I have been retired from The Boeing Company since 1990, 22 years ago. The contract now being offered to the company’s Professional Engineering and Technical employees falls far short of the Boeing medical coverage I had back then.
I am proud of those who have fought for the library. But take careful note, they are still in battle uniform, even after the trouncing defeat in an overwhelming pro-Cedar River Library vote by Renton voters v. Renton City Council’s plans for the library at the Piazza.
I regard this email on the part of the city attorney to be prejudicial, using city resources in a manner not consistent with public service, denigrating, and a very telling estimation of the total lack of respect and low esteem in which residents who voice their concerns and seek to work with the city are held.
Regarding the City’s “Guiding Principles” and the ILA, one of the main differences is the new wording of the second principle stating that libraries will be located over the Cedar River and on Sunset Boulevard in the Highlands.
The city administration seems anxious to put the past six months behind them. Voters were told in a July 2 letter from Director Ptacek of King County Library System that renovation of the Cedar River Library would cost $13.1 million. Reportedly, KCLS architects have been burning the midnight oil since the Aug. 7 Proposition 1 victory, and this Monday will unveil a plan to do the job for 30 percent less, followed by an open house at City Hall on Tuesday.
We need $10 million, according to the city’s best estimate, to bring the Cedar River Library to KCLS standards; maybe less if we economize. We are making progress, but we are not done — because the city administration is out of touch with and obstructing the will of the people. The city team that will meet with KCLS and the architects to discuss plans for the library includes two board members from the city’s Library Advisory Board (LAB), board members who are all closely associated with Mayor Law and his campaign to decommission the Cedar River building.
The Aug. 10, 2012, Renton Reporter’s (RR) anonymous “Our View” states, “Renton sends strong message about library”! A landslide vote is truly a strong message that our city government needs to acknowledge and follow. But then anonymous Our View goes on to print the same misinformation it has been printing consistently.
It’s time for Renton voters to put their money where their mouths are. We knew that rehabbing the Cedar River location would be more expensive than the downtown location but we voted for it anyway.
I don’t think the supporters of the “Over-The-River” library have a true picture of what’s going to be involved in rebuilding that structure to bring it up to the standards of a state-of-the-art library required by KCLS.
These are facts (compiled from the Renton Library at Liberty Park Rehabilitation Feasibility Study – June 2012):
The clear choice for our family on August 7th is the Cedar River library. Let’s keep an icon that makes Renton special. Here are some thoughts to consider:
• Those who say we should have known the vote to annex to KCLS meant a new library in a new location are misinformed. The Renton City Council was continuing to discuss keeping the current location as a viable option 15 months after the KCLS annexation election.
The oldest book the library over the Cedar River has is nature itself; the Cedar River is a living media. The Cedar River teaches us a lesson every time we go to the library weather it’s the trees around, the clarity of the water, and the cycle of life of the salmon among numerous other realizations and lessons
On Friday, July 13th my wife and I were on our way to Eastern Washington to go camping. We were driving my Ford F250 with our camper and boat in tow for a week of fun. We left Renton onto I-90 when suddenly we felt like we hit something and our steering wheel veered to the right.
A 74-year-old Renton man, Sam Humphrey, who was reported to police as missing after he was last seen Sunday, July 8, is safe.
Both sides agree the Cedar River site is unique and incredibly beautiful. Plus a lot bigger. And it works well. So why do some powerful interests want to move the library to the Piazza? I don’t know. But I smell a rat.
Building a new library, estimated at $9 million, versus renovating the Cedar River site as a library, estimated at $13 million, on the surface seems like a no brainer.
We elect people to make decisions that protect our interest today and into the future. The council abdicated its responsibility by taking the library location issue to the voters for a popular vote; the decision was formed by emotions and miss information rather than real data and a long time vision for our city.
I think the energy of the Cedar River Library group is admirable, but severely short-sighted. The Cedar River location will never go away – it will always belong to all of us. But the vitriol, misinformation, confrontation and intimidation did not help this dialog. It hurt it. It brings us down as citizens of this city. And that’s not what we want to be.
While I’ve lived and worked in Renton since 1968, this is my first attempt at a letter to the editor. I believe it was H. L. Mencken who said, “The only reason for Newspapers to exist is to muckrake” and I agree, perhaps more today than ever. While I don’t believe that your misguided endo
It is an amazing thing that has happened in our little city. People, young and old and in between, have formed an emotional attachment to a special thing and a special place. You can hear it in the voices and see it in the eyes of those who first learn that the library on the Cedar River may be abandoned.
There is an open seat on the Washington State Supreme Court, which will be filled in the November election. Four candidates are running for this position, but one of them, Sheryl Gordon McCloud, is uniquely qualified by experience and intellect to fill the seat.