The Seattle Times is reporting that a couple from Normandy Park is suing Toyota in federal court, demanding that the company either take back the vehicle they just bought or reimburse them for its loss in value since the automaker’s sudden-acceleration troubles became news.

According to The Times:

The lawsuit alleges that the issues plaguing Toyota violate the state’s Consumer Protection Act and amount to a breach of contract. The lawsuit is a proposed class action and, if certified by a federal judge, could apply to other Toyota owners in Washington with similar issues.

Read the full story here.

BTB Advertiser Pro Se University wants our Readers to know that Seattle Family Law Attorney and CEO Marie White will be offering FREE 30-minute family law issue support appointments on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

Sign up for a free 30-minute appointment now, but keep in mind that there is a limited number of these free appointments available, so you may want to act fast.

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Free drinks and light snacks will be available as well.

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by Scott Schaefer

According to The Olympian, on Tuesday (March 2), a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging that 18 Washington cities, including Burien, were charging too much for traffic violations caught by red light cameras.

This means that all Washington state cities with red light cameras will be able to continue charging their current fines, many of which are set at $101 and above.

The “order of dismissal” was issued by U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle, and this ends a lawsuit in which more than 40 drivers claimed that fines issued from red light cameras exceeded the amount intended by state law.

As we’ve previously reported, attorneys for the plaintiffs were seeking class-action status over a 2005 law that says traffic-camera fines “shall not exceed the amount of the fine issued for other parking infractions within the jurisdiction,” according to the complaint.

Burien has five red light cameras, which have been up and running since last March, and according to a city e-newsletter, were averaging “around 540 infractions per month” back in October 2009 – equaling a projected gross of over $654,000 in its first year of operation.

Burien currently sends out a $101 fine for red light infractions, with five cameras operating at these three intersections (see map below):

• 1st Avenue South at SW 148th Street
• 1st Avenue South at SW 152nd Street
• 1st Avenue South at SW 160th Street

View Red Light Cameras in Burien WA in a larger map

The camera earning the most money currently is the westbound one at SW 148th Street and 1st Ave South, which (as of Oct. 2009) generated about 35% of the total infractions, or 189 per month (just over 6 per day), equals to a monthly gross of $19,089 – or more than $229,000 annually, which on its own surpasses the original citywide $200k projection.

The cameras operate 24 hours a day and capture still photos and video of every vehicle that runs a red light at the intersection. After being processed by manufacturer RedFlex, the videos are accessed by Burien police through a website, where they are analyzed by an officer who decides whether or not to send out a ticket.

Other cities named in the lawsuit included:

• Auburn
• Bellevue
• Bonney Lake
• Bremerton
• Federal Way
• Fife
• Issaquah
• Lacey
• Lake Forest Park
• Lakewood
• Lynnwood
• Puyallup
• Renton
• SeaTac
• Seattle
• Spokane
• Tacoma

So, to all your speeders out there – don’t expect any reduction in red light camera fines.

And to the City of Burien (and all other cities with these device$) – let’s hope you put the massive revenues from this semi-automatic “cash cow” to good use during these economic times.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against 19 Cities, Including Burien, Over Red Light Camera Fines
• Burien’s Red Light Cameras On Track To Gross Over $654,000 In First Year, Nearly 3x Projected Revenue
• Burien’s Red Light Camera Citations Are “In The Mail”
• 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

Where do those puppies and kittens come from?

I asked at a local pet store, and they wouldn’t tell me.

According to the Humane Society, we should be skeptical of any claims that they don’t come from puppy mills (link here).

According to the American Kennel Club, you should buy a dog directly from the breeder, so you can inspect their premises and ask questions, instead of buying from a pet store (link here).

Better yet, you can get a mutt from the pound for one-tenth of the cost and save a life. Most pet stores agree that selling puppies and kittens is not the right thing to do.  The City of West Hollywood recently passed a law banning this practice (read the LA Times story here; link to the ordinance here as a PDF file).

Sign the petition and ask the City of Burien to take the lead in animal welfare:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-pet-store-puppies

- Jim Branson

So…what do YOU think? Should Burien outlaw the selling of puppies in local pet stores? Please take our Poll, or leave a Comment below…

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Have something you'd like to say? Then email us your "Letter to the Editor" by clicking here. Be sure to include your real name and a way to contact you, and, pending our review, we'll most likely post it. Otherwise, feel free to leave a Comment below...]

In the continuing saga of STITA vs the Port of Seattle, on Monday (Feb. 22nd), the Washington state Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the cab company by granting a temporary injunction against the Port of Seattle’s planned contract with Yellow Cab/Puget Sound Dispatch.

This means the Port cannot sign the planned contract “until further order of the Court” (click here to download/read the order as a PDF file), which could happen in April.

STITA’s request to expedite the appeal was granted by Commissioner Mary Neel. The Commissioner’s order states that this case will be heard by a three-judge panel “toward the end of the April 2010 term,” meaning that this ongoing SeaTac soap opera is far from over.

Members of STITA, who filed the original lawsuit against the Port of Seattle on Jan. 29, were obviously pleased with the decision.

“We are thrilled that the court stopped the Port from proceeding with an illegal contract,” said Jesse Buttar, a STITA member and spokesperson. “We’ve only ever asked for a fair process and a legal contract and now we hope the Port has finally listened and will re-do its flawed bidding process.”

Here’s more info from STITA’s press release, issued late Monday afternoon:

STITA, a non-profit co-op with one of the greenest cab fleet in the country, was created in 1989 by the Port of Seattle to exclusively serve the airport and provide reliable service to airport users. Now, after an unfair proposal process, STITA and its approximately 450 members and drivers will essentially be put out of business. They have the airport contract through August 2010.

STITA’s lawsuit claims that the Port’s bidding process violated state law by requiring bidders to commit to pay an unfair concession fee of at least 10 percent of their airport-based revenues to the Port. This revenue system violates the Airports Act, which says airport concession fees must be based upon the actual cost of operations and be reasonable and uniform. Previously, the Port had charged a per-trip fee to taxis based on the airport’s actual cost of services provided to the cabbies.

Additionally, the lawsuit contends that the Port’s new concession fees violate the King County Code and takes away from the King County Council’s authority to set “just and reasonable” taxi meter rates.

Despite protests from STITA to the Port about these glaring problems with the process and the proposed contract, the Port has so far declined to re-do its flawed contract bid.

A second lawsuit against the Port and Yellow Cab by Farwest Taxi was filed on Feb. 12.

Read our previous coverage of this ongoing legal battle here.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the final segment of our interview with Inga Isakson (read Part 1 here), one of two people seriously injured in a beating and animal attack last summer in the Sea-Tac neighborhood. Snaps, the Pit Bull that had been abused by four juveniles before biting Inga and another woman in the attack, is being cared for at Olympic Animal Sanctuary in Forks. Following the attack, Inga and many others lobbied to save Snaps from being euthanized. A 16-year old girl was sentenced this past fall to 14 months in a juvenile detention center, having pleaded guilty to single counts of second-degree assault, third-degree assault and being a minor in possession of alcohol.]

by Mark Neuman

Inga Isakson told The B-Town Blog previously how she attempted to free Snaps, a Pit Bull, from the beating four young people were putting him through one sunny Sunday evening this past June north of SeaTac airport.

The oldest of the children, a girl who was 15-years old at the time, turned on Inga, hitting her repeatedly, then siccing the Pit Bull on her, as well as on another woman who came to Inga’s aid.

Inga attended the girl’s sentencing hearing this past October and addressed the court, speaking directly to the girl, who had subsequently reached her sixteenth birthday.

“At the sentencing I just stood and spoke from my heart,” Inga told us. “I told (the girl) I was beaten horribly as a child.

“When the girl was beating me it reminded me of  my childhood. It all came back to me.

“I told her in court that I come from a broken home. I had terrible stepdads, six of them. It (the girl’s actions) brought it all back to me. All that horror of being beaten.

“And (the girl) just fell apart in court. She just started sobbing and sobbing. She couldn’t stop crying. It was real, true crying.

“‘I think that your parents should be going to jail for this,’ I told her. I said ‘I wish they could go to jail for you. But you need to learn that what you did was wrong.’

“I said to her ‘I think there is a beautiful person in you. You just snapped that day. I’d like to be an advocate for you.’

“And then they had her talk. And she was crying so hard.”

Inga told us that the girl said in court that every night she would pray that Inga would forgive her, and that she knew what she did was terrible.

“She has been a kid raising herself. She was lost,” Inga said

The girl wrote a letter to Inga a few weeks after sentencing.

“I wrote her back and told her she is going to run into every kind of person (at the juvenile center) and to try to find her passion, and find people who could help her find the beautiful person that is inside her,” Inga said.

In her letter Inga told the girl “she’s going to be challenged every day and to try to hold up under it. I tried to give her advice and be friendly.

“I told her ‘to do what you’re supposed to do.’”

The girl, in her letter to Inga, said she was embarrassed about what had happened and that she has been praying that she would be forgiven and that she still can’t believe that Inga was willing to forgive her.

“She wrote it with a pencil, a full page letter. I really liked her thinking. She obviously is a smart girl.”

The girl’s father spoke at the hearing.

Inga quoted him as saying: “I am (the girl’s) real father. I lost contact with her when she was six months old. I take as much responsibility as anybody in this courtroom as to why she is the way she is because I have been a completely absent father.

“I want to try to be with my daughter. I know it’s really late, but I want to see what I can do.”

“I hope that her dad does what he says he’s going to do,” Inga said. “Maybe he can go to her. I can’t imagine her going back to (her original) school after being in juvenile detention for a year. She’d just get taunted and torn apart.

“I want to know how the story goes for her.

“People have got to step up,” Inga Isakson told us. “Our communities are going downhill. But I believe if we all take a step to make our communities better, that’s all it takes. It’s just one step at a time.

And I’ll do it.”

On Wednesday (Feb. 27th), STITA and Farwest taxi companies sent letters to Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag and Attorney General Rob McKenna, urging an investigation into the Port of Seattle.

This follows a recent, fast-paced rash of two lawsuits filed against the Port for its alleged mishandling of switching cab vendors over from STITA to Yellow Cab (read our previous coverage here).

The letter to the State Auditor asks him to investigate the Port’s handing of the entire on-demand taxicab RFP (Request For Proposal) process, which resulted in the two recent lawsuits.

The letter to Attorney General McKenna requests not only for an investigation of the Port, but also of lobbyist Chris Van Dyk, who is accused of collusion in the RFP process.

“It’s time for the auditor and the attorney general to step in,” said STITA spokesperson Jesse Buttar in a statement. “We hope they will take a careful look at the allegations against the Port.”

We got in touch with Perry Cooper, Media Officer for the Port, who said:

“Understand we have just received this and will review our records again…but we are still emphasizing that we are confident the RFP and bidding process was fair, open and transparent.

We have reviewed our approach continually throughout a thoughtful and thorough RFP and bidding process.

We are aware of no facts that would support allegations of collusion.

At no time during the process did anyone file an official complaint.

We were not aware of these allegations until the suit was filed.”

Both letters are enclosed below, and are available also for download here (both as PDF files):

• Letter to State Auditor Sonntag (PDF File)
• Letter to Attorney General McKenna (PDF File)

The Port of Seattle is apparently being sued by a second taxi company – this time by Rainier Dispatch (aka Farwest Taxi) for ignoring collusion.

This is the latest twist in an ongoing legal war against the embattled Port of Seattle, and Rainier/Farwest is now the second taxi company to claim the Port’s process for selecting a new on-demand airport taxi contract is illegal (as we’ve covered previously, the first was STITA).

According to a press release we received Tuesday, Feb. 16th:

Farwest Taxi filed a lawsuit last Friday (Feb. 12th) in King County Superior Court against the Port of Seattle and Yellow Cab, its former partner in a joint bid for the airport contract. The lawsuit claims the Port’s proposal process was illegal. The lawsuit says lobbyist Chris Van Dyk drafted the bid for Yellow Cab, the winning bidder for the on-demand airport contract. Then he turned around and used that insider information to draft a less competitive proposal by the No. 2 bidder, a joint venture between Yellow, Farwest and Orange Cab.

“The Port of Seattle and Yellow Cab should be ashamed of this whole process,” said Gurcharan Dhaliwal, president of Rainier Dispatch. “Yellow Cab and Chris Van Dyk took our bid information and used it to make sure they came out on top, and the Port looked the other way.”

According to the lawsuit, Van Dyk knew trade secrets of the two other bidders in the joint venture, and used that proprietary intellectual property to ensure Yellow Cab submitted the top bid. In addition, in its legal filing, Farwest says it explicitly told Yellow representatives that it did not want anyone who drafted the joint venture proposal to also draft a proposal for any of the three individual members. They said they were assured that would be the case.

The Port’s own RFP states: “One or all responses will be rejected if there is reason for believing that collusion exists among Proposers, and no participant in such collusion will be considered in future proposals for concessions at the Airport.” [RFP, 13.4.1, p. 6]

This latest lawsuit follows on the heels of a well-publicized lawsuit filed by the Seattle-Tacoma International Taxi Association (STITA) on Jan. 29. STITA, which has the exclusive taxicab contract at Sea-Tac Airport through August 2010.

Like STITA’s lawsuit, Farwest Taxi’s lawsuit requests a court order barring the Port of Seattle from officially signing a contract with Yellow Cab. It also seeks an order disqualifying Yellow Cab from future re-bids of the airport contract.

STITA members were encouraged that another taxi company – even one of their competitors – saw the same foul play and are now suing the Port and Yellow Cab.

“Here is yet another reason for the Port to hold off on signing the illegal contract with Yellow Cab,” said Jesse Buttar, a spokesperson for STITA. “We hope the Port takes the opportunity to go back and review this whole process. This illegal process directly affects the 450 families who make up STITA. We just want a fair shot at the airport contract.”

A copy of this lawsuit can be downloaded here (as a PDF file).

Last week (Wed., Feb. 3rd), Seattle Times Columnist Jerry Large wrote an editorial explaining why he thinks White Center would be a “good fit” for Seattle, and vice versa (link here) – an issue that has reared its head ever since new Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said that he’d like to annex the area.

Of course, numerous folks around these parts think differently from both Large and McGinn (hey, weren’t they in a band together in the 60s?), including Burien City Councilmember Kathy Keene, who read Large’s column, then emailed us her response to him:

“Needless to say I do NOT agree and wrote the following letter to Mr. Large, to which he responded.”

Here’s the email dialogue she had with Mr. Large, which we print below with her permission:

From: Kathleen Keene
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 10:21 AM
To: Jerry Large
Subject: Article on White Center

Dear Jerry,

I want to comment on your article last week on White Center.

Before I go any farther, let me introduce myself: I am a 23 year resident of the area (a veritable newcomer by most standards), and a 19 year Commissioner at Water District 20. We provide water to a very large portion of North Highline, in fact, the remaining unincorporated area east of 509 down to the Seattle city limits in South Park is in our service area. I also am in my first term on the Burien City Council.

As a small local government, Burien offers the residents in North Highline something Seattle will NEVER be able to: POWER TO THEIR VOICES! In Burien they will be 18,000 of 45 000, in Seattle they’ll be 18,000 of what? 600,000? Tell me how much power that gives them. In Burien we hold our Council meetings Monday at 7 PM, Seattle’s are 3:00, how many working folks can make those meetings? As an added bonus we’re a hop, skip and a jump from White Center, two jumps for Blvd Park, and the parking is FREE.

I would love to invite you to Burien and show you around. A Burien annexation of this entire area is a reuniting of a neighborhood that was one neighborhood for many many years. These folks are our brothers and sisters, our moms and dads, our cousins, our best friends. They shop in Burien. Like Burien, they are home owners and shop keepers, many have lived here for generations. I grew up in the little fishing village of Ballard. This area reminds me of my childhood – stable neighborhoods, generational families, extended families, a deep pride of community.

An annexation to Burien also ensures a continuation of the same services they now enjoy:

Libraries-currently the people of NH are part of the KCLS. If they become Seattle residents they lose that. The county may close down the White Center and Blvd Park libraries due to loss of tax revenue. It took Seattle 100 years to build a library in South Park, how long before they will build a replacement library in this area??? There are 8-10,000 people a month that use the White Center Library. I don’t have the figures for Blvd Park, but I do know it is also is the heart of their community. These facilities are a vital part of the human infrastructure of the area.

Speaking of infrastructure, the water distribution system in Water District 20’s boundaries are heads and shoulders above Seattle’s. Our system is almost totally rebuilt. We don’t wait for a pipe to break 3 times before we replace it; we are proactive. We don’t have the accidents like the Ravenna area has had recently. Approx. 35 years ago old WD 61 became a direct service customer of Seattle water; this area includes White Center, North Shorewood, Salmon Creek and the NW corner of Burien. A majority of that systems has not been touched since. The rate payers have no say in their rates and they pay a 10% out of service fee. (You pay, a 14% utility tax on your bill I believe) WD 20 and Burien have no utility taxes. By reuniting the entire area we can hopefully give all these folks back control of their water system and rates.

Another cost savings for the unincorporated area is their sewers. The western area is served by SW Suburban Sewer District (SWSSD), which has its own sewer treatment plants. We do NOT have to pay for Brightwater… look at your sewer bill, there is most likely a charge of $40 + to pay off the county bonds, which, I believe are 40 year bonds. I have been told that will probably go up to around $50/month. If this area becomes part of Seattle, I believe they will have to pay those rates because of the bond covenants, even if they remain in SWSSD.

Fire – Fire District 11 will go away and the entire area will be served by FD 2. The existing fire fighters will become FD 2 personnel. They know the area, which is helpful when every minute counts. When Burien was deciding on the boundaries of Phase 1 we included the fire station on 112th which serves this area now. Seattle was adamant that they needed that station to serve the area and parts of south Seattle. In a spirit of cooperation we honored their request. When the Seattle City Council was getting their briefing they were told this station isn’t adequate and White Center will be covered by the station in West Seattle…. I wonder how that will affect the response time? I wonder why we gave it up.

Police – If the area becomes part of Burien they will have the same police officers they have now, there will be a seamless transition. Our Sheriffs have been very effective dealing with crime in this area. So what happens to these officers if Seattle annexes? I realize they have the option to hire those that currently work there but there are issues of seniority, pay, benefits etc.

Debt-Burien has no debt, Seattle has many levy and bond measures that have to be paid. The new residents will be responsible for helping to pay for this debt since they now “enjoy the benefits”.

The focus of your article was on the social services and how the non profits could “help the people”. As you can see from what I’ve written there are many other aspects to consider. It is true Burien does not have the deep pockets of Seattle, but we do work well with the various support and non profit groups that work in our city. We look forward to working with the non profits you mentioned as well. Since these folks are receiving grant money from private agencies that money can also continue to flow into the area.

We are a small and nimble city, it is in our combined best interests to see that this area thrives. By having a government close by I anticipate the downtown core of White Center begin to fill up with new business run by the residents. As you pointed out there is a vibrancy in the area you don’t often see. That needs to be nurtured. Check into the B&O taxes Seattle charges, as well as space taxes, head tax, business license fees etc. These are a burden to beginning/small businesses. Burien doesn’t charge as much in B&O nor do we have any of those other ancillary taxes. We are a business friendly city and value the leadership and ideas they contribute to our community.

Again, I invite you back to the area, come on down to Burien some Monday evening and see our Council in action, walk around our downtown core and see what we have done – it was not done in a vacuum – the residents of Burien were very actively involved. This is the way we do business here – with the involvement  and support of our residents. This is the power we offer to the remainder of the unincorporated area. Doubts? Come watch us as we begin this process with the area that will become part of Burien in April. I admit it will take some time; these folks have been ignored, neglected, abused, and dictated to for too many years. They aren’t quite sure of their voice yet, but given time they will gain confidence and bring a new vibrancy to our city…. we will all be a better place. I look forward to including the remainder of the area – what a great city we will be!

Thank you for your time,
Kathy Keene

—– Original Message —–
From: Jerry Large
To: Kathleen Keene
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 1:25 PM
Subject: RE: Article on White Center

Dear Kathy,

Thanks for the note. I’d love to visit with you about White Center and Burien. I’ll be away next week, but I can come down after that. I have deadlines on Wednesdays and Fridays. If you let me know a couple of times that would work with your schedule, we can find one that works.

Jerry

Jerry Large
Columnist
The Seattle Times

Also, Thursday morning Crosscut published another editorial about why White Center should join Seattle, this one penned by Jordan Royer. And yes, he’s the son of former Seattle Mayor Charlie Royer – read it here.

So…what do YOU think of this issue? Should Seattle be allowed to annex White Center? Or should Burien go for it? Please take our Poll below, or leave a Comment…

With more twists and turns than Maplewild Ave SW, Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 9th) the case of STITA vs the Port of Seattle took another turn – the Court of Appeals Commissioner issued an order that temporarily continues the Stay that is stopping the Port from signing an agreement with Yellow Cab.

An oral argument is tentatively is scheduled for next Friday, Feb. 19th, at 1:30 p.m.

The stay will continue in effect until the Commissioner rules on STITA’s motion.

So be sure to stay tuned, as this case is certainly a lively one.

Here’s a scan of the order for all you legal eagles out there:

In a fast-paced legal tennis match, after briefly having its restraining order denied, a State Court of Appeals Commissioner issued a stay late Monday in STITA Cab’s lawsuit against the Port of Seattle.

This means that, pending any other legal maneuvering, the Port will not be able to sign a contract with Yellow Cab.

Earlier Monday, King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez denied a restraining order filed by STITA to block the Port from signing the contract with Yellow Cab.

The contract for on-demand taxi service at Sea-Tac airport won’t be awarded until the court determines if the Port acted illegally. Judge Gonzalez heard STITA’s case Feb. 4th, and issued his decision Monday afternoon.

STITA vowed to continue fighting. They immediately took the case to the State Court of Appeals, which agreed to issue a stay – meaning the Port cannot sign with Yellow Cab until the legal issues are resolved.

The commissioner is expected to consider the merits of the case this week.

“We’re thrilled with this late-breaking win,” said Jesse Buttar, STITA cab owner. “We know we have a case. We just want a fair shot at the airport contract.”

On Jan. 29, STITA filed a complaint asking the court to halt the Port from signing a contract that violates state law. STITA seeks a fair and legal proposal process in which all bidders can compete on a level playing field.

In 1989, STITA – a non-profit co-op with the greenest cab fleet in the country – was created by the Port of Seattle to exclusively serve the airport and provide reliable service to airport users. Now, after an unfair proposal process, STITA and its approximately 450 members and drivers will essentially be put out of business.

In its lawsuit, STITA contends the Port’s bidding process violated the state Airports Act because the Port discontinued its prior practice of charging fees to taxicabs based on the airport’s actual cost of services provided to the cabbies. Instead, it required bidders to commit to pay an unfair concession fee of at least 10 percent of their airport-based revenues. This violates the Airports Act, which says airport concession fees must be based upon the Airport’s actual cost of operations and be reasonable and uniform.

STITA contends the Port’s bidding process caused a predatory bidding war among taxi companies which not only was illegal but will be financially devastating to the King County taxi industry.

STITA’s lawsuit also contends that the Port’s new concession fee violates the King County Code, which requires the King County Council to set the taxi meter rate at a level that is “just and reasonable.” The Port’s new concession fee cuts directly into the county’s taxi meter rate and prevents cab operators from receiving the gross receipts that they legally are entitled to receive.

Despite notice from STITA protesting these glaring problems with the process and proposed contract, the Port of Seattle declined to re-do its flawed proposal and said it would sign an agreement with Yellow Cab. STITA had no recourse but legal action.

PREVIOUSLY:

On Monday (Feb. 8th), King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzales put up the first roadblock in a lawsuit filed by longtime Sea-Tac Airport vendor STITA Cab by denying its attempts to stop the Port of Seattle from signing a contract with Yellow Cab.

The exclusive taxicab contract was held by STITA for 20 years in a no-bid deal. After a harsh rebuke from the State Auditor over its contracting processes, the Port of Seattle issued a “Request for Proposal,” or RFP, for the first time last fall.

Yellow Cab won the award with a bid of $18.3 million, which is $8 million greater than the bid STITA submitted. Yellow Cab was named a defendant in the lawsuit, along with the Port of Seattle and other taxi associations.

In issuing the ruling, Judge Gonzales noted that the RFP allowed for prospective bidders to file complaints, or injunctions, to any portion of the RFP document; Gonzales said, “The Plaintiff had the opportunity to file a complaint during the process, and they did not. They only complained when they did not win the bid.”

Yellow Cab will have to expand to meet its new agreement and may add up to 150 taxis, which could mean transferring over some STITA drivers, according to company representatives.

Without ruling on the lawsuit’s merits, Gonzalez said that STITA’s request for an injunction was damaged by the fact that it waited until after the bidding process to object. Had STITA won the contract, it’s “inconceivable” they would’ve sought an injunction, he said.

As we reported Feb. 1st:

In its lawsuit, STITA claimed that the Port’s bidding process violated the state Airports Act, because the Port discontinued its prior practice of charging fees to taxicabs based on the airport’s actual cost of services provided to the cabbies. Instead, it required bidders to commit to pay an unfair concession fee of at least 10 percent of their airport-based revenues. This violates the Airports Act, which says airport concession fees must be based upon the Airport’s actual cost of operations and be reasonable and uniform.

STITA contends the Port’s bidding process caused a “predatory bidding war among taxi companies which not only was illegal but will be financially devastating to the King County taxi industry.”

STITA has 216 cabs, 450 drivers, and claims to have brought in $10.58 million to the Port between 2004 and 2008.

A preliminary state audit questions the Port of Seattle’s contract with the nonprofit “Port Jobs” program, and Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D – Des Moines) is sponsoring a bill that will make sure the program continues.

Since 1993, the private, nonprofit “Port Jobs” program has successfully matched job seekers with employers, as well as provided continuing education and job training opportunities.

“In the past decade, over 14,000 job seekers in South King County have turned to the services of Port Jobs,” Upthegrove said. “And employers know that when a candidate is referred to them through Port Jobs, that person’s qualifications have been thoroughly vetted.”

Upthegrove is sponsoring House Bill 2651, which specifically authorizes ports to support job placement and training programs that are operated by nonprofit entities. State law already authorizes port districts to contract with nonprofits for economic development. At issue is whether economic development encompasses workforce development.

“Port Jobs has connected thousands of job seekers with employers at Sea-Tac Airport, and to apprenticeships in the skilled construction trades. In this economy, we are doing everything we can to get people to work, and to help them stay employed once they get there,” said Heather Worthley, Executive Director of Port Jobs. “Representative Upthegrove’s bill, if passed, will make it crystal clear that the Port of Seattle has the Legislature’s backing to continue to fund this important work.”

The bill passed out of committee in the House and is awaiting possible action on the House floor. Upthegrove is pushing to ensure that the measure passes the House before the February 16 cutoff deadline for House bills.

“Our focus this year in Olympia is to create jobs and improve our economy, and this bill is all about jobs,” Upthegrove said.

Under the proposed legislation, Port Jobs would be required to submit an annual report to the Port of Seattle detailing the number of successful job placements. In 2009, Port Jobs placed more than 500 people through its Airport Jobs office.

From the Port Jobs website:

Port Jobs is not-for-profit action tank that develops practical programs and supports public policies that increase access to living wage jobs, fostering a more vibrant and equitable economy for residents of and businesses in Seattle and King County. We make good jobs easier to get and good employees easier to find, primarily in the port-related economy.

A 501(c)(3) organization, Port Jobs: engages in innovative research to increase shared knowledge; creates powerful partnerships in key action areas; and develops practical programs that provide important services to jobseekers, employers and our local community.

BTB Advertiser Pro Se University wants our Readers to know that Seattle Family Law Attorney and CEO Marie White will be offering FREE Attorney Support on Tuesdays, Feb. 16th and March 2nd, to help you with any family law issue.

Sign up for a free 30-minute appointment now, but keep in mind that there is a limited number of these free appointments available.

For more information, click here.

[Would you like to have a “Blogvertorial” Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by nearly 50,000 interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

Normandy Park City Hall was evacuated and closed for most of Thursday, Jan. 28th, after a bomb threat was left on a city official’s voicemail Wednesday night claiming to blow up the building at “around Noon.”

According to a Normandy Park Police spokeswoman, the building went into “lockdown” mode around 10am this morning, when city hall was shut down and all employees were evacuated and sent home for the day.

After the evacuation, Port of Seattle Police brought in their bomb squad, which includes bomb-sniffing dogs, and checked the building for around an hour. Officers from the Des Moines Police Department also helped out.

No bomb was found.

However, city hall was shut down for the day, and it will not re-open until tomorrow.

As for the bomb threat itself, police say the caller ID was traced to Minnesota, and they’re considering it a hoax.

The B-Town Blog would like to welcome our newest Advertiser – the Law Offices of W. Tracy Codd!

He’s the new guy in our “Page Peel” Ad spot in the upper right corner.

Tracy’s a longtime Burien resident. He attended nursery school in Seahurst. He then attended local public schools, and is a 1979 grad of John F. Kennedy High School.  After that he had a gig as a college tennis player at the University of San Diego, but the gloom and doom of the Seattle area called him back to finish at the University of Washington. Then off to UPS Law School to get his law degree, then back to the University of Washington to get an MBA.

In 1987 he hung his law shingle in downtown Seattle to become a sports agent, specializing in representing baseball players. But Burien called him back. In the early 90s he started office sharing with his Father, Paul J. Codd. Paul J. Codd has been a Burien general practice lawyer for over 45 years. He’s also served as a municipal court judge for 30 years. His sister Julie Codd also shares office space.

“I’m lucky to see my family members every day. I’ve often benefited from my dad’s years of accumulated wisdom,” states Codd.

The substantial portion of Tracy’s practice involves Plaintiff’s Personal Injury cases and Criminal Defense. But instead of talking about the law, Codd chose to use his complementary BTB “Blogvetorial” to sing the praises of Burien, his family and running (but not necessarily in that order).

In Codd’s mind, “Burien is one of the best kept secrets, if not in all of the state of Washington, certainly King County. The quality of life, the water, access to the freeways and the firmly rooted community,” are at the top of his list. When it comes to community involvment issues, he commends two restaurant/bars and their owners on 152nd that have changed life for runners and residents alike in Burien.

As a lifelong athlete, Codd continues to run to keep fit. As a former Marathon Man and Iron Man, he has diverted his running to “cause related” races and shorter distances. He hopes to run into his 60’s or 70’s.

When Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub started the Cove to Clover race last March, it gave Codd and many others a chance to participate in cause related running while making over $10,000 for the Highline Area Food Bank. He hopes to talk to Mick about changing the course …..”the hill from hell, the snake hill’s gotta go. Mick is trying to kill us.”

He also appreciated the Tin Room’s Brat Trot. Perhaps that’s because if was on a flat course, it’s well organized and the inaugural race day weather was beautiful. Four hundred runners raised $25,000 for West Side Baby and Safe Children in South King County.

Codd wanted to use his complementary blogvetorial to give a Big Shout Out to Mick Purdy (Mick Kelly’s) and Dan House (Tin Room) for their civic service!

Codd and his family live in the Burien area.  His wife Michelle is part owner of Poggi Bonsi and board member of Discover Burien. They moved back to Burien shortly after they started a family. Daughters Sydney (17) and Caroline (16) are basketball players at Mt. Rainier High School, while son Stuart (14) is on the swim team. Son Paul (9) is carrying on the family sports tradition by playing soccer at St. Francis.

So there you have our profile of W. (William) Tracy Codd. Dad, Husband, avid runner, Burien-ite, Burien advocate and plaintiff’s lawyer in personal injury and criminal defense. We hope that you, our Readers, don’t need his services, but if life throws you a curve, be sure and give Tracy Codd a call.

You’ll find him at:

Address: 15401 1st Ave. South #A

Phone: 206-248-6152

Website: www.tracycodd.com

[Would you like to have a “Blogvertorial” story, Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by nearly 50,000 interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

Acting as your own lawyer – as a pro se party – may well be the most challenging thing a person ever does.

Our latest Advertiser, Pro Se University PS, offers webinars and seminars on specific family law issues. They walk people through the process of completing paperwork, filing their paperwork, getting ready for the courtroom, and understanding court courtesy. They also provide one-on-one attorney and paralegal support. They can help you through the confusing process of adjusting or modifying your child support if you cannot afford an attorney.

They know the problems, they understand the process and they know how to help you.

• Are you receiving too little child support?
• Are you paying too much child support?
• Do you need help with daycare or uninsured medical expenses?
• Are you still paying daycare expenses for a child no longer in daycare?
• Does your child need help paying for college?

These are just a few of the possible reasons that you might need to adjust your child support payment or modify your child support order. If you feel that you have a good reason to make a change, contact Pro Se University PS for help. You can give them a call at 877-776-7310 or email them at info@proseuniversity.com. Their services are a small fraction of the cost of full service legal representation.

As you move through each step of the complex and confusing court process, you can attend the one-hour Pro Se University PS Webinar or Seminar that addresses that step. Throughout the life of your case, you can continue to attend Webinars or Seminars specific to the phase of your case.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be webinars and seminars covering Drafting a Child Support Order, Motion to Adjust Child Support and Petition to Modify a Child Support Order (class schedule here). Over the next several months, this menu of Webinars and Seminars will be expanded to help you work through your other family law Issues. The one-hour webinars and seminars are $65 each. Paralegal support is $65 per hour and attorney support is $200 per hour.

Pro Se University PS works with people in either the Kent or Seattle superior court systems in King County. For more information visit their website – www.proseuniversity.com.

First go to school…then go to court – Pro Se University!

[Would you like to have a “Blogvertorial” story, Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by nearly 50,000 interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

by Ralph Nichols

After beginning a condemnation process in September to seize ownership of a private parking lot on International Boulevard – for the private development of an envisioned city center – the SeaTac City Council appears ready to reverse course.

SeaTac council members entertained at their Jan. 12 meeting an ordinance, introduced by Deputy Mayor Gene Fisher, to rescind the earlier condemnation action against Park-N-Fly surface parking lot, which James and Doris Cassan have operated for almost 50 years.

Action on the ordinance to stop legal proceedings to condemn the Cassan’s property was delayed, however, when Councilman Ralph Shape, who supports condemnation, requested that it be held for consideration until the next council meeting.

Under council rules, that automatically ended discussion of Fisher’s proposed ordinance, which was moved to the agenda for the council’s Jan. 26 meeting.

John Houlihan Jr., an attorney representing the Cassans, later told The B-Town Blog that they “are hopeful that the council at its next meeting will take up the ordinance and repeal condemnation” of their property.

Meanwhile, companion bills to protect private property by restricting the use of eminent domain were introduced in the Legislature Monday – SB 6200 by Sen. Michael Carrell, R-Lakewood, and HB 2425 by Rep. Jay Rodne, R-North Bend – at the request of State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

They provide that private property may be taken by a public entity only for public use, that no public entity may take private property for economic development, and that that taking private property by a public entity for economic development or tax revenue enhancement does not constitute a public use.

SeaTac’s 2010 budget includes funding for the city’s lobbyist to oppose this proposed legislation in Olympia.

Houlihan said he believes the two bills address the use of eminent domain as applied by SeaTac in its earlier action to condemn the Park-N-Fly property. They also would amend the Community Redevelopment Act to prevent potential abuses through eminent domain to remedy “blight” through “condemnation.”

Earlier in their Jan. 12 meeting, following a public hearing, council members voted 6-1 to continue until May 15 a moratorium on development permits in the city’s proposed entertainment district.

Fisher argued for leaving in place that moratorium, which was imposed by city council in November, so a newly appointed ad hoc committee, which has yet to meet, can have time to review zoning in this area and propose changes to accommodate new development.

Initial reaction to Fisher’s proposed ordinance during the meeting indicates that on Jan. 26 the condemnation of the Cassan property may be rescinded by at least five votes. In addition to Fisher, Mayor Terry Anderson and Council members Tony Anderson, Rick Forschler and Pam Fernald indicated their support for reversing the prior action.

Shape argued that the council was bending to pressure from a public relations campaign orchestrated by the Cassans, and claimed they have taken no action to develop their Park-N-Fly property for an extended time.

But Houlihan disagreed, telling The B-Town Blog that most recently they submitted an application for a design revision in December.

The Cassans paid over $10 million in 2007 when they converted a long-term lease into ownership of the property. Before initiating the eminent domain process, the city offered them $8.6 million for the parking lot.

They have filed with the city plans for mixed use development of their property at 17400 International Blvd., including retail and a hotel.

The city, however, wants to build a parking garage on the parking lot site, and encourage private development of a city center entertainment district north of S. 176th St. and just east of Sound Transit’s airport light rail station.

Here’s a video report on this case, produced by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation:

And another one from Fox News:

According to The Seattle P-I, John Simmons, 22, has had charges of vehicular assault filed against him for losing control of his car and striking a woman and her three children (including twins in a stroller) at the intersection of SW 150th and 4th Ave SW in Burien on Aug. 30th.

Prosecutors contend that Simmons, from Tukwila, was driving drunk at 6:10pm on Aug. 30 when he allegedly lost control of his vehicle, skidded across oncoming traffic and up onto a sidewalk, where he struck a 31-year-old woman, her 7-year-old daughter and 11-month-old twins in a stroller.

According to Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim, the woman and her youngest children suffered cuts and soft-tissue damage, and the 7-year-old girl’s leg was broken and required surgery.

After striking the family, Simmons apparently drove back onto the street and grazed a building before striking a utility pole and stopping. His car crashed, Simmons apparently then tried to flee the scene on foot but was tackled by a bystander and restrained until the cops arrived.

Simmons was charged earlier this month with vehicular assault and felony hit and run. He was booked into King County Jail following the crash and is currently being held on $25,000 bail.

Read the full story here.

by Mark Neuman

We sat down recently for a talk with King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Dan joked while recollecting his days playing both offense and defense for Highline High School’s football team in the late 1970’s.

“We were a small team, but we were slow.”

The Pirates won, perhaps, four games during the three years Dan was there.

“But really, I have to say that learning to lose and learning to do so with some grace and class is part of learning to live,” he said. “I think I may have learned more by being on a losing team than I would have being on a state championship team.”

Dan went on to the University of Washington for his BA in Political Science and a law degree.

“My favorite professor in law school was the one that scared me the most. His name was Arval Morris, a constitutional law professor. He was an intellectual giant,” Dan said. “I was in awe of him because of his ability to analyze and his depth of knowledge.

“He taught us so much about constitutional law and the rules of criminal law and how the government interacts with its citizens. The contract between government and citizens is the Constitution.

“It’s a fascinating area because we continue to define what we mean by that contract. The Constitution is a living, breathing document in my office because we look at Fourth and Fifth and Sixth Amendment issues every day as we analyze cases.

“I love the law, and I see those years in law school as formative years,” Dan added. “The prosecutor has a significant role in moving law in new directions. A prosecutor can actually direct traffic.”

JUVENILES WITH GUNS
One area where Dan is directing traffic deals with attempting to separate kids from gang activity before they fire a weapon in commission of a crime.

“You would think that when a 16 or 17 year-old youth is caught with a handgun that we would bring to bear all of our resources because this is a giant red flag. ‘We better pay attention to this kid,’” Dan said. “But the truth is that current state law builds in a tolerance where literally nothing happens until (there are) five felony convictions.

“And only then the kid, by law, would go to a Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration facility, let’s say Echo Glen, for a period of time.

“So the message that we send to a kid is that gun possession is not a big deal.”

Dan Satterberg and The State Prosecutors Association want to change that. They are pressing the Washington State Legislature to make changes to the law during the upcoming legislative session such that a juvenile found in illegal possession of a handgun will “get an immediate response from the system. We don’t wait. The kid gets removed from the community and put into Echo Glen,” he said.

“And while there the juvenile can get help with tried and true programs such as Moral Recognition Therapy which helps him understand his options and the potential consequences of his future actions.”

CANINE COMPANION PROGRAM
Dan spoke about the relatively new Canine Companion Program which involves having a dog in the courthouse to help calm the nerves of those going through the legal process.

“We have a dog in our office. Her name is Ellie, a six year-old Golden Lab. Ellie’s full time job is to come in and lay on the floor and look up at you with doe eyes. She puts kids at ease. We use her with our elder abuse cases as well.

“Once we got Ellie on board we realized this is an essential part of what we need to do to put witnesses and victims at ease. We have a lot of children who come into our office to talk about sexual abuse that happened to them or some scary moment, and when they see the dog all of a sudden everything’s okay. And they want to come back to see Ellie again.

“We even bring the dog up to drug court. Ellie will put her head in the lap of someone who may be heading to prison because they screwed up.

“Ellie doesn’t discriminate. Ellie loves everybody.”

NORM MALENG AND THE JOB OF PROSECUTOR
The duties of King County Prosecutor involve overseeing a staff of about 500, including 220 attorneys. The Office of the Prosecutor has an annual budget of $56 million.

Those duties fell on Dan’s shoulders quite unexpectedly in the spring of 2007 when long time Prosecutor Norm Maleng died suddenly at the age of 68.

Dan was appointed by the King County Council to serve as prosecutor and subsequently won election to serve the remainder of the full term.

“It was a great honor for me to work with Norm Maleng for 17 years. I was just 29-years old when he selected me to be his chief of staff.

“What I learned from Norm was not so much about the law as about life in general. I started with him shortly after he’d lost his daughter in a tragic sledding accident. So he was in many stages of grief and I learned an awful lot about dealing with people in grief.

“One of the things that he taught me was that every one of the thousands of felony cases we deal with involves a human tragedy, a story of someone’s hurt or loss or suffering.

“Norm would always start out a meeting with a homicide victim’s family by reaching out and saying how sorry he was that this happened to their family. He would say ‘Tell me about your son or daughter.’ To make that case and that person alive. The case wasn’t just a file full of papers.

“I try to keep that practice alive. What makes this job so meaningful is the ability to reach out and talk to victims and their families.”

THE FAMILY AND THE BAND
Dan and his wife, Linda, have two children and live in Normandy Park.

When he finds the time, Dan loves rocking out with his pals in their band The Approximations. Here’s info from their website:

Organized by bass player and singer Dan Satterberg (aka the King County Prosecutor), the band includes harmonica player and vocalist Bill Mattocks leader of the Bill Mattocks Band, keyboardist and vocalist Michael Hepburn from the nationally known 80’s R&B group Pleasure; drummer and vocalist Rusty Fallis, guitarist Tom Pratt, guitarist and vocalist John Rankin, percussionist and drummer Fred Staples, vocalists Linda Norman and Michelle Purnell-Hepburn. Tom, Rusty, Dan and John also play and record original songs as the Treehouse Dreamers.  With such a large band and wide array of musical backgrounds, the Approximations are likely to play songs by Smokey Robinson, the Beatles, AC/DC, Savoy Brown, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Fleetwood Mac and Kings of Leon all in the same set.

The Approximations have played their full, multi-faceted, danceable rock sets in Seattle venues such as the Showbox, Showbox Sodo, Mountaineers Club, and the Highway 99 Blues Club entertaining for private functions, special occasions, and benefits for the Domestic Violence Coalition, and the American Cancer society among others.

The band’s website is here, and you can view videos of the band in action here.

You can catch The Approximations at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub (located at 435 SW 152nd Street in Burien), this Friday night, Sept. 18th:

UPDATE 9/9/09: The schedule for public input on the city’s response to Initiative No. 1033 has changed: The Burien City Council will hear Pro and Con statements on Sept. 14th, then discuss it on Sept. 28th and consider a resolution on Oct. 5th.

PREVIOUSLY: The City of Burien is seeking public input at 7pm on Monday, Sept. 28th Monday, Sept. 14th considering a resolution regarding Initiative Measure No. 1033, the Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that would “limit growth of certain state, county and city revenue to annual inflation and population growth, not including voter-approved revenue increases. Revenue collected above the limit would reduce property tax levies.”

Voters will choose to approve or deny this initiative on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd.

Opponents call 1033 the “Jobs Killing” Initiative because they allege it will cause thousands of public servants to be laid off from their jobs.

The City of Burien wants to know what its citizens think of this, pro or con, and are inviting all to come speak up at a public meeting on Monday, Sept. 14 28th, at 7pm. The meeting will be held at Burien City Hall, 400 SW 152nd Street, 1st Floor.

According to the description prepared by the Washington Secretary of State:

This measure would limit growth in state revenues deposited in funds subject to the state expenditure limit, and limit growth in county and city revenues deposited into the county and city current expense funds. The limit would be adjusted based on annual growth in inflation and population. The limit also would apply to revenues transferred out of these funds. The limit would exclude voter-approved revenue increases. Revenues above the limit would reduce property tax levies.

The “Voters Want More Choices” website argues “For” I-1033 with these arguments:

• In the state of Washington, “property taxes are completely out-of-control” wiht “huge levy increases, skyrocketing valuation increases, massive rate hikes. It’s obscene and unsustainable. Struggling working families and fixed-income senior citizens are being taxed out of their homes.”
• “We don’t want Washington to be a state where only rich people can afford to buy and own a home.”
• “Citizens desperately need property tax relief, especially during these tough economic times.”
• “The overall tax burden imposed by state government, counties, and cities is growing exponentially.”
• Currently, “there is no cap, no ceiling, no lid, no maximum, no limit on how much they can take from us. There’s simply no way that citizens can afford to have government continue to grow at an uncontrolled rate.”
• “The Lower Property Taxes Initiative I-1033 puts a reasonable cap on our overall tax burden, requiring excess tax revenues collected about the cap used to substantially reduce property tax bills.”

Arguments made “Against” I-1033 by its opponents include:

• The concern that it could reduce critical public services at the state and local levels.
• Arguing that the historical cost increase of public spending in areas such as health care and education has exceeded the consumer price index, opponents of I-1033 say that if I-1033 passes, spending in these areas will not be able to grow at the levels they have historically grown at.
• The belief that government services will be reduced each year from the previous year.
• It is problematic because “The initiative is designed to lock in all the budget cuts that state and municipal governments are currently making, thus potentially killing thousands of jobs in the years to come.”
• “[T]his initiative is exact opposite of real reform. Instead of fixing what’s broken, it would make all of our lives worse. Much worse. We need real tax reform that improves stability and fairness in our tax system”.
• “Property taxes already have strict limitations on growth and levels. The result of these has been particularly hard on local governments, who have limited ability to raise other taxes.”
• “Shifting from the property tax to other tax sources makes our tax system less stable because property taxes are one of the least volatile revenue sources we have.”
• “The reality is that the whole concept of contrived, artificial limits on revenue is completely unreasonable to begin with. In practice such limits have been utterly unworkable. Other states, like Colorado, have imposed them and seen their quality of life suffer drastically as a result.”

Here’s the official release from the Burien cityfolk:

CITIZENS INVITED TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 1033 CONCERNS STATE, COUNTY AND CITY REVENUE

The Burien City Council will be considering a resolution regarding Initiative Measure No. 1033 concerns state, county and city revenue, on September 28, 2009. All interested parties who are for or against the ballot measure are invited to speak at the Council Meeting on Monday, September 14, 2009, at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held at Burien City Hall, 400 SW 152nd Street, 1st Floor.

###

The City of Burien strives to provide alternate communication opportunities. Please contact the City Clerk’s office, 206/248-5504, twenty-four hours prior to the meeting for assistance.

This is a great opportunity to come share your thoughts with your elected officials, so be sure to mark you calendars for what will surely be a lively discussion.

To read I-1033 in its entirety, click here for a PDF.

According to both The Seattle Times and The News Tribune, Toan Le, 51, and Hang Ho, 41, of the Crystal Nails salon in Burien, have been indicted on the illegal importing of a skin treatment device as well as two counts of attempting to bribe a federal official.

Reports are that Le and Ho offered bribes of $500, then $800 to a federal Food and Drug Administration official to overlook an unapproved, radiation-emitting laser skin treatment device they had imported.

According to the Times, Ho told the FDA inspector that if she helped them keep the device, “we will give you a present.”

Cyrstal Nails is located at 15728 First Ave South in Burien, in the strip mall behind McDonald’s and Roundtable Pizza, and across the parking lot from Page2 Books.

As of Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 25th) it appeared to be open for business as usual.

Read the full Seattle Times report here.

The News Tribune story is here.

The Seattle P-I is reporting that King County Sheriff Sue Rahr is contemplating firing two deputies who worked out of the Burien offices for use of “excessive force,” including one caught on this video as he man-handled Malika Calhoun, a 15-year old girl:

Deputy Paul Schene, 31, has been charged with misdemeanor assault for beating the teenaged girl in a SeaTac holding cell in the video above. His trial is set for Sept. 9th in King County Superior Court, where, if convicted, he could face up to a year in jail.

The incident happened last November, and began after Calhoun was brought in for an auto theft investigation, according to court documents. The footage shows the attack beginning after the girl enters the cell at SeaTac City Hall and kicks off one of her shoes toward the deputy.

“We believe this case is beyond just police misconduct, it’s criminal misconduct,” King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg said. “This is clearly excessive force.”

The second deputy, Don Griffee, 61, was charged with misdemeanor assault for hitting Johnny R. Bradford, 21, of Burien, a handcuffed suspect in the back of his patrol car on Aug. 3, 2008. Bradford had apparently been falsely accused of threatening a woman with a gun. Griffee, 61, was charged in King County District Court, where a jury acquitted him.

Some bad times in B-Town, eh?

Read the full story here.

by Stephen Lamphear

Following in the steps of the likes of Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr, the city of Burien is preparing to reduce its responsiveness to public records requests.

Here’s a screenshot of “Ordinance 517” on pages 121 – 123 of the last week’s council packet (from http://burienwa.gov/archives/30/081709a.pdf):

(click here to see full version of Ordinance 517)

The proposed change will eliminate:

• The requirement to respond within 5 days by providing or denying requests
• The requirement to state a timeframe for response
• The requirement to provide partially discloseable documents by redacting exempt portions
• The requirement to seek clarification if request is unclear
• The requirement to provide a statement why a request is denied

The city’s proposal addresses internal processes while totally eliminating responsiveness to the public. The proposed ordinance is totally outside the spirit of the public records access law – a law that was enacted by an initiative of the people.

Where is that “transparency” we so often hear from the likes of Rose Clark and Joan McGilton?

We need to loudly oppose the city’s retrenchment into secrecy.

– Stephen

(Stephen Lamphear is a longtime Burien resident and former City Councilmember.)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: We welcome all opinions, and publish pertinent ones at our discretion. As always, all Readers are encouraged to either email us their thoughts, or Comment below. What do YOU think of "Ordinance 517"?]

The B-Town Blog proudly welcomes our latest Advertiser: Linn Schisel & DeMarco, PS!

BTB ran into Julie Schisel, her husband and son last month at Des Moines’ Butler Bar and Grill when we had our very first fundraiser hosted by our sister site The Waterland Blog (we were raising food and funds for the Des Moines Area Food Bank).

Turns our that Julie has been their volunteer General Counsel since 1983, and they came down from their Burien home to support DMAFB.

We tried to sell her an Ad on BTB, only to find out that she bought an Ad in the silent auction when BTB had our fundraiser for the fire victims at Mick Kelly’s last June.

Julie is the President of long-time Burien law firm of Linn Schisel & DeMarco, PS. She started at the firm while in law school at UPS in 1979, joined them after graduation as an associate and became a partner in 1989.

Linn Schisel & DeMarco is a general practice law firm whose attorneys have decades of collective legal experience. By our count between the attorneys, legal assistants and office support they’ve got 171 combined years!

Now that’s a lot of legal brainpower right here in Burien.

The Legal Eagles at Linn, Schisel & DeMarco, PS

Linn Schisel & DeMarco provide comprehensive legal services to individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations in the areas of:

Family law:

• Divorce
• Child support
• Child custody and visitation

Estate planning:

• Wills
• Trusts, and powers of attorney
• Guardianships;
• Probate and estate administration;
• Criminal defense
• Elder law
• Mediation
• Contracts;
• Debtor/creditor relations

“As service-oriented lawyers we believe in attention to the individual needs of their clients, each of our attorneys is dedicated to providing the highest quality legal services at an affordable cost. We strive to provide clients with the full range of service generally associated with large firms, while demonstrating the individualized attention that can usually only be had from a smaller practice,” Julie told BTB.

At Linn Schisel & DeMarco they work as a team with lawyers working in tandem with their paralegals and staff.

“To enhance communications with our clients and to remain cost-competitive, we emphasize the use of trained, skilled paraprofessionals, called called paralegals. Work is distributed among the attorneys and paralegals within the office to provide our clients with the most competent, cost-effective representation possible. We have found that this team concept has been very successful,” according to Julie.

Besides Julie, the roster of legal-eagles includes Frank DeMarco, who joined the firm in 1991 and is Vice President. When he’s not working on legal matters for his clients, you’ll find Frank volunteering his legal services to our Burien Senior Center. Associate Donald Reising joined the firm in 2000 and brought 30 years of legal maneuvering with him. He’s been known to volunteer with seniors also.

Brian Linn, the firm’s founder, passed away in 1996. He had practiced law in Burien for over 20 years. His memory is honored with the name of their firm. That’s Linn Schisel & DeMarco.

Headquartered in Burien and conveniently located at 860 SW 143rd, 206-242-9876, with their website here: www.lsand.com.

[Would you like to have a "Blogvertorial" story like this for your Business, along with an Ad on every page seen by over 15,000 interested Local Readers per month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

by Ralph Nichols

Burien City Manager Mike Martin entered a plea of “Not Guilty” on Friday (May 15th) to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol stemming from a minor traffic accident on April 19th. Martin appeared before King County District Court Judge Eileen Kato, who scheduled a pretrial hearing for June 23rd.

Martin, 55, refused to perform field sobriety tests or take a Breathalyzer test when he was arrested following the one-car accident in Burien. As a result, his driver’s license was suspended, as required by state law, when formal DUI charges were filed on May 6th.

On Monday (May 11th), the Burien City Council approved an amended contract for Martin on a 5-1 vote, which imposes strict “alcohol-related conditions” with which he must “comply fully” to retain his position as city manager.

In agreeing to the addition of alcohol-related conditions to his contract, Martin denied committing “any wrongful or criminal act,” but acknowledged “that the facts and circumstances of his arrest may constitute ‘cause’ to terminate his employment under the Original Agreement.”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• OPINION: What Mike Martin Should Have Said About His DUI
• City Keeps Mike Martin On, Requires Amended Contract
• City Manager Mike Martin Formally Charged With DUI
• OPINION: Mike Martin Must Tell The Truth Or Resign
• Burien City Manager Mike Martin Arrested For DUI

Tracy Clark, the man accused of “gutting” Scatt, a therapy cat at White Center’s Cross Church, plead “Not Guilty” to a first degree animal cruelty charge Wednesday morning at King County Superior Court.

Clark allegedly attacked Scatt, the church’s therapy cat for the last eight years, on Sunday April 19th, resulting in multiple injuries including a “collar-bone to tail” knife wound.

According to KOMO News, Clark told deputies the cat attacked him first, forcing him to defend himself. He admitted that he grabbed the cat by the throat, threw it against a wall and then stabbed it with his own knife.

Clark, 47, claimed that he’d enrolled in rehabilitation at the church, which offers a full-time residential discipleship program for distressed men.

According to the report, another church resident told police that Clark awoke him late that night and said he had “gutted the cat.”

Scatt is still recovering after being treated for 10 days at South Seattle Veterinary Hospital. He was near death when admitted.

Clark is currently in custody on $50,000 bail, and he faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

by Gina Bourdage

Monday night’s (April 27th) City Council meeting was run under a “business as usual” approach, despite the recent news about Burien City Manager Mike Martin’s DUI arrest.

Many in the audience came expecting to hear Martin address the issue, perhaps even issue a public apology or letter of resignation. However, Martin didn’t say one word about his incident, (which happened Sunday, April 19th), and the only references to it were statements of support from four residents, which you can read below.

UPDATE 12:30pm 4/28: We managed to get a quote out of Burien Mayor Joan McGilton, who said:

“Mike Martin is a very strong asset to the city of Burien, and I hope the outcome is positive.”

Here are notes (link to PDF agenda here, link to video stream here):

STUDENTS FABRICATE ART WITH EDUCATION:
Puget Sound Skills Center Instructor Dale Copeland presented progress by welding students in his class. The students are working on a carbon steel sculpture of a eagle swooping down onto a salmon with plans being designed for both animals to include moving parts. The sculpture will weight about 60 lbs with a wing span of more than 6 feet wide and almost as tall. Once the piece is complete it will be displayed in Burien’s Interim Art Space( B/IAS). Where the piece will be installed after its stay at the art space is still up for discussion.

Class member Robert Rose (pictured at right) said “I have taken pieces from each of my teachers and kept it with me.”

The staff of retired UA Local 32 Plumbers & Pipe Fitters includes 350 years experience between them. The teachers are giving a practice learning experience by passing down their trade to their students.

For more information on the course visit http://www.hsd401.org/PSSC/welding.html

B/IAS Co-Founder Dane Johnson said “This is exactly what we intended for the space.”

On July 2nd, the Burien Arts Council in association with the City of Seattle arts community is hoping to welcome world-renown German artist Tom Severts on a stop to the B/IAS. His visit will be generating attention to growing art communities in neighborhood outside of major cites, and highlighting Burien’s achievements in developing a grassroots arts project.

“We are honored you chose Burien. We are often overlooked,” said Mayor Joan McGilton.

SPRING EGG HUNT & BUNNY BREAKFAST:
More than 700 people attended the Spring Egg Hunt & Bunny Breakfast. The event was an overwhelming success…literally. Concerns and excitement from the Burien Parks Department over the size of the crowd ignited discussion for future capacity of the event and assuring adequate space for one of this magnitude.

C.O.P.S. GRANT:
An application has been submitted for the C.O.P.S. Grant (Community Oriented Policing Services) which would pay for 50% of some additional police officers for three years. Police Chief Scott Kimmer believes receiving this grant would be a benefit to the cities annexation efforts by generating a half million dollars for additional law enforcement officers.

For more information on the grant visit http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=46

KING COUNTY PUSHES FOR HIGHER CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LOCAL CITIES GRANT FUNDS:
Police Chief Kimmer presented the measure for approval of a proposal that would allocate 10% of 18 cities Justice Assistance Grant to the budget-challenged King County. All 18 cities have to agree on the proposal before moving forward. King County initially asked for 50% of the 18 cities grant money and later decreased the request to 43%.

King County Executive Ron Sims spoke out in strong disfavor to the offer of 10% in a letter to the 18 cities council members.

REZONING DISCUSSED FOR VACANT BBC DODGE LOT:
Burien may see an airport off-site parking lot in the vacant former BBC Dodge property on the corner of 1st Ave South and SW 148th Street. The proposal would help the owner in a difficult economic climate and would rezone the area from SW 156th to about SW 133rd Street. A $1 per transaction rental car tax would generate additional revenue for the city. The proposed rezoning would have a duration of three years.

CITY COUNCIL TAKES NEXT STEP TO GET ANNEXATION ON BALLOT AUG. 18th:
A six to one vote moved efforts forward to the adoption of the proposed annexation vote. Registered voters in the south neighborhood of north highline would be allowed to vote on their property being annexed by the City of Burien on August 18th of this year.

Council Member Lucy Krakowiak voted no on the motion to place the annexation proposal on the ballot in congruence with her concern for number of residents being too high. She disagrees with the mediated suggestion of 14K residents and believes a more comfortable number would be an additional 10K residents.

For more information on the annexation visit http://www.burienwa.gov/index.asp?NID=321

RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT IN FAVOR OF CITY MANAGER MIKE MARTIN:
Comments from Burien residents were voiced on the issue of City Manager Mike Martin possibly being charged with drunk driving from an incident on April 19th were all in support of Mr. Martin.

Resident Dean Parkins said that the famous bible quote sums up this situation exactly: “Those who are without sin may cast the first stone” (John 8:7).

“I hope Mr. Martin does not resign,” said resident Jim Clingan and Burien Planning Commission member. “I know we are all disappointed, but I expect no one is more disappointed than Mr. Martin himself.”

The city adjourned to a private executive session at 10pm to seek an independent and impartial council to review and present details of the incident. The council will decide what/if action should be taken against Mr. Martin.

The public portion of the meeting closed without any further word of Martin’s incident.

As of 11am Tuesday morning (4/28), no official statement had yet been released by the city, nor Martin, but an inside source says that an independent Prosecutor will soon be hired to investigate Martin’s DUI incident.

The next city council meeting will be held Monday, May 4th, starting at 7pm.

The Seattle P-I is reporting about an impending lawsuit against the Highline School District over what the mother of a deceased boy alleges as a flourishing “handgun trade” at Highline High School.

Here are some snippets from the story, which you can read in full here:

The mother of a 17-year-old Seattle boy shot to death by his stepbrother has filed suit against the shooter’s family and the Highline School District, where she alleges school officials negligently allowed a handgun trade to “flourish” — a charge attorneys for the district strenuously deny.

In court papers, Lucero’s suit follows the gun used to kill her son and argues that those who failed to stop its movement — including Tautua-Jantoc — should be held responsible for Michael Miller’s death.

According to police reports filed following the shooting, Tautua-Jantoc took a Glock pistol from his father’s collection of weapons some time prior to the shooting. Thomas Baisch, an attorney for Lucero, now contends that the boy kept the gun at Highline High School for weeks before he traded it for the gun that killed Michael Miller.

Highline School District attorney Jerry Moberg disputed Baisch’s claim, saying he’s seen no evidence to support either the allegation that Tautua-Jantoc acquired the gun at the school or that school officials allowed a gun trade to “flourish.”

The male suspect in a shooting death of a man outside a Boulevard Park apartment pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning, according to The Seattle Times.

The suspect, Cesar Trochez-Jimenez, 28, is accused of shooting and killing Mario Batiz-Castillo, 25, on July 7th.

He was arrested a few days later in Vancouver, B.C.

Batiz-Castillo was shot four times and died inside his SUV, which was parked at the Willow Terrace apartments in the 1100 block of South 99th Street in Boulevard Park.

Prosecutors say that the shooter believed the victim was having an affair with his girlfriend, which was the likely motive.

Read the full story here.

Together with the King County Sheriff’s Office, Burien and SeaTac Police have designed a twice-yearly program to increase the understanding between citizens and their police departments through education – the Citizen’s Police Academy, the next session of which begins Wednesday, March 25th.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Citizen’s Police Academy

WHEN: Starts Wed., March 25th (and goes 13 weeks from 6-9pm Wed. nights)

WHERE: Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center, located at 19010 1st Avenue South in Burien (see map below)

COST: FREE!

INFO: Graduates of the Citizen’s Police Academy will have a better understanding of the law enforcement role in the criminal justice system and an appreciation for the many challanges facing law enforcement in today’s complex society. They will also be better able to assist offices in improving their neighborhoods and communities.

Students will attend Wednesday night classes from 6pm to 9pm for 13 weeks, plus a graduation ceremony including a certificate of completion and pictures with police staff. A light meal will be provided for students. There are presentations by many of the Sheriff’s Office units and several opportunities for hands-on experiences, plus a field trip to the King County Communications Center.

Some of the presenting units will include:

• Community Service Officers
• Field Training Officer Program
• Green River Task Force
• Emergency Vehicle Operatiions
• Firearms Automated Traning System (FATS)
• Major Accident Respose & Reconstruction Unit (MARR Unit)
• Patrol Procedures
• K-9 Unit
• Street Crimes Unit
• Bomb Disposal
• TAC 30 Unit (SWAT)
• Air Support (Guardian One)
• Major Crimes Investigation
• Special Investigations (Fraud)
• Criminal Profiteering
• Firearms Traning
• Automated Fingerprint Identification System
• Special Enforcement Unit

Graduates will also be eligible for the Ride-Along Program where you can spend up to an entire shift riding with an officer.

This course is an unforgettable experience and it’s completely FREE for anyone who lives or works in the cities of SeaTac or Burien.

There are two sessions each year and they fill up fast, so register early – Fill out an application (PDF) and send it to:

CSO Nicki Maraulja
14905 6th Ave. SW
Burien, WA 98166

For more information, please call (206) 296-3333.

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According to The Seattle TImes, a stay of execution was granted today to Cal Coburn Brown, the convicted 1991 killer of Burien’s Holly Washa.

Washington State Supreme Court judges voted 5-4 to grant Brown’s 11th-hour appeal, after another lower-court judge had denied it on Wednesday.

Brown’s execution by lethal injection was scheduled to occur just after midnight Friday morning at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Brown carjacked Washa, 22, then held her against her will for two days in a SeaTac motel, raping and torturing her before slashing her throat.

According to court documents, Brown suffered from bi-polar disorder, but has been medicated since 1994.

Read the full story here.

On Wednesday, a judge turned down an attempted stay of execution for Cal Coburn Brown, a man convicted of the 1991 rape, torture and murder of Holly Washa, 22, of Burien.

Brown carjacked Washa, then held her against her will for two days in a SeaTac motel, raping and torturing her before slashing her throat.

According to court documents, Brown suffered from bi-polar disorder, but has been medicated since 1994.

Barring any other last-minute decisions, Brown will be executed via lethal injection just after midnight Friday at Walla Walla State Penitentiary.

He will be the first King County prisoner put to death since 1993, with the state of Washington reinstated the death penalty.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Dead Man Walking Has A Bad Burien Connection

The State of Washington now has a new “E-Cycle” law that allows for FREE, convenient and environmentally-responsible recycling of computers, monitors, laptops and televisions, and a local company is open for drop-offs in Tukwila.

Drop-offs are being accepted at American Electronics Recycling Corporation offices, located at 18435 Olympic Ave. S. Suite B in Tukwila (map below).

• Hours are Mon – Sat from 8:30am – 3:00pm.
• They also offer a pickup service for a fee.
• Visit www.aercorprecycler.com for additional electronics that are accepted at this location.
• They are registered with the WA Dept. of Ecology, and are part of the “Take it Back” network for King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.

Here’s more info from the State of Washington E-Cycle website:

Who can use the program?
Households, small businesses, schools & school districts, small governments, special purpose districts, and charities can recycle electronic products free of charge in this program.

What can I recycle for free?

• Televisions
• Computers
• Computer monitors
• Portable or laptop computers

Please note that computer peripherals such as keyboards, mice, and printers are not included in this program.

Why recycle electronics?
Many electronics, especially TVs and computers, contain toxic materials such as lead, cadmium and mercury. Reusing and recycling electronics keeps these toxic materials out of our landfills and incinerators and also recovers valuable resources. The electronic equipment this program collects will be taken apart and separated into materials such as glass, plastic, metal and toxic chemicals. All recycling will follow performance standards set up by the Department of Ecology.

To find other drop-off points near you, visit this website.

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A Burien man was sentenced to more than 97 years in prison for shooting and killing his boss and two others more than five years ago.

Tony Smith, 29, was convicted of three counts of first degree murder for the shooting deaths of Francisco Santos-Rojas, 24, his 16-year-old nephew, Edgar Santos and Ruben Fuentes, 24.

The three were slain Jan. 3, 2003, in an SUV parked on the West Valley Highway in Kent.

SOURCE:

• The Seattle Times

A 16-year old Burien girl accused of killing a man in Kent has made a deal with King County prosecutors.

The girl (whose identity remains unreleased due to her age), plead guilty to manslaughter Thursday, and will serve less than three years in state juvenile detention after being sentenced Oct. 21st in King County Juvenile Court.

Prosecutors say information emerged that the girl may have been attacked or threatened.

The 49-year-old man, Francisco Pena, was stabbed in the chest in April at his home near Kent, after hiring the girl as a prostitute.

Everyone’s favorite, hood-adjacent-named roller derby clan, the Rat City Roller Girls, have emerged victorious (by termination default) in a lawsuit over their logo filed by Starbucks.

According to the lawsuit, Starbucks believed that the RCRG logo was “too similar” to their logo, what with its highly-unusual usage of the “circle with a lady inside it” concept (albeit a black-eyed tough derby girl vs a contortionist mermaid).

This means that this ding-dang great logo:

Apparently does not infringe on this one:

Yeah Roller Girls – way to kick some corporate ass!

UPDATE: We misspoke about this last night – because Laura Gene Middaugh got over 50% of the vote, she will run unopposed in November, so good job Matt, but better luck next time…

He may not have garnered the large number of votes that his incumbent competitor did, but as of 10:30pm Tuesday night, Burien’s own Matt Hale (profiled first on the BTB here) looks like he’s going to make it onto the November ballot since today’s primary was a “top two” election and “Write-in” didn’t get enough votes (right on Matt – you beat “Write-in”!):

Superior Court Judges Of The Superior Court – Position 26

Laura Gene Middaugh

74580

76.03%

Matthew R. Hale

23310

23.76%

Write-in

204

0.21

Superior Court election results here.Full election results here.

by Mark Neuman

Matt Hale has been starting early and thinking big since his early days here in Burien, and he’s still tackling early and big things today.

The 1998 graduate of Highline High School, who was already taking college courses at age 17, is running for a seat on the King County Superior Court.

He’s wasting little time pursing his longtime dream.

“I’ve always wanted to serve on the bench. I was talking with a friend about my goals and he said ‘Well, why don’t you run now?’ And I decided ‘I’ll do it.’”

You may have seen his orange and blue yard signs around town recently.

He’s taking on two-term incumbent Laura Gene Middaugh, wife of State Senator Adam Kline.

Matt is currently an attorney at Wiener, Lambka & Deutscher, a Seattle-based personal injury firm.

He earned an academic scholarship that helped pay his tuition at Gonzaga University Law School. He earned his BA in Political Science at Gonzaga. Before that, he pursued writing and public speaking while earning his AA at Highline Community College.

His work experience has included employment at local hardware stores. In Spokane, Matt helped counsel people in crisis, answering an emergency telephone hotline.

He feels one change the court might look at is the role played by the citizen juror.

“A friend of mine was called and he told the judge that to serve might literally cost him his house. He was living from check to check,” Matt says.

“Perhaps there might be a way in the future for the court system to ease the burden of jury duty.”

The mere process of running for office has been a learning experience.

“Campaigning has helped me more fully realize how wonderful not only Burien is, but what great people the residents of King County really are.”

“I am moved by the importance of the service to the community that judges provide from the bench. That knowledge and awareness, in itself, is humbling,” he said.

You can meet Matt, his wife Nicole, and his team at a campaign fundraiser this Sunday afternoon, July 20, at HiLine Lanes, 15733 Ambaum Blvd SW, in Burien. It runs from 1 to 4pm.

Find more info go to: www.peopleformatthewrhale.com

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WHITE CENTER – Security cameras captured the dramatic beating and stabbing of a man last Thursday at The Wall, a bar in White Center.

The video can be seen here.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, is asking for help in identifying the six suspects who can be seen attacking him in the video.

Apparently the victim required 100 stitches on his back and side.

He said the group of four men and two women attacked him after he “walked by them.”

“It was just pain – punch, blow, like flashes of light popping off in my head,” he said.

He said two other people tried to stop the attackers but were beaten back.

As of Monday, the victim claims that police have not interviewed him or even looked at the video, which we here at the BTB find just appalling.

Is it any wonder that White Center has such a bad reputation? 

SOURCE:

• KIRO-TV