No Confidence in Mayor Armondo Pavone, City Of Renton

We, the undersigned residents and registered voters of the City of Renton, hereby express our lack of confidence in Mayor Armondo Pavone’s ability to effectively lead and represent our city.  Our No Confidence is based on 2 key areas; Lack of Fiscal Responsibility and Lack of Leadership.

Lack of Fiscal Responsibility

Mayor Pavone’s lack of fiscal responsibility is clearly evidenced by, but not limited to, the following examples: 

1. There are more than $3 Million dollars of fines against ION Renton, LLC, the owners of the derelict Park Avenue buildings. Mayor Pavone has been less than transparent communicating that the City of Renton owns a 3,200 square foot easement on the property thereby making the City of Renton, and its residents, fiscally responsible for the property as a result of Washington State having a right of way liability; “Liability under the laws is far-reaching, even if you didn’t cause the contamination on your property, you could be required to pay for all or part of the cleanup cost. “
2. Mayor Pavone blames increased property taxes on Renton Fire and the Renton School Board, stating that “the City of Renton has absolutely nothing to do with it”.  Derelict properties, including the aforementioned, pay reduced property taxes which then results in the gap being addressed by homeowners.  ION Renton payed-out more than 480k in property taxes in 2024. That tax base plummeted to just 75k this year. 
3.  From the initial reimagining of The Pavilion and Piazza Park there has been contention and disagreement with the Mayor’s Plan.   This stemmed from the community not feeling heard combined with their concerns about how their taxpayer dollars were being spent, yet the Mayor continued moving forth in spite of the contention.  Costs have risen exorbitantly, the budget has  increased several times, and taxpayer frustration has increased as money is being spent irresponsibly; architects were hired for $394k, and another firm was hired to write a proposed lease agreement for 49k. No one, including the Mayor, can clearly articulate the budget for the 15’x26’ tv in Legacy Square or articulate the cost of televising FIFA games. 

Lack of Leadership

1. Mayor Pavone’s egregious self-promoting of his restaurant, on more than 5 occasions is in violation of several laws including 2634.702. “...may not use his public office for his own private gain or for that of persons or organizations with which he is associated personally. …position or title should not be used to coerce; to endorse any product, service or enterprise; ..” Instead, The Mayor could have used his position, on those occasions, to highlight numerous businesses in Renton in dire need of press (customers and revenue), especially during Fox 13's Zip Trip to Renton. He chose to focus on his restaurant which he would then personally benefit from.
2. Mayor Pavone uses manipulation, retaliation, and coercion to control City Council Members. Words used by current City Council Members, during conversations with members of the public, to describe the Mayor and their interactions with him. The divisiveness we see, at most City Council Meetings, is indicative of his 'leadership style' as described by City Council Members. Yet the Mayor contradictorily states on his website, " I want each of you to know I am proud of the relationship and partnership I have built with your City Council. As a former councilmember, I understand and respect the role council plays in ensuring you have a responsive and effective government. “
3.  Mayor Pavone’s inadequate lack of workforce planning and blatant denial and unwillingness to acknowledge the lack of public safety has put our city and its residents (and visitors) in jeopardy. In the last 90 days, steps from the Pavilion and Legacy Square, there have been 3 major incidents: a shooting & attack at the Renton Transit Center, an assault near the Transit Center, and a robbery and shooting at an ATM. On Mayor Pavone’s website it states: “Now in my second term, I have been intently focused on public safety…”
4. Mayor Pavone publicly taking credit for the years long commitment of Bob Baker, Save the Cedar River Group, and Reagan Dunn to stop the Asphalt Plant shows an absolute disregard for these individuals & the group resulting in Bob Baker publicly stating, “Shame on you Mayor for trying to spin this decision as yours, You were not in that room, you were not invited to the meeting.” The Mayor had every opportunity to congratulate the efforts of that team and give credit where it was due.

These are just a few, of dozens, of Lack of Fiscal Responsibility and Lack of Leadership examples. Supporting documentation for the above (conversations, videos, links to newspaper, tv and podcast interviews with the Mayor) can be found on our website at www.4aBetterRenton.com under the tab “No Confidence Petition”. Additional supporting documentation can be found under the Current & Emerging Issues tab. 

For A Better Renton

For a Better Renton was founded in March 2025, as a 501c4, by a group of concerned residents who want to make Renton Better.  

Our members are democrats, independents, and republicans. We span 5 generations and 7 neighborhoods. We’ve lived in this city ranging from 3.5 years to 50+ years.  Almost all of us have family in Renton too; parents, children, grandchildren, nieces/nephews, and siblings.

We’ve served on City Council, as Officers and Board Members of our Neighborhood Associations, Board members of local non profits, and attended the police and civic academy. Professionally the industries we have experience in range from healthcare to aerospace, technology to finance, politics to non profits, legal to construction and government to academia.

Collectively we’ve attended thousands of City Council Meetings.  We've been interviewed by Seattle's Fox 13 News, The Renton Reporter, KVI Morning Ride with Phil Vandervort, and presented at the 11th Dems.