Two weeks from today – 2 pm September 27th – Mayor McGinn will unveil what is by all accounts expected to be a bleak budget – cuts at many turns. When the summer “midyear” budget ax loomed, you heard a lot of pleas from parks and libraries workers and patrons. But we haven’t heard much from the Department of Neighborhoods. Among programs including the popular P-Patches, it runs two Neighborhood Service Centers in West Seattle, where you can do everything from pay a city bill to borrow a wagon full of paint to get rid of graffiti – and a lot more. The Delridge District Coordinator, Ron Angeles (photo right, with graffiti-paintout equipment last April), has just shared this with his mailing list, headed “DON and I Need Your Support”:

Dear Friends
Today is the time to take action! Please urge the Mayor and City Council to minimize reductions to the budget for the Department of Neighborhoods.

As the 2011/2012 biennial budget is being created, the Mayor and City Council are facing a $67 million budget shortfall. Cuts ranging from 9-15% are anticipated for most City Departments.

Community building and civic participation are at the heart of the mission of the Department of Neighborhoods. In difficult economic times it is more critical than ever that we have programs and services, such as the Neighborhood Matching Fund, P-Patch, Neighborhood District Coordinators, and Neighborhood Service Centers that bring people together to look out for and support each other.

Please think about the value of the programs with DON and the impact they have on the city and your neighborhood and share your experiences with the Mayor and City Council. For example, if you’ve been part of a Neighborhood Matching Fund project describe how it has changed your neighborhood, brought people together and created relationships as well as leveraging the City’s investment in itself. The same story can be told for your experience with a P-Patch community garden or your interaction with a Neighborhood District Coordinator. Let the Mayor and City Council know that you value citizen engagement, community building and the resulting strong connected communities. Working together these services and programs bring efficiencies to government, provide proactive solutions to problems and bring together groups in the community. For many, the Department of Neighborhoods is the face of City government and the liaison to other parts of the city.

Now is the time for you to speak up on behalf of the Department of Neighborhoods as the Mayor’s budget is being formulated. He will announce his budget on September 27th. We’re hoping you will join us in supporting the vital work being done by DON by contacting the Mayor and City Council now through letters, phone calls, or meetings. Also, public hearings will be held on September 29, October 13 and October 26. The hearings are an opportunity to offer public comments of no more than two minutes and a chance to voice your priorities and concerns. For more information about the City budget process and upcoming public hearings, please see:
http://www.seattle.gov/council/newsdetail.asp?ID=11035&Dept=28

We recognize that all Departments will have to help meet the budget deficit and are not suggesting that the Department of Neighborhoods is untouchable. However, we are suggesting that the Department offers essential services and that reasonable reductions be made with minimal impact on the public. Thank you.

(Ron’s counterpart at the Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction is Stan Lock. They are often the unsung heroes of many events, programs, and citizen-assistance actions large and small.) As we reported here last week, one of the City Council’s budget hearings will be here in West Seattle, at South Seattle Community College on October 13th.