Meet the members of the West Seattle Junction Association Board of Directors who were elected/re-elected this morning at a breakfast meeting, and shown above as they posed for the WSB camera afterward with board president Dave Montoure (West 5) — from left, Brandon Nicholson (Nicholson Kovalchick Architects), Lora Lewis (Hotwire Coffee, WSB sponsor), Heather Leaman (Bakery Nouveau), Michael Hoffman (Liberty Bell Printing), Montoure, Doug Baldwin (Windermere Real Estate). The vote was part of an annual meeting that not only recapped the Junction Association’s 2008 successes, but also looked ahead to this year’s priorities — read on for details:

At the meeting in the Senior Center of West Seattle‘s main hall were more than two dozen people representing a wide array of Junction businesses and organizations – retail, food/beverage, arts, medical, spiritual, development, insurance, fitness, among them.

Montoure has been president of the WSJA board for three years and hasn’t yet committed to running again – though he declared, “It’s been a great ride” — but told the attendees he’s “really proud” of what’s been accomplished this past year. Highlights he listed:

–The Junction’s pilot food-recycling program, in partnership with Cedar Grove, now picks up more than a ton of food waste each month

–Recycling receptacles added to Junction streetscapes

–Beautification projects including restoration of some of The Junction’s treasured murals

–Start of work toward bigger streetside improvement projects, such as tree grates to increase walkable sidewalk space along California, wider sidewalks and pedestrian lighting along Alaska, and the proposal to turn Fauntleroy into more of a tree-lined boulevard through the Triangle zone (as presented to the City Council in September; here’s our story)

–Major events, including the first-ever Junction Car Show (WSB coverage here), West Seattle Summer Fest (here’s one of our as-it-happened reports), the ever-expanding West Seattle Art Walk (here’s its official “blog”), Hometown Holidays (which was spread out across several weekends including the Tree Lighting pre-snowstorm), Movies on the Wall (WSB coverage here – and now it’s expanding to a winter series too, with the first movie March 7 – here’s the lineup as announced here last month, including trailer clips)

Looking ahead to the rest of 2009, here are the priorities and changes that Montoure discussed:

–“Free parking is a core value.” He pledges that the Junction Association will stay closely involved in the city’s evaluation of possible paid street parking and RPZs in surrounding neighborhoods, but meantime reiterated its commitment to the more than 250 spaces provided in The Junction’s own free lots. “No other (business association) in the city does anything like this,” he noted.

–Potentially expanding the boundaries of the Junction Association — which is an official “Business Improvement Association” — into the Triangle area to the east. Montoure cited the possibility of having those boundaries closer to the “urban village” boundaries for the Junction neighborhood-planning area.

–Raising money to complete Junction Plaza Park (see WSB story from Monday morning; you’re invited to the first Friends of Junction Plaza Park meeting on March 3rd, detailed in that story)

–Continuing to prudently manage the Junction Association’s finances — for example, Montoure says a new, local vendor has been found for the business district’s flower baskets that go up in spring and summer, and that will save money; he also has more meetings ahead regarding West Seattle Summer Fest and looking at ways to trim costs, since sponsorships may be a bit more of a challenge this year

Other updates:

*Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose said The Junction’s new logo (you can see it on this website) will be part of a series of 3 banners that you’ll see starting next month on more than 30 poles around the area; a third of them will promote the West Seattle Farmers’ Market. Melrose promised, “They’ll go up on every pole they legally can.”

*Re-elected board member Lora Lewis of Hotwire had more to say about the future of the West Seattle Art Walk, which now signs up venues to commit to participating for three months at a time; for next quarter, she says, nearly 50 venues are signed up, and she’s encouraging participants to add live music if they can book it – maybe even, as the weather warms up, performing outside the businesses, to enhance the Art Walk ambience. Anyone interested in signing on to be a venue for next quarter needs to contact her (lora@hotwirecoffee.com) by this Thursday; the fee is $25/quarter.

*Junction-area crime concerns will be addressed at a meeting with Southwest Precinct leadership coming up soon.

*As reported here two weeks ago, re-elected board member Michael Hoffman of Liberty Bell mentioned that the Junction Car Show will return for a second year, on Sunday 9/20.

All in all, Montoure summed up, despite the overall business doom-and-gloom you hear a lot about, “the heart of the community is alive and well in The Junction.” (His establishment, West 5, by the way, just celebrated its sixth anniversary this month; in addition to serving on the WSJA board, he’s also on the board of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce.)