The City Council hasn’t taken its final budget vote yet, but the plan to move West Seattle’s lone Neighborhood Service Center into what is now the Southwest Community Center may already be considered a done deal, if you consider the fact that the space has just been put up for lease. We got the word from real-estate broker Kelsey Diller at City Closers, who sent us the link to the new listing for 5405 Delridge Way SW (see it here, including a photo from inside the NSC), describing it as a followup to this story we published in September, after the budget proposal for community-center changes was announced. Just this afternoon, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen visited SWCC to meet with community members who don’t want it to be changed into an NSC and Teen Life Center (separate story coming up later); the council is supposed to start finalizing budget tweaks next week, with a final vote due two weeks later.
(Sketch from West Seattleites’ 2008 presentation to the City Council about a “boulevard” vision for Fauntleroy Way)
All week long, the City Council has been listening to presentations about possible changes to the Mayor’s budget plan. Just because a change is presented, doesn’t mean it’ll make it into the final plan, but with that in mind: One of the proposals that will be heard this afternoon would allot a quarter-million dollars to start working toward what’s dubbed the “Fauntleroy Way Green Boulevard.” This is a concept that has been under discussion for more than three years, including as a component of the West Seattle Triangle vision. Just last night, in fact, members of the Southwest District Council brought it up briefly while reviewing what’s transpired with the Triangle. It’ll be one of many budget-change options presented during this afternoon’s City Council session. Here’s part of the description, from the “Green Sheet” for the proposal (which you can see in its entirety here):
This project will transform Fauntleroy Way SW into a green boulevard. Preliminary engineering will address project elements identified during conceptual design, including: a planted median with signature lighting fixtures, a pedestrian zone with sidewalks and planting areas including street trees, pedestrian lighting, potential green stormwater infrastructure and art, and safety improvements for crossing movements for all modes, including bicycle improvements and pedestrian crossings, signals, and reconfigured intersections and bulbs. Funding will be used to complete preliminary engineering in 2012, including public outreach, preliminary design, and construction cost estimates. Alternative project designs will be developed (with and without the relocation of a 28? drainage and wastewater main) that seek to balance green boulevard design elements with Major Truck Street treatments.
The proposal is officially from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the Transportation Committee and has long been involved in discussions about improving the Fauntleroy Way “gateway” to West Seattle. His office says the goal of this item is to get the project on the city’s Capital Improvement List and start studying what it would take to make it happen. This presentation is part of the council’s afternoon agenda (full list here), scheduled to start at 2 pm; you can watch live on Channel 21 or seattlechannel.org (or of course by going to City Hall downtown). Budget-change decisions are scheduled to start next week, with a plan finalized before Thanksgiving.
When Mayor McGinn arrived outside West Seattle High School Wednesday morning to campaign for the Families and Education Levy (Seattle Prop 1 on next Tuesday’s ballot), some of the citywide media swarmed him to ask about a different ballot measure – Seattle Transportation Benefit District Prop 1, which would raise money for transportation projects via $60 added to car tabs. They were following up on Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Mike Lindblom‘s story about $400,000 of that money possibly going to revise the Bicycle Master Plan, more than its original cost. Plans change all the time, the mayor was heard to explain. Eventually, the event got back on topic – the levy; specifically, the funding it includes for school-based health centers. That’s what brought a couple of industry executives to join the mayor, including Neighborcare CEOMark Secord:
His company runs clinics at all of West Seattle’s public middle schools and high schools. They offer service beyond what the traditional “school nurse” offers – they run centers that offer services to students including so-called “confidential” care such as mental and reproductive health, as well as vaccinations and other checkups. He says flatly that if the levy loses, those centers close. Photographers were invited into the WSHS clinic after the news conference ended. Physician assistant Auky van Beek was on duty:
The clinic funding has been singled out by levy supporters for months; when we covered the first PTSA meetings of the year at both WSHS and Chief Sealth, we noted that both groups were addressed by the Neighborcare staffers at the respective school health centers, pointing out the levy’s relation to funding their services. A news release following Wednesday’s event said the health funding portion of levy proceeds would total more than $40 million over the measure’s 7-year lifespan.
(Photo courtesy Kathleen Lonergan, from 10/26 City Council budget hearing)
As reported here previously, the mayor’s proposal for next year’s city budget – currently under review before the City Council – changes the Southwest Community Center into a shared space with Southwest Teen Life Center and West Seattle’s lone Neighborhood Service Center (moving from its Delridge location). SWCC supporters are trying to get the Council to change the plan and keep the center open for general community use. Among them is Kathleen Lonergan, who shares the news that …
… City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has accepted our invitation to visit SWCC! He’ll be there this Friday, November 4th, at 2:00pm. He will do a meet and greet/Q&A session with members of the community for about 1/2 hour. Around 2:30, he will tour the center with me and other Family Learning Program representatives.
We’d love to have plenty of people there for his visit. Most of our homeschoolers will be gone home by that time, since so many have small kids who need to nap. This would be a GREAT opportunity for West Seattleites to get out and show their support for SWCC.
Lonergan was one of dozens of SWCC supporters who went downtown last week to plead their case at the City Council’s most recent public hearing on the budget. This week, the council has moved into a round of presentations about potential budget alternatives – you can check them out under “Green Sheets,” in the Budget Documents section of their website. Tomorrow morning, when the budget meetings resume at 9:30, Parks (which runs community centers) items are on the agenda, including one titled “Enhanced Hours at Community Centers”; the Green Sheet for that does not appear to be online yet. Next week, the council starts making decisions on potential changes to the mayor’s plan, and final approval is expected on or by November 21st, so if you have something to say, this is the time, as they start locking in on changes (or non-changes) – here’s how (as well as being at SWCC if you can on Friday).
The mayor and City Council have three questions for you:
*What do you think are the highest priority safety problems to solve on Seattle roads?
*What do you think are the most important things to do to make Seattle roads safer?
*We often talk about what government can do to promote safety. What are the ways that non-governmental groups and individuals can promote safety?
To get your answer, a three-session Road Safety Summit is about to kick off – with the third session in West Seattle, 6 pm November 21st at Southwest Community Center. The city asks that you RSVP if you can – which you can do here.
Election Day is only three weeks from tomorrow, but your ballot will arrive in the mail a lot sooner. And you’ll get three more chances to have a look at some of the people vying for your vote:
SCHOOL BOARD: First, tomorrow night is the School Board candidates’ forum sponsored by local PTA/PTSAs at Madison Middle School, moderated by KUOW’s Phyllis Fletcher (latest preview here – mixer at 6:30 pm, forum at 6:55).
CITY COUNCIL, SCHOOL BOARD: At 1 pm Wednesday, the Senior Center of West Seattle will host a forum with City Council and School Board candidates.
EVERYBODY! One week from tomorrow (on October 25th), VIEWS presents its next West Seattle Candidates’ Forum at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, co-sponsored by the West Seattle Kiwanis, with 24 candidates running for city, county, port, and school spots – meet the candidates at 6:30 pm, while the moderated debate starts at 7:30 pm.
As first reported here last month, big changes are proposed for city-run community centers, in the mayor’s budget proposal, now making its way through the City Council. Whatever changes eventually are put in place, what hours do you think centers should be operated, and what programs should be offered? The city Parks Departmentinvites you to a series of meetings – one at each community center – to share your ideas. Here are the ones in West Seattle:
Alki Community Center, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, 5817 SW Stevens
Delridge Community Center, 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, 4501 Delridge Way SW
Hiawatha Community Center, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2700 California SW
High Point Community Center, 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, 6920 34th SW
Southwest Community Center, 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, 2801 SW Thistle
In terms of the overall budget-cut proposal itself, the next public hearing before the City Council is October 26th (details here).
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
This past hour, both of our state’s U.S. Senators were at South Seattle Community College‘s main campus here in West Seattle to announce a $20 million federal grant that “will train 2,600 more workers with the skills needed by Washington state aerospace employers,” according to the official announcement. SSCC President Gary Oertli was among those with Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for the announcement at one of the training facilities expected to benefit – the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee’s Advanced Inspection and Manufacturing Mobile Training Unit at SSCC. After the formalities, we photographed Sen. Cantwell inspecting an SSCC goodie basket from Pres. Oertli – with some of the college’s trademarked food/beverage creations:
That’s Sadie, 6 1/2. You might remember her from our story about Southwest Community Center users – including the Family Learning Program she attends – concerned about the big changes ahead for SWCC if the mayor’s 2012 budget goes forward unchanged. The day we visited Sadie’s program, she showed off the donations brought in by her new weekly food drive. Tuesday night, she and other SWCC supporters went downtown for the first of two City Council public hearings on the budget. It wasn’t an overflow crowd, but did include supporters of other community centers facing changes.
As first announced last month, the budget proposes changing SWCC into a Teen Life Center and Department of Neighborhoods’ service center (basically relocating West Seattle’s lone remaining NSC from Delridge to the SWCC building). We’re awaiting the Seattle Channel‘s video of the hearing, to link here. (added midday Wednesday – here’s that video)
But that wasn’t the only budget event of the day. The City Council is well into its schedule of presentations from individual departments, and Tuesday’s lineup included the Seattle Police Department presentation. Among its line items of note: “Maintain current number of Crime Prevention Coordinators …” which is good news for neighborhoods (though still not the former level of one coordinator per precinct). We also are checking on whether the proposal to add six more red-light cameras and relocate two would affect West Seattle. The budget also would keep the West Seattle-headquartered SPD Mounted Patrol Unit officers, as PubliCola reports here.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
It’s not too rare for rock ‘n’ roll and politics to mix these days – and that’s what happened tonight at Morgan Junction’s rock-themed Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), location tonight of a fundraiser for the man considered to be the Democratic frontrunner for next year’s governor race, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee. (Suggested donations, per the original invitation, ranged from $75 to $1,000.) Other top local Democrats showed up to lend their support:
That’s State Rep. Eileen Cody(top left), with Marcee Stone, 34th District Democrats board member; next photo, County Councilmember Joe McDermott(below right), with Pigeon Point’s über-involved Pete Spalding(left) and 34th District Democrats board member Les Treall:
Unless the campaign takes an unexpected turn, it’s considered likely to be Rep. Inslee vs. Republican state Attorney General Rob McKenna in November 2012 in the race to succeed Gov. Chris Gregoire. Inslee represents the 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of King, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties, mostly north of Seattle.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Click anywhere on the image to play the clip – our workaround to avoid the previous “auto-play” problem)
2:06 PM:Mayor McGinn‘s second budget speech of the day is under way – this time, he’s speaking to the City Council, which will spend the next 2 months working on it. Click the “play” button above to join the live feed. (UPDATE: The archived video is now available.) Details are also supposed to be available online here any minute now – we’re continuing to check around and will make note here when the documents are published publicly (then we’ll add toplines while going through them).
2:12 PM: Budget documents now available at the city Finance Department website. The executive summary is here. Speaking to the council, the mayor says his proposal is about “priorities” and “morals,” not just about “balancing” the spending plan.
2:40 PM: Some toplines:
*155 “full-time equivalent” positions cut, 96 of which are currently filled
*43 “full-time equivalent” positions added
*If previous community-policing staffing goals had been met, and if open positions were filled, SPD would have 86 more officers by next year than it will have. Its budget is being cut by $2.4 million. But the budget’s executive summary says that key goals are being met or exceeded – such as “priority 1 call response times,” 6.3 minutes through June compared to the 7-minute goal of the “neighborhood-policing plan.”
*Of interest if you use city parking outside West Seattle (where there is no pay-station/meter parking) – there will be rate changes in some neighborhoods, depending on usage trends. Capitol Hill, for example, will go down; Ballard will go up. The city plans to start a “pay by cell phone” program next year. And parking tickets will cost you more – $44 starting next month, up from $39.
*Various grant programs administered by different departments will come under the umbrella of the Department of Neighborhoods
*Winter preparedness spending will include installation of temperature sensors on seven bridges (we’re still looking for the list)
2:52 PM: Mayor’s speech is over; when archived video is available, we’ll replace it atop this story. In the meantime, we’re reading the SDOT proposal from the full-details budget docs. For those who think the mayor is all-bicycles, all-the-time, note that his previous 2012 proposal called for 300 new bicycle-parking spots; this plan cuts that in half. He also would drop chip-seal maintenance for some non-arterial roads, and will no longer inspect city-owned stairways.
More to come… And remember that the public hearings start one week from tomorrow (October 4th); the schedule and other info about the process is on the City Council’s budget website, here.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Click the image to play the video – our temporary fix for previous “autoplay” problem)
11:25 AM: Click the “play” button to watch Mayor McGinn‘s first of two budget-plan speeches, live. [UPDATED: The clip is now his archived speech, recorded live.] He’s at Seattle Central Community College (and will speak to the City Council inside City Hall at 2 pm), following introductions by people including community-college-system Chancellor Dr. Jill Wakefield, familiar to West Seattle as former South Seattle Community College president. According to his website, details won’t be available until 2 pm – here’s the link to watch; we’ll plan on a separate story then, but if any advance word emerges, we’ll add to this one first.
After Mayor McGinn formally presents his budget plan with speeches at 11 and 2 pm today, it’s likely more than a few groups will start mobilizing to challenge parts of it.
One group of city-service users already has a two-week head start: Those who use city-run community centers that are facing major operational/staffing changes. The mayor came to West Seattle two weeks ago today (WSB coverage here) with City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the Parks Committee, and acting Seattle Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams to preview that part of the plan, splitting centers into geographic groupings, each of which will retain one or two full-service centers, while the others see varying degrees of cutbacks/changes (all documented here).
Perhaps the most drastic of all is the plan proposed for West Seattle’s Southwest Community Center, which would no longer be a community center, but instead would be reclassified as a Teen Life Center – which is currently part of its operations. And part of its space would be transformed into a new Neighborhood Service Center for the city – replacing the one on Delridge, which would close (as reported here two weeks ago).
“All of us … are stunned” by the SWCC proposal, wrote the center’s Advisory Council president, Tom Foley, in a letter to the City Council. (Read his entire letter here.)
Among them – a group whose relationship with and use of Southwest Community Center would seem to embody what the city has said it’s seeking, partnerships with community members/groups that maximize use of a facility and bring in revenue.
This group is the Family Learning Program, serving more than 130 kids and their homeschooling families, which has seen major growth since it launched last winter, and was hoping to expand its program to more days – until this proposal put it under a cloud of doubt.
And it’s only one of the programs based at the center, serving customers diverse in everything from ethnicity to age, with regular programs and special events including the annual luau presented by the local Pacific Islander community:
A new development late today, related to allegations made last night by the 34th District Democrats, who passed a motion asking for city and state investigations into a purported youth-arts publication that they alleged was instead political-attack literature – funded by a $1,000 city grant.
The city says that today it asked for, and got, the money back.
Answering our request for comment right after the 34th DDs’ vote, Unified Outreach sent a statement saying in part “… We at Unified Outreach are confused by the allegations. As all stories were written by youth with no intentional biases or promotion of one candidate over another. There was NO input from ANY campaigns or political figures and no copies of the paper were released prior to printing..”
This morning, we sent several questions to the city Department of Neighborhoods, which issued the Small Sparks grant to Unified Outreach.
(BREAKING, 4:59 PM: The Department of Neighborhoods just sent a reply to our inquiries from this morning. Included was this: They asked Unified Outreach for the $1,000 back, and received it. Separate story to come.) By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
*First, this one came toward the end of the meeting: The group is calling for a state and city investigation into a “newspaper” published by an organization called Unified Outreach, with a Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Small Sparks grant.
Unified Outreach’s director David Toledo is campaign manager for King County Council candidate Diana Toledo, and the 34th DDs allege that the group’s “Youth Arts Compendium” is “a piece of campaign literature supporting one candidate, Diana Toledo, and attempting to discredit another, [incumbent] Joe McDermott, in the King County Council District 8 race.” (Note that McDermott is a member of the 34th DDs, which has endorsed him.)
The 10-page “newspaper” includes articles headlined “Diana Toledo’s innovative plan to bring Arts back to Public Schools,” “Artist Community stands with Diana Toledo- Says fund Public School Arts,” “Senior Outrage! Candidate ‘misled us’ says senior community” (regarding an unattributed claim that “seniors” voted for McDermott because they had him confused with believed he was the son of U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott), and “Scandal at the 34th District Democrats Mid-Summer Classic” (the alleged “scandal” is which includes a claim that Joe McDermott left the group’s softball game early and was replaced by David Toledo).
(added 1 am) The publication also addresses politics with a cover story noting that all but 3 of 32 “executive-level decision-makers” in state/county/city government are white, and highlighting two issues in the County Council district in which Toledo and McDermott are running, the South Park Bridge and the Maury Island gravel mine.
The entire back page is devoted to the Toledo-McDermott race, topped with three paragraphs about the 11th District Democrats’ dual endorsement of the candidates, and also including information on the Municipal League’s rating of both candidates, with a quote about each candidate but not including the actual rating (“good” for Toledo, “very good” for McDermott), while noting in the last paragraph “It should be noted that both Candidates were also rated by the Municipal League in 2010. Candidate Diana Toledo has remained consistent in her evaluation, with no change in her rating. However, after one year in office, Joe McDermott has received a lower ranking in 2011 than he did in 2010.” (Their 2010 ratings, according to the Muni League site, were “good” for Toledo and “outstanding” for McDermott.)
The two also were mentioned in a story titled “How the Deep Bore Tunnel will destroy us,” in a list at the end of the story, with CANDIDATES FOR THE TUNNEL (Boo!) followed by eight names including Joe McDermott, and CANDIDATES AGAINST THE TUNNEL (YAY!) followed by four names including Diana Toledo. Above the list is a cartoon depicting the tunnel as a toothed hole, with caricatures of five politicians including McDermott, the only one whose full name is used in the cartoon’s dialogue (“Uh oh, Sally, we’re almost out of tax dollars!” “And the tunnel is still hungry! What else can we feed it?” “Hey Tom, you and Joe McDermott hustle us up some seniors!” “We’re on it!”).
*The rest of the story, including the scanned copy of the publication, is now after this jump*Read More
The November 8th general election is eight weeks away – and your ballot will be in the mail, headed your way, in just five weeks. The date is now set for what’s likely to be West Seattle’s biggest candidates’ forum of the season. At last night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, Karl de Jong and Sylvia Rolle announced that the new local group VIEWS (Visualize Increased Engagement – West Seattle) will again gather together as many of the local candidates as possible for one big forum, 6 pm October 26th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. More than 100 people were at VIEWS’ pre-primary forum at South Seattle Community College in July (WSB coverage here, here and here). This is one of at least two forums planned before November 8th; as reported here last week, local PTAs/PTSAs are putting together a School Board candidates’ forum for October 18th at Madison Middle School.
We first reported this yesterday, when Mayor McGinn, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, and acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams came to High Point to unveil their vision for how city-run community centers will operate next year. As part of that plan, the Delridge NSC – the only one left in West Seattle, after the Junction NSC closed in June – would close and move into the Southwest Community Center in Westwood. There were no Department of Neighborhoods reps available at the High Point media briefing to elaborate; the Delridge closure wasn’t even confirmed until more than an hour after our followup question at the briefing. But today, DON director Bernie Matsuno sent a followup note to Delridge Neighborhoods District Council chair Mat McBride and Southwest District Council co-chairs Susan Melrose and Tony Fragada. Through McBride, it was shared with us to publish publicly:
Yesterday morning, the Mayor and Councilmember Bagshaw held a press conference announcing recommendations for community center operations in the City’s 2012 budget. Among the recommendations presented, there was discussion on how community centers could be used in different ways, specifically noting the Southwest Community Center. In essence, it was proposed that the upstairs area of the Southwest Community Center serve as the home of the Neighborhood Service Center (NSC) serving West Seattle residents.
As you know, DON, as well as all other city departments, was asked to take budget reductions for 2012. Because of our economic reality, the Mayor wanted to look at how the City can do business differently while still preserving city services. By using an existing city-owned facility (in this case, the community center) for an NSC instead of renting a space, it makes the City more efficient and accessible, while saving the City money. And the assistance and support that our Neighborhood Service Center provides to West Seattle residents will remain intact at this new location.
However, opening this new location will mean the closure of the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center. While this proposed new location is further south, no reduction in Customer Service Representatives will occur. It will also not affect our Neighborhood District Coordinators; Steve, Yun and Ed will continue to support the West Seattle community.
I know this is yet another change for West Seattle, but this recommended model will save money while preserving services and is part of a longer-term vision of using city facilities to provide multiple services and activities for our community members. The Mayor will share the details in his proposed 2012 budget to be presented on September 26.
The community-center proposal also will be discussed when the City Council’s Parks Committee meets at 9 am September 15th (at City Hall downtown), and when the city Parks Board meets at 7 pm September 22nd (at Parks HQ downtown).
(POST-BRIEFING TOPLINES, 2:56 pm: Here’s the map showing which community centers are proposed for which level of service, citywide. Just added our video of the entire briefing, at bottom of this story, as well as the answer to the Neighborhood Service Center/SW Community Center question.)
11:59 AM: We’re at High Point Community Center, where Mayor McGinn, City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw and acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams are unveiling the proposal for how next year’s city budget will deal with community centers. We’ve just received the news release – a key component:
The preferred operating model would consist of five geographically based service areas, each with five community centers staffed by a team. Within each area, the centers would provide varying levels of service and each team would be led by a Senior Recreation Coordinator. This model preserves services to the greatest extent possible by keeping the centers open with varying levels of service.
Specifics on West Seattle community centers: High Point is proposed for “Level 1” service. Delridge and Hiawatha, “Level 2a,” Alki “Level 2b,” and Southwest, a “special-purpose facility.” Details are promised online at any moment now – still looking.
12:04 PM: News conference has begun. Williams is recapping “how we got here.” He says they took into account age and size of community centers, among other factors, in deciding which would deliver which level of service. “It’s a more tailored delivery model that doesn’t treat every center the same. … This proposal represents a fundamental shift in how we have operated our community centers.” Documents indicate more than 100 hours of service will be cut citywide, 1,095 next year compared to 1,214 this year (which in turn was down about 100 hours from the year before.)
12:08 PM: Now, the mayor speaks. He notes the revenue drop in the city budget, saying the gap will only get larger in the next few weeks, “so we have to continuously look for efficiencies and ways to save money.” Both he and Williams have said this moves away from a “cookie-cutter” way to operate community centers. The mayor says this will save the city more than $1.2 million. He goes over the geographic areas (mentioned above), saying each geographic area will have at least one community center with a “high level of service” – that’s High Point, in West Seattle. (The northwest and southeast sectors each will have two.) “This change came about because of budget pressures, but we do think we will have a more responsive, flexible and tailored system … than in the past,” McGinn says. According to the docs handed out here, a Level 1 community center will be open 70 hours a week, a 2a center (Delridge and Hiawatha) 45 hours a week, a 2b center (Alki) 25 hours a week.
12:15 PM: Councilmember Bagshaw is speaking now. She notes that Parks has taken a “disproportionate hit” in recent years, budget-wise. She is recapping the community consultation process that preceded this announcement. She says she had a two-fold expectation: Keep all 25 community centers open; make sure decisions were “community-driven.” She says that what is being proposed today is a “starting point … that could change.” If communities feel that they need more hours, they will have a chance to speak up, she promises (she stresses that twice.)
12:21 PM: Bill Keller of the Associated Recreation Council speaks next – these councils have taken a major role in operations at the centers that were dramatically cut last time around, including Alki. According to the docs given to the media here, of the city’s projected savings in these changes, almost $450,000 would come from ARC covering some of what the city pays for now. He says this year has been a “partnership experiment … and we learned a lot. We learned we couldn’t run those sites without Parks leadership. We had the doors open, we had programs running, but it wasn’t as good as it should have been.” So, he says, they made some changes this past July – the ARC contributed $234,000 in all to those five centers (including Alki).
12:25 PM: Big changes for Southwest Community Center, in the document. It will become exclusively a Teen Life Center downstairs; upstairs will become a Neighborhood Service Center operated by the Department of Neighborhoods. We’ll be asking in the Q/A whether that means the Delridge NSC will close (the Junction NSC closed earlier this year). Southwest Pool, the docs say, “will continue to operate as it does currently.” Now, Jim Cunningham from ARC is speaking.
12:32 PM: Q/A now. We ask our Southwest Neighborhood Service Center question – nobody here has the answer but the mayor’s staff will get back to us. Parks Sup’t Williams says community meetings will be held early next year (after the budget is finalized) to discuss specifics of what the community wants at each center.
12:35 PM: Thanks to Amy at MyGreenLake.com, who says the documents we’ve had in hard copy for half an hour are now available online – go here. As the Q/A continues, in response to a question, Councilmember Bagshaw stresses again that the community’s desire for how a center should be run will shape it. We asked, watching how Alki dealt with being a “limited use” center this year, with a heavy burden on its Advisory Council, if more centers’ councils would face that sort of task; Keller from ARC says that while each limited-use center’s council was tasked with its own financial burden last year, this year, they will all contribute together, and the ARC’s share of costs – that $445,000+ share – will come from one big pot. Responding to another question, Williams notes that all centers will have some level of drop-in use.
12:47 PM: The news conference is wrapping up. One High Point community member notes that program cost is an issue for her family. Williams responds by pointing out that the Parks Department “has a scholarship program” and points her that way. The mayor, in closing remarks, says that community members talking to each other will be the most important conversations in shaping this “…with the budget situation that we face.” Again, the full documentation on all this – with various documents (looks like PDFs) showing who’s affected where – are online now, here.
2:56 PM: Here’s our video of the 45-minute briefing in its entirety (we’ll substitute the Seattle Channel‘s version when it’s available, as its audio is bound to be clearer):
Note that the first City Council discussion of this proposal is set for 9 am this Thursday (September 15th) before the Parks Committee, which Councilmember Bagshaw chairs. Here’s the agenda. Meantime, Aaron Pickus from Mayor McGinn’s communications team has just answered our question about the SW Community Center’s big changes: “The Delridge Neighborhood Service Center would move to the Southwest Community Center as part of this proposal.”
Still more than a month away, but these are considered the hottest races on the Seattle ballot this fall, so you might want to mark that calendar: Announced last night in the WSB Forums, an October 18th forum at West Seattle’s Madison Middle School with the candidates for the 4 Seattle School Board seats on the November ballot. Though board members represent geographic districts, in the general election, all up-for-a-vote board seats are voted on citywide. The forum is hosted and sponsored by local PTA/PTSAs.
Quick reminders: Today is the second day of the weeklong Seattle Public Library shutdown. And tomorrow, also because of a budget shortfall (different governing body, though), Seattle Public Schools will be on a systemwide furlough day to save money toward its budget gap. A message from SPS says, “We negotiated this furlough day with our teacher and principal unions, and also required furlough days for our non-represented staff, to make up for the $4 million shortfall caused by the cuts to teacher, principal and administrator salaries in the last legislative session. These days were negotiated to have the least possible impact on students-though missing a day right before school starts may mean that classrooms and buildings will not be as ready as we hoped for the first day of school.” Which is a week from tomorrow – Wednesday, Sept. 7th.
If you garden, you know our area is described as having a “Mediterranean” climate. Last night at West Seattle Nursery, Mediterranean also applied to the music and food at the 34th District Democrats‘ annual Garden Party/Auction – above, the Sinovi Tamburitza Orchestra, specializing in Croatian music. Another guest star: New York Vinnie returned to West Seattle – more than a year after his move to Pittsburgh – to serve as auctioneer. WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand asked Vinnie what he misses about life here:
Ahead, more photos from the 34th Dems’ fundraiser, outdoors on a lovely summer night, including costumes and shades:Read More
(UPDATED 11:56 PM with more reaction) King County Elections has just released its first, and only, round of results for the night (we’ll add reaction/analysis notes and links later tonight):
City Council Position 9: Sally Clark* 71%, Dian Ferguson 22%, Fathi Karshie 5% REACTION:Via Facebook, Clark said, “71% is a great vote of confidence.”
King County Council District 8: Joe McDermott* 67%, Diana Toledo 27%, Goodspaceguy 5% REACTION: Via Facebook – McDermott: “I am gratified by our strong showing in the Primary and look forward to a vigorous campaign through the General Election.” Toledo: “Now the hard work begins; on to the General Election!!!”
Seattle School Board District 6 (West Seattle area): Steve Sundquist* 43%, Marty McLaren 30%, Joy Anderson 21%, Nick Esparza 5%
King County Veterans/Human Services Levy: 66% yes, 34% no REACTION: In an e-mailed statement, King County Executive Dow Constantine said, “”The citizens of King County have demonstrated their respect for our veterans and compassion for our neighbors most in need by voting to renew the Veterans and Human Services Levy.”
Full King County results here; next count, tomorrow afternoon.
Election Day is only three weeks from tomorrow, but your ballot will arrive in the mail a lot sooner. And you’ll get three more chances to have a look at some of the people vying for your vote: 
The 
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