6:16 PM: Some neighborhoods have Night Out block parties year after year after year. Our first stop tonight is one of them – an Arbor Heights block near Westside School (WSB sponsor).

Thanks to JoDean for again this year being the first to invite us to stop by for a photo! We’ll be making a few other stops, heading south to north as the evening goes. We welcome your Night Out party photos too – westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you! And if you’re not spending the evening at your own block/building party, please be extra-careful in traveling around, with many neighborhood streets closed to traffic for the evening.

6:28 PM: Above is a photo from our second stop, the senior-living complex Village Green West Seattle (WSB sponsor) in Westwood, where it’s a parking-lot party, with live music by Rob Sturza and friends:

Plus hot dogs.

6:55 PM: Stop #3 was Eileen‘s neighborhood on one of east Highland Park’s hidden-away hillside streets. Photo above!

7:20 PM: Now we’re in Admiral, where Rosalie invited us to stop by her neighborhood’s block party east of West Seattle High School. One of the neighbors here is a beekeeper and has an educational exhibit at the party:

7:45 PM: Now we’re on Genesee Hill. We discovered two adjacent blocks were having parties – Laurie invited us to hers, but first we accidentally wandered in the other direction, so we photographed that group too.

Above, Laurie and neighbors at their very scenic dead-end overlook; below, the block north of theirs:

8:01 PM: Night Out usually collides with Election Night, and we have to head back to check out returns shortly, so our last stop is on Gatewood Hill, where Jennifer sent word of her block party, enjoying live music again this year – the band is Head Cheese, featuring the ever-popular Tom Hutyler.

Thanks to everybody who sent invitations!

ADDED 9:25 PM: Above are our neighbors in Upper Fauntleroy; their party was still going strong when we returned home, so we gathered them for a photo. We’ve also received a few from readers – first, here’s “a small but mighty group in Arbor Heights”:

Lilly the dog was among attendees at Gabe‘s party west of The Junction:

P.S. If you want to keep the community-safety vibe going, note that the Southwest Precinct is hosting its next Crime Prevention Council (a “group” basically consisting of whoever shows up) meeting on September 11, 6:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster), all welcome.

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Four days until this year’s Night Out, celebrating community collaboration and safety coast-to-coast. If you’ve registered your Night Out party, Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite has swag for you, available for pickup (updated) 9:30-11:30 am and 2:30 to 4:30 pm Monday (August 5) at the precinct (2300 SW Webster). She’s at right in the photo, with Seattle U interns Rafail Markodimitrakis and Kierra Lee, as they got ready this morning.

(Added: Photo sent by Jennifer Satterwhite)

They’re offering crime-prevention info handouts and goodie bags for kids. If you didn’t get signed up by last Sunday’s deadline, but you’re still having a Night Out party, they might have some extra materials available Monday too.

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6:51 PM: For three consecutive Thursday night, the Admiral Neighborhood Association has brought music to local parks that aren’t often used for sizable events. Tonight’s the final Admiral Music in the Parks show, featuring The ABBAgraphs playing the hits of Swedish supergroup ABBA, at Hamilton Viewpoint Park (1120 California SW).

Most of the band members are West Seattleites, they’ve told the crowd.

The city skyline’s in the background, there’s room to dance in the foreground, and all the fun will continue until at least 8 pm, so there’s still time to bring your chair or blanket and join the crowd!

8:04 PM: Show’s over – lively enough that most of the crowd (counted by ANA as 500+) were on their feet dancing to the last song, “Dancing Queen.”

11:56 PM: Video and more photos added above.

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P.S. We’ll be out taking photos on Night Out as usual – if we’d be welcome to stop by your block party for a photo, let us know where and when, westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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The Morgan Junction Park addition site, north of the park [map], has been an agenda item for the Morgan Community Association at dozens of meetings since the city acquired the site a decade ago. But last night’s meeting brought some big news, plus updates on several other matters. Here are our toplines:

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK ADDITION SITE CLEANUP: Seattle Parks‘ Kelly Goold told MoCA that the date is finally set for the start of long-planned soil cleanup work (a dry cleaner was one of the two businesses formerly on the site, and auto work was done nearby). Thursday, August 8, is the date it’s scheduled to start, with work expected to last about seven weeks, 7:30 am-3:30 pm weekdays. Five days will involve heavy-equipment use, Goold said. The work will involve two dirt containers on the site, and multiple trucks hauling back and forth. Once the soil has been removed – the contamination is about 15 feet down – it’ll be replaced with clean fill, and hydroseeded, so that the site can potentially serve as open space before park construction next year. If you live/work nearby, look for signage and notices the week before cleanup work starts.

FUTURE ALL-WHEEL AREA: When the addition goes into construction, an all-wheel area – aka “skate dot” – is planned for the south side of the current park, and the community group MJAWA continues working on that. MJAWA’s Matt Johnston said the group’s Summer Fest outreach went well, and their next milestones involve meetings with Seattle Parks – a design review on August 15, and a technical review later in August. (Here’s our recent report on their design progress.)

POLICE: Officer German Barreto had no major Morgan-specific news but said Southwest Precinct (West Seattle and South Park) crime is similar to a year earlier, with upticks in two categories – robberies and gunfire. He also noted that some juvenile carjacking suspects were arrested earlier in the day in South Park (we’re following up with SPD’s media office in hopes of finding out more).

DEVELOPMENT: MoCA has been working to stay updated on the future StoryBuilt development site at 41st/Graham [map], planned as more than 30 “stacked townhomes” (here’s our 2022 report). Its developer was not at the meeting but has been in email contact with MoCA president Deb Barker, who said there’s no indication of construction any time soon but the developer continues monitoring the property and is asking neighbors to be watchful too.

PREPAREDNESS: Cindi Barker from the Emergency Hubs says their work with Gatewood Elementary (which we featured last year) continues, so that the school has a preparedness plan in case of catastrophe. They’ve been working with nearby neighbors who are committed to helping with communication while school staff focus on keeping the kids safe until they can be reunited with their families.

NEW BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: David Hancock told MoCA about West Seattle Wildscaping, his ecologically friendly landscaping and horticulture business. He offers landscaping and landscaping consulting along with small tree (25′ or less) work, rainwater systems, and some small pathway work. In August he’ll be putting in a bulk order for native plants. If interested, you can contact him.

WHAT’S NEXT: MoCA meets on third Wednesdays in July, October, January, and April. Watch for updates at morganjunction.org.

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My husband Bradley and I (Michael and Bradley Mattinger) recently hosted our 2nd annual Pride Night Out block party, and I wanted to share the wonderful success we achieved last week. You wrote about it last year which inspired even more West Seattle blocks to participate. Despite some initial concerns over the weather last Thursday and other events happening simultaneously (i.e. the debate), our neighborhood came together to create a truly magical evening.

We were delighted to see a fantastic turnout, with neighbors old and new joining us in the festivities. The event featured a variety of activities, including a talented face painter, toddler bounce house, the local YMCA came out and engaged with arts & crafts, and an abundance of delicious desserts and wine.

The highlight of the night was undoubtedly the performance by local drag queen Dolly Madison, who dazzled everyone with her charisma and talent. Dolly typically performs every Saturday at Lumberyard in White Center.

The overwhelming support and participation from our community made Pride Night Out a resounding success, and we are already brimming with ideas for next year’s celebration. It was a beautiful demonstration of the unity, diversity, and vibrancy that makes our neighborhood so special.

If your block wants to start making plans for next year, Michael tells us, “The tradition is to celebrate the Thursday before Seattle Pride Weekend and we’ll continue that tradition next year – which will be June 26, 2025.”

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What makes a great neighborhood?

Neighbor Marie celebrated her 99th birthday this past Saturday – here on Rutan PL SW, where she’s lived since the 1950s. Over so many decades, she helped shape an entire neighborhood – in all of the BEST of ways!

(Photo by James Sprague)

A humble brag about our neighborhood on the shortest street in Seattle. We show up. We rise to the occasion. Kudos to our neighbor Karen Arthur White, who organized a festive celebration for Marie’s big day. Karen simply asked that neighbors show up at Marie’s with big hearts – and roses – at 2:00 pm. We all filed in, each bearing best wishes and presenting our roses. Her adult children had prepared refreshments. Then, twenty-six people sang “Happy Birthday” and touched in with one another and the “birthday girl.” It was beautiful. Simply beautiful.

The birthday girl didn’t want to be in the photo, so the people you see are the neighbors and relatives who gathered to celebrate.

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(WSB video and photos)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Alki-area community advocates who co-hosted tonight’s public-safety meeting with District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka have long been pushing for as much action against street disorder as the city can muster. Last weekend’s shootings at Duwamish Head were just the latest flashpoint.

Perhaps that’s why the first actions promised tonight by city reps – but, they insisted, not the last – had to do with street design: Lane-narrowing and more speed cushions are on the way, per SDOT managers. The action most requested by attendees, installing speed cameras, isn’t so easy, panelists explained. Same with the matter of “holding people accountable.”

Above is our video from the nearly-two-hour meeting inside the sanctuary at Alki UCC; below, our recap:

After an introduction from Saka’s chief of staff Elaine Ikoma Ko, who organized this along with Saka’s district director Leila Gheisar, the councilmember spoke first. He thanked local neighborhood advocates Charlotte Starck and Steve Pumphrey for co-hosting, and then introduced the panelists (SDOT’s chief safety officer Venu Nemani, SDOT’s senior deputy director Francisca Stefan, Parks and Rec superintendent AP Diaz, interim SPD chief Sue Rahr, and Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s new public-safety director Natalie Walton-Anderson).

“We’re here to talk about public safety,” Saka said, expressing condolences to the family of 22-year-old Luis Angel Solis Lara (identified today), as well as noting those residents whose homes were “shot up.” “What happened Saturday morning was unacceptable,” Saka said, noting that he visited the scene at midmorning Saturday, saying that one of his first actions was to call for this meeting. He then recounted public-safety-related actions he said have already been accomplished during his first half-year in office:

-“Police hiring is up” – more people are applying
-“We’ve taken action to address unsafe vacant buildings”
-“We helped streamline the SPD recruitment and hiring process”
-Earlier this month, “we passed some great legislation to take action against stolen cars,” including automated license-plate readers for every police vehicle
-He’s gone to precinct roll calls to try to rebuild trust between police and elected officials

Saka said he supports SDOT redesigning or eliminating the Duwamish Head diagonal parking, supports speed-enforcement cameras (that got whoops from the crowd), and previewed what SDOT would later announce for the street in that area, adding that the Public Safety Committee had just been briefed (as reported here) on the proposed street-racing crackdown bill, for which he said he will have specific amendments (though he did not elaborate).

He handed the mic to citywide Councilmember Tanya Woo, who was in the audience. “We have a new council and we all agree that public safety is our priority,” she declared. “We all agree we have to work together to get things done and make our streets safer.” For specifics, she also mentioned the license-plate readers.

Neighborhood advocate Steve Pumphrey, who co-founded the Harbor Alki Neighbors Group, spoke next. “We’ve had successes – we were successful with the city in getting the terrible RV encampment off Harbor Avenue, clearing the greenspace .. but we’re not ready to stop.” He recounted that he was the person who had bullet holes in his window (as shown in our first Saturday report). He mentioned meeting the victim’s family at the scene – as they placed the memorial – and that they “were torn up.” He added, “We have to realize people are coming from out of the area to party and race and drink and do drugs … we can’t legislate that all away, and we don’t have the officers for enforcement, but we can change the environment.” That means the streets, parking areas, and others that have “trapped the people who want to come here and create mayhem … if we make it harder for them to come here (and behave illegally) … then we win … we can’t just stand around and do nothing.”

Alki Community Council president Charlotte Starck spoke next, noting she has been leading the group since January, “working on uniting the community, keeping the problems of crime and traffic front and center … What we worked for are tehse commonalities … working to bring civic leaders together with the neighborhood group. … We all want to live in a peaceful, safe place … that’s the end goal.” She also recounted becoming active after crime/disorder hit her home, in the form of two reckless-driving incidents, plus gunfire on her street, bullet holes through a kitchen window. That “has been a growing problem since we’ve seen the decline of our police force. … As crime lands on your front doorstep you get really upset, you get angry, there are people hurt, properly lost, businesses leave … we need to get it under control.”

Then it was on to the panel.

First, Walton-Anderson, the mayor’s public-safety director and, before that, a veteran prosecutor – also a longtime West Seattle resident who said she walks Alki almost nightly. She conveyed Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s regrets for not being able to attend but said he does care about this area.

Then Rahr, the new interim police chief, who in turn introduced local Officer German Barreto, new Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Krista Bair, and Community Service Officer Dennise Lopez, who will be assigned from the precinct from hereon out rather than from downtown.

(Officer Barreto and Capt. Bair)

Rahr noted that the U.S. Surgeon General just declared gun violence to be a public-health crisis. The ex-sheriff said a lot has changed in the 12 years since she’s been out of law enforcement – increased gun violence, increased lawlessness, the social fabric “is unraveling” – yet she is heartened to see that “people are interested in getting that shored up again.”

Parks superintendent Diaz said, “We too are struggling to best serve the needs of our entire system,” 500 parks and – until recently only two Park Rangers, now increased to 28, “and in record time we filled all those spots.” He talked about working to remove the barrier that kept the Park Rangers working downtown – now they can work citywide. “It’s not enough, we need to do more.” He suggested they’ll be asking for more funding for more rangers, but in the meantime, they’re collaborating with other agencies. Diaz insisted, “We hear you loud and clear” on the need for safety improvements – “Today’s just a start.”

SDOT’s Stefan then spoke, first offering condolences for “the tragedies in your neighborhood.” She said she empathizes with those dealing with driving stunts as her (non-WS) neighborhood has “drifting” going on nightly. She said some of the changes on Alki/Harbor already, like speed cushions and center-line posts, have already brought down speeds.

SDOT’s Nemani followed with just words of introduction – he had more to say moments later.

Ko then read from presubmitted questions (500 of them, she told us pre-meeting, received in barely 24 hours), consolidating what she said were recurring or redundant topics: What’s the latest on speed cameras, and what are your plans for speed cushions, including south of the Water Taxi dock, monitoring speeding, and permit parking for Alki (that mention drew applause)?

Nemani responded. Regarding cameras, he mentioned the “racing zone” ordinance passed by the previous council, including designating Alki and Harbor. The funding has not been identified or allotted in this year’s budget, he explained, adding that the state law has changed regarding safety cameras and how they can be installed – requiring “a lot more documentation” before they can be installed. So, he said, they’re having internal conversations on a holistic policy for installing more cameras,”including speed safety cameras,” and getting the required “inclusive community input.” The policy should come out “later this fall.”

But they have other options, Nemani continued. He echoed Stefan’s declaration that speed cushions had been effective on stretches of Alki – “very effective,” he said – so they can pursue installing more speed cushions between Seacrest and the heart of the beach, as well as south of Seacrest. SDOT staff is working on speific locations. Also, he said, the lane widths along most of Alki are so wide that it’s conducive to speeding, so they are proposing reducing the lane width to 11 feet between 63rd SW and Fairmount SW, restriping them to about 11 feet wide, so they can naturally calm speeds. “We are planning to pursue those things this summer.” (How would the narrowing be done? we asked post-meeting; he said by bringing the solid “fog lines” on the street edge closer in, NOT by adding medians.) Regarding permit parking, “that needs to be a wider conversation,” but he said a community conversation about better managing parking in general certainly could be had.

After Nemani finished, Saka jumped in to say “funding is not an issue” regarding the cameras; the holdup is more of an operational/planning issue. He repeated that if it was a matter of money, they’ll get it, that the mayor has made that promise.

Next, Rahr addressed a multi-part police-related question, First, about parking enforcement; she noted flagrant disregard for the rules. “Clearly this is a habit formed in the community that needs to be broken … the atmosphere of ‘rules don’t matter’ seems to have taken hold.” She mentioned “several hot spots” around the city and said she’s elevated Alki to #5, so a team of parking-enforcement officers is being assembled, both for Don Armeni and for overnight problems, with a caveat: “That’s the aspiration and now I’m going to tell you the truth,” because emphasis requires officers to sign up for overtime, and the force is still 400 officers short, so she’s not sure how much extra patrolling she’ll be able to muster.

Regarding “holding perpetrators of gun violence accountable,” the chief said, “We live in a gun culture, folks … our society celebrates guns …” and firearm availability is “out of control.” She mentioned a (non-WS) shooting scene last weekend with 164 shell casings found. Guns in the community plus angry young people = “bad things are going to happen.” Of course, she said, “we’re going to do everything we can to arrest the perpetrators” – but that’s not as easy as you think. She brought up the law keeping officers from talking to juveniles, getting in the way of solving the Garfield HS shooting, for example, “There’s a lot of barriers that are new” since she left law enforcement, she said. “And that is a problem – because a lot of this gun violence is perpetrated by juveniles … the likelihood they’ll be arrested is far lower.” Ultimately, holding people accountable is up to the courts and state legislators. She urged people to pay attention to what state (as well as local) laws are being passed. She said she supported a lot of police reform but nothing intended to result in this. Checkpoints? She said that may not be legal but “we should do everything we can to make this a less attractive area for kids to come and drink and shoot off their firearms.” She also said they’ll work with Parks to lock the gates at Don Armeni.

Saka followed her up by noting that the juvenile-questioning law also hampered the investigation of the shooting death of 15-year-old Mobarak Adam back in January at Southwest Center/Pool. He said the state law was modeled on city and county laws but went beyond it. He is advocating for a legislative solution to that. “We need to do better.”

Walton-Anderson jumped in on those questions. She reiterated that holding people accountable is the role of prosecutors and judges and legislators, not just police. “These (legislative) bills come up, and we have to pay attention.” She mentioned again the juvenile-questioning law. Regarding the police shortage, she asked everyone to recruit, and to do it widely, mentioning a 62-year-old who just got out of the academy. “SPD is hiring and we cannot get through this shortage unless we start recruiting … that could even be you.” Rahr agreed: “Recruiting is huge. …Our message is, we have a different City Council.” The crowd whooped and applauded. She said she’s using the “shift in city government” as a selling point when she’s recruiting. She also said the mayor really is letting her run the department: “I’ve done some stuff!”

Next group of questions: Can the Don Armeni gates be chained? Can Hamilton Viewpoint be shut down after 9 pm? Can Alki access be restricted?

Diaz said, “Yes on all of them – this is a problem happening at (other city parks too)- The weather gets nice, people want to go donb to the water, unfortunately bad things are happening,” He has the power to adjust the hours that otherwise are stipulated in the city charter. He notes that beach fire times for example have been pulled back for summer. Regarding gun violence, he pointed out the shootings – and said it’s not illegal to bring a gun into Parks facilities – it’s illegal in many other places, and parks and community centers were supposed to be in a state bill last year, but were pulled out. Meantime, though Park Rangers aren’t law enforcers, SPD officers can help them.

Then the meeting shifted to open-mic Q&A – First for SDOT – will there be speed cushions in other areas like 55th and 56th? Nemani said he wants speed cushions on 56th too.

Next Q: Can information be provided for contacting legislators? Saka said he can get that info out, including contact info for the three who serve the 34th Legislative District (House Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Emily Alvarado, State Sen. Joe Nguyen – their contact info is all linked here).

Next Q was a comment from another person whose home was hit by gunfire. She said she heard it and thought it was fireworks. “Nothing’s going to change until parents control their children. …. The police come, (the troublemakers are) back two hours later … I don’t want to spend the rest of my life waiting for changes,”

Next Q: Why is the ‘Belltown Hellcat‘ not in jail? Rahr: “We’ve been working on it.” Saka: “The Hellcat guy, that dude is totally out of hand ..” but, he added, “there’s only so much government can do … we’re not going to legislate our way out of this.”

Next Q: To reduce teenage troublemaking, could we have a curfew? Saka: “It might be possible,” but enforcement might be difficult. Rahr: “I would love that … but we can’t (incarcerate) juveniles aside from violent crimes … It goes back to the family.”

Next Q: What about the speed/racing cameras? They were approved in June 2023 …but everybody points the finger regarding why they’re not yet in use … “what do we have to do, wait for someone to die? That just happened.” Saka said he’s said the same thing “over and over and over” regarding both installing speed camera and exploring CCTV cameras. Some finger-pointing ensued in the reply, until Walton-Anderson reiterated that there are some aspects of state law they still have to work through. Stefan also sought to clarify misunderstanding about funding – it hadn’t been allotted for racing cameras; the city budget had money for school-zone cameras. But “we’re with you on this journey and you’ll have to be with us” as they do a safety analysis, an equity analysis, and other mandated parts of the process. Saka: “It’s clear we’re aligned.”

Ko observed at that point that the status of speed cameras was a top question in what was submitted.

Next Q: With more Alki speed cushions, you’re going to have a major traffic issue. Has there been discussion on the height of the speed cushions so perhaps they could affect people going 50+ but not people going the “normal” speed?

Nemani answered, explaining the difference between speed cushions and humps, and said what’s in place now along Harbor/Alki are speed cushions, with the break in the middle. They do affect all vehicles, there’s no way to discriminate between speed vehicles, The arterials get cushions to accommodate emergency vehicles, among others.

Next Q was about rental scooters, contending they are “basically used for joyriding, how do we get rid of those?” Stefan said diplomatically that they won’t – they’re important because of access challenges due to limited transit in the area, and, she said, rider education is a priority.

Other questions/comments included:

-“Why do politicians not say anything about families needing to be involved with their children, because that is the problem. What is a 17-year-old doing with a gun?” Saka: The government can do some things, but there’s also a certain among of personal responsibility.

-A Harbor Avenue said speed cushions should be more tightly spaced since drivers speed up between them.

-About closing parks – what is stopping people from coming back after they’re forced to leave? What’s being done besides just a warning? Diaz said they’re looking at ways of making it less attractive to linger – gate-closing, lighting, etc. Rahr said they can’t just search people without probable cause to suspect a crime. The speaker reiterated, what’s the penalty if you’re in a closed park? You can be cited, Rahr said.

-Will they really close Don Armeni’s gates? Why can’t the diagonal parking at Duwamish Head just be roped off? Rahr said she’ll try on both counts, including “get(ting) traffic officers out there.”

With that, and a few quick words of thanks, the meeting ended. Many of the city reps lingered to answer questions one-on-one, and crowds quickly developed around them.

WHAT’S NEXT: In the main concrete promise of the night, SDOT said the lane-narrowing and speed cushions could be done by summer’s end. Meantime, there’s been no new information about the investigation of Saturday’s shootings, nor did anyone take the microphone tonight to ask for an update.

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As reported here Monday, District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka promised to convene a “community conversation” in the aftermath of Saturday’s Duwamish Head shootings that killed a 22-year-old man and injured a 27-year-old man. The meeting is now set for tomorrow (Wednesday, June 26) night – here’s the entirety of the announcement just received:

Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka (District 1, Vice Chair of the Public Safety Committee) is hosting a community conversation on public safety tomorrow, June 26, 6 pm-7:30 pm, at Alki United Church of Christ. It will include a diverse selection of city leaders, including Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr and citywide Councilmember Tanya Woo (Position 8).

This comes after a 22-year-old was killed in a shooting near Alki Beach over the weekend. According to reports, another 27-year-old was also shot and transported to the hospital. Homes nearby were also struck by gunfire. This community conversation will be focused specifically on working toward public safety solutions for the Alki and Harbor Avenue neighborhoods.

“The gun violence playing out on our streets in unacceptable. It’s time for us to come together as a city and put a stop to it. Every enduring solution starts with an honest conversation. That’s why I’m bringing our community and a diverse group of city leaders together. We need short and long-term strategies to ensure Alki is a safe and welcoming for everyone,” said Councilmember Saka.

What city leaders will be in attendance?

The following City leaders are scheduled to speak:

Councilmember Saka
Sue Rahr, Interim Police Chief
Natalie Walton-Anderson, Director of Public Safety, Mayor’s Office
AP Diaz, Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation
Francisca Stefan, Senior Deputy Director, Seattle Department of Transportation
Venu Nemani, Chief Safety Officer, Seattle Department of Transportation
Other members of the Seattle Police Department will also be attending.

DATE: Wednesday, June 26
TIME: 6 PM – 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Alki United Church of Christ, 6115 SW Hinds Street

How people can submit questions:

Community members interested in submitting questions or comments for the panelists to respond to can do so by completing this form. Questions or comments will also be accepted in person at the event.

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FAUNTLEROY FERRY DOCK PROJECT: FCA’s ferry-issues point person Frank Immel said the next Community Advisory Group meeting for the dock-replacement project isn’t expected any sooner than July – the traffic studies they’ve been waiting for aren’t ready yet. (WSF is having systemwide general-info meetings next week, though – info on those is here.) He met recently with Ferries’ new boss Steve Nevey; FCA president Mike Dey says he has a conversation scheduled next week with our area’s State Sen. Joe Nguyễn.

FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER: Last month’s dine-out benefit at Endolyne Joe’s was deemed a success. The annual festival is entirely supported by donations and volunteers, so another dine-out benefit is under consideration, perhaps with Wildwood Market as well as Joe’s.

PLANTERS: FCA maintains the flower planters you might have noticed around the Endolyne mini-business district. They were recently replenished – with 19 volunteers, that took about an hour and a half.

WHAT’S NEXT: The FCA board meets most months on the second Tuesday at 6 pm. Watch fauntleroy.net for updates.

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Community-group meeting seldom have surprise endings. Wednesday night’s District 1 Community Network meeting did, as a scheduled discussion about logistics quickly pivoted into a disbandment decision.

More on that later. First, here’s what else happened:

HIGHLAND PARK WAY HILL PROJECT: James Le from SDOT, who led the project presentation and discussion at HPAC last month (WSB coverage here), did the same at the D1CN meeting. He was joined by project teammate Willow Russell. We’ve written about this project several times since it emerged four weeks ago – four years after SDOT decided to shelve a possible uphill bike lane for the stretch. Le recapped the three options – all of which would replace the current outside downhill vehicle lane: A protected bike lane, a multi-use path, or eventually both. This was the last scheduled public presentation during the feedback period, which is scheduled to close in a week.

After a relatively short presentation, the SDOT reps fielded questions.

One question was about current bicycle volumes on the hill; Le hadn’t brought those numbers but pointed to the WSB followup in which we published them, after following up on a similar exchange at the HPAC meeting. From SDOT as featured in that WSB story:

Other questions:

How many people have given feedback so far? Russell said 1,600 had answered some or all of the survey questions, including 300 who said they bicycle on the hill. Who are the “key community members” referred to by SDOT as having been consulted for feedback? Russell listed a variety of local groups and institutions, including Pioneer Industries, a large business at the bottom of the hill, and South Seattle College. Why is this a priority if there have been only two serious-injury crashes in five years? Le cited the 43 mph average speed (18 above the limit) and the presence of bus stops in the area (although his presentation had noted they are low-usage, “a handful of people”), plus the department’s commitment to Vision Zero. “We have to do this because it’s part of our city’s safety goals,” he said. He reiterated SDOT’s description of this as a “self-enforcing design” to slow traffic. How would traffic flow be handled if a downhill vehicle broke down and blocked that one lane? “People will have to slow down and drive around,” replied Le. Had they talked to SPD about it? “No, it’s very early, we’re at like 5% or 10% design. We’re talking to you guys before we talk to them.” (Two SPD reps were at the meeting, one offering questions and comments, including hope that SDOT is studying traffic in multiple seasons before making a final decision on this.)

More questions:

Could traffic be slowed with photo enforcement and expansion of the existing path instead of lane reconfiguration? “Typically we look at all our engineering options” before camera enforcement is considered. What about a disaster, if this is the only exit route, how are people going to get out? “Highland Park Way is not the only path out (of West Seattle),” said Le. “Well, Myers Way, but that doesn’t get to hospitals,” was the participant reply (although that would point people toward Burien, which does have a hospital). Could a one-month trial be done to see how it works, before making it permanent? Le said, “That’s a good comment, I could bring it back and flesh that out some more.” Has SDOT evaluated how capacity would be affected? Le said that at the top of the hill, there’s already enough capacity in the narrowed intersection, but then people are sideswiping each other as they get to the four-lane hill. “It’s very early – we could modify things at the bottom of the hill too.” Meeting facilitator Deb Barker stressed that broader outreach was important; Russell said they’d sent a mailer to a mile radius of the project zone. “Peninsula-wide would be good,” suggested Deb Barker. The SDOT survey remains open until June 15.

PORT UPDATES: Kate Nolan brought the same updates she’d presented at the May West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting – she noted that both Terminal 5 berths are now operational, and that the Quiet Zone is now about six weeks away from completion – by end of July. She also discussed the project to work toward zero-emission drayage (short distance) trucking in cargo operations.

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Georgetown Carnival is on Saturday, noon-10 pm … Rethink the Link‘s light-rail-route walk is Sunday, 10 am … The Alki Community Council‘s Summer Celebration is 5-8 pm June 20 … The Morgan Community Association‘s Morgan Junction Community Festival, 10 am-2 pm on June 15, will include Bubbleman emerging from retirement, and vendors will be back, behind the Zeeks/Whisky West building, as well as Morgan Junction All-Wheel Association showing ideas for the all-wheel spot in the future park … This part of the meeting is where Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Nate Shopay mentioned what we’ve already reported separately, that the precinct has been working with the Traffic Unit to get some spot enforcement patrols around this area.

D1CN DISBANDING: Final agenda topic of the night looked on the surface like a matter of logistics, with this message from Larry Wymerte, the longtime administrator, handling behind-the-scenes details like assembling and circulating the agenda:

With major changes in the make-up of the City Council, it is even more important that we all work together to help to make D1CN a vibrant and impactful organization. He’d love to work with you to help strengthen and expand our outreach to all relevant community groups and leaders. D1CN strives to be a bottom up organization (i.e. no board, no officers, etc.) to provide a forum and opportunities for District 1 Community groups and leaders to communicate with each other. With this in mind, we look to all of you who are on our email distribution list to help out if and when you can by organizing and leading a meeting. We work best when we all take turns taking the gavel as a MEETING FACILITATOR. Let me know if you are interested in at least discussing the possibility.

Back when D1CN launched five and a half years ago, lining up facilitators hadn’t been so difficult, but at some point post-pandemic-peak, Deb Barker wound up as default facilitator for most if not all meetings. And when Wednesday night’s discussion started, she and Wymerte said they really needed to disengage. But no one stepped forward to offer to facilitate future meetings (the group had already cut back to alternating months) – so the discussion quickly turned into, is this the end? And no one put up much of a fight.

Though it didn’t launch uptil early 2019, D1CN had its roots in then-Mayor Ed Murray‘s 2016 decision to cut city support for neighborhood district councils. West Seattle had two at the time, Southwest District Council and Delridge Neighborhoods District Council. Both carried on for a while without official city support, but toward the end of 2018, some local advocates came up with the idea of a unified group (explained here). It launched in early 2019; later that year, the Delridge council went on “indefinite hiatus,” and the Southwest council officially disbanded. D1CN’s end leaves the area without a general-purpose coalition; a review of which neighborhood- and issue-specific groups remain will be a topic for another night.

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Even with one marquee guest (City Attorney Ann Davison) canceling, last night’s Alki Community Council meeting was information-laden.

One headline: The ACC is organizing its first community celebration, with the help of a city grant. Set your calendar for 5-8 pm Thursday, June 20, when music, food, and fun will fill Alki Playfield. ACC vice president Lindsay Pearsall is organizing the event: “The idea is to bring the whole community together … to find opportunities to connect and celebrate.” It’ll also synergize with the quest for public feedback on plans for the playground between the past-and-future Alki Elementary site and the playfield. This will replace the ACC’s usual third-Thursday meeting.

Another headline: Parks still hasn’t formally announced the closing times for Alki beach-fire rings and the rest of the beach park, though ACC president Charlotte Starck received an email from Parks official Markeith Blackshire a week ago saying the superintendent had decided to keep the closure at 10:30 pm, same as the past few years, and same as what Parks said during last November’s meeting covering a variety of West Seattle topics. But this was all before the early-Wednesday gunfire on both ends of the greater Alki area – Beach Drive and Harbor Avenue – so things could change.

With summer-like weather bringing crowds last weekend, the beach park was a major topic. Pearsall said she had seen two newly graduated Park Rangers at the beach over the weekend; Starck said she had noticed more police presence.

One SPD rep was at the meeting. Asked if he had any more information on the Tuesday gunfire incidents, Southwest Precinct Officer German Barreto said the two were definitely related and that the one person injured, at the Harbor Avenue scene, apparently had been targeted after a “road-rage” incident. One attendee asked Barreto for stats on drunk-driving and reckless-driving arrests/citations, but he eventually explained they didn’t have the staffing to focus on that; Barreto said two categories of crimes were up in the Alki area – aggravated assaults and vehicle thefts. How are vehicles usually stolen? an attendee asked. Various ways, Barreto replied, but the ignition tampering done to Kias and Hyundais, as circulated on social media, was one known method.

Regarding police staffing, another guest, CARE Department Chief Amy Smith – whose department, as we’ve reported before, includes the 911 call center and a team of crisis responders – had something to say. Her dispatchers can confirm the painfully tight staffing: “I might have six officers and 10 ‘priority 1’ calls – it’s horrible for my dispatchers – we’re watching the screen … we are working hard to recruit – but we’ve been recruiting the wrong kind of officers – community relations-focused rather than (the skillset that is currently needed).” Smith confessed she’s “very defensive of (the police) department.” She was accompanied by Davonte Belle, a CARE manager who is also a former 911 supervisor, and he said they do send officers out to those calls when they can, as well as broadcasting over the air to “be on the lookout” for a dangerous driver. (We can confirm hearing those dispatches multiple times many nights.)

Chief Smith added that “police are scared … there are three oversight bodies … officers are not able to protect us the way they should be.” She says she joins high-ranking SPD officials in roll calls “daily” and they find themselves expressing reassurance and appreciation, saying that’s vital: 14 months into the job (she is still awaiting the mayor sending her appointment to the council for confirmation) “I haven’t heard anyone dispute what I’m saying,” adding that what the city currently has “is the system we designed … but now we have to fix it.”

Will lower-priority matters ever be consistently enforced? one attendee wondered. If there’s enough staffing, Smith said, but in the meantime, she implored, call 911, not the non-emergency number. Anything people can do to help with the situation, otherwise? asked another attendee. Smith’s response: “Right now every elected official at every level of government understands the urgency” though she did add that expressions of appreciation – maybe even “thank-you signs” make a difference in police morale.

Shortly thereafter, Smith got the chance to present a primer on the CARE Department. Right now the most common “priority 1” call is overdose; she said the city is working on “sensible policy,” and it’s urgently needed because “we lost 1,400 people in King County last year … we (should be) treating this like the emergency it is …Public safety and public health are the same thing – you can’t have one without the other.” This year is likely to be as bad as last year but they’re at least hoping the death rate has “leveled” thanks to the availability of Narcan.

Smith recapped the CARE Department’s history, starting with the 911 center getting moved out of SPD back in the “defund days: “It was the right thing to make an independent 911 but it wasn’t done the right way” so she spent a lot of time rebuilding relationships after her arrival. Then, she suggested what became the new CARE Team, addressing “person down” calls. It launched last fall; this year she’s hopeful the team will grow to 24, but she stressed, that’s not a number ordered from outside, it’s the maximum she thought was possible in the next wave, and she’d rather make strides in the big picture of responses before growing beyond that. Also in progress, she said, new protocols for priorities.

She’s proud of the CARE Team’s accomplishments so far – “We’ve been to almost 500 calls and police have never been needed for backup.” When the team’s size grows, she promised, it’ll be available for West Seattle calls too (right now, the six-person team focuses on downtown).

How much could this reduce the need for police response? asked an attendee. Of 900,000 911 calls a year, Smith estimated, about 100,000 are “social work.” That’s not what police want to be doing, she said: “Fundamentally the CARE Team is a diversion team.” Belle stressed that the idea isn’t to grow CARE and shrink SPD, though – they want both to grow from current numbers. CARE is merely intended to “take away some of the burden on (SPD).”

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION HUB: With a June 1 preparedness-practice event coming up, ACC board member and past president Tony Fragada explained the hubs (go here if you have missed our many past reports) and how more community participation is vital and welcome. Hub volunteers from around the peninsula will join forces at Hope Lutheran in The Junction for the June 1 exercise, 1-3 pm. Find out more here. (At that point, Belle noted that CARE has a backup center in Spokane in case disaster throws it out of service in Seattle.)

BEACH DISORDER DISCUSSION: Before the meeting wrapped up, there was more discussion of issues from noise to dangerous driving to trash. Fragada said he’d like to see the rental electric scooters out of service in the late night and early morning because they’re noisy. Neighborhood activist Steve Pumphrey said his group has talked to various city leaders about related issues and has come up with a wish list including more speed humps, speed-activated cameras. changes to the Don Armeni Boat Ramp entrance/exit, and changing the Duwamish Head angle parking just north/west of there to parallel parking, to remove gathering places for driver groups. (He had said earlier in the meeting that Southwest Precinct police cordoned off the angle-parking area last weekend, and that helped tremendously.) Also noted, a tremendous amount of trash from the crowds who visited during the summer-like weather; Starck is pursuing that issue with Parks, urging the department to respond to the need by increasing cleanups, as well as adding portable toilets to reduce the strain on the beach’s relatively few permanent facilities.

SPEAKING OF CROWDS: Before the meeting wrapped up, there was a reminder that the Alki Art Fair is happening again this summer too, July 19-21 (find out more here).

(Other big Alki events this spring/summer will include this Sunday’s West Seattle 5K, the July 6 Seafair Pirates Landing, and Alki Beach Pride on August 31.)

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Yet another transportation project of note is in the wings for West Seattle – the Admiral Way Bridge (really two bridges) earthquake-strengthening project. When the Admiral Neighborhood Association has its next gathering this Tuesday (7 pm May 14), an SDOT rep will be there to talk – and answer questions – about it. ANA’s preview of the gathering also notes, “You will also hear updates from the team leaders of our upcoming events and ways in which you can volunteer … AND you’ll also witness the unveiling of the next chapter of a Summer favorite.” This is an in-person event at Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill), all welcome.

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