by saying something unfortunate along the lines that we must just all be idiots, and she "called for the question."

The mayor smiled and tried to end the debate, but I did not intend to be denied my opportunity to speak or to let the idiot comment go unresolved. So I declared a point of order, and pointed out that "calling for the question" does not stop debate by itself...it is a motion that must pass in order to stop the debate. Dan Clawson, an attorney and council member immediately responded that I was wrong, as did our city attorney. I reached for my guide on Roberts Rules of Order, stood up to present the facts to the city attorney, who could now tell by my demeanor that she must be mistaken. The chambers quieted down as the city attorney read from her copy, while I read along silently on mine; calling for the question needed a "second," and a two-thirds vote to pass. The attorney then declared the motion which called for the question dead for lack of a second. I then asked for the floor, but before the mayor recognized me, Terry Briere called "second", and the mayor recognized her "second" even though the motion was already dead.



While I rightfully should have had the floor, I did not make a fuss because I knew the motion would not get two-thirds of the council's approval after the majority had all just been called idiots.

So, we took a vote on the "call for the question," which predictably received three yes votes, and four no votes...my colleagues were ready to let me finish my comments. But instead of declaring the motion dead, the mayor asked the clerk to determine whether she had the necessary two-thirds vote to end debate! I guess the math got away from her...she was not sure if 3/7 was as high as 2/3! The clerk sighed and said, no, the motion did not get two-thirds of the council's support. At this point my patience was growing thin, and I asked for the floor one more time. The mayor, looking angrily frustrated, panned around the council seemingly looking for some way she could change the situation so that I would not be allowed to speak....I felt like if there were a fire alarm lever behind her she may have pulled it. I asked again for the floor, pointing out I had now counted four times in a row that she refused to recognize me even though the majority of council members would have liked to hear what I had to say five minutes earlier. Crestfallen, she finally recognized me "...Misssterrrr Cooorrrrman..."

I kept my comments brief, pointing out that none of the council were idiots, and that all all seven of us have made valuable contributions to contract language in the past. We can improve these contracts, and give service to the taxpayers, merely by the seven of us taking a look at them in our council packets. This was not an issue of winning or losing power so much as a way to use eight elected officials to the taxpayers full advantage. Toni Nelson then clarified that she had not meant to call us idiots, and Don's motion to review the contracts passed 5 to 2 on a roll-call vote. Yay!

For those of you who watched the council meeting Monday night, where Councilman Persson asked that council begin reviewing and approving all the city contracts between $20,000 and $50,000 in value, here are the RCWs that govern. Marcie Palmer, Denis Law and I all backed Don, as Don pointed out that the mayor's office has been approving 50 of these a year, adding up to anywhere from one million to two and a half million dollars. As chair of Finance, Don wanted direct oversight of this spending, something that councilmembers Terri Brier and Dan Clawson did not want council to have. Warning: Possibly BOR-ING to those who don't like legalese...

Again, here are the RCWs:
( Read more... )

There will not be a council meeting tomorrow night because it is the fifth Monday of the month. Instead, most of us will be attending Marcie Palmer's campaign open house at Councilman Don Persson's beautiful home on Renton Hill. You are all invited to join us!

It will be a terrific event, and will give everyone a chance to get to know Marcie better if they have not had an opportunity to visit with her yet.

Here is the invite off of her website:


Renton Citizens to Re-Elect Marcie Palmer Open House
Monday, July 30th, 2007 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Dear Friends:

I am asking you to join me and my campaign team--Renton Citizens to Re-Elect Marcie Palmer--at an open house being sponsored by the campaign at the home of Don and Vicky Persson on Monday, July 30th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Stop by for some light refreshments and take a moment to meet with me and let me know what issues facing Renton are important to you. This information will be invaluable to me as I continue my campaign to retain my seat on the Renton City Council.

Don and Vicky live on Renton Hill at 538 Renton Avenue South. Parking is down the alley at the rear of the house. You can reach us at their place the day of the open house at 206-579-8804.

There's nothing to bring (but your financial support of my campaign is always appreciated). I look forward to seeing you and we would greatly appreciate it if you plan on attending to please let us know by July 23rd by sending an e-mail to info@Palmer2007.com.

Many thanks,

Marcie Palmer
and Renton Citizens to Re-Elect Marcie Palmer

For more information visit www.marciepalmer.com

Here is a cute story from the Seattle PI. Congratulations to Haben Abraham and her family, and to Marcie Palmer who scheduled Haben for her big show!

( Read more... )

Don found out that his one opponent has withdrawn, so Don has in-effect won re-election to Renton City Council.

This will be great for Renton. This will also save both Don and I quite a bit of work, and allow us to focus on assisting some other Renton races we care about.

I never object to anyone challenging an incumbent for public office per our democratic process, but I feel strongly that Don clearly had earned re-election. He remains completely in touch with the citizens that have elected him twice before, and he is an all-around great guy.

Congratulations Don Persson!

Don Persson has been a very positive force on Renton City Council in his two terms of service. He knows the Renton Community better than just about anyone, thanks to his growing up in our community, raising his family in the Renton area, serving three decades in the Renton Police Department (including leadership as Deputy Chief), and eight years service as a Renton Councilman, all accompanied by extraordinary community volunteer work throughout his life.

Don watches the budget extremely carefully, and works hard to make sure Renton residents get good value for every penny spent by the City of Renton. He does not hesitate to ask very detailed questions to ensure that nothing gets past him, a quality which I'm sure also served him well in his police work.

He serves on numerous regional boards and commissions, and works cooperatively with other jurisdictions to build cohesive regional plans. But the other cities' representatives know that Don is no push-over...he will not agree to any plan that does not give fair value to the citizens of Renton. He won't compromise our city's interests for anyone, and he is quick to keep the rest of the council informed about issues that could negatively impact us.

Even though he can be firm when he needs to be, Don conducts all his work with charm and grace. He has a sparkling sense of humor, and warm compassion for people in need. He's resolved some requests that come to city council by simply reaching into his own wallet and generously supporting the less fortunate.

He is so well loved by this community that he is one of our city's most sought-after volunteers. I suspect that if he didn't have his family and city pulling on him, he would be grilling chicken, salmon, hot dogs, and hamburgers for different community groups every day of the year.

I have the honor of serving as Don's campaign manager, and I enthusiastically ask all my readers to vote for him in November.

I enthusiastically endorse my colleague and friend Marcie Palmer in her bid for re-election to Renton City Council.

Marcie is an extraordinarily diligent and effective council member. She always does her homework, putting in long hours studying the issues and interviewing the community. She gathers input from citizens constantly, maintaining a meticulous understanding of the feelings and concerns of those who elected her.

Marcie is a problem solver. She is known for her ability to gather parties together and work though differences, often finding common ground that no one else believed could be found. As Chair of the City's Transportation Committee, she is currently working hard on a number of transportation concerns including noise and development issues at the Renton Municipal Airport.

Marcie also represents us in regional transportation planning, to help make sure Renton gets a fair share of State and Federal transportation dollars. She is independent minded, and will not hesitate to vote against the status quo when she knows she is right...a most important quality for your elected officials.

She is a wise steward of tax dollars, and is concerned about those in need in our community. As a result, she works hard on council and in her volunteer projects to make sure everyone is taken care of.

With all this work, she still manages to spend lots of time with her family by including them in so many of her activities. Her talented photographer husband Gary accompanies her to many city functions, and keeps the City of Renton and Chamber of Commerce supplied with high quality photographs for their websites. And Marcie helps in her children's classes, and brings them to city and volunteer events whenever she can.

I ask all my readers to vote for Marcie in November, and to join me in working hard to support her campaign.

Please click here to visit Marcie's website. You can learn more about her, and see how you can help her campaign."

Some photos of Marcie:



Marcie with her family...she worked very hard to try to save the dinner train





Marcie and I helping serve lunch at the Hichlands Community Association Picnic




Marcie tells venerated Boeing Test Pilot Clayton Scott, and hundreds his family and friends gathered for his 100th birthday, that Renton is naming our airport in his honor




Marcie pitching in with Salvation Army




Marcie helping the schools




Consoling a citizen who lost her home in the windstorm




As community leader...speaking at the Piazza

At the council meeting a week ago, the Renton City Council debated passing a resolution concerning the Sonics Arena.

( you can read about the debate and the wording of the proposed resolution by clicking here )