He’s a self-described working-class guy who worries about the loss of city jobs that likely will happen when city’s 2010 budget is adopted later this year.
If he’s elected to the Renton City Council next month, Jim Flynn says he will advocate for those city workers and the working class in Renton.
That vision for Renton’s people holds for the city itself.
“We are still a working-class city with working-class values,” said Flynn, when speaking about the city’s economic development.
He favors building up the city’s industrial base – and the family wage jobs that base brings. He’s concerned Renton is trying to become another Eastside city, where retail jobs are more the norm.
Flynn, 65, is running against Rich Zwicker for Zwicker’s council seat. This is Flynn’s first run for political office, although he was active in the successful effort to annex the Benson Hill/Cascade area to Renton.
A journeyman electrician by trade, he worked for the Port of Seattle for 15 years in airport and marine terminal operations. He and his wife Lynette have lived on Benson Hill for 28 years, where they raised three children.
He’s glad his area annexed to Renton. He’s happy with the police protection, although he’s being told by new city residents in the area they would like to see better enforcement of city safety codes.
He’s concerned that the deep budget cuts the city is facing could worsen what he says is an erosion of the staffing and equipping of the police and fire departments.
He said he would bring to the council a “sharp pencil” to apply to the budget and an eye for scrutinizing every expenditure.
A recurring theme in his discussions with the public, he said, is that the public is concerned the Fire Department is not adequately staffed to fight major fires in the city – without having to call in outside help.
Those fires that required outside help from several outside agencies included the one that destroyed a nearly 90-year-old building on Wells Avenue, the one that destroyed a major portion of the Harrington Square Apartments in the Highlands and a residential fire not far from Fire Station 13 on the Benson Highway.
Although he said he understands the importance of mutual aid from other cities, he said the local fire stations weren’t staffed or equipped to handle those fires. A fire official, for example, can’t yell up to those trapped in a fire that they will have to wait for rescue until more help arrives, he said.
In the Wells Avenue fire, firefighters arrived in time to help rescue one of the residents of a boarding house destroyed in the fire.
The fire department, he said, “should be fully staffed and fully equipped.”
He’s also hearing from the public concern about the loss of security officer at the Renton Transit Center. He would like to see some sort of police force return, so that residents and travelers will feel safe at the downtown center.
Flynn supports the merger of the King County Library System and the City of Renton’s library system. But, he wants to make sure that employees who lose their jobs in the merger receive assistance.
Flynn said he supports the city’s neighborhood program, but the City Council should scrutinize more the money that is being spent for the program. That scrutiny should include city matching money for neighborhood projects that may take away work from contractors, he said.
Neighborhoods, he said, “should be more self-sufficient.”
He also would have looked more closely at what he said is the $1 million the city is spending for the major Rainier Avenue improvement project. He thinks more of the cost should have been covered by other agencies involved in the project, including paying for traffic control.
For sure, he said, the city should avoid layoffs in its budget; laying off employees is a “failure of management.” It’s also costly, he said, pointing to what he says is the $250,000 cost to train a police officer.
He called laying off 30 to 35 city employees because of the city’s tight budget “painful.”
As of Tuesday, Flynn has raised $9,285 and spent $4,620. His largest contributor is the the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 587, which contributed $3,000. He also received nearly $900 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, as well as support from other unions. He has a handful of contributions from individuals.
JIM FLYNN
Position: Renton City Council, Position 2
Age: 65
Family: Wife Lynette and three children
Employment: Journeyman electrician working with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, including for the Port of Seattle; president and general manager of an electrical contracting business. Retired
Community activities: Active in the effort to annex Benson Hill to the City of Renton; instructor with Puget Sound Electrical Joint Apprentice and Training Committee and at Renton Technical College; active in LELO, which helps those left behind by society.
Political activities: First run for political office. Board member of the 11th District Democrats.
Municipal League rating: Good
Website: voteflynn.com
