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RENTON
FRIDAY, DEC. 25, 2015
A changing of the guard BY BRIAN BECKLEY, bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
D
uring its last meeting of the year on Dec. 14, the Renton City Council bid farewell to two members who are retiring at the end of their current terms. Both Marcie Palmer and Greg Taylor opted not to run for reelection this summer, bringing an end to both of their legislative careers with the city, though both pledged to stay active, but in new roles. “I’m still going to be around!” joked Palmer. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easy!” In lieu of a committee of the whole meeting prior to the final meeting of the year, the council hosted a small reception for the outgoing members, which was attended by family, friends, city staff and current and former council members. Palmer and Taylor were also each presented with a small, glass token of appreciation for their time on the council. Palmer served three terms, Taylor served two. Outgoing Council President Ed Prince thanks each member for their service, saying the council always appreciated Palmer’s tendency to put resident needs at the fore of every move she mad eon the council and praised Taylor’s commitment to openness and transparency. Outgoing councilwoman Both of the outgoing members thanks the public Marcie Palmer shares a joke with for their support and said while neither ever a staff member during a reception expected to find themselves on the city council, last week while Greg Taylor, right, they did their best to make the right decisions, even displays the gift the council gave when they were hard ones. each outgoing member. “I appreciate the trust the resident put in me,” [ more OUTGOING page 3]
PERFECT HOME | Kathleen Aerts finds a perfect place to live at Vantage Point [6]
Newly elected hospital commissioner faces PDC probe Dr. Chris Monson pledged to not accept office, did not file paperwork, but won BY DEAN A. RADFORD dradford@rentonreporter.com
Dr. Chris Monson, who wrote a letter in June to the Public Disclosure Commission that he would not accept the office if elected, will be sworn in as a Public Hospital District No. 1 commissioner Jan. 4. “If elected, I will not accept the office,” he wrote in the June 23 letter. Monson, an eye surgeon, was on vacation last week and the Renton Reporter couldn’t reach him for comment on his intentions before its print deadline this week. But district commissioner Dr. Paul Joos, who is one of Monson’s partners in their medical practice, said in an interview last week that Monson will be sworn in on Jan. 4. [ more HOSPITAL page 3 ]
BRIAN BECKLEY, Renton Reporter
Voters to decide fate of fire department in April election Council approves Regional Fire Authority ballot measure that would change financing structure and control of fire services And now it will be up to the voters. The City Council on Dec. 14 unanimously passed an ordinance placing plans for the Regional Fire Authority on the April ballot, combining the Renton Fire Department and King County Fire District 25 into the Renton regional Fire Authority, complete with it its own ability to control its revenue stream and, perhaps more importantly, to
reduce response times across the system. “Ultimately, it’s about protecting people, their property and their lives,” Chief Mark Peterson said during a public hearing. “Without additional funding it’s going to impact the service delivery we’re providing today.” The measure requires a 60 percent approval total across both districts. The City and Council have been working on the plan for about two years. If approved, it will remove the fire department from the city’s control and budget and give
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“We will need to manage that gap,” said Administrative Services Administrator Iwen Wang during a presentation that preceded the hearing. Wang and Peterson both highlighted the need for providing the fire department with its own revenue stream by talking about the cuts that have been made over the past several years as the city has dealt with a recession and the effects of Tim Eyman’s voter-approved initiative that capped revenue increases at 1 percent, no matter what happens on the expenditure side, where contractual obligations and inflation often rise at a faster rate. Peterson said the department has been [ more RRFA page 5 ]
206-949-1696 info@MarcieMaxwell.com www.MarcieMaxwell.com
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BY BRIAN BECKLEY bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
the new authority the ability to go directly to voters for revenue. It will also create a new way of funding fire service in the area, changing from a purely assessed value model to one that includes a “fire benefit charge,” based on the size and nature of the structure on a property. The city and fire department also promise that if approved a new fire station in the Kennydale neighborhood would finally be built to help deal with the rising response times in that area. A Regional Fire Authority would also free up city revenues to be used for other needs as the city continues to look for ways to deal with a projected budget gap in 2017.