Tomorrow morning is the last City Council public hearing on the city budget before councilmembers go into the final stretch of budget revisions for the next two years. As reported here last week, presentation of a “balancing plan” incorporating some of the council’s proposed changes was delayed a week after new revenue numbers came in lower than hoped. But tomorrow morning’s public hearing is still on, and now you can show support for, or opposition to, spending proposals before the “balancing plan” is finished. Here are West Seattle-specific amendments that have been proposed by City Councilmember Lisa Herbold:

FAUNTLEROY BOULEVARD: $15 million over the next two years to revive the Fauntleroy Way Boulevard Project (shelved until light rail’s likely route became clearer). Here’s how the amendment document describes it:

This Council Budget Action would add $7.5 million Transportation Fund in 2023 and $7.5 million Transportation Fund in 2024 (one-time) in the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) for the Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard (MC-TR-C046) CIP project. This project was previously funded by the 2015 Move Seattle Levy. SDOT placed the project on hold in 2018 while the corridor was under consideration by Sound Transit for the West Seattle Link light rail extension. The Sound Transit Board has selected a tunnel to West Seattle [Junction] as the preferred alternative, which would no longer conflict with the Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard project. The Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard project completed final design in 2017 …

This project transforms Fauntleroy Way SW into a boulevard. The project elements include: a planted median, signature lighting fixtures, a protected bicycle facility, a pedestrian zone with sidewalks and planting areas including street trees, pedestrian lighting, potential stormwater infrastructure and art, as well as safety improvements for crossing movements for all modes. These safety improvements include bicycle and pedestrian crossings, signals, reconfigured intersections and bulbs, and pavement improvements

That’s part of a tall stack of transportation-related amendment proposals you can see here.

This one, we’ve mentioned before:

(WSB photo: Ladder 13 at a West Seattle fire response in July)

KEEPING LADDER 13 AND MEDIC 26: This would add about $6 million over the next two years to keep the Seattle Fire resources that were originally added to this area because of the bridge closure – Ladder 13 (now at Station 37 in Sunrise Heights) and Medic 26 (now at Station 26 in South Park). Previously our area had only one ladder truck and one medic unit, both based at Station 32 in The Junction. Here’s the explanation from the amendment document:

This Council Budget Action would add $439,000 GF in 2023 and $1.2 million GF in 2024 (one-time) to the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) to support the permanent operation of resources that were implemented temporarily during the closure of the West Seattle Bridge. These resources are a ladder truck at Fire Station 37 and a medic unit at Fire Station 26. To meet the temporary need, SFD kept in service vehicles that were past their replacement age, but the department would need to purchase new vehicles if the need for them were permanent. One-time funding would support (1) the maintenance\ costs of a ladder truck until its anticipated replacement in late 2025 and (2) the maintenance costs of a medic unit until its anticipated replacement in late 2024. One-time funding would also support the training of eight SFD firefighters as paramedics to staff the new medic unit.

In addition, this Council Budget Action would add $4.3 million GF in 2023 (ongoing) to support the staffing costs associated with both resources. The Council Budget Action would increase SFD’s minimum daily staffing level from 216 to 222, but no funding is added to train new SFD recruits because current SFD firefighters would staff the new ladder truck and medic shifts on an overtime basis. Ongoing funding is also added, beginning in late 2023, to support the pro-rated lease costs for the new medic unit. On an annual basis, these costs are $72,000 per year. There would be a 2025 one-time cost of $2 million, for a new ladder truck, associated with this Council Budget Action, and at the time of that vehicle’s delivery SFD would begin incurring a pro-rated annual lease cost of $164,000 per year. These costs would be included in the 2025 Proposed Budget.

The amendment document goes on to say that the two added units make a difference in response times:

SFD data suggest that removing the medic unit at Fire Station 26 would triple the department’s response time to Advanced Life Support calls in the area of the station, such that SFD response would be well outside the NFPA response standard. SFD data also suggest that removing the ladder truck at Fire Station 27 would double the department’s current response time to fire calls in the south part of West Seattle, although it would remain within the NFPA response standard.

You can read the full amendment in this document.

HOW TO SPEAK OUT AT TUESDAY HEARING, OR OTHERWISE: Since tomorrow’s hearing starts at 9:30 am, online registration begins at 7:30 am – it’s explained here. As the agenda explains, you can also speak in person at City Hall. The hearing will go until everyone signed up to speak has had their turn. Or if you’d rather just send email with your thoughts on these or other budget matters, council@seattle.gov is the address. There’ll be one more hearing just before the budget is finalized, but this one is at a pivotal moment.

We were in The Junction on Sunday morning when those election workers visited the King County Elections drop box to pick up ballots. As of this morning, KCE has only received 37 percent of the ballots sent out countywide; in West Seattle/South Park, the percentage is a bit higher, 38.6%. There are three drop boxes in West Seattle where you can take your ballot until 8 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, November 8):

–Junction (the one shown above – south side of SW Alaska just east of 44th SW)
–High Point Library (northeast side of the library, 3411 SW Raymond)
–South Seattle College (in front of the admin building, 6000 16th SW)

There are also official drop boxes in White Center and South Park; here’s the full countywide list. You can also send your ballot via USPS mail – no stamp required – but it must be postmarked by tomorrow, so if you’re going to do that, do it today. USPS mailboxes are scattered around the area, but there are drive-up/ride-up boxes at both local post offices (4426 California SW in The Junction and 2721 SW Trenton on the north side of Westwood Village). Here’s our overview of what’s on your ballot.