(WSB photo, Alki Playfield courts)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“It’s not tennis vs. pickleball, it’s tennis AND pickleball.”

That’s what the president of the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association insisted, given a chance at last night’s Alki Community Council meeting to talk about his group’s campaign against Seattle Parks’ newly unveiled Draft Outdoor Racquet Sports Strategy, which at least in the short run would cut the number of public courts open to pickleball.

(Photo courtesy Alki Community Council)

That was one of several matters discussed by the ACC in a well-attended meeting at Alki UCC, led by president Charlotte Starck. She made it clear that they weren’t presenting the pickleball group’s stance as a signal of where their sympathies lie – it was a simple matter of, they asked to speak, while no tennis advocates had.

The Seattle Metro Pickleball Association has an online petition drive going, as reported here, and president Tony Pisa said every signature – 1,000 as of Thursday morning, he said – sends email to a long list of city officials. A board member who joined him, Don Goulet, said the group was “blindsided” by the Racquet Sports Strategy proposal, as “we were in pretty good talks with (Parks and Recreation)” prior to its release. “We’ve been partnering for years,” added Pisa. “We worked on ways to coexist … then boom! we’ve got nothing.”

Their short-term goal is to get the city to pause its planned June 22 implementation of the “strategy,” which would among other thigs end the practice of “dual-striping” so that courts could be used by both pickleball and tennis. They intend to put the pressure on, not only via petition signatures and emails, but by showing up at “every meeting” and bearing visual reminders of their campaign, with the slogan LET US PLAY. “The reality is, they’re not really listening and they need to hear us.”

There seemed to be some suspicion of nefarious political influence by tennis supporters, and it was also noted that there’s a new mayor and (acting) Parks and Recreation Superintendent. They said an advisory council working on the racquet-sports vision didn’t even get a preview of the “draft strategy” before it went public. And they said marginalizing pickleball would throw away important community support for facilities – their organization had been discussion fundraising to help fix crumbling courts – and then the draft strategy emerged, suggesting they be simply booted off many courts.

Some attendees spoke up to reinforce that they don’t see it as “pickleball vs. tennis” – said one, “I’m not dissing tennis, I’m here as a pickleball player (to tell you) it’s socially engaging, it’s more than a sport.”

Regarding the issue of pickleball noise, they said they’ve asked for data, including number of complaints – “this can’t be anecdotal.”

Next up, the “strategy” will be formally presented at the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners‘ meeting – downtown and online – Thursday night (April 23), followed by a series of Parks-convened feedback meetings around the city (none in West Seattle). The city also has opened an online survey about the proposal

That wasn’t the only Seattle Parks-related discussion at last night’s ACC meeting:

ACC & PARKS WALKING TOUR: The racquet-sports proposal hadn’t been made public when ACC board members went on a walking tour of Alki earlier this month with Parks officials including acting Superintendent Michelle Finnegan. So they touched on a wide array of issues in their 40-minute tour, including crowds, trash control, bathrooms, the community center, off-leash dogs (citations are promised this year), unsanctioned vendors (citations are promised with this too), basketball courts, seawall and sandbags, illegal vendors, and racquet sports. The Parks officials are apparently doing these walkthroughs around the city. Here are the highlights of what they learned:

–Alki Community Center, a child-care only facility for years now but completely shuttered during school construction next door, will add back some public access, primarily teen and youth drop-in basketball, possibly some senior programming.

–Alki Bathhouse, which has reopened its pottery studio but otherwise is fairly fallow, might get some programming, administered by the team at newly reopened Hiawatha Community Center. (Let them know your thoughts – andrea.wooley@seattle.gov and hanan.gumalle@seattle.gov)

-Extra trash service, with 7-day-a-week pickup, was promised for Alki, along with more portable restrooms, in spots including 57th SW and by the volleyball courts. Starck noted that this would be a relief, so to speak, for beleaguered business owners beset by people looking for open restrooms.

This is all supposed to start May 1 with the summer-season launch. If you see a problem that needs to be addressed, use Find It Fix It – unless it’s a crime/safety problem happening right now, in which case, report it via 911.

Speaking of 911 …

CRIME TRENDS: As with the previous two community-council meetings we’ve covered this week, the ACC meeting got a quick update on crime trends. Crime Prevention Coordinator Matt Brown told the group that SPD data showed not only that Southwest Precinct’s jurisdiction (West Seattle and South Park) crime reports were down nine percent year-to-year, Alki is down 18 percent. He also noted that may not be as dramatic as it sounds due to the low numbers – 52 crimes reported by mid-April last year, 40 this year. Confirmed gunfire incidents: Two in the greater Alki area so far this year. And he repeatedly stressed that if you feel the numbers don’t mirror your experience, be sure everything that happens/that you hear about is getting reported.

He was asked about the pilot “private security” program that Golden Gardens is getting as part of this year’s “Summer of Safety” but Alki isn’t, and why that made sense given that Alki abuts residential areas while the Ballard-area beach has separation. Brown said different plans are under way for Alki such as – potentially – more bicycle officers (as was common in the pre-pandemic years). He also downplayed what the GG security guards will be doing – “they’re unarmed and they will be able to call 911 but that’s about it.”

Alki/Harbor community advocate Steve Pumphrey was not convinced, urging those in attendance to contact all their city reps, including District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka, and “let’s get what we need here.” Starck concurred that the more people from whom the city hears, the better.

Before his appearance ended, Brown also noted that the twice-yearly Drug Take-Back Day is coming up, 10 am-2 pm Saturday, April 25, at the precinct (2300 SW Webster). And as he’d done at the week’s previous community-council meetings, he thanked ACC attendees for their collaboration during his extended fill-in for longtime CPC Jennifer Satterwhite, who’s due back from maternity leave next month.

Other safety issues briefly surfaced included the continuing need for traffic calming on 63rd SW; Starck urged concerned residents to get “names and signatures” to Councilmember Saka to reinforce the request.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: One more item from the agenda – the ACC heard from a representative of Seattle Dive Tours, headquartered on Admiral Way and often seen at Seacrest.

NEXT MEETING: The ACC meets third Thursdays most months; watch alkicommunitycouncil.org for updates.