Seattle Parks‘ new regional crew chief and the Southwest Precinct‘s day-shift commander were guests at the Alki Community Council‘s June meeting, held in-person and online last night.
SEATTLE PARKS’ CREW CHIEF: Insights beyond Alki were shared by Kristy Darcy, recently promoted to crew chief for Seattle Parks’ southwest area, a position left open when Carol Baker retired from a 40+-year career. First – for everyone wondering about the tall grass at local parks – for one thing, it’s growing faster than usual everywhere because of the wet, cool weather. For two, even though they’ve just done a lot of hiring, they still don’t have all the staff they need to keep up with the 85 parks and 13 athletic fields for which they’re responsible. They’re trying their best to catch up, though.
They’re also catching up with gardening – two gardener positions have been filled and they have someone working in that role full-time for the first time in two years. This past week, the newly hired gardeners were working to get the grounds of Colman Pool ready for its opening tomorrow (Saturday, June 18th). Next week, they take on the flower beds near the Alki Bathhouse – Darcy, who used to be a Parks gardener, ordered 1,400 annuals, and they’re hoping for volunteers to show up and help plant them next Friday – just show up, noon-4 pm June 24th.
Darcy shared one odd anecdote from Alki (we also heard a bit about this from a reader) – that someone tried to pry the plaque off the Denny Party monument at 63rd/Alki early Thursday. A person driving by apparently scared off the would-be plaque thieves.
In all, the staff has gone from 14 to 30 people, Darcy said, and they have two extra people to help at closing time, particularly helpful now that the early closing time for summer (10 pm) is in effect.
SOUTHWEST PRECINCT: Lt. Michael Watson, second-watch (day shift) commander, was there to answer questions about Alki. He noted that the summertime “emphasis patrol” is back, and also that the 10 pm closure doesn’t just apply to the beach – Don Armeni Boat Ramp is also being closed at 10 pm too, to try to cut down on the racing and other vehicle-related problems. The motorcycle crash earlier in the week near Don Armeni was brought up, but no new information emerged. Lt. Watson did mention something that’s come up at other community meetings – if your security camera captures “criminal activity” and a suspect can be identified from it, that could be enough for “probable cause” for an arrest.
The Alki Community Council meets on third Thursdays at 7 pm most months – watch alkicommunitycouncil.org for updates.
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