By Tim Clifford

The first SeaTac City Council meeting for March was held on Mar. 12, having been moved from its usual Tuesday schedule to Thursday. This was a one-time occurrence with the next meeting scheduled for a Tuesday on Mar. 24. Absent from the meeting were councilmembers Kathryn Campbell and Dave Bush.

All meetings are broadcast live on CTV Channel 21. Here are the highlights for this week:

• Colleen Carpenter, a teacher from Chinook Middle School, recently assigned her seventh grade class to write a series of poems. At the meeting Carpenter brought in six of those students to read their work at the podium. Maxx Garrett, Amen Singh, Roman Kaur, Po’u Johnson, Itza Cueva, and Khaleel Clark each read a selection of their work to the councilmembers. While some were funny or inspirational the greater number of these poems focused on the grim realities of street life and gang culture. All of the poems showed a sophistication and maturity for these young writers that surprised every adult in attendance. Following the readings the councilmembers took a 12 minute break to meet the poets and pose for pictures.

• Next up was a presentation by Peg Coleman on DAWN (Domestic Abuse Women’s Network) and the expansions that this program will see in 2015. Started in 1981 DAWN has worked with and helped over 390,000 victims of domestic abuse. Recently the program has begun providing wrap around services for victims of abuse. While the staff is split between being paid and volunteer these more involved services will make a significant need for more volunteers.

• A State of Court presentation was given Judge Elizabeth Bejarano of the SeaTac Municipal Court addressing how funds were spent in 2014. Facility improvements to the court in 2014 included art in the courtroom, windows for the administration office, improvements to the juror lounge area, separation panels in the clerk’s office, and tech improvements. These tech improvements included online access to hearing recordings and electronic storage of court documents. Improvements to the site and increased electronic storage are projects that will require further funding this year. A large part of the presentation concerned statistics for the 2014 year in crimes that the court saw.

• A “teaser” presentation was given by Cathal Ridge of South Corridor Development about plans for the Federal Way Link Extension project and the various options surrounding this line. Various route options were presented depending on which highway option is chosen for the rail line to follow, SR-99 or I-5, to Federal Way. Once the rail is linked to Federal Way options for linking to Kent and Des Moines will follow. Currently the project is the planning phase with a presentation date of April 14 coming up. A potential ballot measure is also being drafted for a vote in 2016. At this meeting the council was specifically being asked to vote to adopt new language for the Land Use Policy that was adopted in 2009 and restricts the project solely to running along SR-99.