FOLLOWUP: District Councils not going down quietly; citywide reps invited to Delridge Neighborhoods DC on Wednesday

Just found out about this – it’s an update to our standing calendar listing for the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting (coming up this Wednesday), and an update to the mention in our latest edition of WSB EXTRA:

Pete Spalding from the DNDC tells WSB that in the wake of Mayor Murray‘s announcement last week about cutting city ties with, and support for, neighborhood-district councils (WSB coverage here), DNDC is inviting DC reps from all over the city to their meeting at 7 pm Wednesday. It’s moving locations to Highland Park Improvement Club for the occasion.

Spalding says the goal will be a discussion of “what the DCs bring to our neighborhoods, the city, and its agencies – (not a) bash-the-mayor event but more along the lines of what we have (accomplished) and can accomplish with more city support in addition to what we already do.” Public welcome as always. HPIC is at 12th SW/SW Holden. Watch for more on this.

ws_suzanne July 17, 2016 (3:33 pm)

This is great news. So glad a conversation about this issue is starting. Unfortunately, I can’t attend Wednesday’s meeting much as I’d like to. I hope there will be additional evening meetings in the near future.

Barb Chamberlain July 18, 2016 (11:24 am)

The demographic analysis of the Neighborhood Council makeup was eye-opening. I hope the discussion will address how to make the councils more representative of all Seattleites for equitable engagement and representation in neighborhoods where the DC doesn’t currently reflect the neighborhood makeup. I say this as a white homeowner who is overrepresented.

WSB July 18, 2016 (11:48 am)

One thing to note about the “analysis” – Councilmember Herbold said on Tuesday night at Admiral NA that it was (a) three years old and (b) did not include a few of the district neighborhood councils from more-diverse areas of the city. Also of note, in case you haven’t seen it, this comment from a co-chair of the Southwest District Council:

https://westseattleblog.com/2016/07/followup-councilmember-lisa-herbold-on-mayor-murrays-plan-to-cut-off-neighborhood-district-councils/#comment-2037356

I’ve witnessed discussions about outreach, in my near-decade coverage of our two district councils here, and questions about whether the city could provide translation, child care, even websites. As we wrote in previous coverage of the district-council review, before the mayor’s sudden-death decision, the city’s support for the DCs already had been slashed five years ago. Anyway, here’s hoping anybody and everybody interested in this, whether a member of a community group or not, shows up on Wednesday to see, and contribute to, what happens … TR
Nancy Folsom July 19, 2016 (11:29 am)

An excellent start would be making the city structures reflect the demographics. To have people in actual positions of power from communities historically neglected or abused. To change the system that perpetuates the current system. The district councils are about as representative as our bureaucracy is. Also, for the record–broken record–district and neighborhood councils have identified this problem and been asking for help for years. Years. And been denied by the very department telling them they’re failures.

rob July 18, 2016 (8:37 pm)

hey give it up king murray has spoken

Question Mark July 20, 2016 (5:36 pm)

The analysis I recall seeing mentioned that most who attend DC meetings are over 40 and white, while the city’s median population is around 35 and diverse.

That age analysis is all fine and good, if the city were intending to engage with its 2-year-olds as well as 25-year-olds. The adult median age in Seattle, though, is over 40 …

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