(WSB photo – future Morgan Junction Park Addition)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Though it was close to the end of the meeting, an update on the nine-years-in-the-making Morgan Junction Park expansion site was the major news at last night’s quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting, held online and facilitated by president Deb Barker.

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK ADDITION: Kelly Goold from Seattle Parks said they got a lot of good comments at last month’s Morgan Junction Community Festival regarding the park addition. “The funding has returned for the project,” he reminded MoCA, so Parks dusted off the shelved original design and added possible new features such as active recreation (like skating). Money for the site cleanup – it formerly held a dry cleaner – is still available and they are still hoping to get that done within a few months. “Some kind of landscaping” will follow. including potentially “a big sentinel tree.” Then they’ll bring down the fence and open the site to some kind of public use until full development. About 400 people have responded to the survey – still open online – in addition to the hundreds they talked with at the festival. So what’s been holding up the cleanup? Getting the shoring designed, planning the digging of “a big hole,” etc., Goold said. As for the timeline for the park development itself, “that’s at least a year and a half out.” Spring 2025 is the current estimate. No further public meetings planned any time soon – once the survey closes, a new schematic design will be assembled. MoCA plans to invite Goold to the next meeting (October 19th). The city bought the site in 2014 for $1.9 million; within the ensuing two years, the businesses that had been in a building on the site both closed, and the building was demolished.

CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES: All eight were invited. The five who showed up got to speak. Each got a 10-minute spot, primarily spent on self-introduction, with time for a question or two after that. Here are our summaries of what they said:

Maren Costa – She has lived in D-1 for 20 years – in the city for 33 years – has two kids and two stepkids in Seattle and Highline Public Schools. She was Amazon’s first UX designer and worked there for 15 years, “manag(ing) big teams and big budgets.” She says she learned a lot there but then started getting concerned about the climate crisis and Amazon’s carbon footprint. She and a colleague came up with a climate-policy proposal and got 8,700 employees to sign on. Then she got involved with warehouse workers’ concerns, at their request, and told the story of one worker who died of COVID and hadn’t been accommodated. They set up a town hall for tech workers and warehouse workers – 1,500 people accepted – and within hours, she was fired. The NLRB stepped in, took Amazon to court, and won. She went to Microsoft for a few years “but I just can’t sit behind a desk” and not do anything, so she hopes to make a “positive impact” in issues including public safety (“we need to support the police we have” and figure out how to make the city attractive for more officers), homelessness (Housing First is her approach), affordable housing, and climate justice. On a Morgan issue, she supports skating at the park-expansion site; she’d like to see more water transportation.

Phil Tavel – He moved here from NY 25 years ago after law school, falling in love with the area while visiting a friend on Beach Drive, landed on Alki. He wound up in the video-game industry for 10 years including opening a company that employed 30 people at its peak. Then he passed the bar and became a public defender for 15 years. He’s also worked in education. After his PD work – when the pandemic kicked in – he started working with the West Seattle Food Bank; after the bridge closed in March 2020, he “helped start West Seattle Bridge NOW.” He first ran for this seat in 2015, finishing third. In 2019, he finished second. He didn’t think he’d try again but realized he wanted to do it. He lives in Arbor Heights and has a 10-year-old son. “I really do adore this community … I think we deserve to have a representative who understands this is about public service … when people need help, to be present. … I want to be here to make sure the district gets all the things it needs.” He’d like to see an All-Ways Walk at the California/Morgan intersection. He also supports skating at the park expansion. Regarding an earlier-voiced question about the HALA/Mandatory Housing Affordability program, Tavel feels the city council failed to set it up so that it would actually result in fees to fund housing in our area. (In response to a question, he said he’d like to see the fee raised.) He’d like to restore “balance” – on many issues, he doesn’t think it’s “a matter of either/or.” He wants to see the police get a new contract, and support for the Collaborative Policing Bureau so there is more unarmed response. He brought up the traffic concerns and supports more calming and cameras. He’s long worked “on the side” to make the city better and would like to “do it full time” as a councilmember. Asked how to get young people involved civically, he thought continuing online meetings, using social media more, and show up at local groups’ meetings were things he could do.

Mia Jacobson – She is a third-generation West Seattleite, raising her kids “in the house I grew up in.” She discovered political theory in college, looking at different ideologies, and her “systems mind” suggests we’re on the verge of “a transformation.” At Occupy Seattle, she experienced many “cool conversations” but didn’t see them migrating out into the wider world. She was there for the start of Stand Up America (Alex Tsimerman‘s group). She is still “astonished that you walk into the council room and no one is there.” She said she got escorted out of the council chambers “countless times” because she wasn’t addressing the topic du jour. “Our society is changing so rapidly that it seems the newest research” isn’t making it into current conversation and proposals. She has dived headfirst into researching systems and governments. She’s writing a book about “the coming age. … We can see that the world we’re living in is vastly different from even 20 years ago,” but government just hasn’t caught up. Citizens need more access to information and research to hold leaders accountable. She says we’ve outgrown the current system of representation. People know how to solve problems “but are never allowed into the policy-making process. … We’re not using all the available data.” If this doesn’t change, “we will be simply unable to address the problems that will come in the next five years.” Regarding specific questions, she wants to see the community members already working on the issues need to be plugged in. Also asked: When all the data is considered, as the councilmember, how will she make a decision? Dialogue needs to be framed in a way that finds common ground, she replied.

Preston Anderson – He is a clinical social worker, currently an administrator in the homelessness programs at the VA Hospital. He also has background working in behavioral health, including at Western State Hospital. The top concerns he’s finding have been the homelessness and addiction crises, and those are in his “wheelhouse.” Regarding what’s going to work for the city, he addressed homelessness, saying the VA has reduced it dramatically in his scope, and he sees a lot of inefficiences that can be addressed, especially so people who get housed remain housed. Placing people in “clinically appropriate housing” is vital. Group homes, family homes, transitional housing may all play a role. Regarding addiction, you can provide people with hope and opportunity – he doesn’t support safe-use sites. The county is accountable for providing designated crisis responders but there’s not enough of them so he wants to address that staffing issue. He also wants to expand HEALTH ONE for urgent issues, and also ensure police are fully funded and staffed. Regarding affordable housing, he says MHA fees need to stay in the community where they’re generated. Morgan needs to be pedestrian-friendly and arts-friendly, he added – improving walkways and providing more greenspace in the park expansion.

Jean Iannelli Craciun – She lives in the Morgan Junction area so it’s “a very important neighborhood to me.” She said she was at Cal-Mor Circle that afternoon, visiting a friend. Most important to get to know all the issues. Citywide issues can relate to women in the workforce – 9 million left nationwide, 4 million have come back. Incentivizing startup businesses might get more back – find out what people need (child care?). She noted her work on the county’s “race is a health crisis” program, with directly affected people making decisions. Providing support for small business is important. Re: an walk-all-ways at Morgan, that could work, She also mentioned the ferry-dock rebuild project and said people are helping her understand more about it. She has a 16-year-old and 19-year-old, and her partner haw adult children. Many issues are “near and dear” to her. She became a community activist growing up with a family in the funeral-home business, and spent time in DC working with women in Congress. Then she spent 30 years living in Alaska, working with Natives, big industry, and more, as a researcher. She spoke of discussing issues with neighbors including a police officer, someone with an addicted family member, people with mental-health crises – more services are needed, and more housing is needed, with the population growing. Question: Craciun said Morgan was important to her but why had she never been to a meeting – why? She said, the group is “a bunch of white people.” The response “Yes, we know that. Why didn’t you come to share your perspective?” That discussion likely could have continued a while, but president Barker said the meeting had to move on

Lucy Barefoot, Stephen Brown, and Rob Saka did not attend. (Voting continues until the night of August 1st – see our latest preview for more info.)

Other, briefer items:

MORGAN JUNCTION COMMUNITY FESTIVAL: The June 18th festival – first one held on a Sunday – was a “rousing success,” Deb Barker said. (Here’s our as-it-happened coverage.)

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION HUBS: Hubs rep Cindi Barker said maps are now made so they can better track damage in case of a catastrophe. There’s also a new poster about medications – setting an emergency supply aside. It will be a key message during Preparedness Month this September.

POLICE STATS: SW Precinct ops Lt. Dorothy Kim urged everyone to call 911 about all suspected crimes so they have a better record of what’s happening. Data shows most crime categories are down in West Seattle right now – except for homicides (6 in the precinct jurisdiction this year – 1 last year) and auto thefts, prevalent citywide right now, and not just the Hyundais/Kias – the precinct will be making more steering-wheel clubs. Asked about catalytic converter thefts, Lt. Kim said they haven’t heard much about those lately. (Nor have we.) Property crime reports in general are down.

NEW BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Scout, a “boutique real-estate firm,” has opened in a commercial townhouse at 6014 California, Unit C. The firm has eight brokers. Its name was taken from “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

OFFICER ELECTIONS: For the next year – Deb Barker president, Conrad Cipoletti vice president, Michael Brunner treasurer, Alex Hagenah secretary – the slate was elected unanimously.

NEXT MEETING: October 19th. Watch MoCA’s recently relaunched website morganjunction.org for updates between meetings!