The City Council is close to making final decisions on the city budget. Some of the changes proposed in recent weeks have been scrapped, and some new ones have been added. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 am, the council will go through the newest list of changes still on the table. See the current full list here; ones of potential interest in our area include:

(WSB file photo by Christopher Boffoli)

WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE CORRIDOR STUDIES: Our area’s Councilmember Lisa Herbold proposes spending $100,000 on two studies:

This proposal would provide one-time funding for two traffic management studies: (1) evaluate the feasibility of traffic management modifications to improve the eastbound Spokane St Viaduct connection to I-5; and (2) initiate an SDOT/WSDOT Peer Review Team to review traffic operational and safety improvement opportunities on upper and lower roadways and make recommendations.

These were originally proposed in last year’s West Seattle Bridge Corridor “whitepaper.”

SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE’S 13TH-YEAR PROMISE PROGRAM: This proposal from Councilmember Bruce Harrell would allot a quarter-million city dollars to support the SSC program that provides a year of free tuition to any interested graduating senior from designated high schools:

The 13th Year Promise Scholarship program provides all graduating seniors from Cleveland, Chief Sealth International, Rainier Beach, and soon West Seattle high schools with one year of free in-state tuition at South Seattle College. Additionally, the program offers students a variety of workshops during their senior year to prepare for college enrollment and to improve math and English skills if necessary.

The funding provided in this green sheet is intended to assist South Seattle College in expanding the reach of the 13th Year Promise Scholarship program by funding non-tuition components of the program, freeing up existing resources to be used for the tuition expenses. This funding may be used for the Readiness Academy, COMPASS Improvement Workshops, and the 13th Year Bridge Program

TERMINAL 5 QUIET ZONE: Also from Councilmember Herbold:

The Port of Seattle is considering improvements to Terminal 5 to modernize the facility. As part of this project, the Port is considering implementation of shore power, a Terminal 5 quiet zone, and broadband back-up alarms to reduce the noise emitted from Terminal 5.

This Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) requests that SDOT work with the Port of Seattle, the Federal Railway Administration, and the railway companies doing business at Terminal 5, to extend the quiet zone from Terminal 5 to the Delridge Way/W Marginal Way intersection.

The SLI requests that SDOT provide quarterly reports on this work to the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee.

SOUTH PARK PUBLIC-SAFETY TASK FORCE: Proposed by at-large (and WS-residing) Councilmember Lorena González:

The Council requests that the Executive convene a Special Task Force of South Park residents to formulate and report to Council recommendations regarding the public safety and vitality of that neighborhood. It is the Council’s understanding that the written report of the Special Task Force would, as a general matter, accomplish the following:

1. Identify strategies for a new model of neighborhood policing, which will build on the micropolicing plans and community policing plans initiated by Chief Katherine O’Toole. The strategies should be replicable in other neighborhoods throughout the City, while flexible enough to reflect the unique situations or dynamics of other diverse neighborhoods; and

2. Identify strategies for a culturally and linguistically responsive data-driven approach to improving the City’s relations to and effectiveness with the South Park neighborhood, which will also inform the City’s engagement with all other neighborhoods.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT COMMISSION: The final step toward creating the mayor’s proposed Community Involvement Commission – to be a liaison group instead of maintaining ties to neighborhood district councils in that role – is spelled out in this item (PDF), which also redefines the Department of Neighborhoods’ role. It strikes out the word “neighborhood” in many cases, although one amendment is proposed: ” Subsection G would add support for neighborhood-based community-building to the list of functions of the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods.” Each City Council district will have one representative on the group; 7 other members would be appointed by the mayor.

The list of proposed changes will itself change before tomorrow’s meeting – while we were writing this story, it grew to 143 items – but you can review the titles and brief descriptions and look at others that might interest you by going here. If you have strong feelings, pro or con, about any of them, contact councilmembers ASAP – the info is all here (our area’s rep is at lisa.herbold@seattle.gov, and she’s been providing budget-process explainers on her website).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The night after the Democratic Party lost the White House, you might have guessed a local party meeting would be funereal.

Sadness, however, was only one of the sentiments and emotions displayed at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting. Also: Resolve, fury, pragmatism, and optimism, among others.

It started early. The Pledge of Allegiance always opens 34th DDs meetings, and this time, at the end, someone added: “HOPEFULLY, justice for all.”

Shortly thereafter, chair Marcee Stone-Vekich, after saying, “I can’t give you any kind of speech right now… I’ve got nothing to say,” managed to offer her thoughts: “I never in a million years thought it was possible for this particular person to become the president-elect. So what I do know is that we need to gather, we need to organize, and if we need to, we need to take to the streets like the hundreds who did so in our city tonight, New York, Chicago, all over the country, and that may be what it takes. This has an impact on people’s daily lives. My daughter .. is a Type 1 diabetic. She is 28 years old. If Obamacare goes out the window, what do you do? … I am comforted that you are here and hopeful that we can move forward.” Read More

From Mayor Ed Murray via e-mail:

Regardless of tonight’s national results, tomorrow Seattle will remain a city guided by the values of equality, inclusion and openness. Tomorrow we will continue to support women, we will welcome as neighbors our Muslim brothers and sisters, and tomorrow Black Lives will still matter. Our City will remain strong because of our diversity, not in spite of it.

In Seattle, our results show a city ready to lead in building a more equitable and progressive future.

As we look forward, we will challenge our people to live up to our values, to ensure we build on the foundation that was laid tonight and that we foster the equitable, inclusive world we envision.

Just in case you heard them and wondered – we have heard reports of apparent fireworks set off in multiple neighborhoods, from Arbor Heights to North Delridge, just as the presidential election was called for Donald Trump, who has just given his first speech as President-elect.

(Voter dropping off ballot at High Point box in final hour. WSB photo by Leda Costa)

8:35 PM: While the presidential race tops the night, ballots in our area had more than three dozen local/regional/state races of note. King County Elections has NOT YET released its one count for tonight, citing “a delay.” But some other counties are reporting, so here are links to the biggies – including statewide issues. We will add summaries once King County is in.

8:53 PM: King County results are out in a “plain text” format only – you can search through them here.

9:04 PM: King County results are fully reflected in the links below.

10:32 PM: King County says it’ll be updating results again at 1:30 am.

1:35 AM: The county site has indeed updated results again.

SOUND TRANSIT 3 (3 counties) – results here – 1:51 am, 55% yes

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 7 – results here – 1:51 am, Jayapal ahead with 57%

U.S. SENATOR – results here – 1:51 am, Murray ahead with 61%

GOVERNOR – results here – 1:51 am, Inslee ahead with 56%

LT. GOVERNOR – results here – 1:51 am, Habib leading with 56%

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION – results here – 1:51 am, Reykdal ahead with 51%

SECRETARY OF STATE – results here – 1:51 am, Wyman ahead with 53%

COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS – results here – 1:51 am, Franz ahead with 55%

STATE BALLOT MEASURES – results here – 1:51 am, 1433 passing with 60%, 1464 failing (53% no), 1491 passing with 71%, 1501 passing with 72%, I-732 failing (58% no), I-735 passing 64%. In Advisory Vote 14 and 15, “repealed” is ahead; proposed constitutional amendment, “approved” is ahead.

**All statewide-office results here**

34TH DISTRICT LEGISLATORS – results here

SEATTLE INITIATIVE 124 – 77% voting to approve

**All King County-only numbers are here**

6:38 PM: Our Election Night headquarters this year is Admiral Bird, which took reservations for its cozy space and is filling up.

Results have been on the big screen here for almost an hour and a half. “If anything is certain about tonight, it’s uncertainty,” said one of the CBS anchors just now. A moment later, CBS called Connecticut for Democrat Hillary Clinton, and a cheer erupted – first one of the night. We’ll have updates from here and from the West Seattle ballot dropbox, where WSB photojournalist Leda Costa is stationed as the 8 pm voting deadline approaches. (added) Jon sent this photo of daughter Sydney “helping me vote!”

6:50 PM: If you’re looking for somewhere to watch – we just checked a couple nearby spots; nobody at the West Seattle Library (2306 42nd SW), which has results on until 7:45, and not many at Parliament Tavern (4210 SW Admiral Way).

7:02 PM: “White-knuckles kind of night,” declares another CBS anchor, suggesting people are drinking. Yes, here at Admiral Bird, where wine and beer are offered as well as coffee, and it’s a pro-Clinton crowd, they are. Meantime, LOTS of voting. Leda sends this photo of an overflow bag, brought in after the dropbox has already had to be emptied twice today:

7:50 PM: A few minutes ago, the 15-minute warning was sounded at the dropbox:

As for the race, Trump has retained the electoral edge. The pro-Clinton crowd here has cheered when there was a reason to, such as the recent call of Colorado in her corner:

Minutes left to get your ballot in. And we’ll get local results – which we’ll publish separately – within half an hour or so.

8:02 PM: More cheers as projections came in with the West Coast poll closings.

8:22 PM: King County’s results release has been delayed. Meantime, here’s the countdown from the West Seattle dropbox at the top of the hour:

Here at Admiral Bird, the big screen remains on CBS and the current estimated electoral-vote count is 197 Clinton, 193 Trump, with some major states as-yet-uncalled.

8:29 PM: Local TV has put up some early numbers in the statewide races but with conversation continuing to buzz, few realize that those numbers include no King County results yet. Meantime, CBS has called Florida for Trump, who is back in the electoral lead, 222-197. “This night has gone much differently than anyone has predicted,” says an anchor. Meanwhile, a TV photographer has showed up here.

8:40 PM: “I don’t understand how it’s this close,” says one of the 25-plus people here. Meantime, the one person in the room who seems oblivious to what’s unfolding on screen is many years away from voting:

On screen now, Trump 227 electoral votes, Clinton 197.

9:02 PM: The King County votes are finally tallied in a readable way – so we’re tracking the local and statewide races/measures here.

9:16 PM: The presidential race hasn’t yet been called; Trump 244, Clinton 209, is the current count. The CBS anchors also have shown a number suggesting the financial markets are not happy about it. “Holy s–t!” is the exclamation here, in reaction to that. Some have gone home.

9:30 PM: Two rounds of cheering, but not related to the presidential race – they cheered reports that Pramila Jayapal has won the 7th Congressional District seat, and that Sound Transit 3, set to bring light rail to West Seattle in 2030, is winning. Meantime, the electoral tally is 244 Trump, 215 Clinton.

10:02 PM: The electoral #’s haven’t changed (if you’ve lost track, 270 is required to win). A local TV cut-in brought a brief glimpse of Governor Inslee, who’s winning re-election tonight, and that sparked a cheer among the remaining partygoers here at Admiral Bird.

10:21 PM: Another couple comes up to the bar at the Bird, where we’ve been sitting. Going home, they say. “Going to sleep?” they’re asked. “Probably not” is the reply.

10:40 PM: Someone just walked in, saying she didn’t want to be sad by herself. The CBS people on the TV keep pointing out how late it is, Eastern time, and wondering what’s holding things up – “absentee ballots?” asks one.

10:46 PM: Next to us at the Bird bar, a woman talks of a friend or relative whose 6-year-old half-Latino child is worried, saying that “Trump hates Mexicans, and I’m half Mexican.” The sadness is palpably mixed with fear.

11:40 PM: After six hours, the laptop died and we headed back to HQ, right after a Clinton campaign official told her supporters to go home, that she wouldn’t have anything to say tonight. Donald Trump, meantime, is expected to speak sometime soon. We’re watching NBC, which says Clinton has called Trump to concede.

4:04 PM: Starting our pm rounds … including the inbox:

Thanks to Barry J. White for the photos: “Here’s some shots of fifth graders from Gatewood Elementary who were encouraging turnout this afternoon. Pramila Jayapal walked over from her office nearby to meet the kids, a really wonderful scene.”

Jayapal, the state senator running for Congress, has had a field office for some months in the former West Seattle Kids Salon storefront about half a block from the school. More to come. Again, the voting reminders:

King County Elections dropboxes, until 8 pm. Local ones are here:
-High Point Library (SW Raymond just east of 35th)
-White Center Library (1409 SW 107th)
-South Park Library (8604 8th Ave. S.)

Post Office – get there early – your ballot needs to be postmarked by tonight

If you can’t find your ballot, you can print a replacement (the KCE helpers at the High Point dropbox told us they have extra envelopes)

5:23 PM: We’re at Admiral Bird, a cozy space that took reservations for tables and will be standing-room-only. Here in the early going, they’ve been decorating:

We’ll have coverage from here as the presidential results come in over the next few hours -the bigscreen is already on a national results broadcast. And at 8:15-ish pm, when King County’s one and only results release of the night comes out, we’ll have the local/regional/state numbers for key races – since this is a statewide/presidential year, not many mega-local races, but Sound Transit 3 is the marquee measure.

By the time we got to 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy around 8:30 am to look for morning sign-wavers, this was the last person left, standing at the SB RapidRide stop:

But we have photos from earlier, thanks to readers who were up on the pedestrian overpass over the Fauntleroy entrance to the bridge. Chris Porter sent these two (that’s him at left in the first one, with fellow West Seattleite Liliana Eagan):

From left in this photo, West Seattleites Lisa Wolters, Sawyer Wolters. Pat Bowen:

(Thanks to Lisa Cipollone for also sending a photo of those three, and the IDs!)

And Cause Haun sent this photo:

(Anyone else out this morning? editor@westseattleblog.com – also, if you’re planning to be out sign-waving this afternoon, tell us where and when.) Quick voting reminders:

King County Elections dropboxes, until 8 pm. Local ones are here:
-High Point Library (SW Raymond just east of 35th)
-White Center Library (1409 SW 107th)
-South Park Library (8604 8th Ave. S.)

Post Office – get there early – your ballot needs to be postmarked by tonight

If you can’t find your ballot, you can print a replacement (the KCE helpers at the High Point dropbox told us they have extra envelopes)

And here’s our list of local viewing parties (can still add others if you’ve heard of any).

We promised a list by night’s end. Here’s what we have:

WEST SEATTLE (ADMIRAL) LIBRARY: Planning to watch early returns, from 5:30 pm-7:45 pm – library closes at 8. (2306 42nd SW)

SOUND & FOG: 5-9 pm. “An election party with sparkling wine to celebrate the end of this election cycle,” says proprietor Justin Krebs. (4735 40th SW)

ADMIRAL BIRD: 6-10 pm, asking for RSVPs via this Facebook event page. (California/Admiral)

PARLIAMENT TAVERN: Watching returns with Happy Hour starting at 4 pm “and extends until winners are declared.” 21+. $4 micropints, $4 well drinks, and a specialty cocktail menu including “The Bad Hombre, La Presidente No. 1, Peppermint Patty, The Light Rail, and the Peaceful Transfer of Power.” (4210 SW Admiral Way)

CIRCA: 5-10 pm party. “Special food & drink menu (regular menu too) and free celebration goodies when the results are announced.” (2605 California SW)

Any place else? editor@westseattleblog.com or 206-293-6302, text or voice – thank you!

Election Eve sights:

AT THE BALLOT DROPBOX: We went by West Seattle’s semi-new permanent ballot dropbox outside High Point Library and found a team of four helpers from King County Elections. They told us they’re there until 5 pm today and again 9:30 am-8 pm tomorrow to manage traffic among other things – to keep it from backing up onto 35th, in particular. You can even give them your ballot without getting out of your car, and they’ll pop it in the dropbox while you watch. If you need a pen, or an envelope, they have those supplies too. A steady stream of voters were coming by, in cars and on foot, while we were there around 1:30 pm. SW Raymond, just east of 35th SW. (No van at WS Stadium – the permanent box at HP Library replaces it.) Nearby boxes are also at the White Center Library (1409 SW 107th) and South Park Library (8604 8th Ave. S.) – full countywide list here. (Or, use a stamp and postal-mail your ballot – be sure it’ll be postmarked no later than tomorrow.) If it’s been a few days since you dropped off or mailed your ballot, use the online Ballot Tracker to be sure it’s been received and verified.

GET OUT THE VOTE: Victoria at VAIN (WSB sponsor) in The Junction sent us the photo:

She says VAIN has posters they would like to offer to anyone interested in displaying/holding them up to encourage people to vote. (They’re at 4513 California SW, open until 8 tonight.)

P.S. If you’re out campaigning/getting out the vote, we’d love a photo – editor@westseattleblog.com

P.P.S. Last call to let us know about any election-night results-viewing parties in the area … later tonight we’ll publish the list, though it’s still not very long – same address, editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!

Maybe everyone’s planning to watch election results at home Tuesday night … we’ve been asked for a list of West Seattle viewing parties/events/gatherings, and so far, it’s a very short list. If your establishment/organization is having an event that’s open to the public, in West Seattle or White Center, please let us know – comment, or e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com, or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!

Last Tuesday, Chief Sealth International High School invited the news media to stop by as students participated in a statewide “mock election,” making their choices on five ballot measures as well as President, U.S. Senator, and Governor. We checked in with social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner to see how it turned out. He pointed out that the Secretary of State’s website published results from participating schools around the state. Sealth for some reason was counted in two groups – 767 votes as Chief Sealth, 17 as Sealth. Here’s how the larger group of students voted:

I-1433, state minimum wage
Yes 84%
No 16%

I-1491, “extreme risk protection orders”
Yes 81%
No 19%

I-735, constitutional rights for individuals, not corporations
Yes 66%
No 34%

President/VP
Clinton/Kaine (D) 69%
Trump/Pence (R) 11%
Stein/Baraka (G) 8%
Johnson/Weld (L) 5%
Kennedy/Hart (SW) 2%
La Riva/Puryear (SL) 2%
Castle/Bradley (C) 2%

U.S. Senator
Murray (D) 81%
Vance (R) 19%

Governor
Inslee 79%
Bryant 21%

King County Charter Amendment #2, gender-neutral language
Yes 65%
No 35%

Seattle I-124, hotel workers’ health/safety/standards
Yes 88%
No 12%

Same winners for the small group, though the percentages varied a bit, especially in the presidential race, where some of the third-party candidates got no votes. You can see all the results by going here – the dropdown lists many schools statewide, though many show no results, or what appear to be less-than-schoolwide results.

West Seattle hasn’t seen much bigtime campaigning this election season, but that changed today, as three elected officials headlined a media briefing today at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, making West Seattle-specific pitches for approval of Sound Transit 3. (Our video shows the entire 12-minute event.)

Mayor Ed Murray, City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, and State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon all repeated the point that our region shouldn’t repeat the mistake it made 40+ years ago by rejecting measures that would have led to a major transit system. Herbold noted that while some in West Seattle are unhappy that ST3 won’t bring light rail to West Seattle until 2030 (here’s our coverage of the June vote finalizing the measure) – three years earlier than the first draft of the measure projected – it does include other improvements in the meantime, including more RapidRide bus service. Fitzgibbon said that while everyone wishes light rail could get here before 2030, if ST3 is defeated, any future replacement proposal won’t get it here any sooner. Supporters also have been warning that a downsized measure might not include West Seattle at all. We asked the campaign manager Abigail Doerr afterward why they’re saying that; she says the West Seattle line is projected to have less ridership than Ballard, so if one had to go, it would likely be us (the final say, of course, would be up to the Sound Transit board).

The only other person to speak at the news conference was David Bestock (above), who manages Youngstown, saying he’s excited about making West Seattle more accessible via light rail, and about its affordable-housing component. And Mayor Murray – after mentioning his West Seattle roots – said that light rail has been a “lifechanging experience” for his current neighborhood, Capitol Hill.

You can read the full text of the measure, plus pro/con/explanatory statements, on this page of the King County Elections website – assuming you haven’t voted already. Doerr told us many have, citing new stats showing at least a third of Seattle voters already have turned in their ballots.

Two weeks until Election Day arrives, and the vote-counting begins. With King County Elections having sent out ballots last Wednesday, you should have yours by now, and KCE wants to hear from you if you don’t – 206-296-VOTE.

If you do, and you’re ready to vote, a few reminders:

*The new dropbox on SW Raymond outside High Point Library (photo above) is open for business, 24/7. A reader asked us how often it’s emptied; we checked today with KCE, and spokesperson Kendall Hodson replied, “Ballot drop boxes are picked up at least daily. For some higher-volume locations, we’ll actually pick up even more frequently than that.”

*One thing Hodson wanted to add: “Let people know that if they are mailing their ballot they only need a single stamp (there’s been a lot of confusion around this).”

If you’re using postal mail, make sure your ballot is postmarked by Election Day (November 8th). If you are using a dropbox – here’s the full list of locations – you need to get yours there by 8 pm November 8th. Don’t start marking it at 7:55 that night … you have more than three dozen races/issues to decide!

P.S. Voted already? Use the online Ballot Tracker to ensure yours is received.

P.P.S. Not registered? You still have until next Monday (October 31st) to register – but you have to do it in person.

BY THE WAY: That’s an image of suffragist/abolitionist Elizabeth Cady Stanton taped by someone to the front of the box.

… the marquee at The Admiral is already reminding you that the waiting is almost over: King County Elections says it has sent ballots on their way today, so as soon as you get yours, you can vote. You can mail your ballot OR drop it in West Seattle’s new permanent ballot drop box at High Point Library (SW Raymond just east of 35th SW) – deadline is Tuesday night, November 8th. If you don’t see your ballot by next Monday (October 24th), KC Elections says, call them at 206-296-VOTE. In the meantime, you can see exactly what and who is on your ballot by setting up the customized voter guide via the KC Elections website.

P.S. The county has accessible voting centers to help voters with disabilities. Locations and dates are here – the one in Renton opened today.

(Added Wednesday morning: Live feed from Seattle City Council budget meeting)

Two more City Council notes:

TOMORROW’S BUDGET REVIEWS: The City Council reconvenes as the Budget Committee at 9:30 Wednesday morning. We tracked today’s 9:30 am and 2 pm review sessions here; four more departments are up tomorrow during sessions at those same times. Each department name below is linked to the newest briefing memo we found in the system :

*Department of Construction and Inspections (most of what used to be known as DPD)
*Human Services Department
*Department of Transportation (SDOT)
*Parks and Recreation

The documents include changes proposed by councilmembers. One West Seattle-specific proposal from our area’s Councilmember Lisa Herbold is in the SDOT budget memo:

Add $100,000 for West Seattle Bridge studies – Councilmember Herbold

This proposal would provide one-time funding for two traffic management studies including:

(1) evaluate the feasibility of traffic management modifications to improve the eastbound Spokane St Viaduct connection to I-5; and (2) evaluate the City’s ability to share data with the Federal Railroad Administration to better manage and enforce rules regulating the blockage of public grade crossings by trains.

And from the Parks memo:

Community Planning Process for Myers Way Properties, Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) – Councilmember Herbold

This proposal would request the executive to conduct a community planning process to determine the future uses of the Myers Way Properties. Such uses/purposes would include: green space that can serve to clean the air and water near an environmentally degraded area; protection of wetlands and Hamm Creek Watershed; hill stabilization; natural park space in an under-served area; preschool; expansion of the Joint Training Facility for firefighters to include training for police. In July, the Mayor announced the Myers Way Properties would be retained in City ownership, and that the northernmost portion be used for expansion of the Joint Training Facility. The remainder of the property would be retained and designated for open space and/or recreation purposes, consistent with community input. The Mayor indicated that DPR will conduct further public outreach to determine how best to use the properties.

She and other councilmembers have many other proposed changes you can see in each of the linked memos (usually toward the end), but we’re highlighting those as WS-specific. The budget-review process continues until a final version is passed in November.

COUNCILMEMBER’S ‘OFFICE HOURS’: Herbold announced today that she’ll be at the Senior Center of West Seattle this Friday (October 21st) for “in-district office hours,” noon-7 pm. Walk-ins welcome, but she says you are also welcome to make an appointment via her scheduler Alex Clardy (alex.clardy@seattle.gov).

(9:43 pm update: What’s above is Seattle Channel video of today’s first Budget Committee session)

9:02 AM: City Councilmembers’ proposed changes to the mayor’s budget start going public today, with the Budget Committee‘s 9:30 am meeting kicking off the “deliberations” phase of the process. Some proposals are summarized in the documents that are published online as part of the agenda. Here are the six departments scheduled to appear before councilmembers today, in agenda order:

Office of Economic Development (OED)
Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL)
Office of Labor Standards (OLS)
Seattle Police Department (SPD)
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)
Department of Neighborhoods (DON) and Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF)

Each department name above links to the document that’s in today’s agenda; those documents review key budget points, and – generally toward the end in the ones we’ve read – councilmembers’ proposed changes.

Of particular note here, since we are a neighborhood-news publication – the Department of Neighborhoods document mentions proposals from our area’s Councilmember Lisa Herbold that include a few that would somewhat soften the mayor’s proposal to cut all city ties to and support for neighborhood district councils. She is suggesting that the city budget retain the ~$7,000 in support for the 13 district councils; each generally uses its ~$500 share of that to rent meeting space for the year. Herbold also is suggesting keeping an advisory role for the district councils in the review processes for community grants, before they go to the mayor’s new proposed citywide Community Involvement Commission.

In the Department of Education and Early Learning document, Herbold has this proposal, which appears to be inspired by what happened to some West Seattle programs this year, saved by the deal to house them at the currently otherwise-unused Schmitz Park Elementary:

$2 million for both 2017 and 2018 to create a Child Care Space Mitigation fund to address the displacement of before- and after-school child care from Seattle Public Schools’ buildings. In February, the District notified providers at seven schools that they would be displaced for the 2016-2017 school year and, given the trend of increasing enrollment and state reductions in class size, it is expected that additional displacements will occur in future years. The funding would be prioritized for use by the District to make arrangements to keep child care on-site at schools where providers would otherwise be displaced.

LOTS of other proposals are on the table, and the budget process has another month to go, but this is the point where the most changes stand to be made, so it’s good to pay attention – we’re still reading the docs, too. You can watch today’s discussions live on Seattle Channel (online or Cable 21), starting at 9:30 am – we’ll add the video window to this story when it’s live.

P.S. Councilmembers’ contact info is here.

9:38 AM: The morning session has begun, and we’ve added the live-feed window above; budget chair Councilmember Tim Burgess indicates they’ll be going through the first three departments on the list this morning.

11:43 AM: The meeting is in recess until 2 pm, at which time the same “live” video window above should be operable again. The final 3 departments listed above will be in the afternoon discussion.

2:17 PM: The meeting has resumed. SPD is up now, SPU to follow, and then the Department of Neighborhoods.

5:26 PM: Meeting’s over. The council reconvenes as the Budget Committee at 9:30 am Wednesday.

9:43 PM: Seattle Channel’s archived video of today’s first session is available and we’ve substituted it atop this story. We’ll add session two when it appears online, likely tomorrow.

(UPDATED 6:40 PM – Video in box below is now the archived recording of today’s meeting)

9:31 AM: Click the “play” button and you’ll see the Seattle Channel‘s live feed from City Council chambers, where the encampment proposals that have drawn so much attention and discussion this past week are about to be discussed by the Human Services and Public Health Committee.

9:38 AM: Committee chair Councilmember Sally Bagshaw is setting the stage for the discussion, recapping some of what the mayor announced last night (WSB coverage here) and the alternatives she and Councilmember Mike O’Brien proposed earlier in the week (WSB coverage here). You can find all the related documents, including the alternative proposals, in this portion of the agenda for today’s meeting.

“This has been an extraordinarily stressful time for all of us,” Bagshaw then declared. She says the proposal brought in about 5,000 e-mails to council offices. Most were focused on opposition to camping in parks and on sidewalks, and Bagshaw reiterated that the mayor declared last night that he wanted those areas to remain officially off-limits. She also has reiterated that the committee is NOT voting today, but will be discussing the “principles” of what they’re trying to do.

First guest speaker at the meeting is the newly hired city Director of Homelessness George Scarola. (Also note, councilmembers present at the hearing include those who are not members of the committee, including our area’s Councilmember Lisa Herbold.) Scarola recapped what the mayor said last night (again, covered here, with full details promised next week). He’s followed by the mayor’s counsel, Ian Warner, who has reiterated, once more, that the mayor will not support camping in parks, on sidewalks, or on school properties (which aren’t city-owned anyway).

9:53 AM: Now speaking, the mayor’s public-safety director Scott Lindsay. He says that the mayor’s promise of expanding outreach personnel means the city will have the capacity to reach out to every unsheltered person “to bring them indoors,” while the city works “to have a place for them to go.” He says the mayor’s budget proposal includes $2 million for additional trash (and needles) cleanup related to unsheltered living.

Talk turns to those cleanup plans. Herbold asks about the scope and concern about the expansion of what had been a pilot program at four sites. Bagshaw points out that for many of the people from whom the council have heard, the trash is the problem much more than the tents.

10:20 AM: Pressed by Councilmember O’Brien, a mayoral rep says there is “no capability or plan to sweep people off all park property” though the mayor does not support a plan that would not “preserve that capability.”

10:36 AM: Scarola warns that communities might be “nervous” about some of the forthcoming solutions, including the four new authorized encampments, but “we have to work together.”

10:40 AM: Committee vice chair Councilmember Bruce Harrell suggests they get on to details of the various proposals. Councilmember Tim Burgess speaks first, saying of unsheltered people, “They are our neighbors and we want to help them.” He draws applause by reiterating, “I just want to say we should not proactively authorize camping in our parks and on our sidewalks … that violates public trust.” He says he supports what the mayor announced last night, including four new authorized encampments similar to the ones currently open in Ballard, Interbay, and Othello. Burgess also says, “There’s a lot of … trash (in locations) where campers are no longer there” and urges that mayor use “emergency powers” to get that cleaned up. Then he says it’s “not helpful” to use this controversy to “denigrate those who are homeless” in Seattle. A few minutes later, Councilmember Kshama Sawant notes that “homelessness is an absolutely brutalizing experience … nobody chooses that.”

11:09 AM: Bagshaw says 90 people are signed up to speak in the public-comment period they’re trying to get to, and at 2 minutes each, “you do the math.” Harrell asks about O’Brien’s revised proposal for the city to pay a $50 fine if it doesn’t follow through on whatever rules it implements. The latter says he’ll work with Harrell on that offline – and audience members howl. Bagshaw says, “I oppose the idea of having penalties on this kind of legislation.”

11:17 AM: Public comment begins. Bagshaw says she’ll stay until everyone has spoken, even if other councilmembers have to leave.

11:49 AM: So far, a variety of viewpoints have been voiced.

12:10 PM: There’s been opposition, support, alternatives. One person suggested spending tens of millions more on housing. (For context on the investment required, the DESC Cottage Grove Commons building in Delridge, which houses 66 formerly homeless people, cost $14 million to build earlier this decade.)

12:31 PM: There have been emotional speeches from people on multiple sides of the issue, including, just now, a woman who asked “what do you want us to do? Just die? … You want me to be you. I was you. Then, something happened” – mental illness, drugs, job loss, and a variety of things. She was shortly after a man in football gear flanked by kids holding up signs saying “Needle-Free End Zones,” saying they had to chase loiterers off their field (not in WS) every week, and that they had found three needles on the field so far this season.

12:40 PM: Public comment continues – now at #49 of what was announced as a list of 90 who signed up. We’re moving on to other stories but the live feed will continue as long as the meeting does, and when the full recorded video is available later in the day, we’ll then substitute that.

1:03 PM: One more note if you’re not watching … councilmembers still at the hearing right now are Herbold, González (citywide rep and a West Seattleite), Burgess (citywide rep), Harrell, Bagshaw.

1:34 PM: The meeting has just wrapped up. We’ll switch to the archived video when it’s available. Latest info is that a vote wouldn’t be likely before December, because the council has to immerse itself in the budget from hereon out, but we’ll keep watch.