2009 hasn’t been the kindest of years to FederalWayan.

One upshot was the passage of Proposition 1, the bitterly contested power-struggle between the entrenched, corporatist city council and a new paradigm of strong leadership. We have yet another year, however, to wait for that to come to fruition. The City Council is not interested in using the people’s money to reduce their own power by spending it on something that 52% of the people want. Curious, too, is the council’s camp’s insistence that they canceled a search for a new city manager because the switch to a new form of government would obviate the need for one, despite their insistence during the campaign that one would still be necessary even with a strong mayor, and even more confusing in light of the year they have now added to that transition.

One big downshot in our opinion is the city’s impending loss of Metropolitan Market, which will close their doors for the last time on January 6. The store has been named Federal Way’s Best Grocery Store by the Mirror’s polls for five years in a row, which is also the entire time the Dash Point branch has been open. Apparently, being Federal Way’s best is not good enough for Metropolitan, which has been packed on a daily basis ever since the word of its closure went out. Given that the city government and business community has said or done nothing about this, perhaps they are right. Locals fear that the Metro location will be snatched up by a jilted LA Fitness which was denied permission to open in Twin Lakes by the city government, who apparently thinks that it’s better to have a huge vacant building than a new business — as evidenced by the growing number of large vacant buildings in town. For FederalWayan’s part, we’ll be writing to the regional manager of Whole Foods telling them about a great newly available location with an existing customer base.

The esteemed city government also denied Federal Way commuters and visitors a better driving experience in and out of Federal Way from the interstate when it killed the City Center Access Project, deciding that it’s best to kowtow to two tiny neighborhoods rather than work towards the benefit of the city at large. Lakewood, population 58,000, has 6 exits on I-5; Federal Way, population 89,000, has half that. The preferred solution for the City Council is to tear up the downtown sidewalks to expand busy 320th; yet another example of the failed, nice-to-look-at-but-wouldn’t-want-to-live 50s-era suburban folly which guides every decision of the city government.

A confusing series of events occurred in the realm of the city municipal court this past election. Embattled presiding judge Michael Morgan lost his position to Rebecca Walls, who overcame a serious lack of experience by challenging Morgan’s unpopular management style. But Walls won’t be taking over the reins — that will go to former school board president Dave Larson, who had dismissed the attacks on Morgan when they were first challenged and continued to support his fellow judge all along. Those who voted to clear out the Morgan administration by replacing him with Walls will likely end up not getting what they expected.

In February the Regional Library closed for remodeling, cutting off the city’s largest public research and study center in an age when libraries are falling out of fashion via competition from a growing wealth of easily available online material. The KCLS placed a small library in the Commons Mall, adding a small spot of quiet and studiousness to one of the city’s biggest youth attractions. FederalWayan’s only complaint about this location is the word “Temporary” on it’s signage. We think the Commons Library location should join similar locations at Southcenter and Crossroads and become a permanent LibraryConnection location.

The recent month’s distraction from the city’s ills, post-election, has been the much ado about nothing regarding the Twin Lakes Country Club. Few Federal Wayans have likely ever set foot on Twin Lakes’ property, outside of perhaps a wedding reception or office party; but the fear of losing the elite status symbol has sent the Twin Lakes neighborhood, as well as the Mirror, into a frantic tizzy — which fizzled predictably when the big meeting to Do Something About It failed to attract a sufficient number of actually concerned residents.

On the topic of local politics, both local political parties showed themselves to be out of touch with the city’s residents when they both chose to oppose Proposition 1. Whether this was the result of the influence that the backwards-looking city boosters has on these groups, or whether it was the work of a well orchestrated and ferocious pro-council coffee klatch, the upswing is that both parties ended up on the side of the minority of Federal Way’s voters.

In 2010, we look forward to RapidRide Line A, which will run from Federal Way to Tukwila to link our city up to the Central Link Light Rail line. We look forward, hopefully, to the beginning of construction at Symphony. We look forward to the opening of a presumably improved Regional Library. But most importantly, we look forward to a popularly elected strong mayor who will provide a coherent face, voice, and vision for Federal Way, and an end to the lagging, stagnant, living-in-the-past city government our city has endured for far too long.