A new association was launched to spearhead efforts to fight issues in Renton such as the Logan 6 development, the Renton High School eminent domain case and the abandoned building on Park Avenue.

Sheryl Friesz, president of For a Better Renton, commonly speaks during the Renton City Council’s public comments about issues. She announced the formation of the new association at the May 5 city council meeting.

Friesz said the association consists of more than a dozen individuals and covers five different generations and six different neighborhoods.

“Basically everybody has had numerous thoughts, challenges, issues with Renton, specifically with city council and the mayor, and we want to impact change,” Friesz said.

Fries said a focus of the association is to create a city council that engages more with the community and its concerns.

“We’ve asked for more than a year, and that’s being generous, with city council to engage us differently. Have dialogue with us, be transparent, and be professional. That is what we are hoping to see,” Friesz said.

Friesz said the idea to form an association first came from conversations with other concerned residents and the desire to form an opposition in a more formal, unified manner. She said they have a mission statement, ethics guidelines and officers, and will soon be launching a website.

“We want to be identified as a formal association,” Friesz said. “It’s not individuals that are just deciding to get together with no formal construct and trying to address a whole bunch of the issues facing Renton and the residents.”

Friesz said they will remain vigilant on current issues Renton is facing and monitor emerging challenges. She said that though the Logan 6 development is separate, they are going to continue to “ stay on top of that and figure out how to be a support for future development and things impacting Renton overall.” She also said the association will support the individuals dealing with other issues in Renton, such as the eminent domain situation related to the Renton High School expansion, the SR 169 asphalt plant and the abandoned building on Park Avenue.

“We’re just going to be a place where people can go to get information and knowledge and perspectives on what is happening in the city and be given ideas on how to go impact that change,” Friesz said. “We have pretty heady values, vision, mission and goals.”

Friesz said the association invited all the challenging candidates for city council to a meeting on May 8 to hear what candidates are running for, and to make connections with each other and association members. She said in the future, they plan to have another meeting with the incumbents. She said the association may end up endorsing multiple candidates in the city council races.

“We believe that a great city council is made up of all types of different people, experiences and political party affiliations. We want to bring this group together,” Friesz said. “What we would really like to do with these candidates that are showing up at our meeting is to give them the opportunity to engage with each other in, what I refer to as, a non-combative way and really start understanding what are they all hoping for.”

Friesz said one thing they hope for in the long term is for incumbents on the city council to shift the way they interact with residents.

“We’re not just looking to get new humans on the city council. We want to end up continuing to support them, continuing to help them recall, remember, act and speak in a way that really agrees with the vision, mission and values of For a Better Renton collectively,” Friesz said.

At the meeting on May 8, the association met with three city council candidates — Mary Clymer, Paul Dutton and Raman Mann — and gave them seven minutes each to hear their stories and what they are running for.

“Watching how they engaged with us, the follow-up and clarifying questions they asked, on a range of topics, inspired and gave us hope. Watching how they engaged with each other further inspired us,” Friesz said. “They were inclusive, humane, and respectful of one another. And it appeared quite natural and authentic.”