Mayor announces plans to run for third term

Published 12:46 pm Friday, April 10, 2015

It’s still a month to go before the filing period even opens, but we know at least one name that will be on what is expected to be a very busy election ballot this fall.

Mayor Denis Law announced this month on Facebook that he plans to run for a third term. He is expected to have competition, though no official challengers have emerged yet.

There will also be five city council seats up for election this year with Marcie Palmer, Don Persson, Ed Prince and  Greg Taylor all coming to the end of their terms. Ruth Perez is required by law to run for the seat to which she was appointed earlier this year.

Law was first elected mayor in 2007, just before the national recession hit. in a phone call this week, Law said after spending two terms trying to manage the city amidst falling revenues and other challenges, he hopes to spend a third term with an improving economy to be able to “see through” some of the programs and projects that began under his watch.

Specifically, Law said he was excited that the Downtown Core is on the verge of a rejuvenation and that the Sunset Terrace project in the Highlands will mean good things for the city.

“It’s a great opportunity to complete these tasks,” he said.

Law also said he wants to continue working on changing the “culture” inside City Hall to a more customer service-based model, as well as work to bring parks and other resources to parts of the city where they are lacking. The mayor also said he plans to continue to make Renton an “inclusive city” including making sure the relationship between the citizens and the police department is strong.

“We’ve made steps forward and I want to continue to make sure it really becomes part of who we are,” he said.

Candidate filing week is May 11-15. For more information on filing to run for office, visit www.sos.wa.gov.