Tomorrow night brings the first of two City Council public hearings devoted entirely to the budget proposal for the next two years. (Read it in its entirety, or department by department, as linked here.) You can speak to the council either in person at City Hall or remotely. The hearing starts at 5 pm. If you’re going to City Hall, child care is available starting at 4:30 pm (RSVP via email, leg_operations@seattle.gov). That’s also when signups start for the commenter list. At City Hall, the signup sheet is inside Council Chambers upstairs; remotely, follow these instructions.
We reported some West Seattle-specific budget points in this late-September story. One additional point of note: SDOT‘s budget proposal includes speeding-ticket cameras for 19 more school zones around the city, and while the locations aren’t listed in the budget document, SDOT has released the list. Two of the new camera zones are in our area – West Seattle High School and Alki Elementary. SDOT says the new cameras around the city would “be implemented in two phases in 2025” – WSHS is in Phase 1, and Alki Elementary (which is being rebuilt and expanded, opening in fall 2026) is in Phase 2. The camera zone for WSHS is described as California SW between SW Hanford and SW Stevens; the camera zone for Alki is described as SW Admiral Way between 60th SW and 57th SW. The budget item actually is for revenue rather than spending – the document says funding for camera installation is already in this year’s budget; projected ticketrevenue is more than $4 million next year, $10 million the year after that.
West Seattle already has five school zones with camera enforcement – Delridge Way for Boren STEM K-8, Fauntleroy Way for Gatewood Elementary and for Fairmount Park Elementary, 35th SW for Our Lady of Guadalupe, SW Roxbury for Holy Family.
Back to Wednesday’s budget hearing – you can comment on a specific item or a general issue/concern, up to you. The second hearing is November 12th, but by that point, the council is just a week away from key almost-final votes, so you have more potential impact now. You can also send email comments any time, as explained here.
| 28 COMMENTS