West Seattle, Washington
05 Sunday
Just in from SDOT – three more blocks of California SW in the treacherous stretch between Alaska and Morgan Junctions are about to get some help:
Next Monday through Thursday, December 12 through 15, Seattle Department of Transportation crews will be resurfacing California Avenue SW from SW Findlay Street to SW Graham Street [map]. The resurfacing work, which will take place from 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day, will involve grinding down the surface, making repairs to the street base and repaving the roadway. Traffic in both directions will be pushed to the opposite side of where the crews are working. All crosswalks and sidewalks will remain open. A Police Officer will provide traffic control at the intersection of California Avenue SW and SW Graham Street.
We’ll check with Metro for their rerouting plans.
ADDED 11:25 AM: Since SDOT has said it would love to repave more of California SW south of The Junction but didn’t have the money, we asked what was paying for this sudden project. SDOT’s Peg Nielsen tells WSB it’s from the “Rubble Yard sale,” city property sold for use as a staging area in the Highway 99 tunnel project. City Council President Richard Conlin wrote about it earlier this year.
ADDED 1:43 PM: Nielsen also provides an explanation of a question asked in comments – why just three blocks? – and what’s ahead:Read More
(August 27 photo by Tony Bradley)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
New water mains, yes. Added sidewalks, no.
That’s one of the points we got clarified, following up on Wednesday morning’s Arbor Heights fire briefing before the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee.
You can watch the entire briefing in our Wednesday-morning story; we summarized the briefing documents’ key points in this story from the night before.
But we had a few followup questions, so, adding the answers to the additional information that emerged at the briefing – primarily regarding the plan to upgrade water mains in the area where they were too small to provide adequate “fire flow”:Read More
The West Seattle Art Walk is one of tonight’s biggest events – and if you stop by Alki Arts (2820 Alki SW), you can see that work (thanks to gallery owner Diane Venti for sharing) and others by Bryce Robertson, paying tribute to the Space Needle on its 50th anniversary. We’ll have more Art Walk previews here later (thanks to everyone who has sent theirs) – and you can dive into the sneak peeks published on the official Art Walk website. 6-9 pm, all over West Seattle. (Many venues are in The Junction, where it’s also the pre-Christmas Shop Late Thursday till 9 pm, participating merchants listed here!)
Meantime, it’s also a night for music:
SCHOOL CONCERTS: We recorded those members of the Chief Sealth International High School Orchestra at the school’s PTSA meeting a week ago. They and the Sealth choir, along with their counterparts from Denny International Middle School next door, have been rehearsing for tonight’s big concert, 7 pm, Sealth auditorium (2600 SW Thistle). Madison Middle School’s Senior Band, Senior Orchestra, and Jazz Band will perform their winter concert tonight as well, 7 pm in the Madison gym (45th/Spokane). (Update: Commenter says ALL Madison bands will play!)
And yet more from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERT: Road closures at spots along Spokane Street just east of West Seattle tonight – check the advisory for details.
TOY DONATIONS: KIRO’s Jenni Hogan is out on “Mobile Tweetup” patrol 10 am-1 pm picking up Toys for Tots donations – WSB sponsor Nurturing Expressions is a dropoff location; take over a toy!
BOOK SIGNING AT METROPOLITAN MARKET: Admiral Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) hosts Alexandra Hedin signing her book, Entertaining at Home: Inspiration, Recipes and Crafts for Creations for a Lovely Life, 4-6 pm.
BOOK SIGNINGS AT BEER JUNCTION: Arcadia Books signing at the Beer Junction, 5-8pm 4707 42nd Avenue Southwest. Come meet the collaborators of the latest Arcadia books- “West Seattle” and “Luna Park” – and taste a featured beer too! Your chance to buy signed copies and thrill your friends and family with these history books!
DELRIDGE DESC PROJECT DESIGN REVIEW: Southwest Design Review Board meeting for DESC proposal to build 75-unit apartment complex at 5444 Delridge to house chronically homeless people, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), 6:30 pm. (Archive of WSB project coverage is here; community volunteers’ information clearinghouse about tonight’s meeting and other project aspects is here.)
GO CONGRATULATE THE WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Last night, it won an award; tonight, it plays host to Ask An Expert for Do It Yourselfers, also at Youngstown, 6-8 pm.
OPEN HOUSE: Suite Arrangements open house in The Junction, treats, drinks, in-store specials, 4-9 pm
HOLIDAY TASTING: West Seattle Thriftway holiday tasting, 4-7 pm
GOT A PLACE FOR A NEW FRIEND? Friends of the Animals Foundation will be at Next to Nature with adoptable cats and kittens in formal wear (tuxedo cat, anyone?) and in need of new homes this Thursday from 6-9 pm. Browse the art, shop the winter farmers market, and adopt a new family member.
SWEETIE’S HOLIDAY PARTY: Sweetie Boutique in The Junction invites you to its holiday party: “Lots of great things in store, treats, eats & libations!” 7-10 pm. (And see Sweetie’s coupon on the WSB Holiday Shopping Guide coupons page.)
SHOPPING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE? GOING OUT TO SEE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS? Info/updates on those – and more – are featured on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page.
Two West Seattle elementary schools have achievements to share. First, from Roxhill:
Young adults in service to help kids – that’s the fundamental mission of City Year, which operates in several West Seattle schools (among many other places). And a recent event involving Roxhill’s City Year team stretched beyond those involved, raising global awareness. Team leader Hollis Hernandez shares the photos and this report:
On December 1st, the City Year team at Roxhill Elementary School celebrated the end of a school-wide Hunger Awareness Month Campaign with the school’s first Empty Bowls Banquet. All students and families were invited to share a humble meal of soup and bread out of student-decorated bowls and to hear students’ amazing essays on how to combat hunger around the world. It was a powerful and inspiring evening that could only have been possible with the generous donations from Endolyne Joe’s, Ivar’s, Target, and Great Harvest Bread.
Students were excited to get up onstage to read their essays – short and sweet, like this one from a girl named Faith:
Get food for the kids! Parents feed their kids but, some parents want to get more food for their kids because they don’t have enough food. If this happens all the kids will grow. The village will grow stronger with the help a community. The community will grow stronger if all the nations unite. Together we can help change the world to change ourselves.
Now, from Lafayette Elementary , an update on students getting involved with technology – not just to use it, but to strategize and compete: We have an update on a big day for the school’s new LaSER (Lafayette Science, Engineering, Robotics) club!
From Matt Jensen:
Robotics teams from Lafayette’s LaSER club had a great showing at the 26-team South Seattle FLL robot tournament on Saturday. The Mystic Mindstormers and Lego Minds, mixed teams of 2nd and 3rd graders, were the youngest teams there and outscored a number of older teams. The girls’ team, the Go-Go Bots, scored well and won a Core Values Award for Gracious Professionalism.
Several West Seattle Crime Watch notes from the past day or so. First, Brian noted an unusual car-part theft:
Someone stole the Honda logo off the rear of my wife’s 2005 Civic. She noticed it missing Tuesday. She said that ones from nearby cars were missing too. We live in the 8600 block of 25th, 1 block north of Westwood Village. I don’t know if this was a prank or if those logos have some kind of value. Not a huge occurrence but kind of odd.
Ahead, a burglary, some protection tips, a suspicious-behavior report, and a possibly stolen bikeRead More
THe next round of closures for the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project will NOT include any part of the SSV itself, but the surface streets that are involved in the closures might affect you, so we’re publishing this alert sent tonight by SDOT:Read More
(WSB photo by Tracy Record)
It’s been almost two years since our first report that Sustainable West Seattle was starting a tool library. It’s been going strong for a year and a half now, drawing users, generating buzz (Popular Mechanics!), and tonight, winning a big award. Sustainable Seattle, celebrating its annual fundraising gala and awards dinner at the Duwamish Longhouse, honored the West Seattle Tool Library for Sustainability in Innovation in a Social Environment. Accepting the award were (from left) Micah Summers and Patrick Dunn. Haven’t been to the tool library ever – or, lately? It’s open Thursday nights, so you can drop by tomorrow, 6-9 pm (it’ll be another session of Ask the Expert, too, till 8). It’s on the northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW.
P.S. Here’s who else was nominated for the Sustainable Seattle awards.
THURSDAY P.P.S. Click ahead for full list of winners, just received:Read More
More than a week after their arrival in Elliott Bay (here’s our story from November 28), the three extra-jumbo new cranes that SSA is adding at the Port of Seattle‘s Terminal 18 are finally being unloaded. Justin McDonald shared the photo on Facebook; we’re republishing it here with his permission. This one, he wrote, is the first one coming off. Last week, our friends at KING 5 took a closer look in this story (with video)
We’re spotlighting decorated homes (or apartments/condos/businesses/etc. if you have any tips to share!) every night this holiday season. Tonight, it’s not the lights at this house so much as the old-school Santa, reindeer, and sleigh in the front yard. Not inflatable, not plastic, something sturdier. We just spotted this while driving around so we don’t know whose home it is, but it’s worth a visit, on 39th north of Andover (map). We’re listing all the spotlighted displays in the “Christmas Lights” section of the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, and while we’re going out scouting, we also welcome suggestions – we can certainly feature more than one per night!
Congratulations to the girls’ GU-15 West Seattle Crush and boys’ BU-11 West Seattle Crush soccer teams from the West Seattle Soccer Club – they’re both in the state semifinals, the Washington Youth Soccer Recreational Cup, this weekend. The boys play the South Whidbey Islanders at 9 am Saturday on Starfire Sports Complex field #9 in Tukwila, and go to the finals at 2 pm if they win; the girls play the Sun Devils at 10;30 am Sunday on Valley Ridge Field #2 in Seatac, with the finals at 3:30 pm at Starfire field #4 if they win. Full schedule here; good luck!
Two updates this afternoon on the plan for Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) to build a 75-apartment building in the 5400 block of Delridge to house currently homeless people:
SITE PURCHASE FINALIZED: DESC had said they expected to close the deal to buy the site on December 1st, and agency executive Nicole Macri confirmed to WSB today that it has indeed happened. She also says DESC is continuing to talk with area residents about establishing an “advisory committee of neighborhood stakeholders,” adding, “An ad-hoc committee of the NDNC has come together to begin identifying neighborhood constituency groups and prospective members to fill seats on the committee.” She says the group could start meeting in January. (Creation of the committee was discussed in an informal neighborhood meeting we covered two weeks ago.)
DESIGN REVIEW MEETING TOMORROW: The size and scope of the project requires it to go through the city’s Design Review process, so tomorrow is the first of at least two meetings in which it will go before the Southwest Design Review Board, a city-convened panel of volunteers (“meet” them here). As noted here last month, you can pre-review the “packet” for the meeting, including the options for the building’s “mass” and shape. If you’ve never been to a Design Review meeting before, and/or are still catching up on this project, there’s a wide array of information made available by hard-working citizen volunteers in Delridge – here are documents regarding the process; here’s info about the handy “Community Guide to Design Review”; and if you can just read one bundle of background, this post on the recently revamped North Delridge Neighborhood Council site summarizes last week’s “Design Review 101” briefing, and the design review/permit-seeking process.
Tomorrow night’s meeting is at 6:30 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, public welcome, even if you don’t intend to speak. Meantime, our archive of project coverage dating back to first public word in June can be found here. If the timeline DESC distributed last month holds, construction would start in about a year.
Three holiday updates this afternoon:
(December 2010 Alki photo by David Hutchinson)
When the Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship and entourage visit Alki this Saturday – one of three stops that night, plus another one on Monday – it’ll be greeted by a roaming “cast of characters representing the Biblical event from the first Christmas,” from Hope Lutheran, according to Mary Welch, who says they also will perform for the crowd at the Alki Bathhouse art studio. As noted on the WSB West Seattle Holiday Events/Info page, the Christmas ship’s schedule this Saturday is 5:15-5:35 pm at Seacrest, 8:50-9:10 at Lowman Beach, 9:40-10 pm at Alki. On Monday, it comes to Don Armeni, 8:40-9 pm.
Coming up this Sunday night – it’s the gingerbreadiest event of this holiday season:
That’s one of our photos from last year’s gingerbread-building competition at West Seattle Christian Church. We recently put out their call for participants, and now WSCC pastor Dan Jacobs says they have 40 teams signed up – they’re inviting you to come be a spectator! 5 pm this Sunday (December 11th) in the WSCC Activity Center along 42nd SW between Genesee and Oregon. Raffle entries and other donations benefit WSCC’s wellbuilding program.
(December 2010 photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Last but not least … a winter-solstice event confirmed: From West Seattle’s own NASA Solar System Ambassador, Alice Enevoldsen:
In light of the Lunar Eclipse this weekend time for the seasonal sunset watch!!
When: December 21, 2011 at 4:05 pm (so come at 3:30 pm)
Actual sunset is supposed to be at 4:20, but at the summer solstice we noticed that the Sun set about 10 minutes earlier than the USNO says it does, so I’ve moved the time of our sunset watch up so we don’t miss it. I added another 5 minutes for the tall trees of Lincoln Park blocking our view. In Autumn the timing seemed to line up correctly – what will it do this time?
Where: Solstice Park – all the way up the hill from the tennis courts (or, if you’re not in Seattle, wherever you have a view of the western horizon!)
Who: Everyone welcome, as usual.
Just got word that a Morgan Junction business has new owners: Stella Ruffington’s Doggy Playcare. The buyers own a training/boarding facility on Camano Island, and say they “have wanted to enter the Seattle market for quite some time.” Read on for the announcement they sent:Read More
Just minutes apart, WSDOT sent two news releases that relate to tolling. The first one is perhaps of the most interest here – the committee that’s going to discuss tolling for the future Highway 99 tunnel, and how to reduce the likelihood it will lead to “diversion” (people using other roads instead), has its first meeting set for tomorrow. The second one – Tolling on the 520 bridge across Lake Washington is now set for December 29th. For full details, here’s the 520-toll-date news release; read on for text of the news release about the 99 tunnel tolling committee:Read More
(UPDATED EDITOR’S NOTE, 12:11 PM: The archived meeting video is now available, so that’s what you’ll see if you click “play” below. We are working on the wrapup story with new information from the hearing and from followup questions afterward.)
10:20 AM: Click “play” to get the live feed from City Hall, as the City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee is briefed on the August 27th Arbor Heights house fire near 41st/102nd, and what’s been done, and what is still to come, to fix the water-supply problems it exposed –
We have been following this story since the fire itself, including these stories:
*August 27: The fire (accidental; gutted a house and injured a firefighter)
*August 28: Fire’s cause
*August 29: ‘After-action review’ promised
*Sept. 9: Three followups
*Sept. 15: Hydrant upgrades promised
*November 4th: Hydrant upgrades almost complete
*December 5th: City Council committee briefing planned
Last night, we reviewed the documents available online for this briefing, including something new and major: A plan to upgrade water mains. Here’s our story; we will write a new one with added information after today’s briefing, and we will also make a note here when the briefing is over.
11:02 AM: It’s over. Nothing major beyond what we summarized from last night, though some additional summarizing did emerge – when the water-main upgrades are over in a year-plus, all of Arbor Heights will be within 1000 feet of an 8-inch water main, which is the minimum standard these days, and 87 percent will be within 500 feet. The review of the August fire showed that 2,000 feet of hose had to be rolled out to get to an 8-inch water main supply. More to come!
12:12 PM: The archived video is already available – so we have substituted it above. Followup story still in the works.
The early bird gets the … flounder? Thanks to Bill Bacon for the photo! Here are today’s highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events and Holidays calendars:
WINE TASTING: 5:30-9 pm at The Cask (2350 California SW in the Admiral District) with Locati Cellars (details here)
DANCE TIME!: With live music by Lauren Petrie, at the Senior Center of West Seattle. 6 pm – 8:30 pm. Theme: Pearl Harbor Holiday Dance. $5-$7 donation, BYOB; reservations requested, 206-932-4044.
TREE LIGHTING/TOY DRIVE: Christmas celebration at Mars Hill Church-West Seattle (7551 35th SW), and the community is invited, 6:30 pm (indoor tree lighting at 7): “Usher in the holiday season through lights, color and music. There will be seasonal treats, classic carols and the Mars Hill West Seattle Students will be running “Santa’s Workshop”: a Christmas craft area for the kids. Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be joining us and kids can …get pictures with Santa! We will also be collecting toys to bless local children and families.” More info on this Facebook event page.
NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING: Tonight is the combined November/December meeting of the Highland Park Action Committee (which otherwise usually meets on 4th Wednesdays), 7 pm at Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden), with the Nickelsville encampment on the agenda again this month (here’s our coverage of the last meeting).
‘EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD’: ArtsWest presents the Seattle premiere of “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)” by Michael Carleton, James FitzGerald and John K. Alvarez. 7:30 pm; ticket info here.
PRIDE SKATE: Tonight’s the monthly Pride Skate at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center, 9-11 pm – this time, the theme is “The ’80s.”
The family of West Seattleite Cheryl Colehour, who died a week ago at just 45, shares this remembrance, and news of her memorial service:
On November 30, 2011, West Seattle and the rest of the world lost Cheryl Colehour. She fought hard for the preceding 13 months against breast cancer, which ultimately metastasized to her liver.
Cheryl was a beautiful, talented, loving, fierce woman. Her strength and grace were exceeded only by her loving nature.
Cheryl was born and raised in Bellevue, attended college at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, and spent her adult years in Seattle – Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, and ultimately in West Seattle for the last 12 years. Cheryl studied film and video in college and parlayed those skills into a career as an Instructional Designer. She was a skilled fiber artist as well, often gifting friends and family with her exquisite knitting and sewing projects.
Cheryl is survived by her husband Tom Humphreys and their two children, Clara Humphreys (10) and August Humphreys (3); her father and stepmother, Jeff and Beth Colehour; her sister, Julie Colehour (Mitchell), husband Don and children Jessica and Jeremy; her sister, Janelle Urfer, husband Scott and children Owen and Emma. She is preceded in death by her mother Vernal Colehour (Harkness).
Cheryl was unfortunate to have inherited the BRCA1 gene mutation, which creates an astronomical risk for cancer of the breast and ovaries. Her mother and grandmother succumbed to these cancers as well. Her aunt is a breast-cancer survivor. Cheryl was always willing to participate in whatever studies she could to increase medical understanding of these conditions. In that spirit, if you are moved to contribute in her memory, please consider the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance or The University of Washington Medical Center or Gilda’s Club Seattle.
A memorial will be held for Cheryl on January 21st, 2012, at 1:00 pm, Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 7141 California Ave SW. We will re-announce the memorial at a closer date as well.
Cheryl’s husband Tom also shares the link for this online memorial, which includes a guestbook.
As we reported previously, the City Council‘s Public Safety and Education Committee is scheduled to be briefed tomorrow on the big Arbor Heights fire from last August 27th.
(WSB video from 8/27/2011)
House fires don’t usually lead to council briefings, but in this case, multiple fire hydrants near the home were unable to adequately supply firefighters, who as a result could not get a handle on it quickly. Three documents are linked from the City Council agenda tonight, looking ahead to the briefing by Seattle Fire and Public Utilities leaders. While the first two focus on the fire response and what went wrong (as well as what went right), the third lays out a schedule for proposed water-main improvements to be built next year.
The tale of what went wrong at the fire scene is complex, going beyond the water-supply problems, though they are described in detail. The hydrants nearest the home were described as “dead” and “frozen” in the first document: “A sufficient water source had still not been located 12 minutes after the first unit arrived on scene.” And then: “32 minutes into the response, despite efforts to supply them from three different directions, E32 still didn’t have a viable water supply.” It wasn’t just the hydrants – they called for the “hose wagon,” but it turned out to be unavailable; they looked for the “hydrant main map book,” but discovered it was “no longer carried on the Chiefs’ apparatus.” Finally, after laying hose all the way to 35th SW – almost half a mile of hose, says the document – “35 minutes after the first rig arrived on scene, a positive water supply was established.” Ultimately, says the second document, “105 firefighters, officers and medics” were involved in the response.
The third document outlines the water-main-improvement plan; as we have reported in followups since August, in some cases SPU was able to put larger hydrants atop water mains that could provide better pressure with better equipment, but in some cases, the water mains themselves are too small – and have been since before the city annexed the area more than half a century ago. Per the briefing document, the process for the water-main improvements will begin with a community meeting next month. We will find out more when the council committee is briefed toward the end of its 9:30 am meeting tomorrow (if you can’t go, you can watch via the Seattle Channel, cable channel 21 or seattlechannel.org online – we’ll stream it here when this agenda item comes up).
9:30 PM: Thriller at Chief Sealth International High School tonight – the boys’ varsity basketball team beat Nathan Hale in overtime, 71-69.
12:38 AM: The full story:
Story and video by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Chief Sealth junior point guard Bronte Corbray scored 21 points in his team’s 71-69 overtime victory over Nathan Hale, including two from a pull-up jumper with 7 seconds remaining in regulation to pull the Seahawks even with the visiting Raiders:
In overtime, it was senior Pepe Hernandez doing the honors with consecutive field goals in less than a minute late in the overtime to take his team from down 62-60 to a 64-62 lead.
Holiday scenes to share tonight:
First, our nightly featured Christmas lights – these are on 50th north of Hudson/south of Edmunds (map); we were out scouting last night and spotted them. We’ve added them to the ongoing list on the WSB West Seattle Holiday Events and Info page, where we’ll have a map soon with all the featured locations; let us know if you have a suggestion! Also tonight, seen in The Junction:
Tipster Joe says this scene on Puerto Vallarta‘s window is so fresh, the Sign Savant crew was still painting the one next to it:
(Last year, we showed you “Santa Extremoso” gracing the same windows.)
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Rene, who says it happened near the Fauntleroy ferry dock:
After dark 6:20 tonight while outside my house with my dog I noted a middle-aged Caucasian woman prowling around my neighbor’s house with headlamp, and trying out their doors. I called across to her, and she said she was trying to deliver a package. I asked to whom, and she quoted a different house number, and quickly took off on foot south on 48th. There was no delivery van in sight, nor was this person wearing a uniform. I walked over to the house and found a package labeled with another address, and clearly tampered with. Called neighbors (away at the time), met with their family on site, contacted police, etc.
Be careful when you leave your home to put on lamp timers, switch up your routine, and have your Good Samaritan friends and neighbors stop by and/or keep an eye on the place. In this holiday season, please be wary of “false delivery” prowlers!
From West Seattle High School teacher Michelle Sloan:
The West Seattle High School Marketing Club and class needs your help judging the annual regional marketing competition.
Where: Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, Washington, (Parking included for judges)
When: January 11th, 2012, 8:45am- 1:30 pm (Snacks and coffee included)What exactly do I have to do?: You will be listening to Marketing students “pitch” their marketing plans to you. Students will have approximately 7 minutes to explain their Marketing Plan and then you will score their presentation based on the scoring rubrics we will provide you. You will have a 5 minute break between presentations to score their performances. You will also have a break in the morning and a snack break.
How is this helpful?: Judges have a very important job of helping Marketing students take their presentation skill more seriously. It helps students to work harder knowing they will have to present their ideas to you. Working on presentation skill will help students in many areas of school and life.
Who is hosting this event: Washington DECA Marketing Club
Parking: We pay for your parking in the MeydenbauerIf you can help out please contact:
Michelle Sloan, West Seattle High School Ceramics/Marketing/Photography Teacher, masloan@seattleschools.org
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A few notes today, following up on our reports the past two days about the city Parks and Recreation Department changing concessionaires at Seacrest Boathouse – awarding the contract to Marination, whose proposal, the city says, outscored the one submitted by longtime operator Alki Crab and Fish.
First: Information we’d been pursuing since yesterday, when we asked Parks what happens next, and whether there’s any place for public comment in the official process. Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter sent the official policy – see it here – and adds:
Parks followed the steps in our policy and went beyond that by meeting with both of the top two proposers. These meetings did not change the scores or the outcome.
In response to the protest letter, which Parks received late yesterday, Parks will take these steps:
• Respond to the protest letter.
• Develop criteria, based on the business objectives outlined in the request for proposals, for evaluating the protest.
• Create a review panel of people (different from the original proposal reviewers), comprised of a representative of the Department of Neighborhoods, a representative of the Board of Park Commissioners, and the Acting Parks and Recreation Superintendent.
• Set up time for the review panel to evaluate the protest based on the established criteria.
• Set up a meeting with Alki Fish and Crab to go over their findings and decision.
• Ensure the review panel has all of the input received up to the date of their meeting.It’s important to note that this is a business process for Parks and Recreation based on business objectives (included in the Request for Proposals) designed to meet Parks’ business needs and based on City law and policy.
So bottom line, no. The contract does require final approval by the City Council, though.
If you are just catching up, Alki Crab and Fish’s contract with the city expired last summer. The city put out a “request for proposals” (RFP), and the result was a decision to award the contract to Marination, which came to fame two and a half years ago with its food truck, and has since also opened a bricks-and-mortar restaurant in Capitol Hill. We have numerous details in our report from yesterday, including links to both companies’ proposal documents. Supporters of both also have started online petitions – the one for Alki Crab and Fish fans is here, Marination fans here – and ACF supporters in the diving community, which uses Seacrest extensively, are planning a low-key rally this Saturday at noon between Seacrest and Salty’s, according to local diver Laura James, who says they are trying hard not to tie up traffic or cause trouble near the boathouse, so they are asking participants to park either south of Salty’s or up around Duwamish Head.
And a new development – just as we were finishing this story, we received e-mail from Marination, with whom we had exchanged notes previously for a short comment published in yesterday’s story. They sent a statement that follows, explaining their intent, and their surprise at how this has unfolded:Read More
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