On Monday we celebrated a dedication of a bench and a plaque at City Hall, in memory of former mayor Jesse Tanner. Jesse and I were friends for many years, and I have written some of my memories in other entires here.

Many Renton officials, past officials, current and retired city staff, family members, friends of Jesse, and citizens were on hand for the beautiful sunny afternoon dedication.

Thanks to all of you who turned out, and the many more of you who were there in spirit.

Here are my photos from the event.



Plaque in Memory of Jesse Tanner


Jesse Tanner's family tries out the bench




Jesse Tanner bench can be seen over this wall, at City Hall


( See more photos by clicking here )

Councilmember received this note from Mayor Law's office. I'm super-glad we are holding this ceremony, and grateful to Denis Law for making the arrangements. (Click the "Jesse Tanner" Tag below to read about some of Jesse Tanner's accomplishments)

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Hi Councilmembers!
Please mark your calendars for the bench dedication and reception honoring former Mayor Jesse Tanner on Monday, Sep 8, 2:00-3:30pm. The bench will be located on the "patio" at the bottom of the City Hall stairs. Reception (weather permitting) will be on the lawn area also located at the bottom of the stairs. (If weather is bad, reception will be in the Conferencing Center.)

You'll be getting an "official" invitation soon, but wanted you to get this on your calendars as soon as possible.

thanks! april

Many people have heard me compliment the late former Mayor Jess Tanner for his executive management abilities. He made it look easy to run a city.It helped that he had been in charge of a Federal workforce of four-thousand FAA personnel before Renton voters wisely put him into service as our mayor in 1995 (for about $64,000 per year).

But many people do not know about Jesse Tanner's extraordinary technical skills, which added to his ability to get amazing projects accomplished. For your amusement and enlightenment, I have attached 5 patents that Jess was very proud of, all of which he was the sole inventor. They all saved lives and/or made travel more comfortable. The last one below he invented in his "aviation retirement" years, during his mayoral campaign of 1995. I remember going to his home to talk about the latest campaign mailer, and he would literally say "forget about that, let me show you my latest invention." Then he would take me through computer diagrams and text to show how he was continuing to make air travel safer and more efficient.

We are really missing his technical and management skills at the Renton Airport right now, as more and more tenants are lawyering-up as they understandably become frustrated and combative about leases and expansion issues. This was extremely apparant at yesterday afternoon's transportation committee meeting. I'll cover this topic in more detail when I get an okay from the city attorney. Meanwhile, suffice it to say we really miss Jess Tanner right now.

















Read more about Jesse Tanner by clicking the link below.

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Nomination for Jesse Tanner


Renton's Citizen of the Year has historically been awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to making our community a better place to live and work. Mayor Jesse Tanner, during his many years of service on behalf of Renton citizens, made a positive mark on this community that will benefit Renton for generations. For his enduring contributions, we feel Mayor Tanner is a strong candidate for Citizen of the Year.

Born in Sandersville, Georgia on April 11, 1927, Jesse was a war veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, and later earned his Master’s Degree in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkley. He retired from the Federal Aviation Administration as deputy director of the Northwest Region after nearly 34 years of service. Jesse passed away on February 6, 2007.

Jesse cared about Renton and devoted many years working to make it a better place to live, work and raise our families. After serving six years on the Renton City Council, Jesse was elected mayor of Renton in 1996. During his two terms in office, he lead a dedicated city staff to implement significant changes in the way the city conducted business, which resulted in the major redevelopment projects of recent years and literally put Renton on the map as a place to do business. It was under his leadership that many of the public centers and additional city services we enjoy today were built. This includes the new Henry Moses Aquatic Center; the IKEA Performing Arts Center; City Center Parking Garage; the Pavilion Building; Piazza Park; Veterans Memorial Park; a new Highlands Neighborhood Center; Fire Stations 12 and 14; the Renton Transit Center, and Skate Park. In addition, it was during his tenure that Renton City Hall was relocated to its new home and the very popular Neighborhood Program and Renton Farmer’s Market were launched.

As Mayor, Jesse was a tireless supporter and promoter of Renton. He was behind the slogan “Renton, ahead of the curve.” He led a city government that oversaw major investments as part of the jumpstart to a long-awaited redevelopment of downtown. This included bringing IKEA and Fry’s to Renton.

Jesse also devoted time to making sure the city government served the citizens of Renton better. He reorganized city hall to merge long-range planning and economic development departments. This improvement to the way city government operated helped bring Michael Christ's Southport to Renton; facilitated Paul Allen's purchase of a large tract of land on Lake Washington that will be the home of the Seattle Seahawks; and enabled Boeing's development agreement on their surplus property which set The Landing in motion.

As Mayor of Renton and a city councilman, Jesse was a dedicated and tireless public servant. He worked to ensure that city government better served the day-to-day needs of the citizens of Renton. He also worked to ensure that the citizens of Renton have a better tomorrow. Jesse put forth a vision for the future that we now see turning into reality. For his years of work serving his community and his leadership, we ask that you consider Mayor Jesse Tanner as Renton's Citizen of the Year for 2007.

Janice Tanner
Donna Youngblood (Jesse's daughter)
Debbie Hanson (Jesse's daughter)
DeAnna Schukar (Jesse's daughter)

It takes a lifetime for us to reunite with our loved ones when they pass. But what takes us an entire lifetime to achieve in order to meet our God, happens in a blink of an eye to them.

( Read more... )

Jesse Tanner's Memorial Service

Cathy, Andy and I attended Jesse Tanner's memorial service today. The service was held in our church, St Mathews Lutheran, not far from our home. Kirby Unti (our loving, popular pastor who reminds us of Garrison Keillor) performed the service; he was assisted by two of Jesse's grandchildren, our City Executive Jay Covington, and Renton's Events Coordinator Sonya Maylander (who sang a beautiful solo -"How Great though Art"). The speakers all did a wonderful job of describing Jesse's life, and sharing many memories. I was laughing and crying during the service, as I so often do when Kirby performs a celebration of someone's life.

After the service, Cathy and I joined the police-escorted procession to Greenwood Cemetary, for the graveside memorial. There, in a light rain, Jesse was given a 21 gun salute by the Veterans of Foreign wars, as well as a flag ceremony by the police honor guard. Kirby also lead a prayer service.

Lastly, we attended a reception in the Spirit of Washington Pavillion Events center downtown, the building Jesse and I and others had worked so hard to save and remodel. The sunny, bright setting, with its 1930's era bow-truss wooden ceilings and warm interior was a beautiful venue for Jesse's reception. There was again lots of story sharing and celebrating of Jesse's life. Along with Jess's wonderful family and many friends, and many diginitaries from the city, I had a chance to see others I have not seen in a while. My old friend and campaign manger Dan Lynch, who also managed Jesse Tanner's successful Mayoral election campaign, sat with us during the service. (Dan is actively raising his young family in Woodinville now, so we do not see him enough) Bob Edwards, my first council office partner, and current Seattle Port Commisioner sat with Cathy and I, and swapped home-schooling stories. We also enjoyed visiting with former mayor Don Custer, a funny charming man who sold us our duplex in Renton highlands. And Rob McKenna, State Attorney General, came down from Olympia to attend the service. And so many other friends...just too many to mention.

Janice Tanner was so kind and so brave, and my heart breaks for her--she loves her husband so much. Jesse's grandson Brandon, who brought us all to tears during the service, was also fun to visit with....Jesse was so proud of Brandon when he ran with the Olympic torch some years ago, and Brandon had been one of Katie's swim teachers.

We also met Jesse daughter Linda, a Texas resident who has become a successful author and sold a script to hollywood in a million dollar deal. Even though she and I had never met, she knew me by reputation, telling me how much I had meant to her dad. ( My eyes are tearing up as I write this).

Jess Tanner meant a lot to me and this city. I will miss him very much. He's probably working on some economic expansion plan in Heaven right now, making it a better place for when we all see him again.

Thanks for all the memories Jesse...we love you.

Jesse (second from left) at the ground breaking for the downtown Piazza
My dear friend Jesse Tanner has passed away. Jesse and I served together for two years on council followed by eight more years while he was mayor and I was a councilman.

While Jesse was mayor, the city moved car dealerships out of downtown to the new auto-mall on Grady way, and then built the downtown piazza and pavilion events center to attract new condominium construction and residents downtown. Jesse personally pushed hard for the building of the new Henry Moses Aquatic center, as well as the downtown Veterans Memorial. He was mayor during construction of the IKEA Performing arts center (a joint venture with the community and school district), the downtown parking garage, the new city hall and police station, and two new fire stations. His advocacy and marketing of our city lead to Paul Allen purchasing the lakefront property which will soon be the Seahawks headquarters. Jesse started the city's sidewalk replacement program, and the neighborhood grant program, both extremely popular to this day. His last major action as mayor, in 2003, was to put the development agreement in place with Boeing to set the stage for the Landing, where we all look forward to shopping next holiday season.

Jesse also cared about taxpayers and ratepayers. Jesse did not raise any of our utility rates for the first seven straight years he was mayor, and in his final year he only increased one rate, for sewers, by 3%. He constantly looked for ways to bring more shopping to Renton so that would could collect more sales tax, instead of property tax, to fund our improvments.

During the years Jesse was mayor, he and I made sure we met for lunch at a local restaurant at least once each month. During these lunches he would share with me all of the great plans he had for our city. He was a consummate problems solver, applying his experience in transporation engineering and executive management to the betterment of our city. He was also a dedicated family man, delighting in his wife Janice, his children, and his many grandchildren. I considered him a champion to our community, a great friend, and a trusted mentor. I will dearly miss him.

Renton is going to be seeing some BIG changes over the next few years. Your town will become fancier and cleaner, while keeping its cool and historic heritage. Think Fremont in Seattle, with some Kirkland Carillon Point stuff thrown in for those special occasions.

Here are some of the things you are not yet hearing much about, but are on the way.

The Seahawks training facility has broken ground, and unlike the current Kirkland site, it will offer fans an opportunity to watch the Hawks play.

The Sonics are still seriously looking at Renton...the team's new owners say they want to keep the team in the Seattle area. They are looking at over twenty sites, and three or four of them are here in Renton.

The Landing Urban Villiage is really coming along fast, and tenants (businesses, restauraunts, etc) are getting really excited about it. The first stores will be open in less than a year.

The Landing bumps right into a growing residential/restaurant/business/hotel development project on the Lakefront, known as Southport, which is in a new building phase.
Between Southport, the Landing, and Coulon Park we will have one of the coolest beach recreation areas/gathering spots in the Northwest, second only to Alki in the summer time.

The new Logan Avenue, which will run through the heart of the Landing, will provide a brand new four lane boulevard directly from Renton Highlands (I405 Exit 5) to the historic downtown, and will be lined with new businesses and hang-outs. Logan will enable you to get off the freeway and head straight for downtown without the rats-maze of streets we deal with now.

On the other end of the downtown, near the Fred Meyer, we will be spending 50 MILLION DOLLARS of Sound Transit money (That's 1000 dollars per city resident ) on street improvements to FINALLY make Rainier Avenue wider and prettier, and to widen and realign Hardie Avenue which runs behind Fred Meyer. Hardie will no longer do a goofy loop-te-do behind Fred Meyer, with the crazy three way stop-yield thing, and will instead go stright to a new intersection onto Martin Luther King Way. This will shift mucho traffic from Rainier onto Hardie, and make Rainier a nicer business street. We are even considering doing away with some of the one-way street confusion.

All the transportation improvements in downtown, combined with zoning that allows multi story buildings with stores on the ground floor and apartments above, mean lots of new business, restaurants, and residents in our downtown. And lots of cool new people to make friends with. Maybe downtown will finally be open after five o'clock again, like it was in its Renton-loop era heyday of the 60s (but without the cruising). In 2007 the city council will be studying ways to improve the pedestrian and business connection between the Landing and downtown...so very cool.

We are already seeing land values increasing and big new projects coming in for permits downtown, and builders have more enthusiasm than we have seen in many years. There will be lots of condominums available to those of you that are looking for buying opportuinties. Many new condos are in planning right now, and several of the newer apartment buildings in downtown are undergoing conversion to condominiums (from apartments). This is a postive change, because it reflects that more people want to buy property in downtown Renton.

And yay! The old parts of Renton Highlands are finally getting the renovation thay have long needed. Land values under the World War II duplex units have increased to ONE MILLION DOLLARS PER ACRE, about four or five times what the land was worth in the mid 90s. Thanks to this increase in value, we are about to see significant revitalization in the Renton Highlands, with many new homes, shops, restaurants, and other great places to visit, meet friends, and hangout. The development pressure is so great in this area that we are rushing to get new zoning in place before the end of 2006, and we have a citizens committee meeting twice per week to make sure we get the nicest redevelopment possible without pushing you out of your current homes! Overall, this will give us a much safer, prettier, and more fun Renton Highlands.

There are many, many other projects in work right now, but I can't name them all. For instance, there is an all-new neighborhood park in the highlands, a new 100 acre wetland/bird sanctuary in the valley with a two-mile paved nature trail, the Jimi Hendrix House/Museum, and many other cool businesses that are still in the planning stages.

Builders and investers are so confident in our little town, that Conner Homes development just broke ground on a new housing project near Coulon Beach where they will build 147 houses, ranging in price from one to three million dollars! It is expected that several of the Seattle Seahawks will be buying homes here.

So, be proud to live here. Renton is a happening place, and we are about to get more than our fair share of prosperity. My advice to you, my Renton friends, is to consider buying some real estate in our blossoming town, so you can enjoy your environment AND cash-in! We have a bright future!