12 toplines from Morgan Community Association’s first meeting of 2020

Live, work, shop, and/or play in the Morgan Junction area? Check out what the Morgan Community Association talked about on Wednesday night:

FIGHTING CRIME: Though package-deiivery lockers are a potential solution to porch thefts, Cindi Barker discovered they are in short supply in West Seattle. So they’re asking Amazon for one in the Morgan area, for starters.

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK EXPANSION: A Parks rep for this project will be at the April MoCA meeting. A focus right now is the soil-remediation plan for the site, which should be ready by month’s end.

(Bubbleman at 2019 Morgan Junction Community Festival)

MORGAN JUNCTION COMMUNITY FESTIVAL: “It’s a go!” This year’s festival is set for June 20, 2020, and MoCA’s looking for volunteers to help make it happen.

WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: Like Admiral, Morgan Junction is joining the WS Art Walk. MoCA’s Tamsen Spengler announced that a coordinator’s been found and they’re signing up businesses to participate, starting in the second quarter.

PERMANENTLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Update from Cindi Barker, who’s been working on this (explained in our April 2018 MoCA coverage). They brought the proposal to the attention of the mayor’s Affordable-Middle-Income-Housing Advisory Council – or at least tried to. But they never got a chance to pitch it, and the mayoral task force has just released its report/recommendations. “Communities who wanted to engage have been completely left out,” she noted. (A later reading revealed the concept does get a nod about midway through the nearly 80-page report [PDF] but is not among the key recommendations.)

UPZONES: MoCA president Deb Barker recapped the SCALE coalition losing the latest round of its HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning appeal, with the Growth Management Hearings Board rejecting the challenge. MoCA was previously involved with SCALE but was NOT part of this appeal and will not be part of a potential challenge going forward, she said – money is one major reason.

DISTRICT 1 COMMUNITY NETWORK: MoCA *is* participating in this West Seattle/South Park community coalition. (Here’s our coverage of its most-recent meeting.) Its next meeting 7 pm at The Kenney; MoCA’s Cindi Barker is February’s facilitator.

INCORPORATION & NONPROFIT STATUS: MoCA voted – everyone there was eligible – to incorporate. Lots of upside, no downside, Deb Barker summarized. That means they can start down the road of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonpeodir.

OPEN POSITIONS: MoCA’s still looking for a recording secretary.

PARKS STRATEGIC PLAN: The plan is supposed to be rolled out soon – in “three or four weeks,” said Kathleen Conner from Seattle Parks as she presented a briefing. She talked a lot about what kind of “engagement” they used – surveys, social media, etc. 10,000 people participated in one way or another. Some of the interesting points they heard included concerns about how to get to parks facilities – so their scope has to include making sure there’s transit service, for example. They’re also working hard on equity and access – such as, making sure fees aren’t barriers to lower-income people having access to programs and services. Speaking of access, MoCA members told Conner that Parks facilities should be more open for community use – meetings, for example. One other point: The next six-year Park District “plan” (aka levy) is in the works. Monday, March 2nd, 6-8 pm, Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW), will be a chance to weigh in on that.

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY: It’s coming up March 10th. Speaking about it was MoCA’s Tamsen Spengler, a Democratic Party Precinct Committee Officer – that’s the person tasked with informing their neighbors about elections and candidates. She introduced Ann Martin, longtime local Democratic activist. She noted how overwhelmed organizers were by the 2016 participation in Democratic caucuses, so this year they’re having a primary first – Martin’s been a national delegate and said that while it’s not a “life-changing experience,” it’s interesting and worthwhile.

MEETINGS ONLINE: MoCA is experimenting with Zoom for streaming/recording meetings – so watch for word of how to watch the next meeting (during or after) if you can’t be there. April 15, 2020, by the way, 7 pm,at The Kenney (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW).

1 Reply to "12 toplines from Morgan Community Association's first meeting of 2020"

  • CMT January 26, 2020 (8:40 am)

    MOCA – you are amazing.  The amount work you do on behalf of your community is incredible.

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