October 2009

During the run of "Measure for Pleasure," ArtsWest proudly presents Angielena Chamberlain, Susie J. Lee and Siege in the exhibition, I Am / I Am Not Woman.  Three artists create diverse works which explore representations of women. 

The show runs from Nov. 1 through 28, noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free.

I Am / I Am Not Woman was curated specifically to complement the concurrent stage production at ArtsWest, "Measure for Pleasure" (through Nov. 14).

Chamberlain’s colorful oils on textured canvas and hemp combine visual representations of the contemporary sensual woman alongside spiritual notions from artistic cultures of the east.  Pasties paired with an androgynous figure clothed only in gold and sapphire striped thigh highs are Chamberlain’s exploration of a sacred playfulness in contemporary life.
 

The Seattle Department of Transportation's Neighborhood Traffic Operations is holding neighborhood traffic safety meetings in the community. One will be held in West Seattle Nov. 10 at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in Delridge, 4408 Delridge Way S.W.

These meetings are geared toward residents who are interested working with the city to decrease speeding on their residential streets. The meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude at 7:30 p.m.

The meetings will include a power point presentation, with a brief overview of different traffic calming options, what steps a neighborhood must take to be considered for traffic calming, criteria staff use to prioritize projects, and possible funding sources.

See the traffic calming Web site here.

Residents will also be trained in the proper use of radar speed guns.

If residents want to enroll their street in the traffic calming program, a representative from their street must attend one of these
meetings, according to the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Something to keep in mind as you fill out your ballot forms.

In July 2009, the following elected representatives all voted in favor of establishing the new jail immediately adjacent to a Des Moines residential neighborhood:

Mayor Sheckler, Council members Susan White, Ed Pina and Carmen Scott

This happened despite a record public presence at the public hearing on the matter, despite significant opposing comments from residents, and despite two council members being absent.

Mayor Pro Tempore Dan Sherman wisely suggested not making any decisions until ALL council members had a chance to review the public's comments. His counsel was ignored in favor of an immediate decision.

If you find this hard to believe, simply go to the Des Moines City Hall Web site, find the video record of the July 9th public hearing and see/hear for yourself:
Go to http://www.desmoineswa.gov/ , click on "City Council" in right hand column, click on "Videos of Council Meetings" in left hand column, under Past Council Meetings click on "Council Meetings 2009," click on "City Council Meeting of July 09, 2009," fast forward to timestamp 02:48:00.

To follow up on Mayor Sheckler's article in the October 16, 2009 Highline Times: He endorses two incumbents: Carmen Scott and Dave Kaplan. Both of these people have generously volunteered their time to serve the city for a number of years.

The question is, what does Des Moines need now in city council members. The city needs to have an identity around which business and recreational opportunities can thrive.

Because this has not yet happened and because the council appears to be voting in cliques, perhaps now is the time to bring new membership to the council.

I have listened carefully to both incumbents speak at several forums.

They are articulate and can list all of the reasons why things haven't happened. We need people on the council to make things happen.
In the case of Dave Kaplan, he has chosen to run against another incumbent, Susan White. Why would he do this?

Running against another incumbent gives the impression of infighting, which the council does not need. Susan has done something no other council member has done, brought $200,000 to the city to work on Des Moines Creek Park.

When I attended the City of Burien Council Meeting/Public Hearing in July, I didn't plan on writing the statement against the $25 Burien Vehicle Tax/Proposition 1 (for sidewalks and bike paths).

However, when no information was presented about: the projects costs, amount to be collected from this tax, what other grants/sources could help with the projects, how much these project streets were actually used, I was frustrated.

There were no sketches/diagrams of what the finished work might look like. The City quoted statistics from 2008 Burien Citizen Survey that were inaccurate.

Citizens asked questions. The City didn't answer. The Council immediately voted to put the Vehicle Tax on the November ballot. In depressed economic times, the City was asking citizens to rubber stamp a new tax.

The City hadn't surveyed the use patterns of the project areas. Both 8th Ave and South 136th have light use by both pedestrians and bikes. Currently, South 136th has better sidewalks than the neighborhoods in Burien, Seattle, Renton, Kirkland and Bellevue that I have lived in.

My wife and I have worked over the past 12 years to improve education, health conditions of our citizens, living conditions for our elderly and food for the poor.
We support the YMCA, Lutheran Center, Tyee High School, Tyee Medical Clinic and the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence. We are both members of the Rotary Club of SeaTac.

We are involved and committed to our community.

We have very responsible council members that discuss and respond to the citizens' needs and try their best to make SeaTac a community that we can be proud of.

A Mayortorial form of government will give "power" to one person instead of a well-rounded council form of government that represents all the people and is not corrupted by a few.

Our City works with and supports organizations such as the YMCA, Lutheran Center, Crisis Clinic, Domestic Violence programs and other organizations that support our poor, our crippled, our needy, our children and our elderly.

When citizens call for assistance our city steps forward to give support to those most in need. I personally do not think that will be the case if Proposition 1 is voted in. We will take a step backwards.

We have seen many changes in SeaTac since we incorporated almost 20 years ago. Our population has grown and is much more diverse now. Most of our changes have been good. A few, not so good.

And a few are slow in coming. For instance, there are still no sidewalks in front of my house on Military Road, but I believe they will come.

We have a spirit of cooperation and helpfulness in SeaTac. For instance now that Animal Control is no longer able to pick up dead animals on the roadside, the maintenance crew picked them up when I called.

And I really appreciated their willingness to handle this unpleasant chore.

In the lean times when money is scarce and jobs are hard to come by, there's a temptation to want to blame somebody for the problems. I hope we can get past that.

And when the elections are all done and over with in November, I hope we can continue with our spirit of friendliness and cooperation in SeaTac.

The work put out by all the campaigners can then be fruitful in bringing more involvement in managing our beautiful city in the years ahead.

Tom Layden
SeaTac

In King County, there are over 35 police departments, the Sheriff, plus our state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies. Together, we are collectively sworn to protect over 1.8 million citizens.

We meet monthly as partners in this effort to address the most pressing public safety issues facing our communities.

At our October meeting, the King County Police Chiefs Association discussed the impacts that Initiative 1033 could have on our ability to provide basic police services.

Current economic conditions have already created serious budget cuts to police departments and diminished our ability to serve.

The financial analysis of Initiative 1033 presents the real possibility that police protection could be significantly impacted as cities and counties address significant cuts in the funds to provide basic services.

We are already seeing a reduction in police officer hiring. The Washington Criminal Justice Training Center (in Burien) has had a 30 percent reduction in enrollment this year at the academy.

The race for King County Executive is supposed to be non-partisan. But it has clearly become a contest between both parties, underscored by Susan Hutchison's ardent denials of her affiliation with the Republican camp.

There is nothing wrong with Hutchison's embracing her Republicans friends other than the fact that she is pretending she doesn't know anyone of that persuasion. This act is part of a pattern of deception that has been revealed by successive appearances before the voters.

When the campaign began and she was still trying to find her political balance and had not yet gotten her matching orders from the well-heeled business leaders behind the scenes, she didn't have much to say.

Then, as the campaign heated up, as Dow Constantine began to score points, Hutchison shifted her strategy to specific aspects of county government and how she would do things differently. The thrust of her campaign became a series of sound bites.

When we heard her interviewed on a talk show, she made it clear that she has learned her lines well.

I had no idea there were any horses in Burien but somebody told me of one tucked into a corral in a cul- de-sac up near Lake Burien.

So I talked Elsbeth into driving around till we found him. It was a horse all right, standing alongside a fence with a lonely look on his long face.

I had no idea who owned him or how he got there so I got out of the car quietly, took a long distance picture and sauntered over to the fence and the horse looked at me and his eyes blinked and he shouted at me, " Jerry, Jerry, where have you been? It's me, Jake. Don't you remember me? We were best buddies growing up. We did everything together. And we swore to each other we would get back together after we died."

I was stunned and said, "Jake, is that really you? You came back as a horse? A swaybacked horse?"

"Yep, it's has been tough. My owner has a heavy wagon. He drives around the streets gathering discards and buying and selling them in the neighborhood. I pull his wagon. It is a tough life."

Then he noticed Elsbeth sitting in my car and said," I see you have a beautiful wife. You lucky guy"