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Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith

Rainier Valley Residents Look to City to Make Good on Promise of Green Jobs

March 30, 2011

in Development,News

Rainier Valley residents looked to the City of Seattle to make good on its promise of green jobs at a Got Green community event earlier this month where Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith was there to represent Mayor Mike McGinn. From Got Green:

The City of Seattle will launch the Community Power Works – a $20 million stimulus project to weatherize 2,000 homes in SE Seattle – on April 19th. Fourteen low-income trainees participating in the region’s only union-certified weatherization – a partnership between Got Green, a grassroots organization working to ensure that low-income and communities of color benefit in the green economy, and its labor partner – LiUNA (Laborer’s International Union of North America) graduated last Friday, March 18th.

These trainees will be in the pool of qualified local hires for contractors participating in the City’s Community Power Works to retrofit homes to become more energy efficient.

Got Green, along with its labor partners, negotiated two community hiring agreements with City of Seattle to employ local residents who have graduated from certified weatherization training programs into family-wage jobs.

Residents, community partners, and labor representatives were at Got Green’s weatherization training event to solidify commitment from the City of Seattle that these high road green jobs will come back to our community through the hiring of the trainees.

Photo/Mike Annee

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City Awards Nearly $23M for Affordable Rental Housing, Including Two South-End Projects

January 25, 2011

in Development,News

The Office of Housing announced last week nearly $23 million in capital funding, divvied up amongst eight nonprofit housing developers, to create and preserve affordable apartments throughout the city, including two south-end projects.

“Having housing throughout our community that is affordable to people from all walks of life, people with varying economic situations, is what makes our neighborhoods vibrant and inviting,” said Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith.

“This funding will help hundreds of seniors and people with disabilities remain in their current homes, put roofs over the heads of so many who are currently living on the street, plus provide new opportunities for our hard-working, low- to moderate-wage neighbors.”

Most of the funding comes from the Seattle Housing Levy, which was overwhelmingly approved for renewal by 66% of Seattle voters in November 2009. The awards, the first for rental housing from the seven-year $145 million levy administered by the Office of Housing, are the culmination of a 2010 funding process.

“In this funding round, every dollar contributed by OH will leverage nearly $4 of additional non-city funding. The funded projects represent an estimated total of almost $110 million in capital that will be a major investment in neighborhoods from North Seattle to Capitol Hill to the Rainier Valley, revitalizing the communities and providing living-wage jobs.”

Rainier Valley Projects:

1. Artspace Mt. Baker Lofts Artspace will receive up to $1.8 million for the Mt. Baker Lofts, to be constructed at the former site of a Firestone Complete Auto Care next to the Mt. Baker Light Rail Station along Rainier Avenue South (above).

The project will include 51 units designed to meet the needs of artists and their families with annual incomes ranging from about $18,000-$36,000 for an individual, about $20,000-$41,000 for a two-person household. The project will include set asides for large families and disabled individuals.

With its proximity to Light Rail and bus service, the Mt. Baker Lofts is considered a Transit Oriented Development (TOD), and therefore will have ample bicycle storage in lieu of an automobile parking lot. The building will also include commercial space on the ground floor, plus a large community room with kitchen areas available to residents for exhibitions, performances, rehearsals and community gatherings.

2. Block 43 Mercy Housing Northwest will receive up to $3.9 million for construction of Block 43, a 52-unit affordable workforce housing project at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Oregon Street in the Rainier Vista master development.

The units will be affordable to households earning up to 50% and 60% of area median income, about $30,000-$36,000 for one person and $34,250-$41,000 for two. Mercy purchased the site from the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), which owns and operates Rainier Vista; Block 43 will be part of Rainier Vista Phase II.

The site is located two blocks from the Columbia City Light Rail station, and is next to a bus stop with frequent service on two routes. The project will be integrated into the pedestrian-oriented Rainier Vista community, and residents will have access to amenities such as parks, sports fields, the new Boys & Girls Club, p-patches, a farmers’ market, computer centers and a community center.

Photo/do communications

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New & Improved, Low-Income, Transit-Oriented Development Opens in Rainier Vista

January 23, 2011

in Business,Development,News

Last week, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) celebrated the grand opening of Tamarack Place – a newly rebuilt, low-income, transit-oriented development just half a block from Columbia City Station.

Construction on Tamarack Place began in September 2009 after an infusion of $3.2 million in stimulus funding and was completed in November 2010. Today, all apartments are occupied by low-income families.

Part of Seattle Housing Authority’s redevelopment of Rainier Vista, Tamarack Place replaces 71 of the original low-income housing units in the original Rainier Vista, serving residents whose incomes are below 30 percent of the Area Median. An additional 12 apartments are available to families earning less than 60 percent of Area Median Income.

The new mixed-use, four-story building offers 7,600 square feet of ground floor retail space and 83 low-income apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms.

From SHA’s press release:

The development of Tamarack Place reflects a transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly design. The building is within walking distance of existing bus lines, it’s steps away from the Columbia City Link light rail station, and it’s close to schools, shopping and community centers. Because of the proximity to the Columbia City light rail station, no parking is available for apartment residents. This factor has not been an impediment to successful leasing.

Residential units feature water-conserving plumbing fixtures in kitchens and baths, Energy Star appliances, high-efficiency lighting fixtures, formaldehyde-free composite wood, low-VOC paints and adhesives and Green Label Plus–certified flooring.

To promote clean air and healthy living, all areas in and around Tamarack Place are designated as nonsmoking.

Commercial tenants on the ground floor include Bananas Grill, Jay Gairson Immigration Law, Wellness Acupuncture Care, Clear Vision – Optometry, Fasika Café (by owners of Awash Restaurant in Columbia City) and the Seattle Housing Authority management office. Businesses will open in the next few months.

Tamarack Place neighbors the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club facility, two parks, a Little League-sized playfield, walking paths and a playground, as well as newly built green homes for sale.

Above: Tamarack Place is a new apartment building at Rainier Vista providing 83 units of low-income housing, located between the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club and the Columbia City Link Light rail station. Photo/SHA. Right: The Hardin sisters waited eight years to get back to Rainier Vista. Photo/do communications

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PETITION: Tell Mayor McGinn to Act With Honor & Integrity and Swear Off Bully Tactics

October 18, 2010

in Opinion,Politics

Ed’s note: We ask Mayor McGinn to publicly apologize for his administration’s role in Sakara Remmu’s firing. We condemn the use of the Mayor’s office to punish critics and ask that the McGinn administration swear off such tactics in the future.

On September 2, Sakara Remmu, who writes a political blog under the pen name Sable Verity, lost her job. In the weeks before, she had been critical of Mayor McGinn, much to the displeasure of his administration. Still smarting from her criticism about the city’s policing priorities, the Mayor’s office struck back with a textbook hardball political tactic — destroy your enemy’s livelihood. They had a talk with her employer, Tabor, Inc., a non-profit whose members depend on the City of Seattle for funding and expressed “discomfort” with the position Remmu held with the organization. Apparently fearful of reprisal, the organization swiftly terminated her employment to appease the expressed concern.

This is a clear and simple case of abuse of power. Though the predictable excuses have been made and the victim blamed, the truth is commonsensical — powerful people used their position to undermine what they determined was a political enemy, no matter that Sable Verity has both been critical of and praised the mayor. That in their conversations with Remmu’s employer, the Mayor’s office didn’t explicitly demand she be fired is only proof of their power — it was enough to frame it as a problem and then relate it to Tabor’s relationship with the city for the organization to get the message.

We see this latest power play as part of the larger pattern of belligerence and inflexibility from the mayor’s office. The impression McGinn and his inner circle give today is of an embattled minority beset by enemies they themselves have chosen. Where compromise would be prudent, they rush to confrontation; when facing vehement criticism, instead of listening or at least showing the adult forbearance that leadership demands, they seek revenge. We expect much better.

As Seattle voters and citizens, we the undersigned ask Mayor McGinn to publicly apologize for setting into motion a chain of events that any reasonable person could anticipate would jeopardize a person’s livelihood. We condemn the use of the Mayor’s office to punish critics, whether they come from the media or from the community. We also ask that the Mayor swear off such tactics in the future. Remember it is the citizens of Seattle that invest the Mayor’s office with its power and we demand that it be exercised with honor and integrity.

Mayor McGinn, we await your response.

Go here to sign the petition.

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Was Sable Verity Fired for Exercising Constitutional Right to Free Speech?

October 6, 2010

in News,Politics

SABLEReal Change:

With apologies to Verity, an independent reporter and commentator whose real name is Sakara Remmu, this cat’s out of the bag: Verity was fired Sept. 2 by Tabor 100, a nonprofit city contractor, after a city employee identified Verity to Tabor as a blogger—one, more importantly, who has recently criticized Seattle’s mayor with entries on her blog such as “Mayor McGinn: Shit on Your Shoes, Or Blood on Your Hands” regarding public safety in Belltown.

The city employee who identified Verity as a blogger to Ollie Garrett, president of Tabor 100’s executive board, was a well-kept secret until today, when the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission posted a Sept. 30 determination letter in response to a complaint filed on the matter. In it, SEEC Executive Director Wayne Barnett says, in effect, that because no one at the city gained from Verity losing her job, no ethics were violated.

Barnett says Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith and Nancy Locke, director of the city’s purchasing and contract services, only told Garrett in separate phone calls that they were concerned about speaking at Tabor meetings in the presence of a blogger—something Garrett told the SEEC that Verity, a single mother, was terminated for because Verity had not revealed her blogging prior to starting the job on Aug. 11. Read more.

Sable Verity is a frequent Rainier Valley Post contributor. Find her POV here.

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Mayor Stays Mum on Rainier Valley Crime Wave; Lets Deputy Speak to South-End Peeps Instead

September 1, 2010

in Opinion,Politics

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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