With no rental payments made to the Renton Municipal Airport since Nov. 2023, the Renton City Council is considering moving forward with legal actions against aerospace company The Landing Gear Works LLC.
According to Renton City Attorney Shane Moloney’s request document to the city council, The Landing Gear Works has three leases at the Renton airport, including two city hangars that are month-to-month leases. The Landing Gear Works (TLGW) began falling behind on payments for the three leases in Sept. 2022, with no payments having been received since Nov. 2023.
The lease is set to expire on June 22, 2024. On March 13, the city completed the process of terminating all three leases, which was set to take effect on March 31.
According to the document, the commencement of any legal proceedings to enforce a contract requires council approval.
“The administration is seeking advance authorization to commence legal proceedings, as it deems necessary, to enforce the lease judicially. Such action may include, but is not limited to: damages, recovery of the leased space, and attorney’s fees,” said the document.
At the Renton City Council meeting March 25, City Attorney Moloney’s request to authorize initiation of further legal proceedings against The Landing Gear Works — called AB-3532 — was presented alongside in-person and call-in public comments by TLGW managers and workers who would be affected by the lawsuit.
“I humbly ask for your help,” said The Landing Gear Works founder and CEO Tom Anderson. “We are experiencing a very stressful time that needs resolution.”
Anderson stated that payment was attempted at the end of 2023, and he asked the city to extend the lease for another three months.
“We did offer money in November. The city attorney would not communicate with me or my legal advisor,” Anderson said right before his time was up.
“We know that we might lose our jobs because of this dispute and I’m here to ask for you to help us with the situation please,” said Sofia Farret, a Renton resident, The Landing Gear Works employee and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. “For me it means a lot because I’ve learned a lot since 12 years ago. I didn’t think, I didn’t even dream to be in [the] aviation world. Now that I’ve been there, it’s just one of the greatest things that happened in my life.”
Joe Penaranda, Derek Anderson, Sergio Núñez and Thomas LaGrandeur also gave public comments, relating their personal stories about working with TLGW and asking the city to help the company instead of going forward with an eviction.
The council decided, after being moved by Councilmember Ryan McIrvin and seconded by Councilmember Ed Prince, that authorization of the legal proceedings against TLGW would be moved back to administration for further review and discussion.
To watch the full March 25 city council meeting and to hear the full public comments on behalf of TLGW, visit youtube.com/@cityofrentonwa.
