By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“It’s been a busy month so far,” observed Alki Community Council president Charlotte Starck at the start of last night’s meeting. That was no exaggeration, given the major topics the meeting spanned in the course of just an hour and a half. They included:

REZONING VOTE: Starck mentioned the results of the Comprehensive Plan amendment votes hours earlier, including the rejection of citywide Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck‘s Amendment 34 proposal to add an area of Alki to be designated as a Neighborhood Center. She had circulated word of the proposal, made in an amendment just a month ago, and said she and the ACC weren’t advocating for or against it, just saying that there wasn’t enough notification about it compared to the many months of lead time for other proposed Neighborhood Centers. One attendee was concerned about how they’ll get word if the Alki Neighborhood Center idea is revived again in the future. (And in fact, Starck tells WSB today that an expected proposal at the council’s 2 pm meeting today would call for spending a year studying Alki and the other seven potential Neighborhood Centers that were in Amendment 34 – see page 6 here.)

PARKS UPDATE INCLUDING BOAT RAMP CHANGE: Jon Jainga from Seattle Parks, who’s in charge of Park Rangers among other things, presented department updates from what was dubbed the “Summer of Safety” plan. He said one big lesson learned involved city-operated boat ramps including West Seattle’s Don Armeni Boat Ramp – they were going to go back to 24-hour operation but now the gates will be closed at Don Armeni and Golden Gardens at 11:30 pm until further notice. Private security will close the gates and a ranger will be on until 12:30 am to check on them, until Park Rangers’ shifts will move up to a 10:30 pm end. Jainga noted, though, that he still has 19 rangers for the entire city.

Stats included that rangers have visited Alki 168 times, performed 142 customer-service acts, educated people aboard littering and drinking, and that off-leash dogs have been an ongoing problem. “We’re not police officers, we’re more of a park ambassador,” aimed at getting voluntary compliance. But if they have to escalate, they can cite – and/or call police for no-trespassing orders.

At Alki, he said, rangers gave 2,075 liquor violence warnings, 515+ offleash animal warnings, 600+ for urinating in public, 220 for smoking, 110 for unpermitted vendors on park property (they’re working to get right to enforce on sidewalk), 104 for litter, 2 for vehicles parked in unauthorized times, 666 for fires in unpermitted areas, 45 911 calls for police assistance, 18 calls to SFD for help, 6 people referred to the Unified Care Team. Jainga said they’re still analyzing everything, because it was a first summer for many things – but he said the ongoing concerns are the same at other major city parks.

SEATTLE POLICE: Precinct commander Capt. Krista Bair (photo above) and Officer German Barreto were there, as were Community Service Officers Jamie and Helene, as was Crime Prevention Coordinator Matt Brown, who will add the Southwest Precinct to his South Precinct duties when SW CPC Jennifer Satterwhite goes on maternity leave next month.

The next quarterly SW Precinct Advisory Council meeting will be October 7 at Alki Masonic Center in The Junction, as already announced, noted Capt. Bair, adding that advance questions would be best addressed in advance to the CPCs (whose contact info is here). Capt. Bair brought numbers: Stats show citywide crime is “down significantly,” and West Seattle was down too. Citywide, there had been 60 homicides by this oint last year and this year citywide, less than half that, with zero homicides in the Southwest Precinct area (West Seattle and South Park); robberies are down; sexual assault up by 1 for Alki, robberies up to 4, aggravated assaults 16, arson 1, burglaries down to 21 from 26 and motor vehicle thefts are down too. Gunfire incidents are down slightly, but: “We have had a lot of people in cars shooting and they’re fleeing,” she said. So far, she said, the shootings don’t appear related – shell casings are analyzed to reach that conclusion.

One attendee said the response to the first gunfire incident by her home was good, but there was another incident in which nobody showed up. Capt. Bair said she would look into it if they can provide information on when that happened. Officer Barreto suggested that if officers don’t showw up, call 911 again and ask why. If they still don’t show up,
call back and ask to speak to a supervisor.

Another attendee said the beach is supposed to close at 10:30 and “there’s so much happening on Alki, can we just get some help?” Capt. Bair said there is a camera registry open now where people can let police know they have awxueiry cameras, so when something happens, police can check. She said the registry will precede any possible city cameras, which might be “eventual.” So “what can we do?” asked one attendee. Capt. Bair said, “What do you think we should do?” The conversation took a turn after that, so no discussion ensued. The captain said, meantime, the “Summer of Safety” plan has a multi-department post-mortem meeting coming up next week.

Various problems and concerns were surfaced by attendees, such as illegal fireworks. A resident also wanted to see 63rd blocked off or at least speed-bumped. (Those are still in queue for 60th, 61st, 62nd.) Several mentioned recurring instances of a woman out in the street screaming at the early hours of the morning. Another resident of 63rd suggested a speed trap. “That is happening,” said Capt. Bair. “We have a motorcycle officer who’s hitting Admiral, Alki ….”

Brown talked about the importance of online reports, with the capability of filing video to them.

Last but not least, Capt. Bair said police hiring has improved dramatically – last year they were up 1, this year as of this month they’re up 63.

ALKI BEACH PRIDE: Co-founder Stacy Bass-Walden showed a video of highlights as photographed from above as well as on the ground near the stage (featuring performers from aerialists to drag kings). Community participation came from all around, including White Center. “2026 is going to be even bigger,” Stacy promised. They hope to add a “mini-Grand Parade,” building on the individual parading elements featured this year – like Dykes on Bikes and Rainbow City Band. They estimate about 2,000 attendees, and expressed gratitude for SPD protective barriers placed on the street to ensure no vehicles got onto the closed section. They’re hoping to partner with Seattle Pride again next year. Also, some additional volunteer power for evening cleanup and logistics management. (alkibeachpride@gmail.com)

ALKI HOLIDAY: Stacy mentioned Alki Holiday Lights will be Thursday, December 18, with more lights and more of everything that made last year’s initial version a success.

NATIVE PLANTS: Robyn Fritz is working on a project to revitalize areas with native plants. Some will be planted in planters along the Alki Point Healthy Street. She also made contact with the Duwamish Tribe to invite their involvement and said she received positive feedback. They’re hoping to get donations and some volunteer help. “We’re talking small, pollinator plants that will spread themselves, but we’re looking for people to get involved.”

MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Elyssa and Matt Cichy of West Seattle Arcade and Gary’s Place sent word that October 25, 10 am-2 pm, for Alki Beach trick or treating … Alki light-post beautification on “Restaurant Row,” 63rd to 55th: 16 poles were repaired and then repainted, and now they have a $5,000 grant from the Department of Neighborhoods to clean up Alki Ave in the offseason – they’ll put up simple neighborhood flags that say Alki Beach.

ART WALK AND MUSIC ON ALKI: Tayt is part of the team that’s brought the West Seattle Art Walk to Alki. On October 9th they hope to bring music to Alki that night too; Tayt is going to reach out to find musicians who will do volunteer performances. Reach out to ACC leaders if you’re interested!

NEXT MEETING: The ACC meets most months on the third Thursday, 7 pm, at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds); watch alkicommunitycouncil.org for updates between meetings.