New Normandy Park Mayor Clarke Brant.

The Normandy Park City Council elected William ‘Clarke’ Brant to serve as Mayor for 2012 – 2013.

Brant was first elected to the City Council in 2006 and, in November 2009, re-elected for a second term. He has served as Mayor Pro Tem the past two years. Mr. Brant is a Navy Veteran, a former Patrol Plane Commander, Aviation Safety Inspector-Air Carrier Operations-FAA, and is now retired from Delta Air Lines.

Brant earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington and a J.D. from the University of Puget Sound, School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law.) He is a former member of the A.L.P.A. Board of Directors and a past member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Mr. Brant and wife, Nancy, have lived in the community since 1979 and raised their two sons in Normandy Park.

New Mayor Pro Tem Doug Osterman.

The City Council also elected Doug Osterman to serve as Mayor Pro Tem for 2012 – 2013. Osterman was elected to the City Council in 2008 and recently re-elected for a second term. Mr. Osterman is employed by King County as the Watershed Coordinator for the Green River, Duwamish River, and Central Puget Sound Salmon Habitat Recovery Team located in Seattle, Washington. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Fish and Wildlife Management, Montana State University; a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Land Resources, Montana State University; and a Master of Regional Planning, Washington State University.

Mr. Osterman and wife, Julie, have lived in Normandy Park over 15 years and have two sons, Mitchell and Anders.

The projected deficit will also result in the cutting of a third position on June 30, 2012.

“Although four new businesses have signed leases at Normandy Park Towne Center and Horizon Pets is moving from Burien to Manhattan Village Shopping Center, revenue projections for 2012 do not suggest any measurable improvement,” the city said in its November City Manager’s Report.

During the past two years, revenue declines have resulted in three employee layoffs and six vacant positions left unfilled, including one police officer position.

In 2008, the City had 37 full-time equivalent positions. As of January 1, 2012, the City will only have 25 positions filled.

Here are Thursday’s totals:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 2297 / 4681 49.07%

Council Position No. 1

• Doug Osterman 1531 96.29%
• Write-in 59 3.71%

Council Position No. 3

• Todd McKittrick 1010 48.37%
• Shawn McEvoy 1068 51.15%
• Write-in 10 0.48%

Council Position No. 5 short and full term

• Charlie Harris 1008 49.39%
• Stacia Jenkins 1027 50.32%
• Write-in 6 0.29%

Council Position No. 7

• Susan J. West 1515 98.63%
• Write-in 21 1.37%

ANTI-ANNEXATION SENTIMENT IN BURIEN
The biggest surprise in Burien’s race is that Bob Edgar, who attempted to withdraw from the race, trounced incumbent Gordon Shaw by over 21%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 8346 / 22405 37.25%

Council Position No. 2

• Lucy Krakowiak 4660 64.12%
• Greg Duff 2585 35.57%
• Write-in 23 0.32%

Council Position No. 4

• Bob Edgar 4333 60.39%
• Gordon M. Shaw 2815 39.23%
• Write-in 27 0.38%

Council Position No. 6 short and full term

• Debi Wagner 3278 45.79%
• Jerry Robison 3859 53.90%
• Write-in 22 0.31%

HORSE RACE IN DES MOINES
As if to prove the old adage ‘never count your chickens before they’re hatched,’ Thursday’s returns shows that Mayor Bob Sheckler, who was down by 31 votes on Wednesday, is now in the lead over challenger Rebecca King by 17 votes.

Jeanette Burrage and Dan Caldwell are clear winners, and Proposition No. 1 is toast.

Here are Thursday’s returns, with 40.33% of ballots counted:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 5971 / 14805 40.33%

Council Position No. 2

• Jeanette Burrage 3175 61.94%
• Carri Litowitz 1918 37.42%
• Write-in 33 0.64%

Council Position No. 4

• Dan Caldwell 2776 55.80%
• Dave Markwell 2175 43.72%
• Write-in 24 0.48%

Council Position No. 6

• Rebecca King 2546 49.65%
• Bob Sheckler 2563 49.98%
• Write-in 19 0.37%

Proposition No. 1 Utility Occupation Tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets

• APPROVED 2117 37.28%
• REJECTED 3562 62.72%

Here are the latest results:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 1850 / 4681 39.52%

Council Position No. 3

• Todd McKittrick 836 49.32%
• Shawn McEvoy 851 50.21%
• Write-in 8 0.47%

Council Position No. 5 short and full term

• Charlie Harris 828 49.79%
• Stacia Jenkins 831 49.97%
• Write-in 4 0.24%

CITY OF BURIEN

Anti-annexation candidate Bob Edgar has extended his lead over incumbent Gordon Shaw to nearly 21%, while Lucy Krakowiak is trouncing Greg Duff by over +29%, with Jerry Robison slipping a bit against Debi Wagner with a 8.03% lead:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 6975 / 22405 31.13%

Council Position No. 2

• Lucy Krakowiak 3950 64.50%
• Greg Duff 2153 35.16%
• Write-in 21 0.34%

Council Position No. 4

• Bob Edgar 3647 60.24%
• Gordon M. Shaw 2381 39.33%
• Write-in 26 0.43%

Council Position No. 6 short and full term

• Debi Wagner 2761 45.82%
• Jerry Robison 3245 53.85%
• Write-in 20 0.33%

CITY OF NORMANDY PARK

CITY OF DES MOINES

In Des Moines, challenger Rebecca King has extended her lead over Mayor Bob Sheckler to 31 votes, while Jeanette Burrage and Dan Caldwell are looking like winners, and Proposition No. 1, a proposed tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets, is being soundly rejected:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 5071 / 14805 34.25%

Council Position No. 2

• Jeanette Burrage 2693 61.47%
• Carri Litowitz 1657 37.82%
• Write-in 31 0.71%

Council Position No. 4

• Dan Caldwell 2373 55.89%
• Dave Markwell 1850 43.57%
• Write-in 23 0.54%

Council Position No. 6

• Rebecca King 2198 50.15%
• Bob Sheckler 2167 49.44%
• Write-in 18 0.41%

Proposition No. 1 Utility Occupation Tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets

• APPROVED 1789 37.05%
• REJECTED 3039 62.95%

HIGHLINE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 401

In the contested Highline School Board Director race, Tyrone Curry, Sr. is still leading Sili Savusa by over 10%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 18196 / 56914 31.97%

Director District No. 1

• Tyrone Curry, Sr. 7883 54.77%
• Sili Savusa 6402 44.48%
• Write-in 107 0.74%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 8

In the King County Council race, incumbent Joe McDermott has soundly defeated Diana Toledo:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 32836 / 110132 29.82%

Metropolitan King County Council District No. 8

• Joe McDermott 19428 67.15%
• Diana Toledo 9398 32.48%
• Write-in 106 0.37%

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN SEWER DISTRICT

In the race for the Southwest Suburban Sewer District, incumbent Scott Hilsen is still beating Dan Johnson.

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 10200 / 31568 32.31%

Commissioner Position No. 1

• Dan Johnson 2986 37.25%
• Scott Hilsen 4990 62.24%
• Write-in 41 0.51%

The early returns of Tuesday’s General Election results are in, and in Normandy Park’s two contested council races, incumbent Shawn McEvoy is edging challenger Todd McKittrick by just 8 votes, and Charlie Harris leads Stacia Jenkins by 6.

CITY OF NORMANDY PARK

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 1561 / 4681 33.35%

Council Position No. 3

• Todd McKittrick 705 49.47%
• Shawn McEvoy 713 50.04%
• Write-in 7 0.49%

Council Position No. 5 short and full term

• Charlie Harris 704 50.11%
• Stacia Jenkins 698 49.68%
• Write-in 3 0.21%

CITY OF BURIEN

In Burien, one-time ‘non-candidate’ Bob Edgar appears to be heading to a council seat, leading incumbent Gordon Shaw by nearly +20%, while Lucy Krakowiak leads Greg Duff by over +28% and Jerry Robison is edging Debi Wagner by just 8.45%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 6022 / 22405 26.88%

Council Position No. 2:

• Lucy Krakowiak 3393 64.03%
• Greg Duff 1886 35.59%
• Write-in 20 0.38%

Council Position No. 4:

• Bob Edgar 3123 59.74%
• Gordon M. Shaw 2080 39.79%
• Write-in 25 0.48%

Council Position No. 6:

• Debi Wagner 2379 45.60%
• Jerry Robison 2820 54.05%
• Write-in 18 0.35%

CITY OF DES MOINES

In Des Moines, Mayor Bob Sheckler is trailing challenger Rebecca King by 27 votes, while Jeanette Burrage and Dan Caldwell are leading, and Proposition No. 1, a proposed tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets, is being soundly rejected:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 4294 / 14805 29.00%

Council Position No. 2:

• Jeanette Burrage 2280 61.04%
• Carri Litowitz 1425 38.15%
• Write-in 30 0.80%

Council Position No. 4

• Dan Caldwell 2013 55.53%
• Dave Markwell 1592 43.92%
• Write-in 20 0.55%

Council Position No. 6

• Rebecca King 1869 50.12%
• Bob Sheckler 1842 49.40%
• Write-in 18 0.48%

Proposition No. 1 Utility Occupation Tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets:

• APPROVED 1509 36.91%
• REJECTED 2579 63.09%

COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 8

In the King County Council race, it looks like incumbent Joe McDermott is running away with it, holding a +34% lead over Diana Toledo, with 66.92% over her 32.7%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 28552 / 110132 25.93%

Metropolitan King County Council District No. 8

• Joe McDermott 16848 66.92%
• Diana Toledo 8233 32.70%
• Write-in 95 0.38%

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN SEWER DISTRICT

In the race for the Southwest Suburban Sewer District, incumbent Scott Hilsen is leading Dan Johnson by over 24%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 8783 / 31568 27.82%

Commissioner Position No. 1

• Dan Johnson 2616 37.69%
• Scott Hilsen 4287 61.76%
• Write-in 38 0.55%

We’ll post more updates as they come in, so stay tuned…

This is a workshop intended for City Council discussion; however, the meeting will be open to the public.

The original Oct. 18th meeting was canceled at the request of Mayor McEvoy and other members of the City Council. It was felt that there was insufficient notice to the public and that it should be re-scheduled before October 31st. Unfortunately, the City’s project consultants, Studio Cascade, were not available to meet with the City Council until Nov. 15th.

All interested parties are encouraged to learn more about the Manhattan Village Subarea Plan by attending the workshop, visiting the project website (www.manhattan-village.org) or stopping by City Hall.

We’d like to welcome our latest Advertiser, Todd McKittrick, who’s running for Normandy Park City Council, Position #3.

As we do with all our Advertisers, we’re allowing Mr. McKittrick a forum to share his message:

Letter to Normandy Park Voters,

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all of you, and answer some of the many questions I respond to daily about my campaign for Normandy Park City Council Position #3. Never in a million years would I see myself running for public office, but we badly need to bring new voices and ideas to the council, and bring business back to Normandy Park.

The “Hand Off Our Homes” slogan is my statement that over the past years the City of Normandy Park and the City Council have continued to push an agenda of unreasonably limiting private property rights throughout the city. Certainly, some changes have been mandated by the State of Washington, but developing new environmental regulations and sensitive area definitions that go far beyond the state requirements is expensive and punitive to our residents. And making crimes out of activities on your own property, punishable by a year in jail, puts Normandy Park in a class by itself.

There is also an unseen element to this effort to limit our property rights by some members of the Normandy Park city council that is going on behind the scenes. Manipulation of processes, hiding plans from the public until they can’t be stopped, and bypassing established safeguards in our democratic process are common now.

Two excellent recent examples of this are:

• The cancellation of the October 18 public meeting on the Manhattan SubArea Plan until after the election by order of the Mayor, Shawn McEvoy, depriving our residents of badly needed answers regarding the real extent of the plans proposed by Studio Cascade, the consultants purchased with money from the King County Transfer of Development Rights program.
• The submission of our Shoreline Inventory to the State for approval before it was seen by either the City Council or the public, a clear violation of the public trust. Incidentally, this is the document that proposes retuning the Normandy Park Cove property that many of us enjoy to a salt marsh.

There are too many more examples of this sort of sleight-of-hand to list here, but no one can believe that this is the democratic public process that we should be able to expect of our City Government. Regardless of how well-meaning the objectives, our city officials should not be hiding their actions, or stepping outside the law and established public processes to achieve them. This is what “Hands Off Our Homes” means.

Secondly, I don’t think Normandy Park should be in the development business. Instead I think it should be spending its resources to help encourage businesses to come into Normandy Park.

Really, I wish I could have two sets of campaign signs – the second slogan being “How Can Normandy Park HELP”, with the main objective of encouraging businesses to come back into Normandy Park. I would do everything I could to make sure the policies and the attitude of the City government guide its employees to a “How Can We Help You” attitude that will bring business investment back into Normandy Park.

Normandy Park’s capital reserves are a fraction of what they were in years past, but when I look for any change in direction the city has taken to adjust, I simply can’t find it. How many businesses have we coming into Normandy Park in recent years? It pales in comparison to the businesses leaving Normandy Park. Without a steady sales tax base this City will not be able to operate at the level we have grown accustomed too. We need to have a tax base that will help pay for the government without adding more general taxes on its residents. The City of Normandy Park has raised taxes for Park, Storm, and business in the past years but it still cannot manage to increase the sales tax base it desperately needs.

I hope that this helps to answer some of the questions about why I’m trying to help change the attitudes and direction of the city we all love.

Thank you for your vote on November 8.

Todd McKittrick
Toddmckittrick4npcouncil@yahoo.com

As we do with all our Advertisers, we’re allowing Scott a forum to share his information:

Here’s a graph showing how the Southwest Suburban Sewer District’s rates are less than 1/2 the average monthly sewer rate (click image to see larger version):

Click image to see larger version.

Under Scott’s leadership, the District has developed a rate reduction program for customers who have incomes below the standard guidelines set forth by King County. Total annual household income from all sources is considered when qualifying for this discount, currently a $10.50 reduction per month.

South King Fire & Rescue and the Cities of Federal Way and Des Moines, WA hosted a dawn 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at Celebration Park in Federal Way on Sunday Morning, September 11.

Visit our sister site The Waterland Blog to view the photo feature from today’s event.

Story by Ralph Nichols
Photos by Scott Schaefer

King County Fire District 2 Commissioners, Chief Mike Marrs, firefighters with the Burien/Normandy Park Department, and local officials broke ground Wednesday (July 27) for new headquarters Station 28.

“This is an exciting occasion, especially for those who took the vision from concept to reality,” Marrs said.

But the new station, which will be built at 900 SW 146th Street, “would not be possible without the citizens of Burien and Normandy Park,” Marrs added. “We’re extremely grateful for their overwhelming support….

“We need to offer the highest service possible to the community,” and the new station will help the fire department do that, he said.

Voters in Fire District No. 2 approved in November 2008 a $25 million bond issue for construction of the new headquarters fire station, and for replacement of the existing station in Normandy Park.

The construction contract was signed earlier in the day Tuesday. Josh Ferrel, project manager for Bayley Construction of Mercer island, the general contractor, said work likely will get underway in late August or early September.

Completion of construction and occupancy of the new station is anticipated for late summer 2012, Marrs said.

Cameron Smock, president and CEO of Bonney-Watson, which for decades had a mortuary and chapel at that location until selling the property to Fire District 2, said the decision was difficult to make.

But they came to understand that just as Bonney-Watson had “a legacy of service to families, by celebrating lives” there, that service “could be continued to help save lives” by selling it to the fire district.

Burien has long needed a new fire station to replace the outdated and undersized existing facility at the corner of SW 151st St. and 8th Ave. S., Marrs said earlier. It will include space for the department’s ladder truck, which now must be parked away from downtown.

The Normandy Park fire station at 135 S. Normandy Road will be built at the current location. The fire district has acquired an adjacent residential property for the building site and the existing station will remain in operation when construction begins.

Marrs told The B-Town Blog that land-use plans for the Normandy Park station, which is in Burien, were submitted to city staff for review on July 26. Ironing out these details is taking longer because the station is adjacent to a residential area.

That project is expected to go out for bids at the beginning of the year, with completion anticipated at the end of 2012 or early 2013.

The bond issue included the costs of property acquisition and equipping the new stations.

Here are some photos of the event as taken by Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer: