Heads up: Door-knockers NOT to be worried about
During the recent barrage of “legit or not?” door-knocker/solicitor concerns, we’ve often thought that it would be helpful for organizations to send out advance word when they’ll have people canvassing … especially now that neighborhood-level media is on the rise and sites like ours could get that word out. Well, without us even having said it aloud, here comes an example of someone doing just that — Derek Birnie at Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, which is preparing for the gala Delridge Day events on May 31, wants you to know this:
Trust these doorknockers!
Despite the worry and fear that some recent doorknockers hare inspired in WSB readers, we want folks to know that those young people knocking on your door this Saturday and next are legitimate; please welcome them!
Every Friday, a group of inspired young leaders meet at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center to help establish direction for the programming there. This programming committee has taken the lead in developing the program for this year’s Delridge Day and Open House at Youngstown on May 31.
Those emerging community leaders will be knocking on neighborhood doors this Saturday to extend a personal invitation to attend this free event. We hope their enthusiasm and courage will be met with friendly faces!
So, there’s something else happening Saturday, besides the Stamp Out Hunger letter-carrier food drive (be sure to leave a bag out by your mailbox or mailslot), West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, Pathfinder K-8 sprucing-up, Admiral Adopt-a-Street Cleanup, Seattle Walks, and more happenings you’ll find on our Events page. By the way, DNDA sent along two flyers: here’s the one for volunteer help between now and Delridge Day, and here’s one for the DD event itself.
Alki sidewalk squabble getting snippier?
This comment just came in below our report on last month’s contentious Alki sidewalk-project meeting; no one will see it on a five-week-old post, so we’re highlighting it here. From someone signing themselves “CS”:
As a property owner on Alki Beach – well, the enforcement of the sidewalk has already begun. We’ve been ticketed twice for parking on the “sidewalk†this past week, although we’ve been parking there without issue for decades. I called Parking Enforcement but their stance is – it was always illegal, and now we’re enforcing it due to public (anonymous) complaint. I called Theresa Casper, the Project Manager for the sidewalk proposal, but she denied having anything to do with it (ya, right). So there is no way for property owners to expect formal notice – if people start complaining – the police will start ticketing. However, our property extends into the water. We have never bothered enforcing the right to prevent people from walking on the beach. But we will now. So – the public can take the sidewalk back – but the property owners will take back the beach they own and you can bet I will be reporting any trespassers on it from now on.
In mid-April, the city told us design was proceeding, for now, on the sidewalk extension that the waterfront property owners are fighting, but hadn’t yet figured out how to handle one homeowner’s question about a process for getting the project stopped; sounds like it’s time for a check back with SDOT.
Happening today/tonight: Lowest May tide; two councils
LOWEST TIDE: Beach Drive Blog notes it’ll be another great afternoon for low-tide lovers. According to the May tables, it’s the lowest tide of the month.
SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL: Two guests are scheduled tonight at this monthly meeting of representatives from neighborhood groups and key organizations: West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, and Fauntleroy resident Ron Richardson, best known for the sign outside his house but currently advocating for public campaign financing (he stopped to talk with us about it at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival last weekend). The meeting’s at 7 pm in the President’s Board Room @ South Seattle Community College, all welcome.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Its monthly meeting is at 6:30 tonight at the Delridge Library, and one of the items on the agenda is West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day — the NDNC is one of two local neighborhood groups having fundraising sales on Saturday; its sale at 2512 SW Genesee will raise money for tot-size equipment at Cottage Grove Park, while elsewhere in east West Seattle, the Pigeon Point Neighborhood is having a sale at 19th/Genesee to raise money for Cooper Elementary. Back to NDNC and its meeting tonight – lots more to be discussed, too.
Denny-Sealth: Westwood Council’s unusual request for help
As the Denny-Sealth project (archived WSB coverage here) proceeds, the Westwood Neighborhood Council expects to be working closely with the district and the city on plans for the site where Denny Middle School will be demolished after its replacement is built next to Chief Sealth High School. Because of that, WNC president Steve Fischer has just put out the call for “someone who has drawing skills … (and can) translate ideas into visual concept presentations for open space and pedestrian amenities in the neighborhood. We’d like help in creating approximately three drawings that can help us communicate how important it is for the neighborhood to have open space for everyone who lives in and visits Westwood.” The required skills are further clarified as:
We really need someone who can help with some hand-drawing with pencil or pen. We don’t need technical plan level drawings, just conceptual drawings that are attractive and that can communicate some ideas and alternatives. An understanding of landscape/ architectural standards would be useful, but not necessary. As well, if someone wants to use a computer program to create some ideas, that would be fine too.
If you can help, or want to find out more, contact Susan, at csmclain@hotmail.com.
Happening now: Be a “Master of Disaster” @ Hughes
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Continuing through late May, we’re helping local neighborhood leaders get you information that will help you keep your family safe in case of disaster. One big part of this spring’s campaign in West Seattle is the designation of neighborhood gathering spots so that everyone knows where they can go post-disaster to get information and help. This is being done on a very grass-roots level, and not all areas of West Seattle are set up yet, but those that are (marked with clickable icons on the map you see above) have been having drop-in events where neighbors can come by, meet the folks working on this, and get important info on simple steps they can take to be prepared. The next such event is happening right now at Hughes Playground (click the spot on the map near the words “High Point”; street address is 2805 Holden). If that’s the spot closest to you, take a few minutes and stop by; look for them on the north side, near the restrooms, till 4 pm.
Be a Master of Disaster: More neighborhood check-ins ahead
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Our state’s official Disaster Preparedness Month may have only one more day to go but the West Seattle neighborhood readiness campaign we’ve been telling you about will continue a few more weeks. To refresh your memory, the map above shows the West Seattle locations already designated as neighborhood gathering places for information and help in case of disaster — somewhere you’d be able to go, if the regular lines of communication weren’t working — and it’s important to memorize where your nearest one is, and to make sure your loved ones know too. (Some areas of south West Seattle are still a work in progress.) To help make it easier for you to know your gathering place, and to get info about how to be ready for the unthinkable, each area has set up a time for a drop-in event — Alki, (Alaska) Junction, Morgan Junction, and Pigeon Point have had theirs already; Olympic Heights (1-4 pm Saturday @ Hughes Playground) and Admiral (1-5 pm Sunday @ Hiawatha, new time) are coming up this weekend; the Fairmount event is coming up in 2 1/2 weeks. Click the spots on the map above for exact locations plus event dates, and keep watching here for updates. One more important thing we want to mention again: a checklist of supplies you can purchase right now to have on hand “just in case” – it has helpful specifics, not just the generalized lists you often see. We’ve uploaded it here so you can take a look and print it out for yourself for use in building a kit you can get to if you need it (and if you don’t have MS Word — here’s a PDF version).
Think your leaders aren’t listening? Invite ’em over!
That’s what Junction-area resident Sue Scharff (left) did. The intense wave of development proposals currently rolling through The Junction has her so concerned, she called the City Council to see who she could talk with. She was pointed toward the office of Councilmember Sally Clark, who chairs the Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee. And today, at Scharff’s invitation, Clark (photo center) and assistant Dan Nolte (right) came to West Seattle to walk The Junction with her and her friend Andie Nauss, and listen to their concerns, while taking a realistic look at how this all fits into the city’s big picture. What did Clark say, and what did Scharff think afterward? We’re working on detailed coverage to publish later tonight.
From park site, to true park: Ercolini labor of love under way
Just west of The Junction at midday today, those kids played in a space that is taking shape as their future neighborhood playground, at Ercolini Park, while dozens of adults labored just feet away to install the playground equipment that just arrived:
Here’s video of both aforementioned groups in action:
The volunteers’ work at Ercolini continues 9 am-3 pm tomorrow, and is a major milestone in a transformation that’s been years in the making. Around this time last year, the park site was still a large grassy lot – former family homestead, sold to the city Parks Department:
In the ensuing months, neighborhood volunteers received a city grant — matching funds for cash and volunteer-time commitments that they worked hard to procure; now they’re cashing in on that volunteer help – and looking forward to a grand-opening celebration within a matter of weeks. By the way, if you live in any of the areas around The Junction, stop by Ercolini tomorrow to not only see what’s happening, but also to familiarize yourself with the site’s new status as your neighborhood gathering place in case of disaster – between 10 am and 2 pm, a table with safety info will be set up like the one last weekend in Morgan Junction (and other events that have happened in Alki and Pigeon Point; check the map in this post for other upcoming events – we’ll have updates soon for additional neighborhoods).
Southwest Precinct follow-up on the “unusual doorknocker”
As promised, we checked today with the Southwest Precinct re: last night’s hottest topic, the “unusual doorknocker” reported by Larry Carpenter in Alki. Sgt. Jeff Durden, who leads the Community Police Team, says they were working directly with Larry to get more info, and also checking with area military — at this point. Sgt. Durden says, “I doubt this was any kind of military operation. Everyone we have contacted concerning the matter has agreed.” He adds, particularly in the light of the trouble that Larry had reaching somebody at non-emergency police numbers — “Also as said/posted many many times before – call 911. 911 will always answer and this is definitely a situation where we want to get a patrol officer dispatched to investigate.”
Reader report: Unusual door-knocker
Alki’s Larry Carpenter asked us to pass this along:
About 4 pm today I got up to answer a brusque knock at the door in my neighborhood at 63rd and Hinds near the Alki UCC church. A repair man had just given me an estimate 30 minutes earlier, so I figured he was back with a question. The knocker turned out to be a 25-ish, normally dressed, white man who announced in good English that he was touring the neighborhood as part of an army exercise to “test his communication skills.” He then handed over his US Army i/d bearing the name Regan. I kept waiting for some sort of solicitation such as selling magazines to support combat readiness or whatever. However, he explained that his only purpose was to improve his ability to approach strangers and win their confidence via straighforward speech and strong eye contact. After saying that his team chief had left some 25 of his mates in the surrounding area and that I might see others walking about, he extended his hand for a firm handshake and headed off around the corner. H-mm. I wonder how this approach would go over in Baghdad’s Sadr City.
[Larry spent 20 minutes trying to reach police on a non-emergency basis …] I finally tried a few neighbors, but nobody was home yet. My last call found a woman neighbor at home, who reported that she had earlier noticed several strange young men hanging around the USPS mailbox on the corner and had already decided not to answer the door if anyone rang. [SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator] Benjamin Kinlow had just briefed us at the Alki Council on Thursday that we should always report suspect activities to the police and to our block watch neighbors. When wife Marge observed my rising frustration, she suggested that if I really wanted anybody to get the word, I should send it to the WS Blog.
Skittish about skateparks? How about a tour?
As we reported last week after covering the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting, some controversy remains over the Parks Department‘s plan to save space for a skateboard “feature” at the soon-to-be-built Myrtle Reservoir park. At that meeting, Parks Department project manager Virginia Hassinger suggested a firsthand look at some existing skateboarding facilities might assuage concerns. MoCA’s Cindi Barker is proposing organizing a tour this Saturday if enough people are interested. Here’s more from Cindi:
One of the suggestions made near the end of last week’s Morgan Community Association meeting was for people who had not been to see a skatepark in action to take a “field trip” to get some info. I’d be willing to organize such a trip, something like in a caravan to visit the Ballard Bowl (4,200 sq ft bowl), the Burien Skate park (a 7,500-square-foot skate park, Nakano Associates, architect, coincidentally the same architect hired to do the Myrtle Reservoir Park itself) and a third park mentioned by Virginia Hassinger at the MoCA meeting, which sounds smaller in scale and is more melded in with the surrounding park rather than a pure bowl design. If neighbors can observe the skate parks in operation, it might answer some questions and give neighbors a good idea of what they can expect. I realize that the next Myrtle Reservoir Park design meeting on May 1 isn’t about the skatepark, but it sure is sounding like we should know what to consider around this proposed skatepark feature. I would propose a Saturday morning, maybe running from 10 to 2, to cover drive time and allow us to spend about 45 minutes at each park. If people could comment to this posting, it would give me an idea of how feasible or well attended this would be.
No obligation, but if you’re potentially interested, say so in the comments here and we’ll let you know about “next steps.” This could be a good prelude to the next public meeting about the Myrtle park, which is 7 pm May 1 at High Point Community Center.
Be a Master of Disaster: One must-have item
When we dropped by the Morgan Junction “get to know your neighborhood gathering place in case of catastrophe” table at Thriftway this afternoon, one of the items Cindi Barker (right, with Helen Daniel) showed us really caught our eye, and she says it had many table visitors abuzz too: The Duracell 3-in-1 hand-crank light/radio/charger:
We have a hand-crank light/radio around here somewhere, but the charger is a new and welcome addition — this sort of gizmo would cover you in a true regional catastrophe. Cindi says she found the Duracell 2-pack for $12 at Costco; we’re going to check local hardware stores – also found a variety of similar items online by several different manufacturers. Meantime, next scheduled disaster-prep-info site/time is for Junction-area residents, at Ercolini Park, 10 am-2 pm next Sunday; check this map for the location or for a place/time nearer your home.
Happening today: Be a Master of Disaster in Morgan Junction
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This map shows the first seven spots around West Seattle designated as neighborhood gathering places in case disaster strikes and normal lines of communication aren’t working; this is where you would go for information and help. As part of a neighborhood-group-led process for the next month or so, each spot (and a couple more yet to be firmed up) will have a date set when volunteers will set up a table for you to come visit and pick up information to help keep your family safe. The next such event is TODAY, at the designated Morgan Junction gathering place — West Seattle Thriftway — 11 am-4 pm.
Another Alki parking crunch may worsen, for safety’s sake
People returning home tonight from work to the Alki neighborhood along and around SW Stevens and 59th/60th environs will notice many new markings like that (as well as the word “locate”) on the curbs near driveways and corners, thanks to a city Transportation Department worker who was out there, wielding a can of white spray paint, this morning.
This is a busy parking street about to get busier, with the sign in the photo above heralding a teardown we’ve mentioned before, five units going up in its place, directly across 59th from Alki Elementary/Playground/Playfield. But the city marking project — delineating the areas around driveways/corners that must be kept clear — is the first step toward getting cars out of some illegal spaces on the street, for safety’s sake:Read More
Morgan meeting report #2: Myrtle skate “decision is made”
Much smaller crowd for the city Parks Department‘s project manager on the Myrtle Reservoir park project, Virginia Hassinger, at the quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting at The Kenney last night — but for a few minutes, it was even more contentious than the testiest moments of the last public meeting specifically about the park project (WSB coverage here). Main reason: As Hassinger reiterated, and as we reported here and here, “the decision is made” to set aside an area of the Myrtle park for a future “skate(board) feature.” The most pointed questions for her tonight sought to zero in on who made that decision, when it was made, and why High Point Community Center — listed in the city Skatepark Plan as the other option for a West Seattle skateboard park — was ruled out.Read More
Alki sidewalk project follow-up: Design “proceeding,” for now
Two weeks ago, at the contentious Alki Community Center meeting (WSB coverage from that night is here) about the proposed sidewalk project along an area consisting mostly of the north side of Alki Ave’s west end (shown above), one citizen asked city reps what kind of process would be needed to stop the project. The city promised to check into it, but had no quick answer because they’d never been asked to cancel this type of citizen-initiated (background here) project before. We just checked with Seattle Transportation Department communications boss Rick Sheridan to see if they’d come up with the answer. Short version — no; he tells WSB, “We are having internal discussions about it, but no formal decision has been made yet.” Meantime, Sheridan says feedback from the meeting and “other sources” is being processed, and adds, “In the near term, we will proceed with the project’s design while continuing to work with adjacent property owners and the community.” By the way, the presentation from the 4/2 meeting is available online now (see it here), with the various options the city presented, including a one-way alternative that pretty much died on the spot that night. And if you have feedback about the Alki sidewalk project, SDOT’s Sandra (Sam) Woods is the person to e-mail, sandra.woods@seattle.gov is her address.
Be a Master of Disaster – know where to go!
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That’s the updated version of a map we first showed you earlier this weekend – the first six spots around West Seattle designated as neighborhood gathering places in case disaster strikes and normal lines of communication aren’t working; this is where you would go for information and help. As part of a neighborhood-group-led process for the next month or so, each spot (and a couple more yet to be firmed up) will have a date set when volunteers will set up a table for you to come visit and pick up information to help keep your family safe. Tonight, another of those dates has been set: April 27, 10 am-2 pm, at Ercolini Park, gathering spot for people in the Junction area; also the site for Olympic Heights and environs is now set as Hughes Playground, and the date to stop by there will be 1-4 pm May 3rd. Other dates/places set for you to stop by if it’s your nearest gathering place: 11 am-4 pm April 20 @ Thriftway for Morgan Junction, 7:30-11 am April 26 @ Delridge Community Center, 3-6 pm May 4 @ Hiawatha Park for the Admiral area. But don’t wait till then to make sure everyone in your family knows where to go if the unthinkable happens – print out this map (clicking on “View Larger Map” beneath it will take you to the full version) and tuck it away if you think that might help.
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