3 ways to get involved: Schoolhouse, parking, charter

schoolhousefoto.jpgFAUNTLEROY SCHOOLHOUSE: Finally got word from Seattle Public Schools about the date/time of the official public hearing on the district’s plan to sell the schoolhouse, mentioned at the community meeting 2 weeks ago (WSB coverage here): It’s not on the district website yet, but SPS spokesperson David Tucker tells WSB the hearing is set for 6:30 pm April 29, at the schoolhouse.

rpzsign.jpgRESIDENTIAL PARKING ZONES: As mentioned in our coverage of the impending Junction-area parking review (most recent update here), there’s a chance RPZ’s would be considered for the residential neighborhoods around the business district, which already report major parking crunches because of “park-n-hiders” and construction workers. The city is now officially reviewing RPZ policy and inviting you to fill out this online survey.

COUNTY CHANGES: Did you know there’s a hearing in West Seattle tomorrow night on more than a dozen amendments proposed to the King County Charter? Might sound dry but on the other hand, some of ’em might affect your life (see the list here). We somehow managed not to hear about the hearing till Julie Enevoldsen (thank you!) told us about it this afternoon. 6:30 pm tomorrow, Emerald Room at The Hall at Fauntleroy.

1 Reply to "3 ways to get involved: Schoolhouse, parking, charter"

  • Julie April 7, 2008 (6:37 pm)

    If you look at the list of proposed charter amendments, you may notice that using Ranked Choice Voting/Instant Runoff Voting is not among the proposed amendments. In the Draft Report and Recommendations, the commission explains that although many citizens advocated it, they are recommending against implementing it this year, and suggest it be revisited at a later time. Their reasoning is that “King County elections
    department is undergoing significant changes such as the transition to all mail balloting”.
    But there’s no reason not to amend the charter to use RCV/IRV with a later implementation date, following the transition to all mail balloting. The charter is only reviewed every decade. While it can be amended in between reviews, this is a logical time to lay the groundwork.

    The sooner ranked choice voting/instant runoff voting is adopted by counties, the sooner it will be used for state offices, and the sooner it’s used by states, the sooner we’ll be able to rank our national presidential preferences, and have our true choices represented without “wasting” our votes.

    If you are unfamiliar with ranked choice voting systems (of which instant runoff voting is one), you can read more at fairvote.org

    If you’d like to see King County using RCV/IRV this decade, show up and tell the commission in person, or go to the charter review website above to share your comments with the commission online.

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