Parks/Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund: 1st round of ratings
The Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee – citizen volunteers from around the city, including two from West Seattle – met tonight, and they’re getting closer to decisions on which citizen-proposed projects will receive money from the levy’s Opportunity Fund. Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding is one of West Seattle’s reps, and tells WSB that the “initial staff ratings” on the proposed projects will be posted online tomorrow. In the meantime, he shares the news of the top 5 (again, in those initial staff ratings) projects in the southwest section of the city:
1. Puget Ridge Edible Park – West Seattle
2. South Park View Park – South Park
3. Morgan Urban Village Land Acquisition – Morgan Junction
4. Mini-Mart City Park – Georgetown
5. Highland Park Spray Park – Highland Park
We’ve reported on a few of those before – here’s our January story about the Highland Park proposal (the city plans a spray park in the spot now occupied by the HP wading pool, but admitted it’s underfunded, so community member Carolyn Stauffer spearheaded a proposal to enhance it with the Opportunity Fund); Puget Ridge Edible Park also appeared on the “Ideas for Seattle” website. In Morgan Junction, acquisition proposals have been described at recent Morgan Community Association meetings. Spalding also says two public meetings will be scheduled for June 14 and 28 – times and locations TBA – for those proposing Opportunity Fund projects to show them in an open-house format and to speak briefly to the Oversight Committee. The rest of the timeline’s spelled out here.
Planning a West Seattle Sunday Market in Highland Park: Want in?
“Much like the Fremont Sunday Market, in miniature.” That’s how Tiffany Silver-Brace describes the West Seattle Sunday Market she is organizing for the lot at the Highland Park Improvement Club, starting June 27th and continuing every Sunday, 9 am-1 pm, through the summer. She’s looking for interested vendors, explaining:
Items to be sold must be either locally grown or produced eggs/bread/flowers/fruit/veg, etc… Other items to be sold must be hand-crafted, and can be anything such as clothing, household items, art, health and beauty supplies, etc. Vendor tables will be $25.
I am really hoping that this will be successful, as it will be located on a street with high traffic volume and would be the only market of its kind in the area.
A Facebook page for the West Seattle Sunday Market is now up and running – you can see it here. If you are interested in selling at the market, Tiffany also can be contacted at 206-919-2758 or silverbrace@gmail.com.
Want to talk about the Water Taxi? ‘Town Hall’ set for June 9
That’s the view from top-deck aft on the way back to West Seattle aboard the Rachel Marie less than an hour ago (8-minute crossing!). Though it’s been running almost two months now, this was our first chance to ride the King County Water Taxi this season (we’d toured the boat at a Ballard shipyard while renovations were under way). Whether you’ve tried the new vessel/new dock or not, you probably have some thoughts about the service – and as we noticed in a flyer posted on board, a Town Hall is coming up in West Seattle to give you a chance to talk about it with King County Councilmember and Ferry District Board Chair Jan Drago. It’s set for 7 pm June 9 at Alki Community Center; here’s the official flyer, from the KCFD website.
Colman Pool to open Saturday – but Parks plans still in flux
This Saturday, outdoor Colman Pool at Lincoln Park is scheduled to open for the first of three “pre-season weekends” – with its full season scheduled to start June 19th. The operative word here is “scheduled.” There’s no question it will be open this weekend (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – Memorial Day). After that – same limbo as other programs, awaiting word of what midyear budget cuts Seattle Parks (and other city departments) will have to make, and what will and won’t be affected. As noted here last week, that also means that the question of whether city wading pools will or won’t open is also up in the air – even though a schedule has been published, the city website pointedly notes that the pools’ fate is pending Parks’ midyear-cut announcement on June 1st (one week from tomorrow). So in the meantime, if you love to swim, be sure to visit Colman during the three-day weekend – the special “preseason” schedule is on this webpage.
Also tonight: Diaper donations and “Mommypreneur” networking
Local moms who are also entrepreneurs are invited to an event tonight at WestSide Baby, 5:30-7:30 pm, in conjunction with Help A Mother Out, described by WestSide Baby as “an organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers, children and families in need one diaper at at time.” This event is a run-up to a big event coming up at The Little Gym in West Seattle (WSB sponsor) on June 5th (2-4 pm) as part of HAMO’s diaper drive to collect 20,000 diapers. So tonight, bring a box of diapers and/or products that you’d want to offer as a door prize at the June 5th event.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen car found nearby – on its side
David Rosen from SlickPix Photography shared that photo of an SUV found tipped on its side, empty, just after 2 am today at 46th/Brandon (map). Police now confirm that was a case of car theft – Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James tells WSB the vehicle was stolen from the same block where it tipped after hitting a parked car. He adds, “A male suspect wearing black was seen fleeing on foot after the accident to a waiting white van.”
Volunteers make the world go ’round! See how to celebrate them
The next round of West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards – co-sponsored by the Southwest District Council, Delridge District Council, and WSB – is about to kick off. We’re giving you a week’s advance notice here so you can start thinking about the volunteer(s) you think need to be publicly celebrated – unsung heroes whose efforts make West Seattle such an incredible place to live, work and play. Nominations (using a simple online form) will open June 1st and close on June 21st. We’ll have the form linked here at WSB; but just so you know, we don’t have any role in judging – that’s handled by a volunteer committee with reps from the district councils. Once they’ve made their choices, the West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards will be announced and presented to the recipients during the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park on the Hiawatha Community Center east lawn, the evening of July 20th. (Wondering who’s already been honored? Here’s our report from the 1st round of awards last summer; here’s our report from the 2nd round, announced during last December’s West Seattle Junction Tree Lighting.)
James Vann at Axia Financial: Welcoming a new WSB sponsor
Today we welcome one of our newest WSB sponsors, James Vann with Axia Financial. As is customary, new sponsors are invited to tell you about their business: James is a licensed independent contracting Home Mortgage Consultant and grew up in West Seattle. James has been in the mortgage business for more than 7 years. He is a 4th-generation graduate of West Seattle High School, with immediate family still living in WS; James and his wife Andrea live with their 1-year-old son Jackson in Kirkland. His family used to own Vann’s Restaurant, which was located in the Junction, open for more than 60 years. James holds his mortgage license under the umbrella of Axia Financial LLC, based in Bellevue. Locally owned and operated, Axia Financial is a distinguished mortgage banker dedicated to assisting clients with their mortgage-financing needs. James prides himself in offering excellent customer service and adheres to the highest ethical standards. In today’s current marketplace, it’s imperative to have several different options for securing financing. The In-House mortgage platform that Axia provides makes for a smooth closing and streamlined process. To go along with In-House underwriting, doc drawing and funding teams, our correspondent lender list includes Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, Wells Fargo, Flagstar, Suntrust, and Axia Financial. This list doesn’t include the long list of lenders that Axia can also broker out to if needed for a specific scenario that doesn’t fall within our In-House lenders box. He has an array of mortgage services that he can provide which include Conforming and JUMBO loans, FHA, VA, commercial loans, No Money and Low-Money down payment options, construction and Rehab loans, Reverse Mortgages and FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER strategies and financing. James adds, “If you or any friends, family members or co-workers are looking to buy a new home and/or refinance their current home loan, please don’t hesitate to call me to do a quick mortgage analysis. This only takes a few minutes of your time and could save you hundreds of dollars monthly. If you mention WEST SEATTLE BLOG, I’m offering a reimbursement of your appraisal fee through closing or donate $250 to a school of your choice.” (A loan constitutes any first or second lien residential mortgage. Loan completion constitutes funding and disbursement of the loan through a title company. The school of choice may not be affiliated with Axia Financial, LLC.) Here’s how to reach James Vann425-605-8507 or james.vann@axiafinancial.com.
We thank James Vann and Axia Financial for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
West Seattle 5K postscript: Sightings, results, acknowledgments
(Our main report on the West Seattle 5K, with video of the winners and of all starters, can be seen here)
Just crossing the finish line at Sunday’s West Seattle 5K – like any race/run/walk – is an accomplishment. From left, with the big smiles, that’s Irene Stewart (former School Board member), Sharon Nickels (wife of former mayor Greg), and Stewart’s husband Bruce Butterfield (Fauntleroy Community Association president). Just before the finish line, we also spotted Stroller Strides‘ Athena Frederick (and, of course, kids in stroller), whose business includes workout classes that routinely meet on Alki:
More than a few kids crossed the finish line under their own power, like this little girl:
We didn’t see her number, but since we can see this next guy was 111, we know that’s 8-year-old Oliver, who finished in 29:33:
For everyone who wore timing chips, the results are available now online – see them here. For those too impatient to wait for that, there was quite the crowd around the posted result sheets immediately afterward:
We reported the top female and male finishers, and showed video of their finish-line crosses, in our Sunday morning coverage. Another note – according to the online results, the oldest finisher was 81-year-old Philip Norton of Seattle, crossing the line in 58 minutes. And last but not least – on behalf of the organizers, the West Seattle High School PTSA, Jo Bader sent out an acknowledgment note last night – including our fellow co-sponsors, dozens of volunteers, and more – click ahead to read it:Read More
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