By Johnathon Fitzpatrick
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Big plans for the still-new year, as Sustainable West Seattle (SWS) held its annual meeting this week at the Senior Center in The Junction, with a guest appearance by new City Councilmember Mike O’Brien.

The meeting showcased advocacy in transition as three dozen members discussed new projects and ways to push their policy agenda in the wake of their 2010 Strategic Goals Retreat.

The main goals for SWS focus on improving membership involvement and partnering with local organizations to create projects with results. Diversity and social justice will play a major role too.

On hand to answer policy questions was City Councilmember Mike O’Brien, a former Sierra Club chapter president.

O’Brien shared what he’s learned in his first two weeks on the job and gave some advice on effective ways to lobby the City Council: “I’m amazed how easy it is actually to get our attention. When groups come together, provide a path for us, and make a coordinated effort, I don’t know if it works, but it gets our attention. An e-mail that has nine councilmembers CC’d, we pay attention to.”

O’Brien said the council is “really busy and distracted.” He suggested a spoon-fed approach where citizens do the work of providing a path or solution for council members who can then take the political heat to get legislation approved. He admitted “that’s not fair, we get paid to do this, but if you look at the reality … that’s one of the paths to success.”

Other highlights from Sustainable West Seattle’s Q & A with O’Brien:

On Seattle Nightlife: Extend “last call”? He says, “The state is willing to ‘go there’ if the city is willing to buy in” to it.

On Transportation: “When I see a million-dollar bus with 70 people waiting light cycle after light-cycle, there’s so many things wrong with that picture. What it really takes is a willingness on the city’s part to say buses come first.”

On Stormwater: “SPU [Seattle Public Utilities] says (we will have to invest) hundreds of millions of dollars in (stormwater) facilities… What would it cost to move 40k gallons at a time, one downspout at a time? Gravity, water, and pollution are much harder to change.”

Events and projects currently being organized by SWS include the 2010 Sustainable West Seattle Festival (here’s our coverage from last year) and the West Seattle Tool Lending Library.

The tool-sharing project is well on its way to getting the financial support needed to get going. A grant request submitted to the City of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods would bring $20,000 in matching funds.

Project organizer Patrick Dunn says South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) will likely finalize its offer soon allowing the group to set up shop in a space on the campus. If donors and the city’s grant hold up, its grand-opening would likely happen this May.

The annual elections began with addition and election of a single position to the 10-person SWS Coordinating Council but ended up expanding the council to 13 people by unanimous consent when three people volunteered for the position. Newly-elected members include Amanda Goodwin, Nicholas Smith, and Mandy Carson-Kimura.

SWS co-founder Bill Reiswig expressed his intention to step down from his position as President, but he will still be active, saying he wants to see the group from other angles.

Sustainable West Seattle usually meets the third Monday of each month, but moved the meeting to the third Tuesday this month because of MLK Day. It’s usually got lots of fresh information online at sustainablewestseattle.org.