14 Replies to "Big news for West Seattle's Seal Sitters: $15,000 city grant!"

• bebecat March 5, 2010 (11:11 pm)

  Is this a joke? I thought the government was out of money. Not enough for essentials,they say. We need a state income tax,they say. This is one more reason I will not vote for ANY tax increases at any government level.

  • WSB March 5, 2010 (11:44 pm)

    The Neighborhood Matching Fund is explained here:
    http://www.cityofseattle.net/neighborhoods/nmf/
    .
    Grant is perhaps a misnomer. Groups don’t just get this as a “gift.” They have to show volunteer time and other donations to “match” what they are awarded.
    .
    Meantime, the city doesn’t get state income tax money. But if you think this is a program the city government should cut, I’d imagine you’d want to tell the mayor/city council, as they go into the next budget cycle – TR

• dsa March 5, 2010 (11:55 pm)

  Every day we seem to hear city, county and state are having funding issues and programs need to be cut or taxes/fees increased.

  I don’t care where the money came from. It got wasted and the people in the city government wasted it. I’m sorry but human needs come first.

• marty March 6, 2010 (7:20 am)

  I’m going to apply for a grant to start “GooseSitters” to protect the geese that invade Alki Beach every summer. I’m sure they are endangered. How many chuckholes would $15,000 fill? Priorities…

• Brian March 6, 2010 (8:08 am)

  It might fill one or two holes, but while I might not agree with my tax dollars going to this cause the grant program is a great idea.

  Instead of throwing money at programs that need planning and staffing, your $$ is going much further this way. Only programs that have significant people hours and funding get this grant, so the chances are less waste goes on here.

  I applaud the city for coming up with ways to make our taxes go further with less.

• Ex-Westwood Resident March 6, 2010 (8:46 am)

  I wonder…
  How many text books the $15,000 could have bought?
  How much food for a food bank the $15,000 have bought?
  How many blankets for the homeless the $15,000 would have bought?
  How many meals for hungry kids the $15,000 would have bought?
  .
  Don’t get me wrong here. I think things like this are worthy. Just not right now when the money could be spent more wisely. “Grants” like this need to be funded as a last item, after ALL the NEEDS are fully funded.
  .
  This not only a problem here in Seattle, but also in King County, Olympia and Washington DC. They fund “wants” before “needs” and then cry that there is no money for the needs, so they have to raise taxes or establish an “income tax”to cover the spending on desires, instead of requirements.
  .
  E-WR

• lina March 6, 2010 (8:53 am)

  I support the use of this grant to benefit Seal Sitters. the ecosystem in the northwest is complex and does affect the quality of life here in the larger picture. the health of puget sound is in dire condition and groups like the seal sitters help to protect and educate about the water wildlife here.

• Pat March 6, 2010 (8:53 am)

  I am so thrilled to hear this news. This wonderful organization has selflessly committed to protecting and educating people about our local wildlife, so much a part of the Puget Sound ecosystem that we treasure in West Seattle and beyond.

  Congratulations, SealSitters!

• ScottA March 6, 2010 (9:05 am)

  A lot of these relatively small matching grants really bring neighbors together to improve neighborhoods. Getting one of these grants is really kind of pain with all the tracking of volunteer hours and public involvement requirements.
  .
  I support the grant program in general and don’t mind the specific seal monitoring grant. If the amazing mass of salmon I saw last year in the Duwamish are connected to the seals in our local ecosystem (I suspect they are) then it really does help humans because it was an awe-inspiring sight.

• WendyN March 6, 2010 (11:49 am)

  Congratulations to the seal sitters and Brenda Peterson! This is a wonderful and needed service. Without the sitters there is no one to keep watch over those new pups while their moms are out finding food. I’ve seen dogs, boaters, and beach combers hassle those pups, and the mother seals could abandon them, or the pups could get lost if forced to swim away. This is money well-spent!

• I. Ponder March 6, 2010 (3:34 pm)

  While I understand how easy it is to say $ spent on SealSitters could be better spent on some human social services, I think it’s a cheap shot. It’d be more genuine to compare the worth and value to society of all public spending. Personally, I think the huge amount of $ spent on highways would be better spent on mass transit.

  While I love war as much as any American, I think our 2 current wars are running us into the ground financially without much discussion about the financial implications. What do both wars cost us and what services could that $ be spent on here in the US? One source I found puts the 2005 cost for the Iraq War alone at $500,000/minute ($720 million a day).

  So, we can afford 2 wars, but we can’t afford anything that affects quality of life here? How long can this go on?

  In some of the above posts I see people fighting over the few crumbs of public $ left for local use. It’s a sad state of affairs that will only get worse.

• enviromaven March 6, 2010 (5:16 pm)

  West Seattle is unique and our ecosystem of marine wildlife deserves protection and support. Good on ya, Seal Sitters!

• nmb March 7, 2010 (9:46 am)

  I too support the award of this grant for SealSitters. To @dsa, human needs are important, but they are by no means the only needs out there. Stop being so anthropocentric.

  And for those who would decry this so-called “waste of taxpayer money”, take note of the first paragraph that appears on the City’s Neighborhood Matching Fund website:

  “Important Announcement about the Small and Simple Fund: Due to staffing reductions as a result of budget cuts in 2009 and 2010, we have reduced the Small and Simple application cycles from three to two in 2010. However, the amount of funding for projects has not changed.”

  Essentially, what they are saying is, “this program is important to the City of Seattle”. So better to reduce staff so the program can continue (lose/win), than to eliminate the program altogether, which would also eliminate the staff associated with it (lose/lose).

• Larry B March 10, 2010 (12:23 pm)

  Lest there be any misunderstanding about the overall health and welfare of harbor seals in Puget Sound here are some numbers extracted from the WDFW Draft Rockfish Conservation Plan.

  In the early 1970s there were only several hundred harbor seals in Puget Sound (west of the Sekiu River) and as of 2008 there are approximately 15,000 animals and the population continues to grow at 8-10% per year That does not count the recent arrival of California sea lions and Stellar sea lions.

  Based upon WDFW information those harbor seals alone consume approximately 30 million pounds of food (almost all of which is fish) a year.

  We know the impact Herschel and his California sea lion buddies had upon wild steelhead runs passing through the Ballard locks. Currently actions are being taken to mitigate sea lion predation upon ESA listed Chinook on the Columbia River.

  The Puget Sound Rockfish Conservation Plan is being developed because several rockfish species are at low levels and may soon be listed under the ESA. In the Plan it is written that “Lance and Jeffries (2007) concluded that the consumption patterns of seals may have an important impact on reduced stocks of rockfish.”

  So, while they may be “cute” they may also have passed a population level where they are now having adverse effects on other less visible marine resources.

  That $15,000 may have been better spent on seal birth control research.

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