Now in the second year of her term, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison has been working on some major initiatives – from dealing with “high utilizers” to suing the carmakers whose vehicles have become frequent targets of thieves. Has her office’s work made a difference for neighborhoods? You can hear from her firsthand during Thursday night’s Alki Community Council meeting, in person at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds) or online. You can RSVP here; video/phone attendance info is in our calendar listing. (Photo: Davison at SW Crime Prevention Council last November)

This month’s Alki Community Council meeting included updates on two ongoing topics:

HARBOR AVENUE RVs: Since the most-recent city attempt to clear the street, some RVs have returned (we counted three on Thursday afternoon). An outreach worker at the ACC meeting said that area is “a priority” now – as outreach for the 2nd/Michigan encampment was wrapping up at the time of this meeting last week – and that more people “are accepting offers” than used to be the case. SPD Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Dorothy Kim added that parking-enforcement officers are going through the area twice weekly to tag vehicles: “We’re not letting it be stagnant.”

OTHER POLICE UPDATES: Updating crime trends from SPD data, Lt. Kim said that in the Alki area, property-crime reports are down, except for auto theft, which continues on the rise citywide. Violent crime is unchanged. So far, as of meeting time, the Alki area has had one verified shots-fired incident since the start of the year (at Hamilton Viewpoint Park). The new SPD schedule “seems to be working,” Lt. Kim said, with a three-hour overlap during the first two watches of the day enabling some officers to be spared for “directed patrol” in areas that need more attention. She also mentioned that staffing issues are improving, saying that they “just got two officers back from the vaccine mandate” (which ended recently) and others returning from parental leave or “limited duty” constraints. She also noted that the department has been developing more officers as “field trainers” for new hires, which requires them to go through special training of their own; a new class of trainers is starting up.

GET INVOLVED: If you live/work or have some other interest in the Alki area, the ACC needs more participation – it’s been operating at a bare-bones level for a long time. A little help can make a lot of difference. You can send questions or suggestions via this page on the ACC’s website.

The Alki Community Council meets 7 pm third Thursdays most months, in-person (at Alki UCC, 6115 SW Hinds) and online.,

Busy night Tuesday for community meetings, as has long been the case for second Tuesdays. Here are our notes from the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, held in person at Admiral Church, facilitated by ANA president Joanie Jacobs:

TRAFFIC: One of the two major topics of discussion was too-fast traffic on SW Admiral Way east of California. The curve in particular is a spot for periodic crashes that take out and/or damage poles and landscaping, or worse. ANA’s Dan Jacobs noted a 2021 SDOT survey that has shown many cars way over the speed limit in the area – a thousand drivers per day at 50+ mph+, 100 at 60+ mph, at least 1 per day at 80+ mph. They’re hoping to work with SDOT about what if anything can be done to try to slow down drivers on that stretch.

CONCERT SERIES: With Hiawatha Community Center unavailable for another summer, ANA has to decide whether to try to have one or more summer concerts at an alternate location. They’ve been looking at two possible locations, Hamilton Viewpoint and the Lafayette Elementary playground. Concert-series coordinator Stephanie Jordan said both would have increased production costs. In discussion, ANA thought Lafayette was a more promising location, particularly for accessibility via either car or bus, but also for access to other businesses – the ability to grab a picnic dinner at a grocery deli or restaurant and walk over, for example. Play facilities for younger kids, which don’t exist at Hamilton, also were an appealing aspect.

What remains to be decided is whether they’ll try to host one event with multiple bands or three events with one band each. (The pre-pandemic concert series was one band per night on six Thursday nights.) So watch for updates later this spring.

OUTDOOR MOVIE: Side note, ANA and Admiral Church plan to present an outdoor-movie night on the church grounds this summer.

NO POLICE: SPD is usually represented at these meetings but wasn’t last night after all.

Watch connecttoadmiral.org for updates between ANA meetings.

Some community groups continue to meet online, some have moved to “hybrid” (in-person and online) meetings, and a few have gone back to just meeting in person, Tomorrow, the District 1 Community Network will meet in-person for the first time in three years. It’s a coalition of community advocates and organization/group representatives from around West Seattle and South Park, now ready to broaden the reach since the district has grown too. Everyone interested is invited to attend. D1CN is meeting at 7 pm Wednesday (March 1st) at Neighborhood House High Point, 6400 Sylvan Way SW.

Six months after appointing Greg Wong as Department of Neighborhoods director, Mayor Harrell moved him to deputy mayor. Six months after that, the mayor has just announced a new DoN nominee. From today’s announcement:

Today, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that he will appoint Jenifer Chao to serve as the next Director of the Department of Neighborhoods (DON). Chao, a community engagement leader, currently serves as the Deputy Director of Strategy and Administration in the City of Seattle’s Finance and Administrative Services.

Working with the City of Seattle since 2009, Chao has built a reputation as a community collaborator and strong voice for equity and opportunity for youth and historically underserved communities. Chao previously served on the Department of Neighborhoods’ Outreach and Engagement team, where she focused on developing strong and trusted relationships in the Chinatown-International District (CID) through work on the CID Community Vision Workgroup and Sound Transit 3 planning. Chao also served as the Interim Director of the Office of Civil Rights’ Race and Social Justice Initiative and worked in the Human Services Department where she supported the Seattle Youth Employment Program.

Outside of her service at the City, Chao served five years at the Seattle non-profit Neighborhood House, where she supported people looking to achieve their long-term education and employment goals.

Read the full announcement – with quotes from Chao, Wong, and Harrell – here. As with other department-head positions, this one will require City Council confirmation.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

There was a lot to talk about when HPAC, the community coalition for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge, convened its first 2023 meeting online Wednesday night.

Transportation was the big topic. The photo above shows SW Holden from 12th SW to 11th SW. The former intersection is getting a pedestrian-activated signal, and SDOT was going to as a result remove the flashing beacon at the latter – until local advocates convinced them not to. That responsiveness was something on which they complimented the night’s marquee guest, SDOT director Greg Spotts. He started work just as what HPAC called “two and a half years of hell’ – the West Seattle Bridge detour – was ending. HPAC co-chair Kay Kirkpatrick, facilitating the meeting, told Spotts that SDOT was very responsive to the area’s needs and concerns during that time.

Spotts then offered a few opening remarks. “I’ve developed a real passion for West Seattle,” though he decided to live, carlessly until at least this fall, in South Lake Union. He’s done 100+ field visits with community members around the city, four mornings a week, every week. (In West Seattle, those have so far included Fauntleroy and Alki.) His first day at work in Seattle started with.a visit to the West Seattle Bridge. He talked about the Alki response to reckless driving – installing features including speed humps. He also talked about the rapid response that created a bike detour when the low bridge broke down in last month’s ice storm. Spotts said his theme for SDOT for 2023 is “Delivery fast and flavorful, in concert with our values.” He said he told the mayor in his July 1st job interview that he wants to end the days of telling communities what they’re getting by pointing to lines on a map, and start “co-creating” projects instead.

Then he listened to myriad concerns raised by attendees.

Read More

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Three topics dominated this month’s Alki Community Council meeting: The Harbor Avenue RVs, the Stone Cottage’s future, and the Alki Point “Healthy Street.”

ACC president Tony Fragada facilitated the meeting, held hybrid-style – in person at Alki UCC and online – on Thursday night; we covered it via Zoom.

(WSB photo, earlier this week)

HARBOR AVENUE RVs: Alki-area residents who have been demanding action from the city to make the RV residents move say they’re not getting it, while the roadside encampment grows (it’s up to 12 RVs and trailers, plus associated vehicles including an old school bus and a truck full of wooden pallets, at last count). Discussion with SPD’s night-shift commander Lt. Nathan Shopay focused on what police can and can’t do. If crimes are being committed, call 911. If you’re just upset that they’re there, police can’t do anything about that. There is still an interdepartmental city team meeting weekly – Lt. Shopay says he attends that meeting – and they discuss the status of various encampments around the city, but he says they’re “inundated” with demands for action. Nonetheless, he says, keep reporting concerns via Find It Fix It and sites will move up the priority list. This area’s new point person for LEAD, Michelle McClendon, jumped in to talk about outreach done with RV residents like those on Harbor. She said their methods include “motivational interviewing, trauma-informed … this does not happen overnight.” They “assess each person’s needs” – some qualify for permanent supportive housing, for example. But she reminded attendees that even if they offer someone services, they can’t be forced to accept the offer. As for the perennial issue of enforcing the 72-hour parking rule, Lt. Shopay was asked if bringing Parking Enforcement Officers back into the Police Department would help; Most likely, he replied, though it’d not clear yet how long that will take.

STONE COTTAGE SITE SEARCH: Almost a year and a half has passed since the historic Stone Cottage was moved from its location at 1123 Harbor Avenue SW because of then-imminent (since stalled) development.

(August 2021 reader photo by Rachel)

It remains in storage on Port of Seattle land while the preservationist volunteers who worked to save it tackle the next task: Finding a permanent home. Two of those volunteers, Mike Shaughnessy and Deb Barker, came to the ACC meeting with an update; Shaughnessy recapped the effort to date, and pre-pandemic progress with a proposal that they fix up the Stone Cottage and then donate it to Seattle Parks and Recreation – a proposal that he said was gaining traction until COVID shut down everything down and set back many Parks projects, Now, in addition to that, Parks is under new leadership, with recently appointed Superintendent AP Diaz, so they are “starting from scratch … taking a ‘Hail Mary’ approach” to pitch the project again. If Parks doesn’t want it, they’ll find a site. Whatever happens, the “Save the Stone Cottage” effort will soon go into Phase 2.

ALKI POINT HEALTHY STREET: SDOT hasn’t made a final decision on the permanent “design” for the stretches of Beach Drive and Alki Avenue north/east of 63rd SW. As shown during a community meeting in November (WSB coverage here), they’re looking at a variety of traffic-calming features. A few community advocates recently hosted SDOT director Greg Spotts for an unpublicized visit to the area. They said he was particularly interested in the idea of restricting parking adjacent to Constellation Park, saying he talked about Stonehenge in the UK once allowing parking so close to the historic stones that it took away from the attraction. Their contention is that the Healthy Street doesn’t need added features such as traffic circles and chicanes – they think the city should just focus on emphasizing traffic calming at the entry points (63rd/Beach and 63rd/Alki). They also want to see some parking preserved for area residents as well as for visitors; the 63rd/Beach area is particularly problematic, it was noted. ACC members agreed to send a letter of support to the city.

NEXT MEETING: The ACC meets third Thursdays most months, in-person and online; watch alkicommunitycouncil.org for updates.

The areas served by the community coalition HPAC – Highland Park, Riverview, South Delridge – have been through a lot of transportation issues in recent years, particularly the two and a half years of traffic overload from the West Seattle Bridge closure detours. But the reopening of the bridge didn’t solve everything. If you live/work/study/do business in those areas, check out HPAC’s first meeting of 2023 this coming Wednesday (January 25), when guests will include new SDOT director Greg Spotts, visiting to hear about the area’s transportation concerns and ideas. Another guest of note: Michelle McClendon is the new LEAD project manager for the Southwest Precinct area, and she’ll be there to talk and hear about public-safety issues. And HPAC co-chair Craig Rankin will talk about the new West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails map, reported on and discussed here last month. One more hot topic: The city’s Comprehensive Plan update, which the meeting announcement points out “has numerous implications for the future way our community grows. Notably the plan lists our area as one with a high risk of displacement.” All this and more is part of HPAC’s agenda for 7 pm Wednesday, online. Attendance info, via video or phone, is in the full announcement on HPAC’s website.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Two major topics and several quick updates highlighted the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting last night. MoCA president Deb Barker facilitated the online meeting.

SKATING AT MORGAN JUNCTION PARK ADDITION: The site north of Morgan Junction Park has “been such an eyesore for so long,” why not do something with it? That’s the contention of the community members who went rogue and built a makeshift skatepark last year. This was a hot topic at the last MoCA quarterly meeting in October; last night, MoCA again heard from the West Seattleites who turned the long-vacant site into an unofficial skatepark and are campaigning, as “Let The Kids Skate,” for that use to be included in the permanent plan. (The site’s been owned by the city for almost nine years, but its development as a park stalled during COVID.) One supporter, John, said Parks asked them for concepts to incorporate a “skate dot” into the pre-existing design for the park addition. Another, Zac, presented some of their ideas. Parks has shut down use of the community-built features on the site, but it might be another six years until the park is developed, though; they contend that’s too long to wait while the site sits vacant. They think the south part of the site is the best spot for a skate dot – the north end has some conflicts with neighboring residents, although they contend that could be mitigated. He showed some concepts:

Truly activating the site could be a draw for Morgan’s growing business district too, they contend – reasons to come and stay, rather than leaving – so they hope business owners will get excited about the idea too. Zac said the group likes Option 3 best. It would include features that don’t exist at current skating areas in West Seattle. Here’s a closer look:

He said their rough schematics would be pretty easy to use to springboard to a cost estimate – and that community fundraising is one option. Their next steps include soliciting community feedback, as well as Parks’ commitment to redesigning the site. Community support is vital – this group is all-volunteer, and if they don’t have support, they’re not going to keep pushing it indefinitely, they said. The site, meantime, is awaiting soil remediation, but Let The Kids Skate has been told that’s not imminent – no contract’s been awarded.

Among those on hand for the meeting was Matt Johnston, a West Seattleite who’s been involved in past skatepark projects, including development of a citywide plan to which he says Parks is “still beholden.” This site is not on the plan, but Alki and Hiawatha are, for example, and Johnston said that the city’s been known to remove one location and add another if that works. “They should be interested in opportunities to do what they said they were going to do,” he said.

2023 MORGAN JUNCTION FESTIVAL: MoCA’s Michael Brunner presented a recap of past years as the group looks ahead to bringing back a full-day festival for the first time since before the pandemic. “It takes a lot of work,” he noted, and that includes lots of volunteer power. Here’s some of what it’s entailed in the past:

A date hasn’t been finalized yet – June 18th is a leading candidate – but planning meetings need to start soon. Here are some of the roles with which they welcome assistance:

If you can help make this festival happen, mocacnc@gmail.com.

Quick updates:

FUTURE EV SITE: Environmental cleanup of the site at 42nd/Morgan was completed in November. Barker said they’d asked Seattle City Light questions including whether the site could be used before development. Yes, with conditions, she was told.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE: If you haven’t yet been to a meeting for input and information about this citywide plan, an online meeting is set for January 30.

DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY: 6007 California SW, proposed for a four-story mixed-use project, is “on hold … stalled over funding issues,” Barker said she was told by a project team member … 6314 41st SW, a 34-apartment project, is still going through land-use review … The California/Brandon Aegis Living proposal, as we’ve reported, goes before the Southwest Design Review Board on February 2nd.

NEW BUSINESS: West Seattle Wonder Dogs is now in Morgan Junction (6040 California SW). Proprietor Erika Abrahamson says, “We’re really loving the new location.” Their offerings include dog day care and training.

PREPAREDNESS: As discussed at the last meeting, Gatewood Elementary will have a special emphasis on this during this month’s Parent Education Night, as a sort of pilot for future wider-community meetings.

FRIENDS OF MORGAN JUNCTION PARKS: This group is planning an April volunteer-work-party event for Morgan Junction Park and will be seeking volunteers.

MoCA BOARD: Openings remain, including the vice presidency. Email mocacnc@gmail.com if interested.

NEXT MEETING: April 19th, 7 pm, likely still online.

Earlier, we mentioned the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting coming up Wednesday; also ahead this week, the Alki Community Council‘s monthly meeting Thursday (January 19th). This is a hybrid meeting, both online (info here) and in-person (Alki UCC, 6115 SW Hinds) at 7 pm. The agenda isn’t finalized but they’re hoping to have a Southwest Precinct representative – both Alki Avenue reckless driving and Harbor Avenue encampments are recurring topics.

Next up in this month’s round of neighborhood-group meetings is the Morgan Community Association, which meets quarterly. MoCA’s online meeting is Wednesday (January 18th) at 7 pm. Topics on the agenda so far include updates on the Morgan Junction Park addition site, the future electric-vehicle-charging site, and this year’s plans for the MoCA-presented Morgan Junction Community Festival. The meeting is happening online only; video and phone attendance info is in our calendar listing.

One last community-meeting report from this past week: The Admiral Neighborhood Association met Tuesday night at Admiral Church. ANA’s new president Joanie Jacobs led the meeting. Parks and police were two major topics. For the former, Hiawatha’s status tops the list – both for general community interest, and because the ANA’s long-running summer concert series happens there. Parks didn’t send a rep to the meeting, but ANA leadership has been in contact. As reported here last month, the community center’s long-planned upgrade project isnn’t expected to start construction before May, and that would keep Hiawatha closed until early 2024. ANA’s Dan Jacobs, who’s been communicating with Parks, says the play-area move and playfield turf-replacement projects are other complicating factors. The play area, like the community center, has gone into another round of delays, he was told, and plans are currently in “revisions.” Concert-series coordinator Stephanie Jordan is looking for help scouting for alternate locations and planning. The concerts might be in a different format if they do happen – possibly even a one-day music festival.

(ANA president Joanie Jacobs and Southwest Precinct Lt. Nathan Shopay)

Seattle Police did have a representative at the meeting, Southwest Precinct night-shift commander Lt. Nathan Shopay. He noted that Admiral overall remains one of the quietest areas in Seattle’s safest neighborhood. As has been the case at other neighborhood meetings, he was asked about staffing – still a challenge – and also talked about a new version of the four-day schedule that’s being implemented for officers. No updates on specific incidents, but regarding emphasis patrols, he said he’s still placing some officers in the Don Armeni Boat Ramp area on Friday and Saturday nights to try to deter street racers and other stunt drivers.

Other notes: The ANA Adopt-a-Street cleanups will be revived – can you pitch in? Message ANA to volunteer … West Seattle Grounds (2141 California SW) is collecting sock donations through the end of the month – drop off packages of new socks for Operation Nightwatch’s work with unsheltered people … The Southwest Seattle Historical Society is continuing to open the Log House Museum (61st/Stevens) one day a week, noon-4 pm Saturdays, for visitors. … Watch connecttoadmiral.org for neighborhood updates between meetings.

The District 1 Community Network is the first local organization having a public meeting in the new year, 7 pm Wednesday (January 4th) online, D1CN is a coalition of West Seattle and South Park community advocates who gather to address area issues; everyone interested is welcome to join in. Draft agenda items for this meeting include the South Park flooding situation and the ongoing work toward updating the city’s Comprehensive Plan. Video and call-in information can be found in our calendar listing.