Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess attended the Ballard Rotary Club's monthly lunch in Ballard yesterday to share a few thoughts on the city and answer questions.

Burgess had toured Ballard High School in the morning together with Mayor Mike McGinn to look at the in-house health center.

"I like being out in the neighborhoods because it lets me hear how you want the city to better serve you," Burgess said.

Burgess thanked the city's public in making Seattle a "wonderful city to live in" and called for support of the three most vulnerable and critical groups in the city - teenage prostitutes, children falling behind in school, and entrepreneurs.

"The greatest asset of a city is its people," Burgess said. "And we as a city know how to take care of those amongst us that are most vulnerable."

Burgess recalled his first summer as a councilmember and reading Dr. Debra Boyer's report on the teenage sex-trafficking in Seattle.

"Kids, as young as 12 years old, are exploited by predators for street and internet prostitution," he said. "It made me angry and I realized we had to do something."

The city organized to round up some funds to establish a safe haven but then the recession happened.

Burgess said when the city struggled financially, the public came together and donated funds to establish a center for teenage girls involved in street and internet prostitution.

"It's a little emotional to me," Burgess. "The public donated over a million dollars in just a couple of months...These kids have a long road ahead of them. Many have been abused and neglected their whole lives. We all want to see them succeed."

Burgess said since the establishment of the center, police officers and detectives have cheered the loudest for this group to succeed.

"Our police department now sees them as victims not suspects," he said.

Another vulnerable group in this city is the 23,000 African American, Hispanic and Native American kids living in poverty who are struggling in school.

"Evidence suggest that by the time you [as a child growing up in poverty] reach third grade, your chance is 50 - 50 to be reading at grade level," Burgess said. "If you fail any of your core classes in sixth grade, your chances to graduate high school drops below 50 percent."

Graduating with a high school degree is no longer sufficient to earn a wage that can sustain a family, Burgess said.

"We know what to do about the kids that are falling behind in school and we need to do it," Burgess said calling to have the families and education levy back on the ballots in November.

"The proposed levy sets a high bar on the belief that every child can learn. Every child can graduate high school, go to college and work in the career they want," Burgess said.

Burgess identified entrepreneurs as the third critical group in Seattle.

Success happens when educated people are clustered together and bounce ideas of each other, Burgess said referring to Edward Glaeser's book, Triumph of the City.

"Success is established by educated workers, culture of innovation and interplay of industries," Burgess said. "Seattle has that. We live, work and play together."

In light of the Tsunami in Japan, Ballard Rotarians expressed concerns regarding Seattle's safety in case of an earthquake or Tsunami and how the proposed deep bore tunnel would handle an earthquake.

"Being in the Puget Sound, we're somewhat protected," Burgess said. "The tunnel is designed to withstand tsunamis and earthquakes. Earthquakes are not necessarily fatal to tunnels, we've seen that all around the world.'

Burgess said the city is well prepared for immediate emergency response in case of an earthquake of Tsunami but that Seattle should be prepared to survive on their own for multiple days.

In regards to the tunnel, Rotarians wondered about cost overruns.

Burgess acknowledged that cost overruns are possible in a project the size of the deep bore tunnel. A clause in the contract between the city and the state says that cost overruns could fall on "the tax payers in the Seattle area who benefit from the tunnel", Burgess said.

"But we've been assured that it's not enforceable," he added. "To us, it is a red herring."

To learn more about Ballard Rotary Club, please visit www.ballardrotary.org.

To read more about Councilmember Tim Burgess, please visit his blog.