By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“Kind of sad … but things change.”

So mused Tamsen Spengler, who is now the former co-chair of the Southwest District Council, after its vote last night to disband.

Its remaining active members aren’t dropping out of community advocacy; most of them are active with the relatively new District 1 Community Network.

The SWDC was a holdover from the days before the city declared West Seattle and South Park as District 1. Southwest was one of 13 neighborhood districts comprising the city, two in West Seattle.

Each district had a council as a sort of umbrella group for community organizations and institutions in the area. Before then-Mayor Ed Murray‘s abrupt move in 2016 to cut the city’s ties with the district councils, they had a few basic roles, as recapped last night before the vote: Vetting and making recommendations on applications for some city grants, and serving as community point people for information about some city initiatives and projects.

In exchange, the city provided some administrative support – with one coordinator per district until cuts in xx, and $500 annual funding to cover meeting expenses, generally room rental. The district councils also sent reps to a citywide council that talked about big-picture issues.

Though the councils declared defiantly after the Murray move that they would keep going, the ranks have shrunk. West Seattle’s other neighborhood-district council, Delridge, has gone on indefinite hiatus after a meeting at which there were four attendees, none of whom wanted to take the baton from the group’s longtime leader, who had made it clear he needed to move on.

Nine people showed up last night to discuss and decide the SWDC’s future. Much of the discussion focused on how, while the SWDC has been wheezing along, the D1CN – launched almost a year ago – has had energy and collaboration. And a relationship with the city – Councilmember Lisa Herbold or a member of her staff have been at every D1CN meeting, it was noted. South Park reps are part of it too, so it’s truly D1-wide.

So after a little more discussion to ensure those present were ready to vote on pulling the plug on the SWDC, that’s what they did. If you’re interested in getting involved with D1CN, its next meeting is 7 pm November 26th at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse (4705 W. Marginal Way SW).

Our archived coverage of the last decade of Southwest District Council meetings is here.

(SDOT camera screengrab from 7:39 am this past Monday, looking at EB West Seattle Bridge)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

As we’ve been reporting, SDOT thinks it can relieve the backups blamed on the newly restored NB Highway 99 bus lane by making some changes – without removing the lane.

During a multi-agency “Seattle Squeeze” update at tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting, SDOT’s downtown mobility director Heather Marx elaborated on exactly what’s under consideration.

Marx, a West Seattle resident, said: “We are working right now with WSDOT to get their approval to make some adjustments. We’re going to extend the merge 1,000 more feet so it’ll give people more mixing zone to stretch themselves out … instead of the pretty short merge area, we’re going to give you a lot longer … the shortness of the merge is creating a backup …” slowing down cars and buses. She said engineers believe that will make a difference, “to relieve some of that friction.” The goal is to have that change in place “shortly,” but she has no date, summarizing “We are quite aware of the problem and are actively developing a solution.”

Marx’s comments come six days after SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe said something similar – but less specific – to the West Seattle Transportation Coalition. It’s been a week and a half since the bus lane’s return has started backing up 99 onto the West Seattle Bridge, slowing not only drivers but also buses before they ever get to the lane.

The rest of the Seattle Squeeze presentation and other meeting details, ahead: Read More

Now that it’s September, it’s not just back-to-school time, but also back-to-work time for many volunteer community-involvement groups. The first to meet after summer hiatus: The Southwest District Council, whose members represent neighborhood organizations and nonprofits from around (mostly) western West Seattle. Focus of the SWDC’s Wednesday (September 4) 6:30 pm meeting:

The meeting topic will be Seattle’s plans for West Seattle green space, status of current projects, budgeting, and how the community can be more involved.

SWDC meets at the Senior Center/Sisson Building (4217 SW Oregon); everyone’s welcome.

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

“This is just the start.”

Regarding the hot topic of light rail in West Seattle, that was a common theme and assurance from Sound Transit experts and longtime community leaders alike at the monthly meeting of the Southwest District Council, held at the Senior Center of West Seattle on Wednesday night.

Following the previous Friday’s meeting of the Elected Leadership Group and this past Tuesday’s deadline to submit “scoping comments,” the project has definitely taken the next step, but leaders stressed that the end of the 3rd and final level of filtering routing/statio options for environmental review certainly isn’t the end of public input.

Several staff members from Sound Transit talked about the latest plans at the meeting (with a special focus on potential housing displacement), including West Seattle project lead Stephen Mak (pictured above), outreach supervisor Leda Chahim and property director Joe Gray, to summarize the project proposals and report on current status. Later in the meeting, representatives from the new East Alaska Junction Neighborhood Coalition organization (initially formed in response to ST plans, as we reported here) also introduced themselves to the SW District Council, and talked about ways to collaborate in the future on transit and on broader issues.

Aside from the core agenda, attendees went around the room for quick announcements, including:

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Larry Wymer of the Admiral Neighborhood Association, Tess Colby from the Mayor’s office, and Dusty Olson from Seattle Human Services.

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Tackling tough issues of homelessness and affordable housing were the focus at the monthly meeting of the Southwest District Council, held at the Senior Center of West Seattle on Wednesday night.

Special guests at the meeting were Tess Colby, senior adviser on homelessness from Mayor Durkan’s office, and Dusty Olson, strategic adviser from the Homeless Strategy and Investment Division of the city Human Services Department. (for more information, see the city’s Addressing Homelessness and Homelessness Response pages, and the county’s All Home page)

Olson gave an overview of the city’s activities as it relates to issues of homelessness, as part of this slide presentation (PDF):

Click the image to view a PDF of the full presentation.

Olson said that her group’s primary goal is recent years has shifted to “moving people off the street and into housing,” noting that much progress had been made in King County but that the sheer numbers of homeless individuals are “an increasing problem.” Some statistics from her presentation:

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Between the first two waves of snow, the Southwest District Council held its February meeting. We were there, and just getting a chance to finish the report now that (what we hope is) the last wave of snow is melting. Two major guests at the February 6th meeting: Donna Sandstrom of The Whale Trail and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold:

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One day into 2019, West Seattle community advocates filled a room at the Sisson Building/Senior Center for the Southwest District Council‘s first meeting of the year.

Here are our toplines of what they heard and discussed:

POLICE UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Steve Strand said the precinct has three new officers and another one on the way, so is at or “close to” full staffing; there had been concern that the Bike Squad or another “proactive” group would be “taken away” but nothing has happened so far to indicate that’ll happen. The Bike Squad is “still active,” often in The Junction, sometimes at Westwood Village.

He also had year-end stats for the precinct’s jurisdiction (West Seattle and South Park):

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On the second night of the new year, the Southwest District Council will be the first community group to meet in 2019. SWDC includes reps from community councils and other organizations around western West Seattle (the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council is its eastern-WS counterpart); all are welcome to attend the meeting Wednesday, January 2nd, 6:30 pm, at the Senior Center/Sisson Building, 4217 SW Oregon. Agenda info as provided by the SWDC is in our calendar listing.

Toplines from tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting:

BUSES, POST-VIADUCT: Have you seen this map yet?

It was brought to the SWDC meeting by Chris Arkills from King County, who has been visiting local groups to explain what’s happening during and after the January closure. The yellow pathway is what buses from the south end will use during the closure; after that, the interim period “9 months to 1 year,” it’ll be the blue pathway; then the green signifies the “permanent south end pathway.”

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By Randall Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Three major topics when the Southwest District Council met Wednesday night at the Senior Center/Sisson Building, with featured guests City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, Susan Oatis of Anti-Hate Alaska Junction, and Lisa Corbin of Friends of Southwest Tennis:

Tennis & More?

According to Lisa Corbin, there are 35 outdoor tennis courts in West Seattle, but proper resources for winter weather are much more limited, with just 20 indoor courts in the entire city.

Corbin’s group, Friends of Southwest Tennis, has been working to expand the area’s indoor options for the game, citing the need for more facilities to be able to introduce children to the game outside of summertime.

The group had originally begun discussions to convert the courts west of Southwest Pool/Teen Life Center into a covered, revenue-generating solution, but were told earlier this year that the property would not be made available. So now they’re pivoting.

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One more community meeting to recap from this past week before we head into a new week: The Southwest District Council.

Featured guests at this month’s meeting were from SDOT and The Whale Trail.

AVALON REPAVING/RECHANNELIZATION: Two project reps summarized where the design stands now for the project (see our most recent coverage here). They said there’s still time for feedback on the proposal before design is finalized. They heard two major concerns – one, from Avalon residents who are worried about the rechannelization plan’s removal of the center turn lane, given its use by business and delivery vehicles as well as for turning; two, from Luna Park businesses about the loss of street parking. SDOT plans to add limits to street parking that currently has no limits, in order to encourage turnover. Luna Park Café owner John Bennett says the situation is already challenging even before this project, and the transit lanes that currently replace parking from 6 to 10 am should end at 9 am instead.

THE WHALE TRAIL: Executive director Donna Sandstrom elaborated on some of what she’d said the night before at her organization’s latest Orca Talk (WSB coverage here). She is on Governor Inslee‘s task force trying to help the dwindling Southern Resident Killer Whale population and noted that its draft report is due in a few weeks. She reminded attendees that saving the orcas doesn’t just involve increasing the salmon population so they have more food – reducing boat noise, which gets in the way of their fishing, is a fast way to help them.

The SRKWs’ plight – including efforts to help ailing J50 – could have a silver lining in that they’ve raised awareness about the whales to a level not seen in more than a decade, and she hopes that can be converted to action. Sandstrom also offered a primer on The Whale Trail and said they’re reaching out more than ever to local community groups – like the SWDC – to get more help and support. Watch for upcoming events (the next Orca Talk, for example, is October 2nd – details to come).

The Southwest District Council meets first Wednesdays most months, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center/Sisson Building (4217 SW Oregon).

Got questions about the upcoming Avalon Way rechannelization/repaving project, but couldn’t get to the recent SDOT open house? You have another chance for Q&A when the Southwest District Council meets on Wednesday – it’s one of three major items on the SWDC agenda. Project communicator Adonis Ducksworth is scheduled to brief the SWDC. Also on the agenda, The Whale Trail‘s Donna Sandstrom, with an update on local orcas (she’s also on the Governor’s Southern Resident Killer Whales Task Force). And on the “announcements” section of the agenda is the proposal to form a council that advocates for the areas that comprise City Council District 1, which has historically had three neighborhood-district councils – Southwest (western West Seattle), Delridge (eastern West Seattle), and part of Greater Duwamish (South Park). All are welcome at the SWDC meeting, which is at 6:30 pm Wednesday (September 5th) at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).

Of the three presentations at Wednesday night’s Southwest District Council meeting. two continued the environment/sustainability theme that began with last month’s meeting:

NUCOR: Pat Jablonski spoke for the steel mill’s environmental team =”We’re a recycling facility,” Jablonski said – they take scrap, melt it down, and make it into steel products, mostly rebar that can be used in construction, infrastructure, “any sort of major construction project around here, there’s a pretty good chance it’ll have our steel in it.” The plant’s been there since 1905. “The overall business model of recycling scrap and producing steel products” hasn’t changed over the years. More than 300 people work there; the average salary is $90,000 a year, with entry-level positions around $60,000.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

With one month until your next major feedback opportunity for West Seattle light rail, this week’s Southwest District Council meeting brought a chance for some to catch up on where the process is so far. Sound Transit reps were the spotlight guests, along with Lora Swift from the West Seattle Junction Association.

First:

WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: This was something of a primer to catch up those who haven’t been following it much since the process of determining a “preferred alignment” for the West Seattle and Ballard extensions revved up three months ago.

Stephen Mak from Sound Transit first recapped the backstory that we’ve already covered here many times, including what’s currently the “representative alignment” – aka, the draft route – elevated stations at SODO, Delridge, Avalon, and The Junction, with a new light-rail-only bridge over the Duwamish River.

By this time next year, the Sound Transit board hopes to have a “preferred alignment” approved. Next feedback step, the first round of “neighborhood forums,” with one in West Seattle 10 am-12:30 pm May 5th (as announced last month). Before then, the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) has two meetings, April 17th and 24th – and that’s when the official report on the public “early scoping” feedback from February-March will be made public, Mak said in response to a question from Deb Barker, one of two West Seattle community representatives on the SAG. He recapped the “early themes” described at last month’s SAG meeting, including suggested alternate routing, with some tunneling – all five of them are shown here:

Mak stressed, as briefers had at the SAG meeting, that these are not in any way final options – just an early look at some themes emerging.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The city’s proposed changes in parking rules continue to make their way through the City Council, with another briefing in the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee this week.

Hours later, the Southwest District Council heard from, and talked with, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections staffers who wrote the proposal.

We’ve covered the proposal previously, dating back to its introduction in November by then-Mayor Tim Burgess. It had been in the works for a while, dating back to the Ed Murray administration – we mentioned before a city HALA-and-other-initiatives open house in January that parking was on the table too. SDCI’s Gordon Clowers and Mike Podowski told the SWDC at its regular March meeting on Wednesday night that it’s the first time in many years the city has addressed parking in the zoning code.

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Whether you’re a renter or a homeowner, a landlord or a developer, a car user or a bicycle rider, The city’s “neighborhood parking” changes will probably affect you. They continue making their way through the City Council, after more than two months. Tomorrow night, the Southwest District Council will get a briefing from a city rep, and everyone is invited to bring questions, whatever your housing status or interest in the issue. The full bill is here. Wednesday night’s SWDC agenda also includes School Board president Leslie Harris, who represents our area on the board, and a Seattle Public Utilities rep talking about graffiti, illegal dumping, and needle disposal. SWDC looks forward to seeing everyone upstairs at the Senior Center/Sisson Building in The Junction starting at 6:30 pm Wednesday.

(L-R, Councilmember Lisa Herbold, SWDC co-chairs Tamsen Spengler & Amanda Sawyer, secretary Roxane Rusch; Gunner Scott of HPAC, Mat McBride of Delridge NDC, Lora Swift of WSJA)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

New year, new information – many community updates filled last night’s first 2018 meeting of the Southwest District Council, representatives of groups and organizations around western West Seattle.

The meeting was the first under SWDC’s new leadership, co-chairs Tamsen Spengler (of the Morgan Community Association) and Amanda Sawyer (Junction Neighborhood Organization), with secretary Roxane Rusch (Admiral Neighborhood Association).

The spotlighted guest was City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, now midway through her four-year term representing District 1 (West Seattle and South Park).

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We’re now less than a week away from the first local community meeting of the new year, the Southwest District Council‘s meeting next Wednesday (January 3rd) at the Sisson Building/Senior Center in The Junction (4217 SW Oregon). Besides discussing 2017 accomplishments and 2018 goals, SWDC is scheduled to hear from and talk with District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. Got a question or comment for her? She’s expected at 7 pm, half an hour into the 6:30 pm meeting, at which everyone’s welcome.