From last night’s Alki Community Council meeting (held at Alki UCC because the Alki Community Center‘s closed till July 25th):
PARK GUN BAN? The ACC has sent city leaders a letter urging support for a ban on guns in parks. Even if it’s not the city’s jurisdiction – if that would have to go through the state Legislature, as was suggested after the mayor proposed such a ban last year – ACC’s Paul Carr says they hope the city would lobby strongly for a guns-in-parks ban. The ACC’s support for this is a result of discussions that followed the May 1st Alki shooting (photo at left). Carr stresses that this is not a challenge to individual gun-ownership rights – but if firearms can be off-limits in a particularly vulnerable public place like a school, he asks, why not parks?
Ahead: Paper or pixels? And politics …
PAPER OR PIXELS? Leading last night’s meeting in place of president Jule Sugarman (who’s been recovering from an eye injury), ACC vice president Randie Stone announced that the volunteer editor of the Alki News Beacon, Cami MacNamara, is resigning. Instead of just discussing how to find a replacement, the group launched into a lively discussion of whether it should continue publishing the Beacon in print, or move to an electronic-only format for its every-other-month newsletter. Members recalled when thousands of copies were printed and delivered/distributed; now they print hundreds, and mail them directly to members. Larry Carpenter pointed out that much of what’s in it is old news by the time the printed copy arrives, and wondered if the $600 spent on printing and mailing each issue couldn’t be put to better use. Libby Carr said even though she spends a lot of time in front of a computer and could certainly access an online Beacon, she looks forward to getting it. No decision was made – they’re hoping to hear from members, including likely a discussion at the next ACC meeting, before making a decision.
ELECTION SEASON: Almost every community-group meeting in recent months has had at least one candidate appearance, and this was no exception – the group heard from Marty Kaplan, who’s in a three-person primary race with Position 6 incumbent Councilmember Nick Licata and another hopeful, Jessie Israel (West Seattle’s 34th District Democrats dual-endorsed Licata and Israel last week). There was also a reminder that the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is presenting a council candidates’ forum next Tuesday, 5:30-7 pm at ArtsWest, and that the August 18 ballot also includes the referendum on the “bag fee,” asking voters whether to approve or reject the 20-cent fee the council voted to impose on each non-reusable shopping bag (see the city voters’ guide here).
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