by Jack Mayne

A cab driver for the Seattle-Tacoma International Taxi Association (STITA), Jaskaran Singh, is credited with finding and returning an envelope of cash to a family that flew into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and took a cab to a downtown hotel. The name of the family is not being used to protect their privacy.

“We arrived very late at night after a long flight from New York,” the traveler wrote to the city taxi authority and to the cab company. “Exhausted from our travels we took a STITA taxi driven by Mr. Jaskaran Singh from the Seattle airport to our hotel.

“My wife was holding a very large amount of cash in an envelope,” the traveler wrote. “This represented all the cash we had in our possession. In the hustle of getting out of the taxi with two small children and handling six pieces of luggage my wife unknowingly lost the envelope containing all our money.

“Upon arriving at our hotel room we soon discovered all our money was missing. We frantically searched the hotel lobby and outside street with no luck. My wife was crying hysterically and our trip was ruined. The children asked how we would survive with no money.

“One of my children thought he remembered the cab number but we were unsure of the taxi company name. From our hotel manager we obtained a phone number for STITA taxi company and called the dispatcher on the unlikely chance he could track down our driver. At this point we were unsure where we lost our money.”

The New Yorker said he told the dispatcher “our sad story and he instantly responded to the gravity of our situation.”

“Despite the large number of taxis at the Seattle airport that evening the dispatcher called me right back to say he was somehow able to locate our particular taxi.

“Moments later I received another call from my driver, Mr. Jaskaran Singh. The first words out of his mouth were ‘there’s a lot of money here.’ Mr. Singh appeared soon afterward and dropped off all our lost money.

“We will always remember Mr. Singh’s honesty and integrity,” the traveler said. “I share this experience in recognition of Mr. Jaskaran Singh efforts and the fine folks who work at the STITA taxi company who responded to our crisis. Mr. Singh’s actions were truly commendable and turned our worst nightmare into an example of humanity at its finest.”

by Jack Mayne

Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin says financing for a new South Park Bridge is 75 percent complete thanks to money promised from the Seattle City Council and other public resources.

“In mid-June all nine members of the (Seattle) City Council have signed a letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine pledging $15 million towards replacing the South Park Bridge,” Conlin wrote in his newsletter. “This was the first concrete pledge towards meeting . . . Constantine’s goal of funding the replacement. The King County Council quickly added $30 million in county funds, and the State, Port, and Puget Sound Regional Council have added another $52 million in pledges.

“Together, these pledges make up almost 75 percent of the $130.8 million estimated cost of the project,” he said. “Given the favorable contracting environment, it is quite possible that the county will be able to go out to bid if the federal government can be persuaded to add $20 to $30 million.”

The bridge was closed on June 30 because the 80-year old bridge was damaged beyond repair during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. Because the bridge spans a navigable waterway, it must be left open until it is removed so that shipping from upstream on the Duwamish River can move to and from Elliott Bay. Drivers from Burien and White Center and beyond must either use First Avenue South or another route into Seattle.

Attempts to get money from federal financial stimulus programs have so far failed.

Conlin says he is proud the Seattle City Council was the first to make a “concrete commitment” for money to replace the bridge. In addition, the councilmember says Seattle has “sponsored action” by the Puget Sound Regional Council for an additional $9 million “from out share of a possible future federal jobs bill, and the City has spent nearly $1 million in support of King County’s environmental review and design of the replacement bridge.”

He said the Council is “also promising to not submit or support any competing applications” future federal stimulus grants.

The Seattle City Council President says the City does not have an identifiable source for the $15 million it has pledged, and he suggests it could come from a voter approved bond issue known as Bridging The Gap, a fund used for special project including filling Seattle’s plethora of potholes, a fund already used by a mayor and Council grasping for money to fill a huge budget gap.

“There will always be competing priorities, but we are making this commitment because the South Park community needs our help and support,” Conlin says. “The South Park Bridge also plays a critical role in freight mobility and economic vitality for the city and region. The Council believes that Seattle must not only ensure the economic health of Seattle and our neighborhoods, but play a positive role in ensuring regional prosperity.”

The bridge is on a County island and is County property. The City has indicated an interest in annexing the unincorporated area, but only after the County replaces the bridge.

by Jack Mayne

The fight over which taxicab company will get an exclusive contract to provide cab service for people leaving the airport continued Tuesday (July 6) when the Washington State Supreme Court was asked to review the legal case.

The Seattle-Tacoma International Taxi Association (STITA) is asking the State Supreme Court to review and overturn a recent decision by the State Appeals Court that denied STITA’s objections of a proposed new Port contract with Yellow Cab.

Filing of the appeal to the state high court means a stay prohibiting the Port from signing the new contract with Yellow remains in effect until the court either rejects reviewing the case or rules against STITA and in favor of Yellow.

The current STITA contract is due to end on August 31 and the Port is pressing to be allowed to sign the new agreement so Yellow Cab can prepare to provide service to the thousands to passengers who arrive at Sea-Tac and who seek taxi service. Any cab company can take people to the airport, but only a primary contractor may pick up passengers leaving the airport.

STITA’s original case says the Port’s new proposed concession fees violate the state’s Airports Act because it lets the Port “auction off” its monopoly taxi concession to the highest bidder rather than basing fees on “uniform and reasonable” charges, as the law provides. The agreement also fails to give “due regard” to setting charges based on the property used and cost of operations.

“We hope the state Supreme Court will hear our case,” said Jesse Buttar, a spokesman for STITA. “We believe there are significant questions the court will be interested in addressing.”

The Port faces two lawsuits stemming from the December 2009 awarding of the on-demand taxi contract at Sea-Tac to Yellow Taxi, which would end a 20-year relationship with STITA cab drivers.

In a second lawsuit, filed by Farwest Taxi, STITA alleged last week that the Port of Seattle violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act by substantially altering a proposed contract behind closed doors and without further review by the Port Commissioners.

The Port released a statement noting the Port Commission, “as it routinely does, authorized staff to proceed with the award to Puget Sound Dispatch (Yellow Cab) and has delegated staff sufficient authority to achieve that end. The authorization and delegation properly occurred in an open public meeting. There has been no violation of the Open Public Meetings Act.”

Perry Cooper, the Sea-Tac media officer, said the Port never comments on pending legal matters, so would have no comment on the Supreme Court filing.

by Jack Mayne

The Port of Seattle has been accused by a taxicab company of violating the state open meeting act and seeks to have the Port restrained from signing a contract with Yellow Cab for exclusive cab service from the airport.

The legal dispute over the taxi contract for travelers arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport could make finding a taxicab impossible after the August 31 end of the current contract. The Port of Seattle and the Seattle Tacoma International Taxi Association, better known as STITA, say some sort of service will be found but no discussions have been held with any cab provider, say spokesmen for both sides.

Court orders sought by STITA and other cab companies have prevented the Port from signing a new contract with Yellow Cab as recommended by the Port staff. For 20 years, STITA has held the contract to provide all taxi service leaving the airport, but the Port was stung last year by a state auditor’s report dinging the Port for not making enough money on the contract.

The Port and STITA say there were no discussions about increasing income to the Port. Instead, for the first time last year, the Port issued requests for proposals, which resulted in Port staff recommending the contract be awarded to Yellow Cab.

STITA and other area cab companies have gone to court to stop Yellow from getting the contract, claiming various problems with the way the bid were evaluated.

In the latest filing, STITA is asking for the court to issue an injunction restraining the Port from signing a new contract with Yellow Cab because it violated the open meetings act by adopting changes in the provisions of the contract in a closed door meeting and without giving bidders notice of those changes. The changes should have been discussed in a public and open meeting, says attorney Michael A. Goldfarb on behalf of client STITA.

“Everything points to the Port of Seattle to go back to the drawing board, and clean up this mess,” says Jesse Buttar, a STITA spokesman. “We’re not asking for them to give us the contract, but to give us a level playing field. This has been stacked against STITA from the beginning.”

STITA says it also plans to appeal another case to the State Supreme Court to continue an injunction preventing the port from signing the Yellow Taxi contract. If the Court starts its summer recess before acting on the appeal, the injunction against a new contract could result in no contract for cab service being in place after the current one expires.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• STITA Cab Challenges Yellow Taxi Lobbyist Over Role In Taxi Contract
• Court Ruling Prevents Port Of Seattle From Signing Taxi Contract. For Now.
• Taxicab Companies Request State Investigation Into Port Of Seattle
• Port Of Seattle Being Sued By Second Taxi Company
• UPDATE: After Brief Denial, STITA Cab Wins Stay Against Port Of Seattle
• STITA Taxi Files Lawsuit Against Port Of Seattle For Breaking Contract

by Jack Mayne

Instead of reaping a massive windfall profit from the red light cameras on First Avenue, it appears the City of Burien may actually have lost $16,574 during the program’s first ten and a half months.

Many readers of The B-Town Blog have said in comments that the primary reason for the red light violation cameras was to raise money.

Not true said city officials and it proves true in figures released by the city. How is this possible?

The big winner is Redflex, the Arizona company that owns the cameras and operates them under contract with the city. Burien has paid the company $204,012 from May 2009 through April 2010. The city’s contract with Redflex is for $19,400 a month (the first month was less for Redflex because the program did not start until the middle of May, 2009).

The numbers are preliminary said Lori Fleming, Burien’s contract analyst handling the project, because the city and the district court adjudicating the red light citations meets once a year to adjust its costs. That meeting is slated for later this month, said Fleming.

The current estimate used by the city to figure costs is $10 per ticket or $43,590 for the 4,359 tickets issued.

Here are the numbers from the city:

• 4,359 tickets issued from May 2009 through March 2010.
• Total revenue from the District Court is $231,028 for the same period.

So subtract Redflex’s contract costs totaling $204,012 and the district court costs of $43,590 and Burien has lost $16,574. Fleming says that court cost may change when the city and the court reconcile the court’s actual costs later this month.

What is Redflex?
Burien contracted with Redflex to install and monitor all five camera locations. There are cameras monitoring First Avenue South at Southwest 148th Street, First Avenue South at Southwest 152nd Street and First Avenue South at Southwest 160th Street.

According to the company website, Redflex:

“…shares the same vision as your community: to reduce the risk for tragedy on the road. Over time, Redflex technology has proven to make an impact on public safety. Results show road safety cameras have helped create safer U.S. communities, from those of a few thousand residents, where red light running has been reduced at a single intersection, to statewide freeways where more drivers are keeping a better eye on their speedometers.”

It has contracts for electronic enforcement around the world, including in Seattle and British Columbia.

Many cities have faced losing money on the contracts, including several in California. The company itself says it has lost money since the recession began.

Fleming said there have been preliminary discussions with Redflex officials about reducing the $19,400 monthly fee, and she noted the company appeared willing to discuss changes.

Speed, not money
City Manager Mike Martin said the “whole idea” of the five cameras at three intersections was never to make money but to slow down the speed on First Avenue, where traffic problems have multiplied in recent years.

“The word is out that you don’t just go racing through our intersections anymore,” he told The B-Town Blog.

Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer also says the cameras were to slow traffic and reduce accidents. When asked about the program, he said, “it is not a money maker.”

“If we wanted only to make money, that means we would want people to run red lights, and that causes accidents,” Kimerer said.

“That doesn’t make any sense from a law enforcement standpoint. We don’t want people to get hurt.”

The chief said there have been no accidents at the three intersections that were caused by motorists stopping changing lights or traceable to the cameras. There have been some sideswipe accidents but they might have been the result of changes made in left turn lanes and other street reconfigurations.

Kimerer did say there have been some rear-end accidents, five or less over a year’s time. Some residents suggest this is because drivers slammed on their brakes rather than enter the intersection as the light changes to yellow.

“I don’t know if (cameras) are the cause of that or not,” he said.

Kimerer dismissed questions about the potential that the yellow light timing may have been shortened to catch more violators and says the city Public Works department says the lights are set to national standards.

An illegal camera?
Some B-Town Blog readers question the legality of the cameras at First Avenue South at Southwest 160th Street and Ambaum Way. The state law permitting use of the cameras reads, “Use of automated traffic safety cameras is restricted to two-arterial intersections, railroad crossings, and school speed zones only.”

But there are three arterials at that intersection: SW 160th, Ambaum and First Avenue. The city does identify Ambaum at the intersection a “collector arterial,” which seems only to cloud the problem.

Chief Kimerer says “you can read into that law that you can only put these cameras where there are at least two arterials, there can’t be one arterial, there has to be two arterials. But then maybe it can be more.

“Those are legal questions and, to be honest, we hire a company to come in and put these cameras in. We expect, since they have experience in this state, we are going with that they are aware of the laws, that they are aware of where they can and cannot place these.” The chief says, “As far as I know, we have not lost any cases because they have challenged that intersection (in court).”

City Manager Martin says it appears the city did not specifically research that question when drafting the agreement with Redflex and that the city depends on Redflex, as the experienced camera provider, to have made the determination prior to installing the cameras at 160th.
Redflex commented via e-mail.

“In response to your question, the intersection at First Ave and S. 160th St are in fact arterial roadways that intersect,” said the Redflex response. “The other intersecting roadway, however, at Ambaum Blvd S. is a residential feeder and not an ‘arterial roadway’ therefore it does not appear to violate the statute.”

Two years ago today (Dec. 11, 2007 to be exact), on a dining room table in a home in Burien, your B-Town Blog came unto this planet, chock full of hopes and dreams of informing, entertaining and enlightening a community, and initially only as a part-time hobby.

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO US!

But be warned folks, ‘cuz we’re entering our “Terrible Twos” and we aren’t going to stop until WE GET WHAT WE WANT! (SOUNDFX: WAAAAAA!)

It’s been an amazing two years too, from humble beginnings as a hobby to now, a full-blown full-time job with an office, numerous Contributors, over 40 Advertisers and nearly 50,000 Readers per month (November set a record…so far)!

And now, for trivial and archival purposes, are the two stories we posted on our very first day:

• Welcome to the B-Town (Burien) Blog!
• Video of One of Your Uglier Neighbors

Of course, as we’ve grown, we’ve gone from just one sole Publisher/Editor (me, Scott) to a staff of 12+ regular (and irregular) Contributors, including:

• Janet Grella, Sales Director/Diva joined the LOL Dudez team last July. Not only does The Diva sell Ads, she also writes stories, takes pics and much more to all our community blog sites. With Janet on board, The B-Town Blog has enjoyed incredible growth in both Readers and Advertisers. Janet knows the future of advertising is online, not in newspapers.
• Ralph Nichols, Reporter/Writer. A former Editor of The Highline Times, Ralph specializes in covering local issues, including political, community, business, news and much more. Ralph has many years’ experience as a reporter for numerous daily newspapers, and has made the transition to this newfangled online world quite well.
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Sales: former real-world Journalist, TV Host, Producer and Marketer, Mark is an old friend of Scott’s going back to when they worked on their high school newspaper together (West Seattle High’s “Chinook”). Mark sells Ads and Writes for the BTB.
• Michael Brunk, Photographer/Code Guru. An amazing Photographer with a great eye for “the shot,” Michael not only brings his artistic talent (what we call “Brunksmanship“) to our sites, but his technical know-how as well. Need a great shot of something, or some WordPress, PHP, CSS or other code fixed ASAP? “Call Michael!” is our immediate response.
• Bart Bryan, Sales. Another old buddy of Scott and Mark’s from their high school daze, Bart is a happy, friendly, gregarious man who loves to learn, “conversate” (as the kids say), sell Ads and of course, sing killer Karaoke.
• Gina Bourdage, Artist/Reporter: graduate of Washington State University with a B.A. in Communications, Gina is a native who currently resides on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. She does our Ad artwork, writes stories and much more.
• Amy Bouska, Video Producer. Amy Produces, Shoots, Directs and Edits original video interviews for us, and she does them quite well, especially since she serves as on-air Talent as well.
• Theresa Frasch, Sales. Theresa is an all-around talent, with the ability to sell Ads as well as fix the world in her spare time.
• Jack Mayne, Reporter. Jack Mayne is an experienced old-world Journalist who has worked with The Seattle P-I, The Journal American in Bellevue and Valley Daily News in Kent and many others. He brings not only his vast Writing experience to us, but his deep knowledge of the News Business as well.
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist: Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives this Humorist much fodder for her writings. All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments. Or something like that.
• Danielle Burton, Artist/Illustrator. Danielle is not only a recent graduate of Western Washington University, but she is an amazingly talented Artist who brings a touch of original, artsy class to our sites.
• Bryan Charles, Intern. Bryan is a budding Artist and Animator who attends Highline’s Big Picture High School in SeaTac. He brings his twisted sense of humor to us through his cartoons and more.

We could go on and on about how great we are, but in the end the real reason we’re posting this is to thank YOU, our Readers and Advertisers, because without either of you we wouldn’t exist!

Thanks, and we look forward to an even better third year!

by Jack Mayne

Major crimes in Burien are way down, but lesser crimes are way up, according to Burien Chief of Police Scott Kimerer’s report to the City Council on Monday night (May 11th).

Crime in general is going down in the metropolitan area and in Burien, Kimerer said. In the year 2000, he said the crime rate in Burien was 92 per one thousand residents, “a high rate.” In 2008, it was 53 crimes per one thousand Burien residents, nearly half the rate of eight years ago.

Calls to City Manager Mike Martin and Mayor Joan McGilton for comment were not returned.

“It has been a gradual decrease over the past six years,” Kimerer said. “We had one year where it was flat, (not an increase or decrease).”

“The rate for this year (2008) was down 12 percent,” he said. “That is fairly sizeable.”

Crimes are organized by severity, with major crimes, or Part 1 offenses, including homicides, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, vehicle theft and larceny over $250. That is the area that has been decreasing year after year, the chief said.

But so-called Part 2 offenses, like theft, weapons violations, juvenile and family crimes, drunk driving and the like have been increasing over the years and did again during 2008. Those offenses were up 14 percent.

The question is, why is major crime in Burien going down even as concern for gang activity is increasing.

“It is more diversified enforcement (now),” Kimerer says. “I have units that target high profile offenders and I have units that target gangs. We have a lot more dissemination of information amongst all the jurisdictions around than we ever had before. We are able to get more information on who is doing what and we are able to focus in on those types of crimes.”

In effect, the police know who the bad guys are and are doing better about rounding them up and putting them in jail. Another way to look at it is that the 20 percent who do the evil deeds to the 80 percent of us who are law abiding are being targeted more efficiently.

Kimerer says he is able to “work better as a regional force and we partner up with regional forces to concentrate on developing problems.
Burien, like many other cities in the county, contracts with the King County Sheriff’s Department to provide its policing. While the officers that work at Burien Police are hired and trained as county deputies, their entire cost is borne by the taxpayers of the city.

In addition, he is able to tap resources in the King County Sheriff’s office and even independent departments, such as Seattle or Federal Way, if needed to concentrate on a specific problem.

Kimerer is the current chairman of the King County Police Chief’s Association, a group from the entire county who meet once a month to discuss problems and to identify certain expertise to help Burien or other areas.

“We don’t need to just use the resources of the King County Sheriff’s Department, although that is a great resource.”

Kimerer says he has one of the more “well known” gang experts working in Burien.

Gangs are created by other cultures, he says, for a sense of belonging as well as problems in the economy in general.

“All gang activity centers around respect and money,” he says.

The problems facing Burien as a city are about the same as other cities in the area, with such crimes as residential or commercial burglaries affecting people directly.

“It is disconcerting to people to have their house broken into,” he says. But there are traffic problems that bother people, too.”

The biggest crime rates in the city are, as is usual in most cities, in the downtown area and in pockets around the city, he said, such as the Ambaum corridor and the Park and Ride area. In areas such as the Maplewild area or Three Tree Point, the crime rate is very low.

By way of comparison though, Burien has fewer officers per shift than West Seattle to answer calls from 911. The standard in West Seattle is six officers per shift for the area, but Kimerer said he has three officers on patrol in the entire city for each shift.

Of course, there are detectives and specialists that work either daytime hours (such as crime detectives) or weekend hours (common for gang specialists).

Key crime stats:

• In the major crimes area (Part 1), the big increase in 2008 was in forcible rapes and rape attempts. In 2008 there were 28 versus 16 the previous year, a 75 percent increase, said the annual police report. Five of those cases were closed during the year.
  
• Residential burglaries, the bane of police everywhere, was up in Burien over 16 percent, with 271 during 2008, compared with 233 in 2007. 14 cases were closed.
• The biggest decrease in major crime was 35 percent in vehicle theft. In 2007 there were 392 compared with 253 last year, a major incursion into a crime that plagues suburban cities. Likewise, commercial burglary was way down in 2008 with 108 last year versus 142 the year previous.

Crime rate is a major indicator that often affects insurance rates and even property values. There are 31,540 people living in the city now. The major crimes rate was 53.20 per 1,000 people living in Burien. The minor crime rate, which Kimerer says is way up, was 79.01 per 1,000 residents last year.

Police were dispatched for service 10,191 times in 2007, 11 percent fewer calls from the previous year. There were fewer adult arrests last year, 1,131 compared with the previous year with 1,453.

Total gang related incidents were up, as expected, from 275 in 2007 to 309 last year.

Domestic violence was down over 14 percent last year from the previous year, with 355 last year versus 414 the previous year.

For south King County, Burien has the lowest number of officers per 1,000 people but says the “City of Burien funds us the best they can.”

He said there is not a police chief in the world that doesn’t wish for more officers or equipment.

“You are never going to hear me say we could not use more officers, because my people work awfully, awfully hard.”

Burien has an average of 1.22 commissioned police officers for each 1,000 residents of the city. This compares with an average of 1.33 officers in Federal Way and 2.21 per thousand in Seattle.

Burien pays $188 for each resident of the city per year for police protection. That is considerably less than the $253 paid per resident in SeaTac or an average of $322 per resident per year in Seattle.

The major crime rate is down, but the less serious crimes, called Part 2 crimes in police jargon, are “up quite a bit,” says the chief. Much of this type of crime is from family crimes and disturbances.

“We are looking very good in maintaining our crime rate decrease,” he said. “That would be (because of) the hard work of the people in the Burien Police Department, we are effective at what we do and what we focus in on, and we hope to continue that trend.”

Jack Mayne may be reached at jgmayne@gmail.com.

Over 150 area residents turned out Sunday to hear lawyers discuss an upcoming class action lawsuit against the Port of Seattle over the third runway.

by Jack Mayne

Big 757s taking off and landing right over your house can jar nerves and rattle lifestyles, yet a lot of people have to live that way every day – and many are ready to fight on in court.

“I can’t sleep at night,” said one person at a meeting Sunday afternoon at the SeaTac Community Center. “It got better for a while, but then they opened the new runway and now I can’t hear people in the room,” said another person, “or what is on TV.” Still another said people had moved from his rental properties and others said the value of their property, already hammered by the faltering economy, have gone lower because of the November opening of the runway.

Still another resident of the area told of flashing laser lights that “even after you get used to them, they startle you.” A spokesman said the Port would like to know more about this because there have been illegal usages of lasers focused at planes recently and it is working with police to find and stop this activity.

Anger and resentment is building in the area because people think the Port of Seattle is not keeping their promise not to use the new 8,500-foot runway except in bad weather or as a backup to the other two runways. The Sunday meeting was held so the downtown Seattle law firm of Pfau Cochran Vertetis Kosnoff could explain the class action lawsuit they are drafting that seeks to make the port stop using the runway for daily takeoffs and landings (see sidebar).

“The Port says they are operating within the law, but that is not true if it (negatively) impacts you,” said law firm partner Darrell Cochran to an estimated 150 to 200 people at the Sea-Tac Community Center Sunday afternoon. “We will be filing a lawsuit – June 15th is the estimate (when the suit will be filed).”

Area residents, some who have fought the Port and the runway for two decades or more, have complained of a variety of impacts, but what most infuriates people is that the third runway now is a main runway.

“What we hear is that the port has not told the truth on the third runway’s use as a backup,” said Cochran. “Every landing since it has opened has landed on it. We have seen documents that it will be in fulltime use – that the Port will continue to use it as a fulltime runway, even though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was told it would be a backup runway.”

A Port of Seattle spokesman said there has been a temporary six-month closure of the airport’s longest and oldest runway because it needs to be rebuilt. The third and newest runway is now being used only in the interim fulltime. Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said Monday the project is costing $52 million in federal funds. The work is being carried out during the spring and summer months so that it is completed as quickly as possible.

A brand new control light system is being installed on the first (eastern most) runway because all planes using the other two runways need to cross it.

“It’s going to be noisier for a six-month period,” said Cooper.

Statistics by the Port on their Sea-Tac website show that prior to April 13, the number of landings and takeoffs on the new runway were close to the number of uses the Port had estimated in its Environmental Impact Statement.

“You’ll see that the runway use is virtually equal to the Environmental Impact Statement projection,” Cooper said, adding that the traffic on the third runway is up during the winter months when more separation between active runways is required.

“In the summer, those days drop off dramatically and would expect to lower the yearly average as compared to the winter numbers.” Cooper said.

When asked by nearby residents on Sunday if the suit should be against the FAA instead of the Port, lawyer Cochran said the Federal Aviation Administration “has immunity” because the decision to build the third runway where it is was a decision by the Port and not the government agency.

The Federal Aviation Administration controls the runways planes use for landing and takeoffs.

“The Port does not operate the runways,” Cooper said. “We built it and maintain it, but the actual operation of the runway, takeoffs and landings, etc. is controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration.”

He says the Port “has been a proponent of the area community as soon as complaints were made and we went to the FAA and worked with them to make sure the operation of the runway has been consistent with the projections from the Environmental Impact Statement. That step also brought us to create the website with the usage statistics.

Members of the Federal Aviation Administration came to a recent Highline meeting to hear the community’s concerns, Cooper said.

The lawsuit lawyer, Cochran, said Sunday that people who felt they had personal injury cases against the Port should be gathering evidence to support their claim. For example, Cochran said people should take photos of soot on cars and surfaces from planes taking off or landing on the runway. They should document evidence of increase illnesses or other negative effects.

People should do this even if they have not yet decided on making a claim or filing a suit.

So, what do YOU think of this class action lawsuit against the Port of Seattle? Please answer our poll:

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Third Runway Litigators Will Meet Sunday April 19th
• Angry Residents Voice 3rd Runway Concerns To Port
• Residents Accuse Port of Seattle Of Lying About 3rd Runway
• Highline Forum 3rd Runway Public Meeting w/Port Is Jan. 8th
• Next Third Runway Noise Complainers’ Meeting Is Jan. 10th
• Third Runway Noise Complainers Holding Meeting Dec. 19th
• Third Runway Noise Problem Not Fading Away

Jack Mayne is a freelance writer and editor and may be reached at jgmayne@gmail.com

By Jack Mayne

Any day now, cameras mounted high over three First Avenue intersections will record motorists running red lights and after local review of each photo, citations will be mailed to the owners of the offending vehicles.

The violation fine set by the Burien City Council is $101 now, but state law allows it to go up to a maximum of $124.

There are two cameras at First and SW 148th, focusing both east and west on 148th. The camera at First and SW 152nd tracks westbound vehicles and the one at SW 160th tracks eastbound traffic.

“Those intersections have a lot of accidents and this is really about safety to us,” said Mike Martin, Burien city manager. “It is not about the revenue. What we expect to see is a lot of tickets the first few months and then we expect it to decline. We thought about doing similar things in schools zones, we thought about doing it on Ambaum Boulevard it terms of speeding.”

But not now.

He says the city has access to a limited number of officers and “they are very focused on property crimes, gangs and all those sorts of things, so we don’t have a lot of cops here who can sit around and write tickets, (which are) a lower priority than other things.”

Letting the King County Sheriff’s deputies, who act under contract as Burien police officers, do other things to keep the city safer is more important than sitting at an intersection, Martin said.

The cameras were turned on March 1st for what was to be a 30-day grace period that has now been extended but may end any day. Courtesy warning notices were sent, but $101 citations can be expected any day after a motorist is doing a rolling stop or running a red light, Martin said.

The extension was because of “some technical details with Redflex,” the Culver City, Calif.-based company that own and maintains the cameras, said K. Scott Kimerer, Burien’s police chief.

Martin says the city has made every effort to warn motorists of the cameras and that tickets will be issue at some point. He said there have been notices in the city bulletin; there are signs at the camera intersections.

“We don’t want people to get tickets,” the city manager said. “We are hoping that if a person gets a warning ticket he will tell others about the cameras.”

He was not certain there would be another warning when the city ceased sending warning tickets and began sending actual tickets to motorists.

“We are very close to actually issuing citations,” Martin said.

All photographs of motorists’ cars are reviewed in Burien.

“An officer reviews all of the photos because it has to be a legal violation,” Martin said, and not near-misses like someone entering the intersection on a yellow light.

“The camera does not make the decision, a human being does,” Martin said.

Now, each intersection is yielding about 60 tickets a week, which would bring in $6,060 per week. That adds up to more than $315,000 per year at the current rate.

“It is absolutely not for revenue, I can state that unequivocally. We are worried about people getting hurt in those intersection and if there weren’t a problem, we would not have the cameras there.”

The lone “no” vote on the cameras came from second term councilmember Gordon Shaw, who is not convinced that safety was the reason.

“It is my view that this red light camera issue is not about safety, although that is what it is being sold as,” Shaw said. “I am not opposed to the revenue aspect of it but just believe if that is the reason for the city doing it … the public should be aware of it.”

He said a lot about the red light camera issue “goes against my grain” and could be a bit of an invasion of privacy.”

Despite Martin’s view that police are limited in number, Shaw says if there is a real red light problem, “we ought to have a police officer out there” to use human judgment as to “conditions and circumstances” before deciding to issue a citation.

Shaw said he understood that the camera vendor, Redflex, would collect the fines.

But that is not the case, said Lori Fleming, a managing analyst in the Burien Finance Department.

The photos are all collected online, then reviewed by a Burien officer, who chooses the motorists who will get citations. Those “approved” photos are digitally sent to Redflex and citations are mailed from California.

Inside the citation are three “coupons,” said Fleming. One says ‘I am guilty, here is my money.’ Another says the ‘I did not have control of the car that it was a rented car, loaned, stolen or sold’ and the owner must send in justifying and supporting information. A third “coupon” says ‘I want a court hearing.’

All money is sent to King County District Court and eventually goes to the City of Burien. The court collects all fines, including the red light fines, and, once a year, audits the fund and, in effect, deducts the court costs and pays the city the rest.

The three-year agreement with Redflex, which can be extended for two years twice, will cost the city up to $6,800 a month, depending upon the volume of violations approved by city officers. The contract may be cancelled by the city with a 30-day notice.

City Manager Martin said other high traffic sites were considered but then dropped for now.

“We may consider cameras on Ambaum, but first we are going to see if these work; we are going to see how the community responds to them and if they do what we intend them to do,” Martin said. “What we are considering (putting) on Ambaum (and in school zones) is these solar-powered radar speed signs…which are very effective on slowing down traffic.”

It may not be a very wise idea to simply toss a citation of a red light violation until you are sure it is just a warning and not the real thing. Failing to pay a court fine is punishable by a larger fine or even some eventual lodging in a place most of us would rather avoid.

So what to you think of Burien’s Red Light Cameras? Please take our poll below:

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• City Official Addresses Red Light Camera Concerns
  
• Red Light Cams Go Live Sun.;To Bring In $200k In 1st Year?
• Burien Speeders Beware: Red Light Cameras Start Mar. 1st

Jack Mayne is a freelance writer who may be contacted at jgmayne@gmail.com

by Jack Mayne

A small group of residents are continuing their efforts to have the city of Burien purchase for a public park a recently rezoned portion of the Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center property on Lake Burien.

The area was rezoned last December, so the Dykeman Center can sell it to improve its revenue structure during the current economic downturn. When approached by the group calling itself the Committee to Free Lake Burien, Dykeman’s CEO said the center would not sell the land for a park.

Lake Burien is well known to long-term residents of the city but newer residents are likely to ask, “There is a lake in Burien?” That is because the lake is completely surrounded by private homes with no public access to it.

Under federal law, all lake shores the size of Lake Burien are considered public, but the sticking point is getting to the lake across private property.

The rezoned land, apparently for sale at some time in the future, would not include public access to the lake, which is vehemently opposed by owners of the property surrounding Lake Burien,

A flier by area resident Lee Moyer says the property should be purchased as a lake front park.

“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the City of Burien to gain a park on Lake Burien for the benefit of all the citizens of Burien,” said Moyer. “It will add to the value of the residences in the area, the Town Center and the businesses in Olde Burien. It is a difficult time financially, but with dedicated money available and a depressed real estate market, it is also a bargain for the City of Burien.”

He suggests that there may be money available from King County park bond funds and possibly other sources, despite the financial crisis.

Emelie McNett lives in a blue-collar area of North Burien and has been a resident of Burien for 35 years, native plant steward, watershed steward, former Burien Park Board member and current member of the Shoreline Advisory Committee.

“I am particularly interested using the rezoned Ruth Dykeman property as a Burien Park,” she says. “Many low income Burien residents live less than a mile from the water but are denied access because of the barrier of private property. A pocket park on Lake Burien would help mitigate this lack of access.”

The city just is not interested at all.

“We are not interested,” said City Manager Mike Martin. “We have not discussed it. We have no money.”

So, what do you think? Please answer our Poll below:

[Sunrise & Rainbow Photos courtesy Gregory Rehmke]

We love Burien.

And we’re not ashamed to say it.

That’s because we live here.

We work here.

We shop here.

And we believe in this city of 46,000+ people (surpassing Olympia as the #21st largest city in WA), where our mission statement is:

• To report news from a “location-based” perspective, that is, if it happens in/near Burien, we’ll cover it.
• To cover Local News, Events, Arts and more efficiently, on a fair and ethical basis.
• To have as our only agenda the idea of Community Betterment through sharing information, events, entertainment, art and other location-based content.
• To inform, engage, entertain and educate our Readers.
• To allow a Forum for our Readers to Comment and post their thoughts on the stories we cover.
• To be involved in our community, via Discover Burien, the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations that involve local businesses.
• To remain pro-Burien, pro-business, and to help our fellow businesspeople as best we can.
• To actually do more than “just report” local News by holding our own Fundraisers and helping our neighbors.

The B-Town (Burien) Blog is your only daily-updated, totally independent, truly-local, homegrown online news source for all things Burien-related, including:

• News
• Events
• Businesses
• Real Estate
• History
• People
• Artists
• Music
• Mysteries
• Photos
• Videos
• Humor
• Fundraisers
  
• and much more

The folks behind this website include:

• Scott Schaefer, Founder/Publisher/Editor: With three National Emmy Awards for Writing on “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and over 25 years’ experience in TV/video, multimedia, marketing/advertising, technology and the internet, Scott started The B-Town Blog as a hobby and has since turned it into a full-time business. His other credits include as a Director on “Penn & Teller:Bullsh*t!” (Showtime), “The Arsenio Hall Show” (Paramount), “Sightings” (Paramount), “Totally Hidden Video” (Fox), “America’s Funniest People” (ABC),  Fox On-Air Promotions and KING-TV’s “Almost Live!” where he got his start in 1985.
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Marketing: former real-world Journalist, TV Host, Producer and Marketer, Mark is an old friend of Scott’s going back to when they worked on their high school newspaper together (West Seattle High’s “Chinook”). Mark has interviewed two US Presidents, cops, cooks and cartoonists, authors and artists, senators, singers, scholars and senior citizens, along with the first Mayor of Burien and a local man running for State Superior Court.
• Janet Grella, Sales Director/Diva joined the LOL Dudez team last July. Seems like her retirement as Sales Manager from a local newspaper gave her too much time on her hands. So now she’s busy selling Ads and contributing stories, photos and video to our community blog sites.  She came to us with not only 30+ years of advertising and marketing experience, but a keen understanding of the communities we serve – their people and businesses. With Janet on board, The B-Town Blog has enjoyed incredible growth in both readers and advertisers. Janet knows the future of advertising is online, not in newspapers.
• Michael Brunk, Photographer. With a love of photography that spans more than 20 years, Michael has fond memories of film but wouldn’t give up his digital SLR for anything. His checkered past includes stints as a monthly columnist for a nationally published magazine on telecommunications and technology and several years reviewing movies. He’s also been known to dabble in community theater. His main qualifications are a large camera and free time.
• Ralph Nichols, Reporter. Ralph specializes in public policy and legal issues, medical matters, and business profiles. For several years, he was an editor, reporter, and columnist for the Highline Times. Previously he worked in the Seattle area, Alaska and Idaho as a reporter for daily newspapers, United Press International, and trade publications; as a state capitol bureau chief and columnist; and a public relations writer and project manager.
• Jack Mayne, Reporter. Jack Mayne has done about all there is to do in print journalism. He has been city editor of the Seattle P.I. back in its glory days, edited the Journal American in Bellevue and Valley Daily News in Kent in the 1990s. Before that he was a freelance international journalist and reported from South Africa, China, visited over 80 countries and even covered a colonial war in the 20th century between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the desolate Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. He got his start at the Vancouver Province, thence to The Associated Press, becoming chief of the New England bureau, but a desire of AP to send him to Buffalo, N.Y., drove him back to Seattle. With writing for print becoming quaint and dated, he is now setting his sights on Web journalism and has written several stories for the B-Town Blog and plans many more.
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist: Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives this Humorist much fodder for her writings. All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments. Or something like that.
• Josh Hart, Intern Extraordinaire: Hailing from Highline School District’s innovative Big Picture High School, 15-year old Josh provides our youth-oriented voice on everything from local football game blowouts to opinion pieces on VP debates.
• Gina Bourdage, Reporter/Directory Editor: graduate of Washington State University with a B.A. in Communications, Gina is a native who currently resides on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. She writes, reports, reviews and even creates our cool Ads.

Aside from striving to be the main (and most timely being that we update several times per day) News Source for the Burien area, the B-Town Blog does something few other local blogs do; we actually strive to serve and help our community!

Over the last two years, we’ve helped raise more than $13,000 for needy area residents ranging from two local food banks to victims of a fatal apartment fire and more.

We’re also active members of both Discover Burien and the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce.

Here’s a informational video worth viewing:

This is part of a network of blogs produced by Schaefer’s company LOL Dudez, LLC, and includes:

• The Waterland Blog – our latest addition, for our lovely neighbor to the south, the community of Des Moines, WA.
• White Center Blog – Diverse Community + Interesting People = This Blog about White Center, our neighbor to the north
• Tukwila Blog – “100 Years in the Making” blog about Tukwila
• SeaTac Blog – “Everywhere’s Possible” with this blog about SeaTac
• Normandy Park Blog – all about (you guessed it) Normandy Park
• Crapolicio.us – comedy site that “Worships the Worst of the Web”
• Jokestarter – blog devoted to helping writers, comedians, producers, etc. find comedy ideas
• Many others in development!

Remember, a blog is only as good as its contributors and participants, so please email us with any story ideas, event listings, business directory listings or other B-Town-related stuff.

LOL Dudez also produces corporate videos, comedic videos and viral marketing on the internet, including:

• Conceptualize with our Clients
• Write the script (done by a 3-time National Emmy winning Writer)
• Revise the script
• Polish/Finalize the script
• All production from pre to shooting and more
• Editing, including audio sweetening
• Encoding for the internet and Posting/Hosting
• Viral online marketing

Here are two “Viral Videos” we wrote/produced/directed/shot/edited and marketed for Dan The Sausageman:

Want to experience the power of video on the internet that doesn’t just stop when the editing is finished?

Email Scott directly, or give him a call our Burien studio/office: (206) 248-2565

Thanks!

editor@b-townblog.com

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