West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
Not that long ago, each Seattle Police precinct had an assigned full-time liaison from the City Attorney’s Office. Many of the cases on which they worked went beyond the standard crime-and-punishment – they included nuisance properties, for example. Then came the cuts, and now, for example, West Seattle’s Southwest Precinct, like its counterparts, has just a share of a city lawyer’s time. City Attorney Pete Holmes is proposing that the next city budget fully restore the program, one liaison per precinct – read on for the news release just in from his office:Read More
Just as the county moves into the next stage of the plan to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) from West Seattle’s Murray Pump Station by razing homes to install a huge underground tank in the area shown above, questions have been raised about the overall cost-benefit efficiency of the ongoing state-mandated CSO-reduction programs that the city and county both are pursuing.
Those questions are not new, but they are suddenly in a bright spotlight because of a Seattle Times report – which even led King County Executive Dow Constantine to send a news release late today with his thoughts on the issue.
More on that ahead, but first, the latest on Murray, one of two county CSO-control projects now in the planning stages in West Seattle (the other is a “green stormwater” approach for the basin feeding the Barton pump station by the Fauntleroy ferry dock):
At the Morgan Community Association‘s recent quarterly meeting, Murray CSO project manager Erica Jacobs said they’ve chosen a design team – Bellevue-based HDR – and are in the “contract negotiation and execution stage,” with preliminary design work to start next month. The design process, Jacobs said, will take more than a year – the timetable projects “final design” will be done by December of 2012. Next month, she said, also is when the county expects to make purchase offers to property owners.
The state-mandated environmental-review process is closed, she added, saying it brought “eight formal comment letters” – and that all have been responded to. Next step, according to Jacobs, is a September public meeting to “introduce members of the design team,” once the contract is “initiated.” Crews will be boring at the site, too, to “gather information for technical parameters of the design,” Jacobs explained, including “the depths that will be needed for the storage tank.” Then in October, she said, a community “design advisory committee” will be formed.
But now, enter the Times story about the overall CSO program – read it here. Reporter Lynda V. Mapes‘ story doesn’t dispute the point that CSO control has made a difference in Puget Sound water quality; it focuses on how much money is scheduled to be spent to make an additional, relatively small reduction in the pollution from the overflows that happen during big rainstorms, and points out that the biggest pollution threat to Puget Sound right now is runoff, which the hundreds of millions slated for further CSO control won’t even touch. She quotes several authoritative sources as saying it seems like time to step back and re-examine priorities.
County Executive Constantine’s statement late today appears to reaffirm support for the ongoing projects – read on for the full text:Read More
If you’re registered to vote, your ballot should have arrived by now – and needs to be postmarked by August 16th, or placed in a drop box by then. Still no drop box in West Seattle or White Center – here’s where you WILL find them. Meanwhile, we have one last segment of video to share from last Thursday night’s West Seattle Candidates’ Forum at South Seattle Community College – City Council candidates:
On stage were, from left, Pos. 1 candidate Michael Taylor-Judd (of West Seattle), Pos. 1 candidate Bobby Forch, moderator Mike Hickey (from SSCC), Pos. 1 candidate Maurice Classen, Pos. 9 candidates Sally Clark (incumbent) and Dian Ferguson. (Pos. 1 incumbent Jean Godden was on hand for the ice-cream social part of the program earlier, but left before the onstage Q/A; Pos. 9 candidate Fathi Karshie was not present at all.) Transportation and transit were a big topic in the West Seattle-specific questioning, as you’ll see/hear in our video. Positions 1 and 9 are the only ones with more than 2 candidates, so those are the only City Council races you’ll see on the primary ballot. (Our previous two WS Candidates’ Forum reports are here [School Board Position 6] and here [County Council District 8].)
Tonight’s final note: The West Seattle Democratic Women have announced their endorsements for the primary. Read on to see the list, as shared by WSDW chair Karen Chilcutt:Read More
In our first report from last night’s community-organized West Seattle Candidates’ Forum, you saw video of one of the two races for which all primary-ballot candidates turned out, School Board District 6. This time, the other race with full turnout: King County Council District 8. Onstage, from left, were incumbent Councilmember Joe McDermott, moderator Mike Hickey, Diana Toledo, and Goodspaceguy. Transportation was a hot topic, as you’ll see; McDermott said he supports the $20-for-Metro “congestion relief charge” that’ll come up for a council vote August 15th, while Toledo and Goodspaceguy said they do not. (This race also is spotlighted at SeattleTimes.com [WSB partner] right now.)
P.S. We forgot to mention this in our first report – the ice-cream social that preceded the candidates’ forum raised more than $200 for West Seattle Food Bank, according to board member Pete Spalding, one of a multitude of community volunteers/advocates at the event in South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center
County, city, port, and School Board candidates were all part of last night’s community-organized West Seattle Candidates’ Forum at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center. One of two races for which all August 16th candidates participated, the School Board Position 6 faceoff, provided the most sparks, and news. For one, incumbent board member Steve Sundquist revealed that he believes two West Seattle schools will be reopened; public discussion to this point had focused on one (likely Fairmount Park, as reported here last month). The discussion also touched on some recent district controversies including the plan for some Seattle Public Schools to get trainees from the “Teach for America” program. We recorded the entire forum, in segments, and the clip above is the entire school-board discussion with (from left on stage) Sundquist, Marty McLaren, moderator Mike Hickey, Joy Anderson, and Nick Esparza. (Upcoming reports will include the other forum segments – city, county, and port.)
From waving to candy-throwing to pet-sign-wearing, there was plenty of campaigning in last Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade (here’s our video of the entire parade, real time, from the honor guard forward) … those are some of the scenes, above. Most of the candidates/advocates you saw in the parade – and others – will be in West Seattle again this Thursday night for the West Seattle Candidates’ Forum – that’s the same day ballots, to be mailed tomorrow, should start arriving.
The forum’s organizers have two things they want you to know tonight: First, they’ve locked in the lineups (see the PDF here, or in text after the jump) … including entertainment, as well as debate/discussion! Second, they WANT ***YOUR*** QUESTIONS – most of the event will consist of questions gathered in advance. There’s an open thread for questions in the WSB Forums (go here) – or, post yours as a comment on this story – or, use this form to send it to organizers. Reps from community groups and hot issues will be there to take your questions starting at 6:30 pm – along with candidates serving free Husky Deli ice cream! – including: WSDOT (on the tunnel), SDOT (on the SW Alaska rechannelization), Seattle Referendum 1 (tunnel), County Veterans’ Levy, Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, Neighborhood House, Sustainable West Seattle, WS In Motion, Seattle Police and Fire Departments, West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network, West Seattle Be Prepared Emergency Communication Hubs. Free child care, too. Now – click ahead for the text of the news release: Read More
After about two hours of public testimony and a 40-minute recess to talk, the King County Council has just decided to put off till the last minute its decision on the proposed $20/year car-tab fee that County Executive Dow Constantine says would save Metro from huge cuts. They’ll reconvene on August 15th (as explained here), which is their last chance to get it on the ballot, although Councilmember Julia Patterson suggested there were “other” possibilities to “explore” in the meantime.
P.S. Since they’ve extended their decisionmaking time – if you hadn’t commented yet, here’s how to do it online.
For West Seattle Blog and White Center Now, Deanie Schwarz covered Thursday night’s Metro-future hearing in Burien – focused on whether the transit system will get a new $20 tax/fee to stave off budget cuts, or start cutting service. She reports it wasn’t the gigantic turnout that swarmed last week’s hearing in downtown Seattle, but “a few hundred people” were eventually on hand. Among them, South Seattle Community College student Vice President Joshua Clark:
Deanie reports that Clark lobbied to save routes 125 and 128 – the only routes which serve the campus. He also had a modification to the suggested $20 fee for cars. He’s a motorcyclist and half-jokingly suggested $5 per wheel would be another fee-structure alternative to consider; that got a big laugh and a “Nice try” from a committee member. From southeasternmost West Seattle, Arrowhead Gardens residents campaigned for the buses they take to services on Roxbury:
Next up – testimony before the council on Monday, as they prepare to vote on whether to implement the $20/year fee, or send it to voters. Signups will be taken at 1 pm at the park south of the county courthouse on Monday, with the item expected to come up in the County Council Chambers around 3 pm. If you can’t be there and still haven’t commented on this, you can do so in writing. Meantime, our partners at the Seattle Times have published their report on the Burien hearing – see it here.
(Added 11:33 pm: Unedited WSB video of the hour-and-a-half-long forum)
6 PM: Seattle Referendum 1 – which a court fight shaved down to two sentences out of 140 pages of city legislation – may turn out to be the only actual ballot measure related to the tunnel that’s proposed to replace the central-waterfront section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. If you’re not sure how you’ll vote August 16th – or if you’re not sure what you’re voting on – or what it all means – or even if you are deeply versed on the subject, come on down to the West Seattle High School Theater, where two reps each from the main pro- and anti-tunnel organizations are at centerstage in a 6-7:30 forum presented by the WS Chamber of Commerce. Your WSB editor is moderating; the final half-hour is scheduled for audience Q/A.
7:56 PM: Forum over – thanks to the 20 or so folks who were there, and to the panelists, Gary Manca and Jeff Upthegrove on behalf of anti-tunnel Protect Seattle Now and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and Vlad Oustimovitch on behalf of Let’s Move Forward. We have it all on video and will put it up, unedited, when it’s done uploading later tonight.
11:33 PM: Video now up.
We’ve talked about the West Seattle Grand Parade, the Alki Art Fair, West Seattle Outdoor Movies – but one event on Saturday in West Seattle that’s outside the category of “summer fun” is also expected to draw hundreds. “Speak Out for Good Jobs Now” is a rally organized by activist groups for noon-2 pm at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, during a daylong leadership conference, explained by organizers:
Congress has forgotten that good jobs are the driver of a stable and prosperous economy. We’re here to remind them. … The Progressive Congress Speak Out Tour is part of a [daylong] community leadership training conference organized by Washington CAN. Attendance is free, and language interpretation and child care are provided. The leadership conference includes sessions on the history of unions, holding big banks accountable, and structural racism.
The noon-2 pm “Good Jobs Now” event is scheduled to include U.S. Reps. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) and Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), emceed by former Eastside congressional candidate Darcy Burner and Magdaleno Rose-Avila. If you use Twitter, the event has a hashtag: #CPCjobs. If you want to sign up for the full-day conference, go here.
Both of West Seattle’s major community meetings on Wednesday night tackled the topic of Metro Transit‘s potential cuts. In our video above, County Councilmember Joe McDermott talked about it at the joint meeting of the Southwest and Delridge Neighborhoods District Councils in High Point, listing the West Seattle routes that Metro says are doomed if either the County Council or voters don’t agree to a $20/year fee to cover its budget gap. McDermott has said he’ll vote for the fee, but if five fellow councilmembers don’t do the same (so far, four have committed), it won’t take effect without voter approval.
Concurrently Wednesday night, at the Morgan Community Association meeting at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), a Metro rep who was there mostly to talk about West Seattle RapidRide – still scheduled to debut in September 2012 – began with a recap of the fee-or-cuts situation. The proposed fee is scheduled to go to a County Council vote next Monday, she said, but first, the last of three public hearings on Metro’s future is tonight (Thursday) at Burien City Council Chambers (4th SW/SW 152nd), and there’s some talk that it could draw hundreds, as did the previous hearing, last week at the County Council chambers downtown.
If you haven’t been to one of the hearings and can’t make it to this one, you can still officially send a comment on Metro’s future and what you would like to see – use this form on the county website.
One of the few things that will actually be settled by the August 16th ballot is Seattle Referendum 1 – since most of the ballot otherwise is comprised of primary races, narrowing candidate fields to the top two.
“Settled,” of course, is a relative term here.
Technically, Referendum 1 asks you to approve or reject Section 6 of City Ordinance 123542, related to Seattle’s role in the 99-tunnel plan. The “section” is what remains after a separate court fight.
Symbolically, it has been pointed out that this may be Seattleites’ only chance for a public vote on something related to the tunnel.
Or is it a potentially meaningless vote?
That’s part of what we’ll discuss at what appears to be the city’s only all-tunnel pre-election forum, happening right here on the peninsula tomorrow night, as the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce presents a public forum, moderated by your WSB editor, Thursday at 6 pm, West Seattle High School Theater. Two reps from each of the two major groups campaigning on the issue – pro-tunnel Let’s Move Forward and anti-tunnel Protect Seattle Now – will be there; you’ll have a chance to ask your question after the first round of opening statements and moderated discussion. Hope to see you there.
The City Council has just approved a change in the city rules that have required food trucks to find private lots to set up on: Now they’ll be allowed to get permits to park on streets, with some restrictions, as detailed by our partners at the Seattle Times. (To read the full text of what the council approved, here’s the ordinance, and here’s a related resolution.)
(At left, Steve Sundquist, who hit a home run just before we left for breaking news, with Tom Rasmussen and Tim Burgess)
5:13 PM: Exactly one month till the primary election – but the challengers-vs.-incumbents match that just got under way here at Lincoln Park may be even more of a thriller – mostly because of the weather; it began just as the downpour hit (and now, a bit of sun).
(Video added, game’s start during the aforementioned downpour)
Back at their endorsements meeting, the 34th District Democrats publicly invited just about every politician in the room to come join in a softball game at their annual picnic – and most if not all of them accepted. Officeholders we’ve seen include five Seattle City Councilmembers (Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, Tom Rasmussen), two U.S. Reps. (governor candidate Jay Inslee and Jim McDermott), State Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon, King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, and School Board member Steve Sundquist; candidates include Diana Toledo from the King County Council Position 8 race; Maurice Classen, Bobby Forch, Michael Taylor-Judd, Brad Meacham from City Council races, and pro/anti Referendum 1 (tunnel) reps.
7:56 PM: Finally got a chance to add some of our photos – after the jump (PLUS – added 1:48 am Sunday – game recap courtesy of Michael Heavey):Read More
Politics can have its moments of levity. Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and West Seattle political activist Chris Porter had one Wednesday night during the candidates’ reception/mixer at The Hall at Fauntleroy co-sponsored by the Greater Seattle Business Association and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. It’s the first of two pre-election events with which the Chamber is involved this month – the next one is the tunnel-related Referendum 1 forum that it’s presenting a week from tonight (6 pm July 21st, West Seattle High School, two reps from each side, with your editor here as moderator). More photos after the jump:Read More
Five weeks till the August 16th primary – which will narrow down the field in some races, and will decide the City of Seattle tunnel-related referendum. For your calendar-marking reference, three candidate/issue events are coming up in West Seattle in the next few weeks:
First, this Wednesday night, it’s the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce/Greater Seattle Business Association co-sponsored candidates’ reception at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 5:30-7:30, register here ($10 members/$15 nonmembers and students).
Second, a week from Thursday, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce presents a “Just The Facts” forum on tunnel-related city Referendum 1, with two referendum opponents from Protect Seattle Now and two referendum supporters from Let’s Move Forward, plus your editor here as moderator – that’s 6 pm July 21st in the West Seattle High School theater. (Admission free.)
Third, a combination ice-cream social/election forum presented by a new coalition of local neighborhood and community advocates, “Voice Your Voice,” 6:30 pm July 28th at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, with city, county, port, and school-board candidates, plus Referendum 1, all scheduled to be part of the program. According to organizer Karl de Jong, the candidates will be on ice-cream-scooping duty before the “moderated debate-style forum.” (Admission – and Husky Deli ice cream! – free; donations will be accepted for West Seattle Food Bank.)
Just announced on various city websites including this one (with news conference video) – $3 million more to prevent SDOT job cuts and fix roads. Which ones? We’re checking. (Official news release here.)
Four members of the Seattle City Council spent an hour-plus this afternoon at the encampment that’s called itself “Nickelsville” since its inception three years ago at the West Seattle site to which it returned in May. Our video above is the entire visit – an official meeting of the Housing (etc.) Committee – unedited, beginning after chair Councilmember Nick Licata convened the meeting and had members sign in at the camp’s front desk. (Also in attendance – Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Sally Clark, and Tom Rasmussen.)
First, everyone got a guided tour of the camp, from the kitchen area near the entrance, to the two goats’ grazing area on the eastern end. It currently has 91 residents, camp leaders say. Then, there was a sitdown roundtable discussion. A few headlines emerged: Operation Sack Lunch plans to start bringing lunches to Nickelsville five days a week starting next Monday; the camp is asking the city to help them get hooked up with utilities – not with paying for them, just with getting them hooked up. They also are waiting to hear the city’s longterm intent on whether they will be able to stay at that location; as we first reported shortly after their return to the site, Mayor McGinn said he would not seek eviction, but the Council has not taken a formal position.
The tour stopped short of this noteworthy sight:
That’s the play equipment procured and installed thanks to the efforts of WSB Forums members, who have taken a special interest in – and have been providing lots of help to – Nickelsville and its residents, who include longtime Forums member/WSB commenter “miws” Mike. He has just taken on a brand-new Nickelsville position, pet coordinator; you’ll see him in our video too (he and others in leadership positions got a chance to explain their work to the visitors). As for who will use the swing set – four children are among the camp’s current residents, councilmembers were told.
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office is working on a proposal for medical-marijuana regulation in the city, since the state efforts came to a chaotic end. It appears on the agenda for next week’s Housing/Culture/Health Committee meeting (2 pm July 13th), but the proposal itself isn’t ready for release, according to the city attorney’s spokesperson, Kimberly Mills, who tells WSB, “We’re fine-tuning the ordinance and it will go up on the council site at midnight Friday. You’ll be able to get a copy at that time, and our office and council staff can talk about it early next week.”
If you want to speak out on the choice King County Executive Dow Constantine says must be made – big cuts in Metro bus service, or a $20 car-tab fee to cover the budget gap (original WSB coverage and 76 comments here) – the County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee has set three hearings. They’re all outside West Seattle, but if you’re interested, you might consider either the July 12th hearing at the Council Chambers in the County Courthouse downtown (516 Third Avenue), or the July 21st hearing in Burien City Council Chambers (400 SW 152nd); the other hearing is in Kirkland. All hearings start at 6 pm. West Seattle’s County Councilmember Joe McDermott is a member of the committee. For the $20 car-tab fee to kick in, either six county council members have to approve it, or a majority of the council has to send it to voters. (More background in the original county news release about Constantine’s announcement.)
The August 16th primary is seven weeks from Tuesday, but your vote-by-mail ballot will arrive a lot sooner, and candidates are making the rounds to make their pitches. Thursday night, the West Seattle Democratic Women hosted candidates for the two Seattle City Council positions that are on the primary ballot – Position 1 and Position 9. Our video above shows the forum, unedited, while the candidates were speaking and answering questions – the first hour is on the first clip, with the ensuing 12 minutes on the second. (You can watch either in a larger window by clicking the YouTube logo to go to the YT page; please note that YT chooses the freeze frames you see on the video “play” boxes above, we did not.)
WSDW vice chair Lynne Ingalls moderated the forum. All four Position 1 candidates participated – Maurice Classen, Bobby Forch, incumbent Councilmember Jean Godden, and West Seattleite Michael Taylor-Judd; from Position 9, two of the three candidates participated, incumbent Councilmember Sally Clark and Dian Ferguson. WSDW decided on endorsements before the meeting at the West Seattle Golf Course ended; they backed the incumbents, Clark and Godden (note the WSDW’s endorsement rules/qualifications on the left side of their website’s home page). None of the other three council positions up for election this year has more than two contenders, so those candidates all go straight to the November general-election ballot.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Maybe the next politician-meets-the-people Town Hall can be a joint city-county effort, with Mayor Mike McGinn and County Executive Dow Constantine both facing the crowd.
The mayor’s Hiawatha Community Center event tonight brought many a question that should have been addressed by that other government headquartered in downtown Seattle.
Some county-flavored foreshadowing came when breakdancing Vicious Puppies Crew performed pre-mayor with three dancers in yellow T-shirts promoting County Council candidate Diana Toledo – they were the second act, after Defined Movement:
But most of all, county considerations came into play when the mayor was peppered with questions and complaints about transit, which is mostly the county’s responsibility, the way things work now. Here’s video of the event in its entirety:
If you’d rather read the toplines, our story continues ahead: Read More
Two types of networking were in evidence at Wednesday’s monthly West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch, and the top photo is proof of one: Regional collaboration between business-advocacy groups. At left is Susan Davis, executive director of the Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce, which teamed up for the event with the WS C of C, whose CEO Patti Mullen is at center, and those on hand included, at right, April Thanos from the Greater Seattle Business Association (which is having an event in WS soon – more on that later.)
With less than two months till the August 16 primary, the guests in the spotlight at West Seattle Corporate Center (Delridge/Andover – with the giant flag) were most of the candidates running for the five Seattle City Council seats on this year’s ballot, including all but one of the incumbents, on hand for what was billed as “speed networking.”
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