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Friday Program:
Bob was elected to the Renton City Council in 1989 and was reelected twice. He was elected to serve two terms as president of the Puget Sound Regional Council. Bob has worked hard on the Port Commission to fulfill the Port’s role as a creator of economic opportunity, creating jobs and building outstanding seaport and airport facilities. He is active in many regional transportation initiatives and serves on a joint panel with the Port of Tacoma to improve inland transportation infrastructure.
Don Chandler and Dick Brown awarded sapphire pins to the following Rotarians, signifying their having given $2,000 to the Rotary Foundation:
Howard Johnson reminded Rotarian of the Rotary First Harvest Saturday. The club has met its commitment of hours, but is a bit short on its financial donation.
Sayoko also recently attended a dinner at the home of Consulate General Tanaka. Also included in the guest list for the dinner were President Jim Zidar, John Armenia (GSE Inbound Planning Committee member), District Governor Mike Montgomery, and GSE Chairperson Lavern Mc Intyre. Classification Talk: John Armenia
John transferred to the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club in July. He and his wife Brenda live in Trilogy at Redmond Ridge where they moved after living 23 years in Gig Harbor, Wa. John was born in Spokane, Washington. He is an alumnus of Gonzaga Prep in 1956 and Gonzaga University, BA (1960) and M.Ed. (1966).
Rotary Club Service for John includes: President of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor in 1993-94; he served in several leadership roles with the Rotary Club ranging from Youth Exchange Chair to Golf Tourney Chair. He was selected the Outstanding Rotarian of the Year, (1993). John was Rotary District 5020 Team Leader, Rotary International Group Study Exchange, USA/Canada-Australia, (1995); District Trainer (1996-2000); District Club Service Chair (2000-2005) and Membership Chair (2004-06). He was the Editor of the District Governor's Newsletter in 1995-96, 1999-2000, and 2001-02. He is Zone Coordinator for the RI District 5030's Eastside Hosting of the GSE Team from 2770 in Japan.
He did collect money from each Rotarian with less than 90 percent attendance. Dick Brown was cited for a mailing which displayed two homes. The $2 fine was bumped to $10 when Andrew realized that 10 Rotarians had seen the mailing. Zul Alibhai was singled out for the good news of a new granddaughter. He was fined $5, but noted that “they’re letting me get away easy.” He voluntarily increased his fine to $20. Friday Program
Bob was elected to the Renton City Council in 1989 and was reelected twice. He was elected to serve two terms as president of the Puget Sound Regional Council. Bob has worked hard on the Port Commission to fulfill the Port’s role as a creator of economic opportunity, creating jobs and building outstanding seaport and airport facilities. He is active in many regional transportation initiatives and serves on a joint panel with the Port of Tacoma to improve inland transportation infrastructure. Bob is a UW graduate (this brought a small clap of applause from Dick Brown) who works as an investment advisor. He is a past president of the Washington Public Ports Association and is now the chairman of the Washington Council on International Trade. Bob and his family live on the Eastside. Bob’s remarks: My topic today is the State of the Port. That’s a big topic. I know that you all are aware that we are going through some changes at the Port of Seattle. Of course, the biggest news is that Tay Yoshitani has just taken over as CEO after 15 years under the leadership of Mic Dinsmore. The commission engaged in a 6-month national search in which many impressive candidates came t the fore and Tay was the unanimous choice of the commission. The commission wanted someone who had significant hands-on ports industry management experience. And Tay definitely has that, having the Deputy CEO of the Port of L.A. and CEO of both the ports of Baltimore and Oakland. Upcoming Milestones in 2007
The Third Runway will open next year and there will be light rail service to the airport in 2009. Seaport: We are looking at another record year this year in cruise passengers, with 191 sailings and 830,000 passengers. There is also a very good environmental story to tell about the cruise business. This year, every cruise ship using the Seattle harbor either will tie up to shore power when it is in port or use low-sulfur fuel. Seattle was the fastest growing container port in North America in both 2004 and 2005, then experienced a slight decline last year. But our February numbers were up more than 8 percent over last year, and that for the year we are up more than 3 percent. Freight Mobility: The next thing we need to do is make sure we build the next part of State Route 519 – that’s the east-west connection between the Seattle harbor and Interstate 90 – that routes trucks through the stadium district. Boeing Field/Rail Swap: The County Council and the Port Commission have not weighed in on this deal, and there’s a lot to learn about it. It makes sense for us to run Boeing Field – the Port knows how to run airports and the two airports operate as a sysem. Perserving the rail corridor, rather than selling it off piecemeal, is a benefit to the Eastside, but there are a lot of questions about preserving it for transit or creating a recreational trail. And we’d like to see investment in more freight movement and more traffic through Stampede Pass. Questions from Rotarians: What about cruise ships and sewage? How good is security on ships? More about the airport swap for the rail line: How will light rail to the airport benefit the Eastside? Groaners from Wally Mahoney Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest. Did you hear about the guy whose left side was cut off ? He’s all right now. The roundest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Circumference. The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work. To write with a broken pencil is pointless. When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months. A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal. Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking. We’ll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply. When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U C L A. The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it. The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground. The dead batteries were given out free of charge. If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory. A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me. |