What the Admiral Neighborhood Association heard from SPD, SDOT, and Sub Pop

We’ve already reported on the biggest news from this week’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting – the announcement of this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha lineup. But that wasn’t all that happened. Here are the rest of the toplines:

COMMUNITY POLICING: The area’s assigned Community Police Team Officer John O’Neil introduced himself. He’s a 14-year SPD veteran, Navy veteran, father of three. “The human element of police officers has been lost …because we don’t share,” he explained as his rationale for a personal introduction. “A lot of time, people see the uniform, and they see a robot.” He has been working in western West Seattle for about six months now. He explained that CPT officers “handle the long-term problem calls. … We want to connect with people. We want to be at these meetings.” But “if someone’s breaking into your house,” don’t call him! He also told people NOT to report crimes via social media – SPD won’t see it.

In Q&A he was asked about noise at bar closing time. If it’s a chronic problem, that’s something you can bring to the attention of your Community Police Team officer, he said.

He also talked about the realities of policing our area and staffing challenges – prioritizing, shifting resources when needed (especially in times of emergencies such as last week’s deadly shooting at West Seattle Stadium), etc. Asked about the cruising/noise problem, Officer O’Neil said that’s still a work in progress. He also talked about what it’s like trying to catch racers on West Marginal Way SW.

A frustrated neighbor complained about how long it takes to get a response for a public nuisance, which segued into dealing with street disorder and campers. Officer O’Neil said that they have many protocols of what they can and can’t do. He also talked about how officers are tied up doing many things, not just responding to 911 calls; he told the story of a stolen-car report that hadn’t been responded to for eight hours because no one was available. He said he understood why the car’s owner was upset and even encouraged him to file a complaint.

Back to the issue of street disorder, Officer O’Neil says the department has a new policy about dealing with RVs, though he did not elaborate on what’s in that policy. (We’re still trying to find out more from the city about what the new policy entails.) Much frustration overall was vented, and while Officer O’Neil had no answers, he tried hard to explain the reality of what police deal with.

WEST SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAY: Mitchell Lloyd of SDOT brought an update; he said the timeline isn’t set yet for the second phase of the project. He said more than 200 responses were received in the recent online survey. If you have questions about the project, look for SDOT at the West Seattle Bee Festival on Saturday (11 am-2 pm at High Point Commons Park). Questions at the meeting included whether the project might correct some signage problems, such as one nearby area where an attendee said signs say “20 mph when children are present” but should say 20 mph at all times. Next project milestone, Lloyd said in response to a question from Wymer, will be proposing three or four specific routes in the North Admiral Connection, and then analyzing and gathering feedback on them.

SUB POP 30TH ANNIVERSARY UPDATE: Sub Pop Records reps stopped by with an update on the August 11th plan for Alki Beach. They’re still planning to close Alki SW between 56th and 63rd SW, with some “soft” closures on side streets (“local access only”) – same pattern as the Alki Summer Streets “car-free day” events that have been held in the past. Asked about the plan for, for example Beach Drive in the Constellation Park area, they said they haven’t gotten that far yet. They’re still working on renting lots from which they can run shuttles – Jack Block Park, West Marginal Way SW, etc. They also are planning to double Water Taxi service that day – an extra boat will be brought in, so there will be four runs each hour. Water Taxi shuttles will continue to run and SP will work with bike-rental companies too. “We will heavily message ‘don’t drive’, and … to respect the residents who live here,” said CEO Megan Jasper. They’re also aiming for it to be a zero-waste event. And Alki Playground/Whale Tail Park will have not only a family-friendly zone but also food trucks lined up on 59th. Beneficiaries of the event – particularly the beer gardens – will include the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and YouthCare.

KEXP radio will be a partner; the lineup will be announced May 29th. “Will there be a surprise guest?” they were asked. “Right now they’re ALL surprise guests,” Jasper said, to laughter. Meantime, they reiterate that they really appreciate feedback, opinions, thoughts, questions – and have already heard a lot from community groups in particular – so if you have anything to ask/say, bring it up. One person wondered if people will be encouraged to leave their dogs home, given that they’re not allowed on the beach … good point, she was told.

OTHER SUMMER EVENTS: ANA needs volunteers to sell treats at the post-parade games at Hamilton Viewpoint Park after the West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade. … Nicole from Fit4Mom talked about the parade – they recently launched crowdfunding, as reported here … ANA also is hoping to march in the West Seattle Grand Parade on July 21st (if you can help, let the group know!).

ADMIRAL BUSINESSES: ANA president Larry Wymer said he is trying to revive the Admiral merchants’ group that had formed years ago. He hopes to have a representative of the business community on hand every month; this month, it was Benjamin Jury, whose company Duos took over The Sanctuary at Admiral – where the ANA meets – months ago. It’s often used for weddings, he said, but also can be a great place for parties and reunions.

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION HUB: Up to 10 more volunteers are needed to continue organizing Admiral’s hub. Mary Coucoules is coordinating it and you can e-mail her if you are interested, coucou@spu.edu.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association meets every other month – mostly on second Tuesdays, but sometimes (like this month) that changes, so watch for announcements! The next meeting is currently scheduled for 6:30 pm July 10th.

1 Reply to "What the Admiral Neighborhood Association heard from SPD, SDOT, and Sub Pop"

  • chemist May 29, 2018 (7:01 pm)

    I was thinking just the other day about the Admiral road diet-rechannelization project that happened in late 2016.  The SDOT decks, early on, had mentioned “evaluation” that was going to occur afterwards.Has SDOT produced a follow-up report on vehicle speeds/volume, parking utilization, bike lane usage, or crash types/statistics like one would expect a follow-up evaluation to have?

Sorry, comment time is over.