May 2010

Approximately 40 Ballardites gathered in the Ballard High School cafeteria May 3 to brainstorm critical issues facing Seattle's youth and families now, possible solutions to those issues, and what they would like to see five years in the future.

The gathering was part of more than 100 community caucuses Mayor Mike McGinn has called as part of his Youth and Families Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to shape the mayor's agenda on issues affecting youth and families.

McGinn opened the caucus by talking about the issues he heard about while campaigning that sparked the Youth and Families Initiative. He said he heard about men and women who were pulled into violence and didn't get a chance to succeed and about disparities between communities when it came to race, ethnicity and economic status.

McGinn said he wants to bring communities into the circle of accountability to find solutions to the obstacles facing the city's youth.

"What are we going to do?" he asked. "How are we going to stand up and work together?"

The city of Seattle has officially launched a $40 million federal New Markets Tax Credit Program that will provide low-cost private financing to businesses in targeted Seattle neighborhoods.

Seattle’s allocation of New Markets Tax Credits ("NMTCs") will be invested in commercial and mixed-use projects in neighborhoods exhibiting economic distress, as determined by the federal government. Potential areas for NMTC investment under this program include select North Seattle neighborhoods, the downtown business core, manufacturing and industrial centers, parts of Capitol Hill and the Central District, and large swaths of the Rainier Valley.

"This new program is a valuable tool for investing in projects that support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods," said Mayor Mike McGinn.

"Through this program, the City will be able to provide critical financing to businesses during a difficult economic time. This will help Seattle businesses stabilize, expand, and create jobs," said Council President Richard Conlin.

Mother-Wise
Our Mother never drove a car
Ran marathons or shot for par
She didn’t frequent fine boutiques
Or fill the house with rare antiques

A pedicure was not her style
Nor did she think feng schui worthwhile
And training at the local gym
She needed not for staying trim

But she could sooth a skinned up knee
Make peace when we would disagree
Allow us more than one mistake
And cook the perfect chicken fried steak

She taught us thrift and how to love
And when pulled down to rise above
But best of all in our behalf
She showed us how to really laugh

We felt so good about ourselves
No “how-to-books” lined up on shelves
Or trendy sites in cyberspace
Could ever work to take her place

Carol Smith

Spring Into Bed! is a community event to build and renew food gardens throughout Seattle on May 8th. Across the Puget Sound region, groups are working together on this one-day to raise awareness about food access and equity. Our goal is to raise $13,000 that will subsidize the building of 10 food justice gardens for people who could not otherwise afford to create a garden of their own. This money will also begin a program that will continue this work into the future.

So far we have 8 team captains and are looking for two more community volunteers willing to be leaders of this important project. We are also putting a call out to Seattle to donate to this amazing project. These gardens empower people to connect with the environment, grow their own healthy and affordable food, and to share their gardening knowledge and crops back with their community.

It was standing room only as the Burien City Council beginning their own discussion of the Shoreline Master Program (SMP), talking about what kinds of experts the Council wants to hear from, and what form, if any, the public comment would take.

A preliminary meeting to educate the council is scheduled for June 14. Exactly how that meeting will be structured and what will be discussed is being worked on by staff and will be presented to the Council at next Monday’s meeting, May 10. The SMP is due to the Department of Ecology (DOE) by December 31 of this year. The City hopes to have the SMP approved by the Council and forwarded to the DOE by the end of August.

Burien Mayor Joan McGilton said again she is not in favor of a public forum, but if there is a public forum she wants to be involved with the discussion, not officiating it.

“Do you think there is somebody out there who has a brand new comment?” McGilton asked Councilmember Gordon Shaw when he spoke in favor of a public forum.

Shaw replied no, but he said he thought those comments were made in the blind.

The 500,000 gallon water tank on Myrtle Street is under going renovation and the high winds of May 2-3 blew out part of the protective shrink wrap installed to prevent paint from over spraying.
Brian Eng, Project Manager for Seattle Public Utilities said, "I haven't gone out there myself but all I know is that there were three sections that came off last night and they stayed within the project site."

The panels will be reinstalled, "when the weather dies down," Eng said.

The work is being handled by a sub contractor for SPU called Brand.

The Herald's most recent story on the project and surrounding park construction is here.

A car with a driver and three passengers flew past officers on Avalon Way early Saturday, peeling around corners, barely missing parked cars and blowing through the stop sign at 28th and Yancy. When it pulled over near Delridge, the officer in pursuit could see frantic movements inside and noticed the driver changing places with the front seat passenger (who turned out to be his older brother). The driver was a 17-year-old whose license was already suspended and who was facing charges of reckless driving with a suspended license and obstruction from a felony incident on April 21st. Though unemployed, he was carrying $500 cash.

The City of Seattle Office of City Auditor is conducting a review of the city's response to graffiti.

The Office of the City Auditor has developed a brief audit questionnaire to help gather information from individuals, businesses and organizations about how graffiti affects them.

To access the questionnaire, click here.

When Loyal Heights resident Mindy Terence heard outgoing Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher tell KING 5 TV that the city's current budget crisis could necessitate the closure of one of Ballard's two community centers, she took action.

Terence started circulating a petition May 1 to keep the Ballard Community Center and Loyal Heights Community Center from becoming victims of city budget cuts.

Joelle Hammerstad, spokesperson for Seattle Parks and Recreation, said while Gallagher can speak freely about the particulars of the budget process because he has already offered his resignation, regular employees are restricted from speaking directly about what the department calls the "deliberative process."

The city's acting budget director has asked Parks to propose reductions of 3 percent, and cuts are likely to be implemented around July 1, Hammerstad said.

Compass Housing Alliance, which filed for a Master Use Permit for its Ballard location April 14, has released more information about the operations and screening processes for the 80-unit housing development for formerly homeless men and women at 1753 N.W. 56th St.

Compass' Ballard development, which will now be called Urness House, will provide housing for formerly homeless individuals making less than $8,000 per year and will provide onsite services for them.

Potential residents will be chronically homeless individuals who are identified from shelter and transitional housing programs and referred from the city, county and United Way, according to a Compass Housing Alliance press release.

Applications from potential residents will be denied if that individual has been convicted of arson in the past 10 years or has been required to register as a level-3 sex offender.

Applications will undergo further review if criminal records show the individual has been convicted of a serious crime, showed continued patterns of criminal behavior or been required to register as a sex offender.