Editor's note: The following letters were sent to community leaders via email from Seattle City Council members Nick Licata and Tim Burgess after Victoria Sangrey Hunter with the Friends of Bergen Place Park wrote to them in concern of increased vandalization and safety issues in downtown Ballard parks. Her concern was heightened after the mural in Bergen Place was tagged on July 6.

Dear Community,

I’ve been following the correspondence between you and (Seattle City) Council members Burgess and Rasmussen. And I’m glad to see that all of us on the council are concerned about improving the safety and the quality of life for those who wish to enjoy Ballard’s urban parks.

Today I talked to the North Precinct Commander, Mike Washburn, about the increased crime in the parks, such as tagging, drug dealing and other unlawful behavior. And he informed me that he is directing his Anti-Crime Team to do closer surveillance on the park to address the drug dealing activity. He is also assigning a detective to follow up on the leads with regards to identifying the person or persons who defaced the Bergen Place Muriel with graffiti.

These additional measures, coupled with the increased patrol of the Community Police Team since the end of June, in Bergen Place, Ballard Commons and Marvin’s Garden should result in decreased illegal activity and hopefully some convictions.

I also discussed the situation with Rob Matson at the city’s neighborhood service office and he informed me that the community would welcome extending the use of Parks Rangers from downtown into Ballard. I support such an extension and will pursue it during our budget process this fall.

Their presence would go a long way to addressing the chronic tagging problem has affected not only the public parks, but private businesses as well.

The Parks Department seems to have been fairly responsive in addressing the need to make Ballard’s parks safer. They have modified landscaping to eliminate hiding holes and increased security lighting in April in Marvin’s Garden. Rob Matson also informed me that Parks and Do-IT, our Information Technology Office, are working with him to move forward to install Wi-Fi service hopefully before the end of summer in these parks.

The infrastructure is in place, but engineering is still needed to make the connections.

I think we are on our way to making Ballard’s parks safer, but the challenge before us is to sustain these efforts to adequately supervise the parks to keep the criminal activity out of them.

I look forward to assisting you and other members of the Ballard community to meet this objective.

Seattle City Council member Nick Licata
Chair, Culture, Civil Rights, Health and Personnel Committee

Dear Community,

I've been to this section of Ballard many times in the past couple of months, meeting with small business owners and citizens to discuss the surge in street crime and social disorder.  This is a growing problem throughout the city and my colleagues and I are as frustrated as you. 
 
The message from (Seattle City) Council members has been consistent.  We expect our police officers to enforce our laws and to work with community members to solve these problems.  For our part, we have continued to fund the hiring of additional officers so the full Neighborhood Policing Plan can be implemented. 

We also continue to fund various social services that are designed to get people off the streets and into sustainable housing, help with addictions, etc.  But it is also important for the city government--and all residents of Seattle--to clearly express the social norms we expect people to comply with; graffiti, littering, drinking in public, street drug trafficking, and other quality-of-life crimes are not acceptable in our city. 
 
I know, Capt. Washburn at the North Precinct is aware of your concerns and is working hard on your behalf, as are his officers. 
 
Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess
Chair, Public Safety, Human Services, and Education Committee