On Nov. 1, the Renton City Council adopted a $445 million two-year budget for 2011/2012. This was one of the earliest adoption dates and one of the most collaborative and participative budget processes in the city’s history.

I want to extend my thanks to Mayor Denis Law for his leadership throughout this process. Mayor Law paid attention to the needs of the community and for the first time in the history of Renton’s budget process, he created a community task force to hear from those we serve. He set their priorities as our priorities. He made sure that we preserved vital investments in public safety, our streets and infrastructure, programs that will spur the local economy, and maintain our community programs. Working with staff and our public employee unions, he developed a budget that prevented significant layoffs and provided funding to critical human services. Mayor Law made a commitment to our citizens to make our government more efficient and because of his vision and sound fiscal policies, he delivered on that commitment. He was able to protect jobs and essential services even as our state and local governments face deep cuts and large-scale layoffs.

I also thank the following administrators for ensuring the budget protected and served all Renton’s citizens:

• Jay Covington, chief administrative officer. For 20 years, Jay has implemented our leaders’ vision of a prosperous, livable city where everyone has opportunity.
• Marty Wine, assistant chief administrative afficer. Marty worked with our citizens to align city priorities with those of our community. She also maintained our focus that city government remains responsible and responsive.
• Iwen Wang, Finance/IT. Iwen’s prudent fiscal management gave us the ability to confront the challenges that lie ahead.
• Police Chief Kevin Milosevich and Fire Chief Mark Peterson. Kevin and Mark, and the brave men and women of Renton’s Police and Fire departments, continued their dedication to the safety of our city.
• Gregg Zimmerman, Public Works. Gregg and his staff were responsible for some of our most critical services, many of which are also invisible. They preserved high quality core services.
• Terry Higashiyama, Community Services. More than ever, it was important for Renton to offer high quality parks and recreation programs. Terry and her department work day and night to keep Renton a unique and vibrant community.
• Alex Pietsch, Community and Economic Development. Alex and his team continued to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to build a solid foundation for us to grow into the future.
• Larry Warren, City Attorney Larry continued providing the City of Renton with the highest caliber legal advice protecting the health, safety, welfare, and civil rights of all.
• Nancy Carlson, Human Resources. Nancy continued our strong and respectful relationships with the city’s employee unions.

I thank my council colleagues for their preparation and insightful deliberation during this often complicated process.

Finally, my sincerest thanks are directed to all of our city staff. We have asked our city workers to do more with less and they have responded at every level. Because of them, we are able to keep Renton a great place to live, learn, work and play.

Rich Zwicker is a member of the Renton City Council. He is chairman of the council’s Utilities Committee.