FOLLOWUP: Seattle City Light promises to remove much-vandalized fencing component at future charging site

(WSB photo with tags partly blurred out)

When Seattle City Light cleared its former substation/future EV-charging site in Morgan Junction, community advocates worried aloud that it would become a vacant eyesore for however much ensuing time it remained vacant, awaiting construction. Those concerns became reality as the cloth draping on the fencing around the site (4118 SW Morgan), which is bordered by two major streets (Fauntleroy and Morgan), has been repeatedly vandalized by taggers (it’s even visible via a Google Street View image from a year ago). When SCL reps came to last week’s Morgan Community Association meeting with a project update – bottom line, as reported here, the site won’t be open for at least a year – MoCA president Deb Barker asked the reps in attendance if SCL would clean up the tagging; the rep wouldn’t commit to that, and suggested the vandalism would probably stop when the site is “activated” (built). So we followed up with SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang to ask if it were really true that the utility had no intention of cleaning up the fencing. She replied that it’s actually not needed any more anyway, so they’ll just remove it: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The mesh barrier that has been tagged is no longer required and we have requested that it be removed. A timeline for the removal will be available after a work order has been generated.”

12 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Seattle City Light promises to remove much-vandalized fencing component at future charging site"

  • JTM January 24, 2024 (11:54 am)

    Honestly, I’m less concerned about how this looks for the next year v. how SCL is going to protect the chargers themselves from being constantly vandalized/destroyed. It feels like the units near the bowling alley / Trader Joes are constantly out of service from being destroyed for parts.https://westseattleblog.com/2023/02/followup-junction-ev-chargers-still-out-of-service-meantime-new-city-owned-chargers-headed-for-west-seattle-street-parking/https://westseattleblog.com/2023/01/west-seattle-crime-watch-theft-puts-second-city-owned-ev-charger-out-of-service-stolen-car-suspect-arrested/https://westseattleblog.com/2023/09/west-seattle-crime-watch-junction-ev-charging-station-hit-by-vandalism-theft-again/

  • JTinWS January 24, 2024 (12:20 pm)

    Agree with JTM above. Half the King County chargers are out of service at the Fauntleroy docks right now because someone smashed in the screen on the console (looks like they started smashing another one but gave up before disabling it).I also notice the Fauntleroy ferry dock spots are regularly occupied by ride-hailing drivers idling against the rules before 3pm, after which the charging spots are reserved for them (I guess to hang out and wait for fares from ferry passengers?).

  • Charles Burlingame January 24, 2024 (12:41 pm)

    I’m concerned about how we’re going to add hundreds of thousands of badly needed units of housing in Seattle over the coming decades if we’re building parking lots on our public land.

    • Anne January 24, 2024 (2:05 pm)

      I’m not worried at all. 

    • John January 24, 2024 (3:41 pm)

      I’m more concerned if any of us will even exist in the coming decades.

  • KT January 24, 2024 (12:56 pm)

    The mesh barrier that has been tagged is no longer required and we have requested that it be removed. A timeline for the removal will be available after a work order has been generated.”  Ah, Seattle.  Pickup the phone and tell someone to go remove it for crying out loud.  

    • WS Guy January 24, 2024 (3:20 pm)

      I worked in factory one summer.  Some plastic scrap spilled on the floor.  I got a broom and dustpan and swept it up and promptly earned my first union grievance.  The correct process was to open a work order and allow up to a 24-hour response for a union cleaner to arrive.  I’m sure Seattle is like that.

    • The King January 24, 2024 (3:23 pm)

      Your idea sounds good but when you have government and unions involved it will never be a case study on efficiency. What happens is work like this can be class protected and if that dept is behind you just don’t give it to another dept that isn’t. That’s grounds for a grievance. Priorities are set from the top, this may not be one of those. 

    • Frog January 24, 2024 (5:47 pm)

      It’s not just Seattle.  See the saga of San Francisco trying to build a public toilet.  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/us/san-francisco-toilet.html Ha! we did it for a mere $650K.

  • Deb January 24, 2024 (2:57 pm)

    WSB – Thank You for following up with SCL ! It is much appreciated!

  • Derp January 24, 2024 (5:04 pm)

    I have a question….Why is the city paying for these charging stations for cars that people bought on their own, with our tax dollars. Nobody is forcing you to buy them. Is it our responsibility to pay for these stations, even if we don’t buy a ev car. Why not give gas subsidies to everyone that didn’t buy them. 

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