August 2020

By Ken Robinson

Managing Editor

Wednesday I was social distancing at a friend’s place, enjoying afternoon sun on his deck. The subject of car tabs came up.

He owns a retail business. People from many parts of the county  shop at his store and he is grateful for the business. But he is also aware that some of his customers live in areas where they are not subject to the Regional Transit Authority tax that is collected in Snohomish, King and Pierce  Counties to pay for the cost of light rail to connect those cities in those counties.

There are, he said, marginal areas of each county where residents are not subject to the tax. Yet they are joining the traffic stream on local freeways each day to go work, to shop, to travel for leisure. And avoiding the enormous uncharge for tabs for their vehicle.

West Coast Self-Storage has opened its newest storage facility in West Seattle at 3252 Harbor Ave SW.

According to the company the ground level has a drive-in bay that allows tenants to load and unload into their unit while staying out of the elements. These heated units range in size from 10 x10 to 10 x 25. Upper-level units are also heated and range in size from 5 x 5 to 10 x 20.

The facility was built with several advanced security features. These include 24-hour digital video monitoring with 40 cameras positioned throughout the property, personalized pin-code access at all entrances, and intercom stations by each elevator. The drive-in bay units are individually alarmed and are secured by an additional computerized gate for added protection. Flashing lights have also been added to alert cyclists when a vehicle is leaving the bay. The bike path passes by the building. 

information from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce announced Friday, August 7, that Julia Jordan is leaving her position as the CEO of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, effective immediately.
 

“In these unprecedented times, the Chamber is adapting to the ongoing pandemic, the closure of the West Seattle Bridge, and the looming recession. The Chamber Board’s review has given rise to new goals and a new direction for the Chamber. We thank Julia for all of her efforts and wish her the best in her future endeavors,” said Abby Fisher, Chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce will be launching a search for a new CEO in the coming months. Questions may be directed to Board Chair, Abby Fisher, at abby@whitecenterglass.com.

By Michael Taylor-Judd

August 7th – As the date for this year’s Delridge Day festival approached, we the VieWS organizers were a little sad not to be preparing for another great day of community-building with you… and we quickly realized we weren’t the only ones missing out on this year’s festival. So we decided to try something just a little different!

While we will be happy to sleep in, we’re sad we won’t be up early at Delridge Community Center preparing to welcome you and all of our great performers, community groups, and musicians for another great Delridge Day neighborhood festival. But if you tune in tomorrow, Saturday, August 8th, when the Festival would normally begin at 11:00am, we will have a few video messages to share with you along with some memories from previous festivals.

District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold shared this news about the Seattle City Council's deliberations on the budget rebalancing that will materially affect the Seattle Police.

Wednesday’s Budget Committee meeting was a busy one, with Councilmembers voting on a slew of amendments related to the Seattle Police Department’s budget.  Along with Council President González, and Councilmembers Mosqueda and Morales, I introduced a package of narrowly-defined and careful cuts and budget provisos that includes:

information from Seattle Department of Transportation

By Ken Robinson

Managing Editor

The woods on the hillside below our home in the late 1950's stretched for what seemed like a mile  toward Puget Sound and Vashon Island across the channel. It was the private playground for the five Robinson brothers. It was vast enough to be the imagined lair of pirates, gypsies, hoboes and boys who had run away from home. In reality, none of those things dwelled under the canopy of evergreens that shrouded the trails from the top of the hill to beach at Puget Sound.

We ran the trails, eluding fantasy enemies, playing cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers and explorer. But our favorite pastime was fishing. Silvery Salmon Creek threaded a rocky path downhill from a drainage about halfway through those woods between Burien and White Center. At its widest it was not more than a strong boy could leap across. But in its meager waters there were hidden treasures. Rainbow trout!

The first night of the joint effort between the Seattle Police Department and Seattle Parks Department was uneventful. But the embryonic program has been put on pause after a single night since the use of funds for the purpose must be approved by the Seattle City Council, which is in the middle of a series of meetings in preparation for budget rebalancing and as possible major cut in various parts of the Seattle Police Budget. 

Southwest Precinct Commander Kevin Grossman offered his perspective on the first night noting that the patrol is currently paused pending approval by the City Council:

Good morning Alki Neighbors,