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Clayton Park
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
In 1997, shortly after getting married, Clayton convinced his then new wife, Susan (no longer married), that they should start a community newspaper to serve areas of North Seattle not covered by the Seattle Press. He was no stranger to this task, having taken over the Fremont Forum, which later became the Seattle Press, and also resurrecting the Pike Place Market News. At the time, Clayton worked as special publications editor at the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) and Susan worked in composing as a printer at the Seattle Times.
In August of that year, Clayton landed the job of business editor at the Journal American in Bellevue. To meet the increasing demands of the quickly growing Jet City Maven, a small staff was added and Clayton's roll diminished to Editor-in-Chief, coming in to the Lake City office one weekend each month to edit the issue before going to print. The Journal American was later renamed the Eastside Journal, then the King County Journal, and moved to Kent, WA. Running the paper in North Seattle while commuting to Kent became nearly impossible, so the Parks decided to sell the paper and relocated south.
In 2004 Clayton and Susan sold the newspaper to Wallis Bolz, owner of the Seattle Star. The paper folded in 2005.
Clayton continues to work as business editor for the Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida. He is now married to his lovely wife Jenn and lives in Saint Augustine, Florida. Susan and Clayton remain close friends and play music together in a band, the Parkolators.
Susan Brehme Park
Publisher, Graphic Designer, Photographer, Circulation Manager, Ad Sales Manager
Susan came from the other side of the coin. An architectural design graduate in a cutthroat North Carolina economy, she found herself first working as a secretary (great experience for anyone running a small business) and then as a graphic designer. She had been working as a Composer (printer, typesetter, layout artist) for dailies since 1993 getting her first newspaper job for the Raleigh News and Observer. After taking a road trip that led her to Seattle, she took the first job available – packing salmon for six weeks for Port Chatham. She then worked at the Seattle Times in both Circulation and Composing from 1994 to 1996, quitting at the end of the year to run her newly formed newspaper, the Jet City Maven (later renamed the Seattle Sun) fulltime.
As publisher, Susan basically ran the business end of the paper. Being a publisher can best be described as scrubbing toilets in the morning and having dinner with the Mayor in the evening. In addition, she would occasionally write, illustrate, take photographs, sell ads, and design ads. Her primary job was managing the staff, laying out the paper before printing, creating the circulation list, and maintaining the company ad sales database. By the time the paper was sold in 2004, Susan was managing six regular part- to full-time staff members.
In 1998 while running the paper, Susan was hired by the Fremont Fair to layout their festival program. This led to more and more freelance jobs as a designer, working through the Seattle Sun providing programs at times over the years for the University Street fair, Greenwood Seafair Parade, Lake City Pioneer Days, Lake City Days, and othe neighborhood festivals. This led to more opportunities designing programs for Boldhat Productions, the FPA, White Center Days, and the Washington Beer Commission. She continues to work as a freelance graphic designer in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Susan also has taught after-school art classes at Sacajawea Elementary, Maple Leaf Elementary, and Catherine Blaine Middle School in Seattle.
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Please refer to Town Crier (the Seattle Star) for information on employees, volunteers, and positions held after September, 2004.
STAFF OVER THE YEARS
Listed in alphabetical order, the following staff were valued contributors to the publishing of the newspaper.
Matt Asher - reporter
James Bush - reporter, columnist, website maintenance
Robin Daly - columnist
Tara DeCoster - office assistant, website maintenance
Ron Dennis - reporter and distribution
Alan Gladfelter - ad layout, office assistant, and distribution
Debi Harris - columnist, reporter, and office assistant
Melanie Hendricks - ad sales
Corey Holmes - reporter
Jane Lotter - columnist
Carol Marsh - reporter
Matt Maury - columnist
Beth Osborne - ad sales
Clayton Park - founder and editor-in-chief
Susan Brehme Park - publisher, photographer, graphic designer, ad sales manager, employee manager, and chief toilet-scrubber.
Matt Patneaude - reporter and office assistant. Helped us launch "Healthy Living."
Stina Plant - ad layout, office assistant, and distribution
Shannon Priebe - intern reporter, ad sales, and distribution
Jesse Ross - intern reporter and distribution
Nick Slepko - office assistant, reporter, ad sales. Helped us launch "Soul Food."
Kristy Smith - office assistant
Denise Smith - office assistant
Stan Stapp - columnist
Rhys Walters - intern reporter, ad sales, and distribution
Leah Weathersby - reporter, columnist, office assistant, distribution and website maintenance
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