I am not inclined to make New Year’s resolutions. But in the context of this column, I will:

Resolved: We will all just get along (with thanks to Rodney King, whose beating nearly two decades ago sparked deadly riots in Los Angeles.)

Rioting isn’t about to break out in Renton. But sometimes we’re just not particularly civil to each other and at other times we’re downright nasty and criminal.

Take the downtown Renton Transit Center for example. Or, better yet, if you’re a troublemaker, leave it.

The transit center has a grand purpose, to help revitalize downtown Renton by attracting new residents with its convenient transportation option – the bus – that will take them to their jobs and schools. It doesn’t hurt there’s a parking garage, too, that lets folks park and shop.

The trouble, at least in the early years of the transit center, is the naturally transient nature of a bus stop made for a convenient spot to make mischief or worse and have a getaway vehicle standing by.

Mayor Denis Law and other city and business leaders weren’t going to stand for this. Private security officers (including the beloved Ron Jackson) were hired about two years ago and arguably made a dent in the crime rate at the center, as well as make it a more comfortable place to wait for a bus or just walk through to get a latte.

Now, thanks to the recession, the officers are gone. There’s no money to make people act more civilly or to obey the law. No one gets to tell me that if we really want that, we can just chop off some bureaucrat’s head. Those days of reducing overhead are long gone.

No, the answer is to grow up. Dangit, don’t run into people with your skateboard. Don’t hang out for more than an hour at the transit center, especially if it’s just to make people feel ill at ease. Don’t fall asleep on a bench, unless you’re sitting up.

All of those rules, all embodied in a new ordinance adopted by the City Council, are designed to make the transit center a more civil place. (Just a reminder, the rules don’t mention selling drugs or stabbing someone. Those are covered in criminal codes.)

What’s great is that all it takes is a little common sense to enforce them, not real cents.

And Ron Jackson won’t be around to babysit us.