By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Issues from traffic safety to crime to two park concerns were discussed at this month’s meeting of the Alki Community Council.

The meeting facilitated by ACC president Tony Fragada was held Thursday night in hybrid format, although the in-person gathering dropped off the Zoom call prematurely, so the meeting’s end was a bit muddied.

TRAFFIC SAFETY: Residents on 56th SW say it’s the only gateway-to-Alki street without traffic calming. They would like to change that, so they’ve launched an online petition. Problems related to the road’s use include two homes hit by three drivers in recent years, and two drive-by-shootings with bullets going into houses (here’s one we covered, in which bullets broke dishes). Neighbors are asking SDOT for speed humps to at least discourage the speeding and perhaps reduce the street’s popularity. If you’re interested in signing the petition, it’s here.

POLICE UPDATES: The same SPD delegation who attended Wednesday’s Morgan Community Association meeting came to the Alki CC meeting –

Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Nate Shopay, Community Liaison Officer German Barreto, and one of the department’s Crime Prevention Coordinators, Sarah Lawson. They were there mostly to answer any questions. Lt. Shopay was asked if SPD was doing any early planning for next spring/summer at Alki; short answer, no, they will start in spring to look at resources and come up with a plan. Overall, he said, things had been quiet in Alki and elsewhere for a few days (this was hours before the early Friday carjacking on Alki Avenue and the two purse-snatch robberies in Admiral). Auto theft continues to be the main category of crime that’s still running high.

ALKI STATUE OF LIBERTY FADED PLAQUES: Libby Carr, a leader of the community campaign that led to the Statue of Liberty Plaza, had talked at a previous ACC meeting about the plaza’s faded inscribed bricks. Though she doesn’t live in West Seattle any more, she came back to the ACC to gauge interest in a proposed plan for replacing them – she had presented research at a previous meeting suggesting that selling inscribed plaques along the ramp could raise the money to redo the bricks with a sustainable method. But someone would need to take this on. The ACC, which is still looking for new leadership just to carry on its existing business, did not seem inclined to spearhead this.

CONSTELLATION PARK ART DEFACED: Alki resident Peter Stekel briefed the group on his ongoing quest to get utilities to clean up the markings they made on Lezlie Jane‘s octopus sculpture and other art features at Constellation Park. Here’s one of the photos he sent us last month:

As they routinely do on streets and sidewalks, utilities marked their line locations in advance of an upcoming project, but didn’t bother working around this beloved public art. Stekel wants the city to get the responsible utility – he says it’s CenturyLink – to clean it up. The ACC agreed to send a letter in support.

WHAT’S NEXT: The ACC meets third Thursdays, 7 pm, Alki UCC and online, and really needs new board members – contact info is on the website.