This Wed., Sept. 8, at 7 pm, Mayor McGinn will answer your questions live on the Seattle Channel with C.R. Douglas.
Do you have questions for Mayor Mike McGinn? When will the South Precinct get more police officers? What is the status of the Youth and Families Initiative? How does he plan to address violent crime in the Rainier Valley? When will he accept the Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge?
To speak with Mayor McGinn, call 206-684-8821 this Wednesday at 7 pm. If you can’t call at that time, call 206-684-8821 anytime (right now for instance!) and have your question recorded for the show. Or email your question to askthemayor@seattle.gov anytime the inspiration strikes you. Don’t miss this great opportunity to ask the mayor, and don’t forget to mention that your RVP sent you!
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn at last year’s candidates forum in Columbia City. Photo/David Mullarkey Images
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By Amber Campbell, RVP Editor/Publisher
Just when you thought Mayor McGinn might stop digging a public relations hole behind the Rainier Valley’s brutal on-again-off again crime wave and woefully understaffed South Precinct, somebody went and gave him the Columbia City shovel.
Without much more than a might-make-it-down-there-in-five-or-six-weeks and maybe-some-LED-lighting-in-a-couple-years, the Mayor finally just let Deputy Mayor and Columbia City neighbor Darryl Smith do the talking:
The Valley, as we well know, has over the years been maligned in the press. At times, we’ve felt ignored, humored, and frankly dissed by the City. I’m not here to say that those feelings aren’t based in some sort of reality. Like many of you, I’ve at times felt frustrated, and angry at my elected officials.
and…
We’re serious about walking our talk. If you would like to hear more about how we’re engaged or tell us what you’re working on, I hope you will call or email me directly. No one knows your neighborhood as well as you, and you are critical to our ability to lead in a way that ensures we are as responsive and as thoughtful as possible in times that are as complex and challenging as these. More.
Really?
‘Cause we tried that last week when we emailed Mayor McGinn and Deputy Mayor Smith with a friendly invitation to join the Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge, and didn’t get so much as a “thanks but no thanks” in response.
Then some of our homies, like KING5′s Tonya Mosely, Q13′s Amy Allen, the venerable Sable Verity and seattlepi.com blogger Craig Thompson tried to get answers to questions about South Precinct officers being tapped for drunk duty in Belltown, and so far, they too are gettin’ the hand.
Meanwhile, it may be another 30 days before the Mayor makes it down to Seattle’s most violent corner to discuss public safety, but tonight he’ll be in Capitol Hill for a nightlife forum.
Bad manners or bad governance? What do you think?
Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith has lived in the Rainier Valley since 1994. He is also one of only a few people of color in Mayor McGinn’s administration. Photo/Office of Economic Development
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Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith,
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Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge
According to the Rainier Beach Community Block Watch – the organization that hosted last night’s meeting with Jim Diers – Mayor McGinn is planning a rare Rainier Valley visit on Thur., Sept. 30, to attend a public safety meeting at Rainier Beach Community Center (8825 Rainier Ave. S.).
The community center is located on the northwest corner of Rainier and Henderson, where there have been three shootings, two beatings and a stabbing in less than two weeks.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn at last year’s candidates forum in Columbia City. Photo/David Mullarkey Images
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Not Enough Trees in Rainier Valley: According to the city, the Rainier Valley neighborhoods of New Holly, Columbia City, Seward Park and Rainier Beach have some of the lowest percentage of tree canopy coverage in the city, which has leaders so concerned that they are offering free trees to homeowners in those neighborhoods. More.
Libraries Closed Next Week Due To Budget Cuts: All Seattle libraries will close Mon., Aug. 30 through Sun., Sept. 5 due to citywide budget cuts. Please note Mon., Sept. 6 is the Labor Day holiday and all libraries will be closed. Regular Library operations will resume Tues., Sept. 7. More.
Council Approves Urban Farm Legislation: Seattle now allows “urban farms” and “community gardens” in all zones, with some limitations in industrial zones. Also, residents will now be able to sell food grown on their property. This legislation formally recognizes Farmer’s markets allowing them in more areas of Seattle. The ordinance also allows dedicated food production on rooftop greenhouses. More.
Help Improve Usability at Seattle.gov: Have you ever been frustrated at how difficult government web sites are to use? Here’s your chance to help them improve (and make a little something-something for yourself while you’re at it). Knowledge as Power, a non-profit based in Seattle, is running a Usability Study on Seattle.gov, and needs participants like you to sit in a room and let them takes notes as you browse for information on Seattle.gov. More.
Track Streetlight Repairs Online: A new online system enables customers to track streetlight repairs for reported outages. To see the map, report streetlight outages and to track their repair, go here.
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Seward Park
In an effort to “improve community through gardening”, the City is currently seeking suggestions for possible future P-Patch sites in the Rainier Beach area.
Do you know of a potential site that might be a good fit? If so, submit your idea here ASAP.
What makes a good site? A good site is:
- Publicly owned (or easily leasable at low or no cost)
- Mostly flat and sunny
- At least 5,000 square feet
Why? Seattle voters recently passed the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, which includes $2 million for new P-Patch community gardens. The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods wants to use this money in order to serve areas that are getting denser, have relatively high percentages of under-represented populations and are currently under-served by the P-Patch Community Gardening Program, as well as areas that are specifically called for in the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. Rainier Beach has been identified as one of these areas. Go here to see a map of all the priority areas.
Photo/do communications
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Dear Mayor McGinn,
The southeast Seattle community respectfully invites you to participate in the Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge – an opportunity to walk in the shoes of your less fortunate constituents and learn first-hand the challenges that many of us face just trying to get to school and work each day.
Why?
To raise awareness and put a realistic experience to a set of statistics. To help our government understand how urgent our needs really are.
This isn’t Ballard or Belltown where crime may happen but you can still feel relatively safe walking down the street while using common sense. We live in an area where frankly, I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking down certain streets within a block radius from where I live without at least a tazer gun and a large friend. Even the safest of precautions won’t account for the fact that 80% of the children shooting other thugs around here can’t shoot worth a darn and may end up hitting me in the leg.
Yet, city officials treat us as if we can “hang tight” and find some way not to get mugged or shot in the leg on our way to and from our cars and buses every morning and night. There’s also the underlying message that we can either expect to put up with it because most of us are poor or because it’s always been this way. Even worse, we have people who don’t live here telling us if we don’t like it then we can just move to a nicer area. The problem with this logic is that there are families who’ve lived here for generations. There is culture, beauty, and community in SE Seattle. This is where we live. Ignore our problems and crime will only get worse and spread to your part of the city.
We feel that if officials could see exactly how dangerous our area has become due to complete negligence, it might light a fire under their seat. We honestly feel that anyone who would witness our experiences first hand could not possibly do anything but act.
Bottom line, we’re tired of the city treating SE Seattle crime with the same urgency as a pot hole report. We cannot accept “we’ll get to it, improvement is hard”. Mich
So please, Mayor McGinn, accept our challenge to:
- Live on the Henderson side of the Lake Washington Apartments for four weeks.
- Attend a Rainier Beach block watch meeting.
- Call the police to report a home burglary and see how long it takes an officer to respond.
- Ride the #7 while listening to an ipod, then walk home carrying an arm load of groceries.
- Ride light rail between Columbia City and Rainier Beach after dark, then walk down Henderson to Rainier.
- Take a tour of local attractions, including the Rainier Valley abandoned house tour, Genesee Car Ranch and the “hoe stroll” on Rainier between Othello and Rose.
Finally, welcome to the Rainier Valley!
BIG thanks to all the faithful RVP readers who contributed suggestions to the Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge for Mayor McGinn, especially Davis, Mimi Torchia Boothby Watercolors, Lou, Mark B, Mich, sjh, tlp, luigia, Tom T, C, Tiffany, Brian, Ryan, JB, Sheri, really, Dave, mavis rudy, and Sable Verity, who were all entered in a drawing to win an RVP t-shirt and four free tickets to Columbia City Cinema (RVP sponsor). Congratulations to Mich for winning the prize! Find more entries here and here.
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RVP Contests
What do you think the Mayor should experience during the Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge?
Submit your ideas via the comment section below by tonight, at 11:59 pm, and you could win an RVP t-shirt and four free tickets to Columbia City Cinema (RVP sponsor)!
Current front runners include:
- Davis: 1 – Get Mr. Mayor to apply for jobs in 98118 – see how many are available with his skill set, qualifications; 2 – Attend a block watch meeting; 3 – Walk or bike the city “designated safe routes” to our elementary schools and then tell us how safe they are for students K-5; 4 – Drive a honda or toyota and park your car for shopping in 98118 and see how long it takes to get stolen
- luigia: He should check out the local attractions….. the Rainier Valley abandoned house tour, the Genesee Car Ranch…..
- Mark B: If he rides the # 7 he should be required to listen to an ipod while on the bus. He should also be required to walk home with an arm load of groceries after dark from Rainier and Henderson.
- really: I vote for the mayor to spend the night in the abandoned Angie’s space…then walk the “hoe stroll” on Rainier between Othello and Rose then on down to Henderson all while wearing a “stop snitching” tshirt, $175 air jordan sneakers, and an ipod.
- Mimi Torchia Boothby Watercolors: 1. call the police and see how long it takes for them to come; 2. find a sidewalk in most of our neighborhoods.
Find more entries here.
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RVP Contests
In light of concerns about Mayor McGinn’s political and public safety priorities, faithful RVP reader “Anon” suggested that his honor be invited to live in Rainier Beach for six weeks.
Naturally, your RVP is all over the idea and has already started drafting the basics of the challenge:
- Ride the #7
- Shop the UnSafeway
- Live at Lake Washington Apartments
- Try to get a latte at Graham Street SBUX without a car
- Bike Rainier Avenue South from Rainier Beach to Mt. Baker
- Ride light rail between Columbia City and Rainier Beach at night
- Entertain drivers waiting to turn left across Martin Luther King Jr. Way
- Hang out at Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson after 10 pm on a Saturday night (bonus points earned for wearing “19yr old BLK M SouthEND RESIDENT” t-shirt)
What do you think the Mayor should experience during the Rainier Valley Live Local Challenge? Submit your ideas via the comment section below by this Fri., Aug. 20, at 11:59 pm, and you could win an RVP t-shirt and four free tickets to Columbia City Cinema!
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RVP Contests
KOMO:
In a room as hot as a summer night, tensions boiled over between the community and the man who could be the city’s next top cop.
Community leaders didn’t mince words as they told Seattle Interim Police Chief John Diaz he’s not their choice.
“You’re going to have to change – change in a way that I don’t believe you will,” said James Bible, president of King County NAACP. Read more.
Meanwhile, South Seattle Cop lays it down like this:
Generally, I would agree that internal candidates tend to be the best option. Candidates from outside the area have no idea what they are getting into when they undertake overseeing police operations in a city like Seattle. It’s not like any other city in the US, as anyone who travels can vouch.
That said, Diaz is not particularly bright or articulate, and this job really is just a pay increase and increased personal status for him. He was a less than stellar officer to say the least, before working his way through various admin positions, and just enough time to punch his ticket in command roles, to get promoted quickly. He is not trusted or respected within the Department, and is known to be the type who will try and build his career and political capital by trying to punish anyone he can, regardless of the merits of the complaint.
The result is that under Diaz, officers will be very hesitant to conduct proactive work and investigations on the street, which is the only kind of work that inhibits and intercepts criminals, interdicts criminal activity, and thus can have a reducing effect on crime. Otherwise, officers are just waiting for the dispatched 911 calls, which involves the least risk of liability, but can only hold the line at best against a crime rate.
I think the average citizen is probably not aware why what officers think of the Chief should be important to them. And I think others think it is important, but for the wrong reasons.
The choice of Chief and the perception of that Chief by officers will have a tangible effect on crime in our neighborhoods.
Next Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., the first of four meetings leading up to the potential confirmation of Diaz (above) as chief is scheduled to take place in Seattle City Council Chambers.
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South Seattle Cop
By Emily Heffter/Seattle Times (RVP news partner):
Letting bars serve liquor later or even all night is one controversial option Mayor Mike McGinn is considering as part of a new initiative to curb nightclub noise and violence.
McGinn presented his proposal — which also includes required bar security-officer training, tighter noise restrictions and more late-night bus service — at a rock-concert-themed news conference Tuesday night on Capitol Hill.
McGinn said his proposal is “a new approach to an age-old issue.” People are sometimes at odds over nightlife, he pointed out. Read more.
What do you think of the mayor’s new nightlife initiative? Would that have helped improve the situation at Angie’s Cocktails in Columbia City? The notorious tavern closed last month after the state liquor control board opted not to renew its liquor license. Photo/do communications
County Councilmember Larry Gossett (right) and Seattle City Councilmember and Rainier Valley neighbor Sally Clark (below left) will be at Wednesday’s Southeast District Council (SEDC) meeting.
Councilmember Gossett chairs the Regional Transit Committee, while Councilmember Clark chairs the Built Environment and Waterfront Planning committee.
“If you have questions or issues around development or transit, stop by the meeting,” says Southeast District Coordinator Yun Pitre. “We will also hear from Seattle Public Utilities on Combined Sewer Overflow projects in Southeast Seattle.”
Also on the agenda are discussions regarding SEDC’s activities for upcoming Rainier Valley Heritage Parade & Summer Streets Festival, a report from SEDC’s Bridging the Gap Subcommittee and a report from the Neighborhood Matching Fund’s Large Projects Fund Subcommittee.
The meeting – scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Rainier Community Center (4600 38th Ave. S.) – is the last before the group breaks for summer. Next meeting is Wed., Sept. 22.
This afternoon, just two hours after Mayor Mike McGinn announced midyear budget cuts that will stall police hiring and shut down 10 of the city’s wading pools, he introduced his new 21-member music commission designed to “guide the City of Music’s future.”
The mayor plans to postpone hiring 21 new police officers and lay off 13 city employees, along with a variety of other cuts, to save a total of $12.4 million. And he says he’s just getting started.
Meanwhile, according to an overly wordy press release issued by the Mayor’s office, the Music Commission will essentially be the boss of Seattle’s music scene:
The Music Commission will specifically provide support, direction and advice to the city about the use of existing resources and priorities to ensure smart and meaningful investments to advance Seattle’s music culture and business are made.
The Music Commission is made up of both Mayoral and Council appointees, and commissioners will meet at least nine times per year, and serve staggered three year terms. Its first meeting will be this Wed., June 16.
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