City Government

Burien City Council meetings will remain on Monday nights as they have for more than 10 years.

At the recent council retreat, lawmakers talked about changing the meeting day to accommodate city staff.

However, at the Feb. 6 regular council meeting, City Manager Mike Martin said staff members appreciated the lawmakers’ concerns but “respectfully, I ask that you drop (the idea) unless council has strong feelings about it.”

Councilman Jack Block Jr. noted, “This brouhaha is my fault.”
He said he believes that bad government begins with complacency so lawmakers should always explore new ways to serve the public. Block said that he felt that after having a weekend off, it might be burdensome for staff members to have a long day on Monday attending the evening council meetings.

After Martin requested the matter be dropped, Block said, “I would just as soon withdraw it.”

Councilwoman Lucy Krakowiak said her public service commitments on other nights would preclude her from attending council meetings on another day.
Council members also approved unanimously a revised letter to legislators supporting the state Marriage Equality Act.

Press release:
The City of SeaTac announces that Councilmember Pam Fernald has been named to the King County Joint Recommendations Committee (JRC), an inter-jurisdictional body that provides specific funding advice on a wide range of housing and development concerns. The JRC is made up of three King County representatives and eight community representatives.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Councilmember Fernald’s leadership on the County’s Joint Recommendations Committee,” said Todd Cutts, city manager. “Having a voice in these important deliberations strengthens the City of SeaTac’s role in the region and represents the needs of our community.”

Each year the JRC makes funding recommendations for between $5 million to $8 million in capital projects for housing of very low to moderate income households.

They also make recommendations for about $2 million to $3 million for non-housing capital projects such as community centers, parks and infrastructure. Lastly, they influence the spending of about $600,000 in federal funds for both homelessness and emergency assistance programs.

Press release:

South King Firefighters agreed to wage concession giving back a 4.1% salary increase in an effort to help South King Fire & Rescue maintain fire and emergency medical services for the citizens of Federal Way and Des Moines.

The concessions by South King Firefighters Union, IAFF Local 2024 will save the fire department approximately $500,000. This money can be used to maintain current fire department response times, staffing and equipment.

The department budget has dropped 22% from 2009 due to the economic downturn in local property values requiring the department to reduce 23 operations and staff positions over the past 2 years including a full time aid car operating out of a central Federal Way Fire Station.

"We know the community is struggling to support public safety financially, this was our chance to give back in order to maintain service levels" said Ryan Herrera, President of South King Firefighters Union, Local 2024.

While expressing sympathy for medical marijuana patients, SeaTac council members unanimously agreed Jan. 24 to extend for another six months a ban on medical cannabis dispensaries and collective gardens in the city.

City Attorney Mary Mirante Bartolo told lawmakers that as long as federal and state laws conflict with each other, the city should not place its employees in a position to be sued or arrested.

Without a moratorium and marijuana facility zoning regulations, a city employee could be sued for not granting a permit for a dispensary or garden, according to Bartolo.

On the other hand, it could be a felony for a city employee to issue a license for a business that is federally prohibited, she noted.

“The problem is not about not being empathetic toward suffering,” Bartolo said.

Dispensaries fill prescriptions for medical marijuana while gardens provide marijuana for members of a collective.

Police Chief James Graddon said that while King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg has indicated he is not interested in prosecuting medical marijuana cases, a federal task force recently raided facilities in White Center.

The City of Normandy Park has postponed the Joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting on the Manhattan Village Draft Integrated Subarea Plan/EIS scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 19th.

A new date and time for the meeting has not been determined at this time.

Cynthis Flash from Flash Media Services offers the Times/News a nice story about a good deed by Tukwila city staffers during this week’s snowstorm:

Kidney dialysis patients rely on their visits to the dialysis center every other day for dialysis treatment, which replaces their non-functioning kidneys to clean the body of toxins. It’s imperative that patients receive dialysis treatment three times a week to survive.

Unfortunately, this becomes complicated during snowstorms when roads become treacherous to travel. This was the case Wednesday morning when a Tukwila resident realized there was too much snow on his road (the dead end part of S. 150th Street east of 42nd Ave. S.) to get his girlfriend to her dialysis treatment at Northwest Kidney Centers SeaTac Kidney Center at 17900 International Blvd. S in SeaTac.

He sent an e-mail to the city of Tukwila at 10:04 a.m., asking if the city could plow and sand the difficult part of his road, from 42nd Ave. to Thorndyke Elementary

Press release:

The Des Moines Public Works Department has been preparing for the winter weather events being forecasted over the next several days.

Our crews, plows, sanders and anti-ice equipment are ready for deployment should such an event occur, please be on the alert for the city’s equipment on the roads.

Drivers are also urged to be prepared for the potential of black ice and use caution on all roadways, especially bridges and raised roads.

In addition, the city will be introducing a new webpage on the city website that will provide residents with current information about the snow and ice operations being performed by the Public Work crews.

The link to this page is http://www.desmoineswa.gov/snow. “

The new year didn’t bring new harmony to the SeaTac City Council as Tony Anderson was selected Jan. 10 as mayor on a 4-3 vote.

With outspoken lawmakers Gene Fisher and Ralph Shape off the council and Tony Anderson presiding, business was conducted in a quieter and smoother manner.

However, several amendments by council allies Rick Forschler and Pam Fernald were voted down on 4-2 voice votes.

At the start of business, Forschler nominated Terry Anderson for re-election as mayor while Councilman Barry Ladenburg, who defeated Fisher in the acrimonious November election, nominated Tony Anderson.

Forschler, Fernald and Terry Anderson voted for Terry Anderson while Ladenburg, Dave Bush, Mia Gregerson and Tony Anderson voted for Tony Anderson. Bush was elected in November to replace Shape, who didn’t run for re-election.

In another 4-3 vote, Gregerson was selected as deputy mayor after Forschler again nominated Terry Anderson. The votes split along the same lines as the mayor’s selection.

Tony Anderson will serve a two-year term as mayor while the deputy mayor’s term is for one year.

The Normandy Park City Council has elected William ‘Clarke’ Brant to serve as mayor for 2012 – 2013.

Brant was first elected to the City Council in 2006 and, in November 2009, re-elected for a second term. He has served as mayor pro tem the past two years. Mr. Brant is a Navy veteran, a former patrol plane commander, aviation safety inspector-Air Carrier Operations-FAA, and is now retired from Delta Air Lines.

Brant earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington and a J.D. from the University of Puget Sound, School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law.) He is a former member of the A.L.P.A. Board of Directors and a past member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Brant and wife, Nancy, have lived in the community since 1979 and raised their two sons in Normandy Park.

The City Council also elected Doug Osterman to serve as mayor pro tem for 2012 – 2013.

Brian Bennett was selected Jan.9 as Burien’s new mayor on a 4-2 vote.

Bennett, who previously served as deputy mayor, replaces Joan McGilton, who had been Burien’s mayor since 2004.

Bennett will serve a two-year term.

Councilwoman Lucy Krakowiak, who has often been a lone dissenting voice on the council, gained a council ally with the swearing in of Bob Edgar. Edgar defeated veteran councilman Gordon Shaw in the November election.

Councilman Gerald Robison, who had been appointed to replace Kathy Keene when she retired to Florida, also was elected to his seat in November.

City attorney Craig Knutson swore Edgar, Robison and Krakowiak in Monday night.

Edgar nominated Krakowiak for mayor while Robison nominated Bennett.

Edgar and Krakowiak voted for Krakowiak while Bennett, McGilton, Robison and Rose Clark favored Bennett. Councilman Jack Block was excused from the meeting.

Clark was elected to a one-year term as deputy mayor. McGilton nominated Clark while Edgar, again, nominated Krakowiak. Bennett, McGilton, Robison and Clark voted for Clark. Krakowiak and Edgar voted for Krakowiak.

Bennett's background

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