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Friday, DEcEMber 7, 2012
To annex? Auburn, Pacific plan for possibility By ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com
Auburn’s mayor will sign a joint letter of intent with the City of Pacific to annex that city and send the letter to the Boundary Review Boards of King and Pierce counties. The hope, Auburn leaders said Monday night, is to buy the troubled City of Pacific time to solve its problems – that is, to acquire and keep its insurance so it can stave off disincorporation or annexation. “What we’re really hoping … is to continue to work on a pretty much daily basis with the City of Pacific to see if we can lend what aid and support we can to get them to have insur-
Pacific residents sound off By SHAWN SKAGER sskager@auburn-reporter.com
Pacific residents had an opportunity to voice their opinions about possible annexation to Auburn at a special City Council meeting Monday. Citizens packed the city gymnasium, where the council conducted a workshop and a public hearing on a proposed resolution asking neighboring Auburn to annex troubled Pacific, which could lose its insurance coverage come Jan. 1. [ more PACIFIC page 3 ]
ance, to continue their council, to continue their city,” said Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis. While the preference is to have the 103-year-old city south
of Auburn continue on its own, Lewis added, Auburn, by signing the letter of intent, preserves [ more AUBURN page 3 ]
Pacific Mayor Cy Sun walks away after confronting a Committee to Recall Cy Sun supporter at Monday’s special meeting at the city gym. Sun later left the meeting after his address to the audience was stopped on a point of order. SHAWN SKAGER, Auburn Reporter
City seeks ways to fund streets
Two charged in connection with drive-by shooting BY ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com
The King County Prosecutor has charged an Auburn woman and her boyfriend with unlawful possession of firearms after a drive-by shooting in the late morning hours Nov. 28 that wounded her ex-boyfriend while he was parked in her driveway. King County Prosecutor’s spokesman Dan Donohoe said no decisions have been made to date about charging Tanya Jean Sarden, 34, or Jordan Parr, 23, with assault. Bail for is set at $500,000 for each. According to the Auburn Police affidavit for probable cause, which forms the basis for the charges, the terrified 5-year-old son of the wounded man and of Sarden hunkered down in the back seat of his father’s car as the bullets flew. He was not hurt. [ more SHOOTING page 4 ]
By ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com
CAPTURING HOLIDAY SPIRIT Girl Scouts join the Santa Parade down Auburn’s Main Street last Saturday, part of the holiday festivities that culminated with the lighting of the City Hall Christmas Tree in the City Hall Plaza. Kaylee Williams, 4, right, makes a Christmas ornament at a Snack and Craft event at Washington Elementary School prior to the downtown parade.
bravo RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
AveKids: Brian Vogan and His Good Buddies Rockin’ in a Winter Wonderland | December 15, 2 pm | $6, Auburn Ave. Theater An Inspirational Christmas with Elvis | Dec. 15, 7:30 pm & Dec. 16, 2 pm | $20/$18, Auburn Ave. Theater
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Money from the state and federal government that once helped cities like Auburn build local streets and maintain what they already had has dried up since the Great Recession hit in late 2008. This past April the City put forward a $59 million bond measure it had hoped would fill the gap left by the lack of state and federal revenue. And Auburn voters thumped the measure down. Today, as time and traffic continue to wear Auburn’s streets down, members of the City’s Municipal Services Committee are wrestling with
that big question – where to find the revenue? Members have been tinkering with various options for big city corridors: chip sealing or rebuilds here; thick or thin overlays there. As to revenue, they’ve been studying various combinations of fee increases on the residential customer side, of possible new taxes on the business side, combinations that strike the proper ratio between each. Committee members recently got a look at maps presenting two different build-and-fix scenarios showing what streets will look like five years on. [ more STREETS page 3 ]
Tickets: www.auburnwa.gov/arts | 253-931-3043