Neary-Sighted

As much for myself as anyone else, I wanted to collect some of the links that have sprung up or become important in light of the horrible slayings. So much information is being exchanged, and so many thoughts are being expressed. For example, take a look at the art that is being generated on the Facebook pages, here and here.

So here are some sites to watch:

Lakewood Police Independent Guild's Web page

Facebook page for the Lakewood police guild

Pierce County's flow of information (click on 'emergency web site')

The News Tribune's stream of information

The Seattle Times' stream of information

Facebook page for Sgt. Mark Renninger, one of the slain.

Facebook page that sprung up where people can discuss their grief

Another Facebook page that sprung up where people can discuss their grief

And another such Facebook page

Our local news blog, The Suburban Times, has photos of the dead and links to other news accounts of this horrible event.

The Seattle P-I also has a compilation of coverage. (added at 8:44 Sun)

The Twitter stream

And reflections on what happened:

My blog post from this morning

The News Tribune editorial

There's an incredible outpouring of information, opinion and emotion going on. Feel free to suggest links.
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I'm sure this will shortly be on the city's web site, but for now, here's the statement by Mayor Doug Richardson and City Manager Andrew Neiditz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement from Mayor Douglas Richardson and City Manager Andrew Neiditz
On the murder of four Lakewood police officers on Sunday, November 29, 2009

“Today we experienced our most tragic event in Lakewood’s fourteen years as a city. We lost four of our finest in a shocking, heartbreaking, and senseless murder. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with the families and colleagues of these innocent victims during this extraordinarily difficult time.”

“The slain officers were all part of Lakewood’s initial police department start-up five years ago. All transferred to Lakewood as commissioned law enforcement officers from other jurisdictions. Their dedication and selfless service contributed immensely toward the successful creation of the Lakewood Police Department. Today we have four fewer officers from our force of one hundred commissioned officers. They will be sorely missed. Support from other law enforcement agencies has been very responsive and deeply appreciated.”

“Once we have fully notified extended family members, we will release the identities of the slain officers. We are nearly done with that critical process.”

Since the crime occurred just outside of Lakewood city limits, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has jurisdiction. Those with information on the crime should call (253) 798-7470.
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You can read this directly at the Lakewood police guild link Brian Wurts, president of the police association:

Your Lakewood Officers Murdered

This morning a complete coward and threat upon all of society took the lives of four of my Guild members and your sworn protectors in a cold blooded assassination. As I write this I am numb. We were dealt a nasty blow, good men and women I have had the honor of knowing for years are senselessly gone.

There is no way to comprehend it, to validate it, or to make sense of any of it. You cannot understand evil like this, as a community we must form a solid bond against criminals and hold them accountable. I know my members and can say with certainty that as a group we will remain professional and will continue to work to protect those of you we have taken an oath to protect. If you know a cop tell them how much you appreciate them, it truly keeps us going.

Please pray for these officers and their families. All of them had significant others and children who are left behind. As a Guild we will do anything we can. If you want to donate to the families our Guild has a benevolent account. Every penny will go to the families; if you want to donate to a specific officer you can write his or her name in the memo section.

If the check is made out to LPIG Benevolent Fund at PO Box 99579 Lakewood, WA 98499. I will personally make sure it goes where it is intended. May God bless you four who are in a place so much better than this; you are some of the finest professionals I have ever known. God bless our community today.

Brian D. Wurts, President
Lakewood Police Independent Guild
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For some reason, my mind, when it's not just going numb, is flashing back to the cityhood campaigns of the early 90s. It's only two decades ago that most voters in Lakewood initially wanted the community to stay unincorporated. And so much of the campaign was convincing people that we locally wanted to have a big say in how crime is prevented and fought in our community.

A couple years ago, I spoke to our police association seeking their endorsement for office. I told them what comes to mind today. Fifteen years ago, we did not know what any of them looked like, but we knew we would have a police department that would prevent and fight crime. It has always been an honor to talk to any Lakewood police officers. In large part, Lakewood voted to become a city in 1995 because we wanted to be able to see their faces. And I'm thinking of that day, sitting in that room and looking at so many, many faces.

It was bad enough when the scum attacked a police officer's home not long ago in Parkland and set fire to his vehicle in its parking lot. That was a reminder of the high stakes in fighting crime.

Now, four of these people have died for us. Died for us. For the city that wanted them so badly. I'm wondering how many times I might have spoken to any of these four officers, and then I get ready to cry. We're all awaiting the names.

There's not much more to say. We think of and love four families today, and pray for them. And we continue to look to our department with pride.

They died. For us. They will be honored and remembered as long as there is a Lakewood.

12:30 update: One additional thought. It's with great pride we all watch the Pierce County Sheriff's Department lead the investigation on this crime since it happened just outside city limits. It would have been even worse - if that's possible - if Lakewood not only had to cope with all this grief but also be the lead investigative unit. The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has and continues to provide outstanding protection in and around Lakewood and we're all glad they are on the case.
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Today's News Trib has a good story about the robo-calls some of us got the other night.

The reaction the calls got is interesting, and serves in part as a bit of a personality test. I was a crime and courts reporter for many years, so when I get a call in the middle of the night, I worry about who they are calling about. None of us ever got a call like this before in Lakewood, so I worried who it was they were testing the system on.

One citizen who contacted me has an unlisted number. So when someone called in the middle of the night, she just assumed it was a call about her elderly mother. That scared her. I don't blame her.

BUT ... That said, of all people, I value this technology. Many of you know my mother had Lewy Body Disease, an awful version of Alzheimer's, for 10 years. My dad always worried she would get out of the home alone, which could have been horrible. Being able to tell a lot of people to look for her through this technology would have been a really good thing. My dad also had a rough period when he was dying of cancer and on strong medications. If he had wandered, I would have put out the same plea and begged officials to do whatever they could to find him.

The bigger question is, when do you think calls like this are appropriate? I've asked our city manager to ask the county folks what their ground rules are, so we can know. Again, of all people. I'm not questioning the value of this method. I'm just asking for what sorts of incidents can we expect these calls.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! I owe some of you responses to good comments to posts below, and I will be working on that over the weekend. Right now, it's time to sneak out and get a birthday present for Cindy :)

4:40 update: News Tribune blog post has county reaction to the robo-calls.
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The Lakewood City Council celebrated Veterans Day at our Monday meeting with a tribute. It began with Kenneth Heath singing the Star-Spangled Banner. The music he brought did not work with our system, and it's just as well: his voice is ... well, you can hear it.



This is, by the way, my experiment in maybe taping some Lakewood City Council stuff. This was my first experiment with a Flip Cam. I tried taping the hearing about the railroad, mentioned below, but I learned the battery life was nowhere what I thought it would be. Oh well. Least I got the anthem.
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Last night at the Lakewood City Council meeting, a steady stream of residents expressed concern about the Point Defiance Bypass, a state and federal government project. The bypass would redirect at least 16 train trips through Lakewood a day in order to save Seattle and Portland commuters six minutes.

Update at 11:50: here's today's story in The News Tribune.

Needless to say, this would have a big effect on Barksdale Road in DuPont, the North Fort Lewis entrance, Berkeley, North Thorne Lane, Clover Creek Drive, Bridgeport Way, 108th St SW, 100th St SW, Steilacoom Boulevard and South 74th Street. You can see a map and a list of traffic changes the state wants to make here.

All of us would be inconvenienced, of course. When I asked, the state transportation folks said they didn't know how many minutes or hours each day people would be sitting in traffic waiting on these railroad crossings. Councilman Don Anderson noted that many, though not all, of the people who live along the railroad tracks and will feel the vibration and hear the noise are low-income renters. Statistically, those folks don't vote. As Don put it, government is "railroading" these folks. That's so unfair and wrong.

People pleaded with the Lakewood City Council to do something, and we will do our best. However, as I told them, the best and most effective approach is to write federal and state officials. Those folks don't give a darn about the Lakewood City Council. But some of them either do care, or at least keep track of, what citizens say. If nothing else, the act of writing is a great thing to tell children about to let them know that you're acting on behalf of democracy. And if you are a registered voter and actually vote, I'd include that in the letter.

This post has the addresses to write. Lemme just say first, I've seen some people not write because they're not sure what to say. My suggestion is to share how you feel about what you know, and write *something* There's an old saying that's very, very true. Government goes to those who show up. The other thing that sometimes holds people back is they feel like they have to write something epic and definitive and long: truly, shorter letters and emails are just fine. Say you don't like how this project is going to affect you and your community, and maybe a few reasons why. There's no need to think you're writing an encyclopedia entry. You're just trying to add to the statistics all these officials keep of what issues people care about.

Those addresses:

Federal government

The project might get funded with stimulus funding, so start at the top:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Here's the form to send the president an email

The stimulus funding (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is being managed by the Federal Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration. Write and plead that they not fund the Point Defiance Bypass or, to be more complete, railroad projects in Washington State.

Victor Mendez
Administrator
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590

As I mentioned, this entity is managed by a cabinet-level agency, the US Dept of Transportation. So also write

Ray LaHood
Secretary of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, D.C.

The reason I'm not including email addresses is that it's too easy for an enormous federal agency to spike email. If you send a paper letter, the odds are better it will stay in a file while this application works its way through the system.

There are two federal lawmakers who are relevant and who you can write to plead for their intervention:

The Honorable Norm Dicks
1019 Pacific Ave, Suite 806
Tacoma, WA 98402

If you have your full postal zip code handy (the zip code plus those other four numbers) and are in his district, you can also send Congressman Dicks an email

Actually, let's cover email forms for a second. Most of the forms on this page are going to ask you for your full zip code because they only want to send emails to people who live in the district. Not everyone on this list is going to live in your district, but they still represent Lakewood and areas affected by the rail line. So if your zip does not allow you to send someone an email, please do still send them a paper letter.

The Honorable Adam Smith
2209 Pacific Ave, Suite B
Tacoma, Washington 98402

Again, if you put in your full zip code and are in his district, you can send Rep. Smith an email here.

Now this next bit runs into politics, but you should know. Adam Smith's opponent in the next Congressional election is Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri. He represents Lakewood on the County Council so he's obviously an advocate for the community. Dick would also be a good person to contact; for example, he can bring up the Point Defiance Bypass in election forums with the congressman.

If you really feel charged up, feel free to write our two US senators, but this blog posting is getting long so I will move on to ...

State government

The project is being planned by the state Department of Transportation. Let their boss, Gov. Christine Gregoire, know that you don't think inconveniencing thousands of people is worth those six minutes.

Governor Chris Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Here's a link to send her an email. If you can, both email and write.

Here's the address for the DOT itself:

Paula J. Hammond
Secretary of Transportation
Transportation Building
Washington State Department of Transportation
310 Maple Park Avenue SE
PO Box 47300
Olympia WA 98504-7300

Her official email address is HammonP@wsdot.wa.gov

"Extra credit:" We are represented in the state legislature by elected officials. You can write them and suggest they take a hard look at the state Department of Transportation budget if these folks are treating low-income residents so badly with this project. You can also encourage them to contact Gov. Gregoire to express concern about how this project will affect their constituents.

28th District

Sen. Mike Carrell
102 Irv Newhouse Building
PO Box 40428
Olympia, WA 98504-0428

Again, if you happen to live in his district, you can send him an email here.

Rep. Tami Green
327 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

Her email form

Rep. Troy Kelley
319 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

His email form

29th District

Sen. Rosa Franklin
312 Legislative Building
PO Box 40429
Olympia, WA 98504-0429

Her email form

Rep. Steve Conway
307 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

His email form

Rep. Steve Kirby
432 John L. O'Brien Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

His email form
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View Larger Map
You may recall the Lakewood council did a lot of soul-searching a couple years ago over the future of Ponders, roughly the area along Pacific Highway between Gravelly Lake Drive, Bridgeport Way, Interstate 5 and the railroad.

One way we considered creating incentives to improve the area was to change the roadway. We can open up more room for development by narrowing the road and reclaiming land. The thinking was that it's been a long time since this part of South Tacoma Way was a highway, and that there are no realistic scenarios in which that stretch of road is ever going to need five lanes.

This past Monday night, the council approved a $3.4 million contract with Woodworth & Co. Construction, paid largely by a federal grant, to narrow the road to three lanes and free up more land for commercial development. Larger lots should lead to larger number of jobs and thus, more and better traffic. The thinking is that new hotels, and new developments like the Geico and the Lakewood Ford, will spring up in this amazing area located parallel to I-5.

Me, I had to be dragging kicking and screaming to the idea in this day and age that it makes any sense to narrow a road. What convinced me was realizing that this very action is exactly what they did to revitalize a section of Fife that I drive through very frequently. If we even get some of that sort of development, Ponders and our community will be the stronger for it.

The city will be hosting an "open house" 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov 12, 4at City Hall for all the fronting property owners and businesses to share more info about construction.

Here are some older posts on the topic:

Walter's take in 2007

A follow-up post in 2007

The News Tribune story about the original decision to make these changes

Now you will note that I have not made any salacious references to Ponders' reputation. Too many private investors have put too much time in to deserve anything but applause, even though certainly big swaths of that neighborhood need help. Along that line, Ponders has a connection to history: it's widely believed that the jazz great "Jelly Roll" Morton helped operate a brothel in Ponders 90 years ago. Not much is known about it, including the location, as far as I know (hint, hint, there's an interesting research project awaiting someone here) You can learn about the topic, and Fort Lewis' role in promoting jazz, at this link.
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Today dawns on a new Lakewood City Council to be. The election results so far suggest that the new council members will be Mike Brandstetter, Mary Moss and Jason Whalen. These are three very sharp people with a lot of depth. I'm thrilled.

One must quickly stop and add that three other people with a lot of depth are Connie Coleman-Lacadie, Sam Ross and Darrel Shiley. I would have been proud to serve with them too. And therein lies the real story here.

If you take a deep breath and think about Lakewood politics, this election was wondrous. All six candidates treated you like an adult. You had six smart people in the race. They did not insult you by inventing vast conspiracies about all the Snidley Whiplashes in City Hall that are out to get you. You had six candidates dedicated to talking about their vision for our city, not using the public pulpit for insults and demagoguery.
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For a long time, I've said that to understand Lakewood politics, you have to remember the cityhood campaign never ended. There was a strong group of people who never trusted local government for Lakewood, so ironic because at the same time they hurl their county, state and federal taxes for purposes often unknown. This has always been about local control of the tax resource, but for many it seemed to be about proving to themselves that they were always right and cityhood was always wrong. So much anger. So much suspicion.

Slowly but surely, over many years, a lot of people have worked very hard to try to earn more respect for the concept of Lakewood as a city. What I hope this election means is that the city - and by that I mean its volunteers, the paid staff, the elected leaders - have acted responsibility and carefully to respect everyone's voice. And the result is a city council campaign that was a model of respectful, constructive speech. The election elevated the conduct of public policy in our community. Numbers are always just part of the story. I don't give a darn about the results: all six candidates won. And the public - Lakewood - is the biggest winner.

And there's something even more wonderful for those of us who can remember the election night when Lakewood incorporated 14 years ago.

Walter is going to shut up about this whole 'the cityhood campaign never ended' thing.

Cityhood has won.

PS - on my other blog, about communications technology, I posted an item with advice for winners.
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