Boeing, jobs | A six-point plan to strengthen aerospace industry in King County [3]
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FRIday FEBRUARY 17/12
renton
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MAKING A STAND IN NORTH RENTON
Jerry Lee
George Daniels
Levies pass; bond to build middle school was in doubt By DEAN A. RADFORD
Sally Daniels
dradford@rentonreporter.com
By TRACEY COMPTON tcompton@rentonreporter.com
To Jerry Lee, the North Renton neighborhood is the center of the universe. It’s home to the world’s best-selling aircraft, early 1900s houses that families have modernized, shopping and entertainment at The Landing and recreation off the shores of Lake Washington at Gene Coulon Park. Lee has lived all over Washington state but says nothing compares to his community that he’s called home for seven years. Now if he could only get Trader Joe’s, the popular grocery-store chain, to see the promise he sees in the community and move into the area, he would be content, Lee said. Different people have their own ideas about how North Renton should be developed.
Cathy Matthew and her husband Jim led an effort in North Renton to bring unity to the neighborhood by flying the American Flag. tracey compton, Renton Reporter
North Renton
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The Renton Reporter today continues its special report on efforts by the City of Renton and the residents themselves to improve the quality of life in this venerable neighborhood between downtown and Kennydale. Today, we profile the neighborhood and explore the aspirations that city officials and residents themselves have for North Renton.
The neighborhood has been the backdrop to Boeing’s roll out of record-breaking numbers of 737s and to eating establishments’ run-ins with the police and the Washington state Liquor Control Board. Like any community, North Renton has its pluses and minuses. To hear the people who live there tell it, the community is an up and
coming area. This, they say, despite the fact that there are some dilapidated homes, slumlords and mismanagement of some commercial properties. Resident Cathy Matthew believes there is and can be greater community in the neighborhood. She started a community-building project last fall with her husband Jim that has homeowners flying American Flags from their properties to evoke a sense of patriotism and unity in the neighborhood. “This area particularly has had some issues with some rental houses, where people aren’t really responsible about who they rent to,” Matthew said. The problem was so bad they actually [ more north renton page 7 ]
206.949.1696 www.marciemaxwell.com Marcie Maxwell Associate Broker, Realtor & CRS
Lisa Lam
Realtor, CRS, ABR & ASP
578109
With a sense of pride, place, North Renton is building a community
Renton school officials were considering their options this week following the likely failure of a $97 million bond measure to build a new middle school. The bond measure needs a 60 percent yes vote for passage. The yes vote climbed slightly after Wednesday’s tally to 57.17 percent. Randy Matheson said Wednesday that overcoming a three-percent deficit was “highly unlikely.” One option for the school board is to place the bond measure on the April 17 special election ballot, the last election until the August primary election. But to do so it would need to act at its Feb. 29 meeting to meet the deadline, Matheson said. Two levies, the replacement maintenance and operations levy and the technology levy, were winning handily with a roughly 60 percent yes vote after Wednesday’s count. “We had a clear message from voters that the two levies are important,” said Matheson, noting they pay for day-to-day operations and for technology. But it was clear from the results, Matheson said, that voters didn’t want to proceed with building or renovating schools. The school board has to balance that with the district’s “great needs,” he said. The total vote for the technology levy initially fell about 1,100 votes short of the total for the other levy and bond, likely because voters didn’t notice it on the back page of the ballot, Matheson said. The district learned of its location after ballots were mailed; volunteers in their calls urged voters to turn over their ballots.