by Mark Neuman
Picture a small boy in India, in the early 1940’s, his family’s home being personally visited by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru themselves.
Imagine that same boy, just a few years later, on August 15, 1947, being held lovingly by his family atop the hood of a car as they and millions of others celebrate India’s independence from British rule.
Visualize a young graduate student in Amherst, Massachusetts, being utterly moved by the words and visions of a young U.S. President, “full of energy, strong in his views and personality,” delivering a 1962 commencement speech, a mere fifteen rows away.
See a trim and vibrant gentleman recently sipping decaffeinated coffee in Olde Burien, who keeps in shape by swimming several laps every day, and tending to his garden at the same house he and his wife have lived in for almost forty years.
Conjure all of that, and you will see Dr. Arun Jhaveri, the first mayor of Burien.
“Our whole family crammed into our little car, including all the kids,” he said with a smile during an interview last week with the B-Town Blog, referring to that August 1947, day. “They put me on top because I was the youngest and I remember going around the city the whole evening, fireworks going. People were just jubilant.”
When asked if politics was part of his upbringing, Dr. Jhaveri’s answer is more than a mere Yes.
“My uncle was a very active member of the Congress Party, before the independence, against the British Crown,” Dr. Jhaveri said. The Congress Party was the political party of Mahatma Gandhi and future Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“My uncle looked very much like Nehru in his personality. He wore the white cap and the long white coat and everything. My grandfather, my father and my uncle had just gone to a political rally in Bombay. And after the rally they were coming back in a horse-drawn carriage. A fanatic saw my uncle and mistook him for Nehru. The fanatic came from behind and killed my uncle with a dagger.”
The Jhaveri family was soon visited by Gandhi and Nehru, who came to express their condolences.
Young Jhaveri eventually moved to the U.S., earning his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Washington, before moving on to earn his Masters in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
On that “beautiful day” forty-six years ago “President Kennedy was such a charismatic leader, the way he spoke to the students. I was extremely inspired,” Dr. Jhaveri recalled. “It was an excellent opportunity for me to see a real president just a few feet from me speak about educational and political issues.”
Dr. Jhaveri, a physicist and mechanical engineer, earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University, and, early on, worked for Boeing on the development of the 727, 737 and 747 aircrafts prior to their FAA certification.
Dr. Jhaveri worked in 1992 to help earn Burien a little independence of its own, so to speak. The voters said Yes that year to Burien becoming a city in its own right, and the new City Council elected him Mayor. He served from 1992 to 1998.
In 1997, Dr. Jhaveri was one of eleven mayors from the United States to participate in the Global Climate Conference in Kyoto, Japan.
Jhaveri is co-authoring a book, titled “Carbon Reduction – Policies, Strategies and Technologies.” It is scheduled for release later this year.
He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Argosy University, teaching two Doctoral courses, one on Educational Leadership and the other on Program Evaluation.
“I am an eternal optimist,” Dr. Jhaveri says. “The key is to educate the young people of today” about the care of the world’s environment.
“The earth’s future is truly in their hands.”
Mark Neuman is a Writer as well as Marketing Dude for The B-Town (Burien) Blog.
He has interviewed two US Presidents, cops, cooks and cartoonists, authors and artists, senators, scholars and senior citizens, and the B-Town Blog is proud to have him on our team.
Mark can be reached at mark@b-townblog.com.
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"?]
by Mark Neuman
I spoke Friday (June 5th) with Burien City Councilmember Rose Clark, who is running for re-election, Position No. 5.
As of press time (or in this electronic era, as of “hit send” time), Clark has no opposition in her bid for another four-year term on the council:
MIKE MARTIN PROTEST
A May 20th B-Town Blog story covered a public protest by Burien resident Tai Oh concerning the April 19 arrest of Burien City Manager Mike Martin for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Martin entered a plea of “not guilty” on May 15.
In that story, Oh, who is calling for the resignation or firing of Martin, said he contacted the Burien city council as a body and each member individually via e-mail and voicemail and not a single councilmember responded to him.
“My office phone number is everywhere. I never received a phone call from him,” Clark said, referring to Oh.
“I would have been happy to talk to him if had he called me, but he didn’t.
“We did receive some emails from him over our city website.
“He has sent several (emails),” Clark said. “I can’t tell how many. (On) all of them the tone is very derogatory towards Mr. Martin, expressing anger that ‘a man like that’ is holding ‘that job’ (city manager). And demanding that he leave the city. On one email he called (Martin) an unkind word. I can’t even remember what the word was. But I’m not very impressed when people come on like that. They need to be a little bit more intelligent about their language.”
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Among her major accomplishments over the recent four years, Clark says “I was very, very gratified to have pushed emergency preparedness enough that we hired an Emergency Preparedness Coordinator (Karen Ferreira) which would have been a costly position except we share it with Normandy Park and Sea Tac.
“I think that is what I am most proud of.”
ANNEXATION VOTE:
Regarding the August 18 annexation vote, Clark said “I think the people north of here will vote to come to Burien, a small city, more able to serve their needs.”
BUDGET CUTS:
Will coming budget cuts result in the reduction of officer positions in the Burien Police Department?
“I think, yes, the possibility is there,” Clark said. “However, our Police Chief, Scott Kimerer, is pursuing grants. We might lose a couple positions, but through the grants, we might gain them back.”
MAYOR CLARK?
The seven-member council will, this January, elect a mayor.
Would Clark want to be elected mayor?
“No I don’t think I have that kind of personality. I would consider serving as deputy mayor again.”
Clark served her first term as Council member earlier in the decade. She has served as deputy mayor six times, her most recent term expiring this past February. The term of deputy mayor runs one year.
She is employed as a library tech at an area high school, and has been there since 1992.
by The Burien City Council imposed on Monday (May 11th) strict “alcohol-related conditions” with which City Manager Mike Martin must “comply fully” if he is to retain that position. Martin is scheduled to be arraigned in King County District Court Friday on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
The conditions are included in an amendment to Martin’s contract (download and view PDF here), which was approved without discussion with a 6-1 vote by city lawmakers. Councilwoman Lucy Krakowiak, who publicly called for Martin’s ouster following his arrest for allegedly driving under the influence, cast the dissenting vote. She also cast the lone vote against Martin when the council hired him as city manager in January 2007.
Here’s a portion of the amended contract – click to view the entire document:
(click to view entire contract)
Martin, 55, was arrested after a minor traffic accident on April 19 in which his car left the road and hit a yard planter. The King County Sheriff’s deputy who made the arrest said Martin’s breath smelled of alcohol at the time. He was formally charged with DUI by the King County Prosecutor’s office on May 6th.
Martin, who told the deputy that he had had a couple of glasses of wine and two beers, refused to perform field sobriety tests or take a Breathalyzer test when he was arrested. As a result, his driver’s license was suspended when formal DUI charges were filed, as required by state law.
Refusal to take a Breathalyzer test results in the automatic suspension of a driver’s license for one year, although motorists may seek reinstatement of driving privileges if they have an alcohol-ignition interlock device – which prevents an engine from starting if they have been drinking alcohol – installed in their vehicle. 
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 Orginal Agreement.”
The council, in turn, recognized “the excellent performance” of Martin over the past 2½ years and opted to retain him as city manager if he agreed to the additional conditions. Burien Mayor Joan McGilton and Martin signed the amended contract on Monday.
Under the terms of Martin’s amended contract, he “will not report to work at the city or remain at work or on duty while under the influence of alcohol,” which is defined as a blood alcohol level of .02 percent or above.
Martin is required to submit to random alcohol testing without prior notice to ensure compliance with this condition. In addition, he is to submit to alcohol testing at the request of the mayor (or deputy mayor in the mayor’s absence) and one other council member if there is a good-faith “articulated suspicion by any person that the manager has reported to work or remained at work under the influence of alcohol.”
He also must apply for and install at his own expense an ignition-interlock device on any vehicle that he drives to or from work or while on the job. Each interlock device is to remain in use for two years.
And Martin is required to undergo alcohol assessment and “comply with any treatment recommendations” that are made.
He is to meet quarterly with council members in executive session “to affirm his compliance” with all conditions. Failure to comply with any of them will result in his termination. In two years, the council will review with him the additional requirements to determine if they still are needed.
In October 2005, Martin resigned from a top administrative position with the City of Kent after a hit-and-run accident that he admitted to causing. He paid a $1,025 fine, underwent alcohol-abuse assessment, and attended a victim-impact alcohol and drug panel for that incident.
On April 19th, after Martin was arrested, he was driven home by a sheriff’s deputy – prompting some citizens to ask The B-Town Blog if the city manager had received preferential treatment.
But the answer, according to several law enforcement agencies, is no.
Washington State Patrol public information officer Daniel Coon said how motorists arrested for DUI are handled depends on each county. If a county can take an individual into its jail, they may be booked into the facility. But “if there is no room at the inn, so to speak,” a driver may be released after the car is impounded and taken to a location where they can sober up. This sometimes involves taking the driver home.
Here’s a video that explains how ignition-interlock devices work:
So…what do YOU think? Please take our poll below:
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by Mark Neuman
We had a wonderful time catching up recently with our friend Dr. Arun Jhaveri, the first mayor of Burien.
We first met Dr. Jhaveri about a year ago, when The B-Town Blog was just “being born.”
The ensuing article lived on as the most read item on our site for many months thereafter.
He’s a fascinating man, born in Bombay (now Mumbai). He and his wife still live in Burien, and he swims every day to stay in shape.
While he’s currently “semi-retired,” he recently co-authored a book, and is being considered for a post in President Obama’s administration.
How have things been lately?, we asked Dr. Jhaveri, who served as mayor for six years, starting when Burien officially became a city in 1992.
“Never a dull moment,” he told us. “I’m supposed to be semi-retired but my sense is that as long as I am physically and mentally active I want to do something both for me personally as well as for the community and professionally.”
Dr. Jhaveri, a physicist and mechanical engineer, earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University, and, early on, worked for Boeing on the development of the 727, 737 and 747 aircrafts prior to their FAA certification.
Still as scholarly and worldly as ever, he will speak at a conference in Paris, France later this month, and his book, “Carbon Reduction: Policies, Strategies and Technologies,” will be released this month as well (Fairmont Press, Georgia).
While he has published lots of technical papers and, of course, a doctoral dissertation, “this is my first formal book. It is something I believe in.”
Available now for advance ordering through Amazon.com, the book serves as a “clear, concise, succinct and practical action plan handbook,” Dr. Jhaveri told us.
He co-authored the book with long time colleague and fellow engineer Dr. Stephen Roosa.
“This is a great book for engineers, architects and decision makers at the local, state and federal levels, government leaders and practicing energy managers,” Dr. Jhaveri said. “We have done the research for them and put it together in an easily accessible manner. It is full of step-by-step recommendations to create an action plan for carbon reduction in any community.”
“Meanwhile, I have been invited by the Alliance to Save Energy, based in Washington, D.C., to speak later this month (April 2009) in Paris, France at the Energy Efficiency Global Conference,” Dr. Jhaveri told us. “I will speak to and meet energy and environment experts from all over the world. This is quite an honor and a privilege for me.”
Dr. Jhaveri is being considered for a position in the Obama Administration.
“While I am not actively campaigning for the job, (Ninth District) Congressman Adam Smith, who I’ve known for several years, has been very helpful in putting my name in the consideration process.”
The position is Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. If selected, Dr. Jhaveri would work primarily out of the nation’s capital.
“I told Congressman Smith, I am doing this not because of money or power. I want to do it as part of my public and community service and if I can help the Obama Administration with very bold actions in terms of energy, environment and sustainability, then I’m willing to do that.”
Dr. Jhaveri recently developed and completed a “holistic strategic plan for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country,” with 700,000 students, a budget of $11 billion and 800 existing buildings with 200 new ones in the design and building stages.
The plan covers energy, environment, recycling, resource conservation, sustainable development, renewable energies, use of solar and wind for the whole school district including the design and construction of new school buildings.
“I teamed up with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado with whom I’ve worked for many years,” Dr. Jhaveri explained. “The Los Angeles school board adopted all of our recommendations, and are now implementing them.”
Another opportunity recently came about quite by chance, no pun intended, in Las Vegas.
While certainly not a gambler, Dr. Jhaveri attended an energy conference of engineers, which took place at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.
“One of the speakers there was the Energy Manager for the Mirage. He’s a very progressive type of person.
“He said, ‘Arun, I want to do more (to conserve energy). Can you help me?’”
Energy costs are anywhere from 15% to 20% of the operating budget for Las Vegas hotels and casinos
“And now with the economy going downhill they are concerned about their bottom line.
“So I said to the people at the Mirage ‘Look guys, I’m surprised you don’t take advantage of your 365 days of summer.’
“I put together a plan for them to use solar power, collected right there on site, using relatively little space, and a technology involving absorption chillers, to provide energy for lighting and air conditioning.”
Dr. Jhaveri gave them the proposal and they accepted it.
“The Mirage can really take the lead on the this. The other casinos will see it’s cost effective and they will follow.
“I told them ‘if you can transform the area from Sin City into Sun City, half of your problems will be over.’ They all laughed!”
BREAKING NEWS: Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels was slightly injured Wednesday morning around 10:15am during a courtesy visit to Burien.
Mayor Nickels was observing improvements to the 1st Ave. South corridor when an Alaska Airlines jet mistook the top of his gigantic head for Sea-Tac airport’s new third runway.
While there were no injuries to passengers on Flight 401, the Boeing 757-500 was declared a total loss.
Burien mayor Joan McGilton, who witnessed the mishap, said the city of Burien will pick up Nickels’ medical bills.
When asked where the funds will come from to pay for the medical treatment, McGilton said
“Oh hell…we’ll just shorten the duration of our amber lights and start shooting more pictures!”
Meanwhile, numerous eyewitnesses to the incident have filed a class action lawsuit against both Nickels and his giant skull.
“It’s too ding dang noisy,” shouted resident Harriet Cooper over the ding dang noise, “and the Port is refusing to insulate my house against Mayor Gigantor’s hy-uge cranium! WTF?”
BREAKING NEWS 7:15pm 1/26/09: Longtime Burien resident and former City Councilmember Stephen Lamphear filed the following Initiative against the annexation of North Highline with the City of Burien Monday (Jan. 26th):
Filed with the Burien City Clerk today at 3 pm.
The language is self-explanatory.
Next action would be to file for an Injunction with the Superior Court to prohibit Burien from acting while petition signatures are gathered.
I now have 120 days to collect signatures; if we get enough, then this will go on the ballot for Burien residents to vote on.
In case you can’t read the scan of the initiative above, the exact wording is:
NOTICE OF INITIATIVE PETITION
TO: Burien City Clerk
Pursuant to statute, the undersigned hereby gives notice of filing an Initiative Petition to the People of the City of Burien, Washington, to wit:
Shall the City Council of the City of Burien be prohibited from entering into any memorandum of understanding or any other form of agreement with the City of Seattle and/or any other municipal jurisdiction and/or any other party or parites for the purposes of annexation the legal result of which would be any form of partitioning of the King County unincorporated urban area generally known as the North Highline Unincorporated Area; and further, shall the City Council of the City of Burien be prohibited from authorizing any annexation plan or proposal to be filed with the Boundary Review Board the legal result of which would be any form of partitioning of the King County unincorporated urban area generally known as the North Highline Unincorporated Area?
YES
NO
Signed this 26th Day of January, 2009:
Stephen Lamphear
Stephen Lamphear wants to stop Burien's annexation attempt.
We were the first to speak with Mr. Lamphear about this, and here are a few choice quotes:
“I did this before in 1995 when Burien tried to adopt a utility tax that was not beneficial to lower income residents – I filed against that, got signatures, and got 21% of voters to sign.”
“My feeling is that if you see something that needs to be done, then it is your job to do it…”
Lamphear, a City Councilmember for eight years (from 1998-2005; he was defeated by Rose Clark), is currently a private citizen who is self-employed as a tax preparer.
He has a somewhat tumultuous relationship with current councilmembers, citing that six members opposed his election once and four another time.
Lamphear plans to speak at tonight’s City Council meeting (which starts at 7pm at the ERAC Center, located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW near Hi-Line Lanes and Azteca), so it could make for an interesting evening.
We’ll post further information as it develops, including reaction from current City Councilmembers.
So…what do you think of this development? Please comment below, or email us.
by Josh Hart
Well 2009 is almost here and many are wondering what will be in store for the upcoming year.
- What will change from this year?
- What needs to change?
- What do we want to change?
- With everything that is going on in the area what will be the most significant?
In the following article I am going to attempt to answer all these questions for you.
The only difference – I’m doing it as if I were your Mayor.
Now, imagine me standing behind a podium, in the middle of town on a crisp winter day, giving you my annual “State of the City” address (oh, and pretend there’s reverb on my voice as you read this):
2008 was a good year for all.
First Avenue and surrounding streets had a lot of construction, but the result so far was a good one.
Southcenter was remodeled and now it is a huge mall. With Christmas season here, that is going to help traffic in the mall. I still worry about the parking though, not to mention the recent gang-related shooting. But I have faith that mall security will keep all shoppers safe.
The Sonics are gone now and that means that Seattle Center will have 12,000 less people three nights a week.
The first phase of the Burien Town Square is nearing completion and that should be a great thing for all who live in Burien.
Also, the light rail is coming to Tukwila towards the end of 2009 and that will help commuters get from home to work and back more efficiently. The bus systems have been approved to change, terminate, and install routes. The biggest change in the buses is probably the buses that run along Pacific Highway. They are planning on taking out many of the buses that run on Pac Highway for the new RapidRide A-Line.
The RapidRide will come every 10-15 minutes and run along Pac Highway. They are planning to change this by the end of 2009.
With all these changes in 2008 what can we do in 2009 to make our community a better place for all of us?
Some of the changes I would make are to change the bus routes. I don’t think that we need to modify the Pacific Highway buses, but I think that we need to make more buses go through Des Moines as well as from Sea-Tac Airport to Highline Community College. This would affect Burien, Sea-Tac, and Des Moines. It would help people get around and would reduce traffic. I have always wanted a bus or shuttle through Des Moines to get around on. At the moment they only have a few buses that go through Des Moines and they come every hour. Even if they changed it to every half an hour that would be beneficial also. I would also lower the fares on the bus. They originally raised them to compensate for gas prices.
But now that gas prices have lowered, bus fares need to be lowered again. It now costs over two dollars to go from Seattle to Burien. This can add up to over eleven dollars a week. This can be worse than gas prices for the transit commuters.
Another thing I would change is to put something along Pac Highway, perhaps a plaza or a nice park to clean up the area. If we do this it will bring more people to the Highway, which, in turn will help clean up the area. We need to this because the area is not the safest and it is also a bad first impression for tourists from the Sea-Tac Airport. Do we really want to have tourists come and the first street they drive on is the current Pacific Highway? If we clean this up we will also get more tourists. Tourists benefit the community massively: they buy from local small businesses, which in turn benefits the entire community.
Things can change, starting with you – each and every person has an opportunity to propose ideas to their mayor. You can do this by sending a letter to their mayor.
So if you want to see change or have ideas for change just send a letter to your mayor (or wait to talk with me right after my speech…):
BURIEN:
Mayor Joan McGilton
Phone: (206) 248-5515
Email: joanm@burienwa.govMayor Pro Tem George Hadley
Phone: (206) 248-7603
Email: george.hadley@ci.normandy-park.wa.usSEA-TAC:
Mayor Ralph Shape
Phone: (206) 973-4800
Email: rshape@ci.seatac.wa.usTUKWILA:
Mayor Jim Haggerton
Phone: (206) 433-1800
Email: tukmayor@ci.tukwila.wa.usDES MOINES:
Mayor Bob Sheckler
Phone: (206) 878-4595
Email: citycouncil@desmoineswa.gov
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Josh Hart is the B-Town Blog's first Intern! He's also a 15-year old student at Highline's “Big Picture High School” in SeaTac. He recently wrote on the economy, about JFK beating Highline 61-0 in football, an opinion piece on the VP debate, a story on Mt. Rainier High's Drill Team playing at the Seahawks' Halftime, a story on a Fight at the Tyee vs Rention Football Game and much more...]
We just got an exclusive response from Burien Mayor Joan McGilton on this entire annexation withdrawal issue, and here’s the latest:
First, a snippet from Seattle Councilmember Richard Conlin as quoted on another Seattle-based blog:
“…unless Burien is prepared to make significant change in its proposal…”
Mayor Joan’s reaction to Mr. Conlin’s statement:
“Burien has consistently acknowledged the role Seattle has in the proposed annexation of the North Highline Area. Seattle chooses to not negotiate directly with Burien. The City of Seattle’s Position Statement filed with the Washington State Boundary Review Board for King County filed on August 18, 2008 clearly misinterprets Burien actions to move forward with annexation.
In the best interests of all parties, Burien chooses to withdraw its current request so that the Boundary Review Board can focus on the merits of annexation rather than on the procedural and legal issues.
Burien wishes to take the “high road” and have our neighbors to the north ask the probing questions so that when this comes to a vote, they are truly informed of the actions that are in their best interest as a community.”
We’ll have a full report from tonight’s Annexation Open House, which will surely provide more quotes and controversy in this ongoing political chess match of words, so please check back later or subscribe to our RSS feed for up-to-date news.
