This blog features highlights from the Parks and Neighborhoods committee meeting of May 3, 2012. (See the meeting on video instead.)

We started committee last week with a discussion of Department of Neighborhood’s PACE program, which I wrote about at the time, so I won’t repeat it here. I’m looking forward to dropping in on one of the classes.

Department of Neighborhoods Director’s report

Bernie Matsuno caught us up on the latest happenings in DoN.

In preparation for the Large Projects Fund application deadline in July, the department put together a series of three workshops to help applicants be successful. The workshop approach is an innovation designed to provide as much information to as many people as possible in a time of constrained resources. DoN will evaluate the workshop approach and tweak it based on attendees’ feedback. 

More than 180 people attended, and applications will be evaluated in late summer and Council will vote on a list of final projects in December.

Also, DoN review of Small Projects Fund applications is in its final stages and groups can expect to be notified of their awards later this week – about $530,000 will be awarded, and successful applicants are expected to match up to $760,000.  The leveraged funds and neighborhood ingenuity will provide significant benefit to our communities!

DoN is developing design guidelines to be used for the Sand Point Naval Air Station Landmark District and have reviewed and approved proposals for low-income housing and tennis center in the area.

In Pioneer Square, the South Tower of the North Lot should be in for review by the Pioneer Square Preservation Board at the end of May.

Finally, neighbors, businesses, and organizations in the International District asked if they could purchase and install seven security cameras to help with public safety issues there.  The International District Review Board has approved the installation of the cameras, finding that they will have no adverse affect on the character of the district. (Keep an eye on this blog in the next few weeks for more information about how video will be maintained, archived, and whether or not it will be shared with SPD.)

Briefing on P-Patch and Community Gardens Project

A garden shed is lowered into place for UpGarden, the new P-Patch on the top of the Mercer Street Garage in Lower Queen Anne, slated to open June 2.

Laura Raymond, Project Coordinator for P-Patches and Community Gardens filled us in quickly on the Levy programs. I’m going to save the detail for a future blog entry, because Laura is going to take me on a tour of the new P-Patches, but here’s a link to her Levy Projects Update Presentation, which explains priority areas, project selection criteria, and a map of where gardens are throughout the city.

 Here are the Parks and Green Space Levy Current P-Patch Projects currently under way.

Little Saigon Park

The acquired property is highlighted in bright red. The top street is Jackson.

Moving on to the legislating portion of the meeting, we passed Council Bill 1178453, authorizing the acquisition of land for a future park on South Jackson Street in Little Saigon.

Until funding is found for creating the park, not much will change.

New Parks Board member

Next, we voted to confirm the appointment of Yazmin Mehdi to Parks Board.  I’m proud and grateful to welcome Yazmin as a new commissioner.   In addition to a stellar academic background, she helped develop the Parks Comprehensive Plan in the early 90s, has worked in the City Budget Office and various other City positions, and has a long track record of service in schools and cultural institutions. I know she’ll be an invaluable asset to our Parks System.

Parks And Recreation National Trends and Best Practices

A sampling of new funding sources identified in the presentation.

Finally, we heard a presentation by parks and recreation expert Leon Younger, (top of the page under “Current Issues,” at the link) regarding national trends and best practices for parks.  It’s to Acting Superintendent Christopher Williams’s great credit that our Parks Department is already implementing many of the approaches recommended by Mr. Younger.

DPR under Christopher has been working to improve its ability to capture and analyze data, most evidenced by the department’s ongoing work with the reorganization of the community centers, but going into practice in other programs as well.

Younger stressed having a clear understanding of the cost of every program.

Many of Younger’s ideas for new sources of revenue for Parks are being phased into practice in the Seattle Parks System. For example, Christopher is working with a consultant and stakeholder group to consider which Parks might be appropriate for restaurants, and plans to consult with neighborhoods as the department gets more information. We already permit facilities with a percentage of the gross receipts from events, although Younger felt we should be at 18 percent rather than 10 percent. We’re investigating the possibility of selling naming rights to courts, fields, stages, events, and more.  I also raised the possibility of using some of our community centers at odd hours, such as midnight to 8:00 a.m., for daycare for those families who work swing and night shifts.

Parks watchers already know that a Conservancy for Volunteer Park is under discussion, as are access fees for off-leash dog parks and other facilities.

If you’ve been following this blog, you already know that I’m a champion of the Department of Neighborhood’s (DoN) People’s Academy for Community Engagement (PACE). This pilot program, which is designed to provide leadership training for new community leaders, kicked off on April 26. Classroom space has been donated by Seattle University. (Thank you, Seattle University, you are so good to the City!)

I asked District Coordinator Ed Pottharst of the South Region Team for a report on how things are going, and here’s what I learned:

At the lively first session, three facilitators led discussions of “Approaches to Leadership,” Jim Diers (community-building consultant/instructor and former DoN director), Kate Joncas (Downtown Seattle Association), and Jesus Rodriguez (Nonprofit Assistance Center and the City’s Public Outreach and Engagement Liaison program). 

City staff from three departments introduced the group to the “inclusive outreach and public engagement” tools that the City uses to ensure that all of Seattle’s communities are heard from. 

The 30-person class of emerging leaders come from all parts of Seattle: 17 of the 30 participants are from under-represented communities or from those neighborhoods that are traditionally less involved  in civic processes.  One of the goals of PACE is to reach out to these communities and provide them with tools and confidence to make significant new contributions in ways that are meaningful to them.

Five participants also serve as City liaisons to various ethnic communities: a world mapping exercise showed participants trace their parentage/ancestry to Morocco, Argentina, Portugal, Romania and more. 

In addition to the structured time with facilitators and staff, participants engaged in plenty of spontaneous interaction in small groups and during the breaks.  People eagerly shared their challenges and successes; clearly they enjoyed sharing their experiences and what new techniques they were learning about becoming more effective leaders and organizers. 

PACE will have six more monthly sessions on topics including public speaking, effective community organizing, and event planning.  The learning is hands-on: participants are assigned homework, mentoring, and will undertake their own community projects as part of the program.

As DoN Director Bernie Matsuno said in her opening remarks, convening this diverse group of enthusiastic community volunteers – who will time work closely together over the next seven months – is an incredible learning opportunity for all of them, and that’s on top of the skills they will acquire from the curriculum.  I am thrilled to think how the city-wide network of capable new leaders is being extended, right now!

For more information about PACE, contact Christa Dumpys, christa.dumpys@seattle.gov, 684-4812.

Parks & Neighborhoods Committee Meeting April 19 recap

The currently shuttered Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center will open again.

Our Parks and Neighborhoods committee meeting on April 19 was a briefing day. We had no legislation to consider, so we took the opportunity to get updates on some of the projects I’ve been interested in, such as how the community center reorganization has been going, what’s happening with the ELC at Carkeek Park, and a few other things.

Chairs Report: Parks Preservation Working Group

I talked about the newly formed Parks Preservation Working Group, (which I prefer to call the Parks Transformational Group, because it’s a more ambitious name, and I think ambition and vision are called for, not just for getting through the 2013 budget, but for looking honestly and clearly at parks funding for years to come.)

The group is scheduled to meet four times, on April 20 and 27 and May 4 and 11 at 7:30 a.m. in the Park Board Room at the Parks Administration Building at 100 Dexter Ave. N., and they are tasked with thinking creative ways for Parks to meet their service levels while also meeting expected budget reductions.

At the conclusion of the meetings, Parks staff will prepare a summary document that identifies options, highlights potential revenue increases and/or cost savings, and describes a process for public review and possible implementation for each option.

Public Comment

Here’s a brief overview of public comment, which focused on the Lifelong Recreation program, the Environmental Learning Center at Carkeek Park, and Specialized Programs.

Lifelong Recreation

Lifelong Recreation dance class

Linnea Mattson and Carol Fisher of the Lifelong Recreation Advisory Council reminded us that parks are for kids of all ages and all abilities. They pointed out that this spring, Lifelong Recreation offered 103 physical fitness classes, 22 dance classes, 41 mental and creativity stimulus activities and classes, more than 25 hiking groups that walk once a week or twice a month. Lifelong Recreation offers food and fitness programs for Korean, Vietnamese, Somali and Ethiopian populations, which include social, educational and fitness components, and has hosted more than 60 field trips this year.

David Ward, also of Lifelong Recreation pointed out that we’re all aging, the 65+ population will more than double by 2025, so senior programs are critical. Lifelong Recreation served more than 60,000 people last year.

Carkeek Environmental Learning Center

Carkeek Park is plainly a beloved gem, and its supporters showed up in force, which was great to see and I thank you all for coming down to City Hall and talking about your desires for this facility. I hope you’ll forgive how much I’ve boiled down your talking points here! Later in the recap you’ll read more about Parks’s hopes for a partnership with Audobon.

Piper Creek, where more salmon return each year.

Nancy Malgrem, longtime Carkeek Park champion, showed up to make the case for employing a naturalist at the currently shuttered Environmental Learning Center and calling for better gathering of data about who uses which parks programs. Terry Walsh, a former naturalist at Discovery Park, spoke out on behalf of the Carkeek Park play area interpretive program, and William Biehl with the fish feeding program spoke up for how raising fish in classrooms and releasing them at Carkeek helps kids understand the importance of conservation.  Bill Halen talked about getting 70,000 salmon fry and food for them every year from the Suquomish tribe. Bill reported that 248 salmon returned to the creek last year, 78 the year before, and 32 the year before. “It’s getting better out there!” He said. Better still, this year more than 500 people came to see the fish in the fishpond, a huge increase and simply due to the installation of a sign on a trail. Tim Cox, treasurer of Carkeek Park Advisory Council reminded us of some of the programs run by volunteers at the Park and added a plea for Park staff to help support volunteers.

Senator Maralyn Chase from the 32^nd Legislative District (into which Carkeek falls) noted that our state-level representatives recognize the city’s financial difficulties but still want to urge that we do our best by Carkeek. She spoke of Carkeek as a national treasure and the LEED Gold certified Environmental Learning Building as examples regularly referred to by the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators.

State Representative Ruth Kagi, also from the 32^nd, expressed appreciation for the city’s constraints and how challenging current budgets are to work with and called for continuing support for Carkeek Park.

30-year Carkeek volunteer Polly or Pauline, whose last name I couldn’t catch (I’m sorry!) talked about how people visit from around the country and even the world to watch the salmon spawn right in the middle of the city. She described herself as a salmon-sitter – making sure kids use quiet voices and don’t disturb the fish.

Specialized Programs

Jerry Rosso and Sabrina Whaley with Specialized Programs Advisory Council reminded us that that people in these programs really have no other place to go, as other more generally-targeted programs and services are not adequately tailored to support their needs. Wheelchair basketball, Special Olympics sports training, and other classes and programs such as cooking, dance, and camping, are priceless programs the city cannot afford to sacrifice to the budget axe.

Track team at the Wheelchair Sports Jamboree

Parks Update

After public comment closed, Acting Superindentent Christopher Williams and Recreation Director Sue Goodwin from Parks came to the table to dig a little deeper into current and future plans and programs.

For this recap I’m focusing on subjects Christopher talked about that represent the kind of creative funding and partnerships I’m hoping our Parks Preservation Working Group can draw inspiration from, but all the subjects he discussed, including National Walking Day, the Beaver Pond Natural Area, the University Heights parking-lot-to-green-space effort, and more, are here in his Superintendent’s Report.

Southwest Pool and Teen Life Center re-opened April 17.

Christopher recapped an event that he and I both attended earlier in the week: the Southwest Pool, Teen Life Center and Neighborhood Service Center dedication on Tuesday, April 17. This effort was an example of an effort to break out of the siloing I mentioned earlier. This project was the product of joint efforts between Parks, Department of Neighborhoods, and the Department of Finance and Administratives Service. Christopher reported that more than 50 people came through the door before the building was even officially open. The cloaction of services means more people are visiting our facilities, more people are walking through the door.

We heard an update on the Belltown Community Center, a Levy Commitment that’s been on the books since 1999. The center will open in August of this year without a dime of General Fund support – a highly successful protoype for Parks’s efforts to find alternate funding sources for services.

We also heard about the Bell Street Park. The project will open for bids in September, and we’re expecting a grand opening by July 2013. This is a first-of-a-kind project, where Parks is trying to create open, parklike space by using a street, in an area where purchasing space would be prohibited by cost. This is another cross-department project, involving SDOT, SPU, City Light, DPD and Parks, and it may well be that in the future, as the city densifies, this is how we will get green and open space.

Another great example of Parks approaching funding restrictions creatively is the Rainier Beach Community Center and Pool partnership project. Here, Parks has the opportunity to implement some of the priorities identified by the Neighborhood Plan that Department of Neighborhoods and DPD have been working on for the past year, such as really making this community center multicultural. In March, Parks hosted an open house to launch the Request for Interest (RFI) process for partnership opportunities at the RBCC. More than 60 community members showed up, and Parks heard great ideas from North African groups, youth groups, and nonprofits interested in partnering. These are smaller groups who would have some challenges trying to step up and create these programs on their own, but in partnership with Parks might be able to accomplish a lot.

Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center

At the request of constituents invested in the park, Christopher gave us a review and update on how things are looking for Carkeek Park. In the last budget cycle Parks abrogated the staffing at Carkeek Park and closed the Environmental Learning Center (ELC).

Parks continues to work with SPU to provide the Salmon in the Schools program as classroom and instructor-led park programs, and has been working hard to return programs to Carkeek Park, holding a one-day summit of Environmental Educators from all over the region and asking for their partnership and creative thinking to help reopen the ELC.

Out of that effort came an agreement with Seattle Audobon, which should be final within the next few weeks. Seattle Audubon is also a partner with the Green Seattle Partnership. Working in concert with the Forest Steward program, this partnership is providing citizen science opportunities to monitor our forest restoration sites to gather data about neighborhood birds for the nationwide Neighborhood Bird Project.

Conservatory at Volunteer Park

Exotic blooms in the Conservatory.

Parks hired Rick Daley of EMD Consulting, an expert in conservatories, to help respond to the Mayor’s challenge to reduce the Volunteer Park Conservatory’s reliance on General Fund support. Daley started working with DPR, the Conservatory, and the community at the beginning of the year, and has come up with some ideas, such as adding an event tent that could be used for weddings and special events, or giving the Conservatory an Executive Director to be responsible for the Conservatory’s business model.

Big Conservatories across the country recover about 25-30 percent of their revenue through rentals, fees, and special events, and that revenue recovery is based on having a space to rent. Our Conservatory faces restraints due to its small size so creative alternatives may be options.

Parks has received the draft consultant report, and staff are working with the consultant to finalize it. Councilmember Rasmussen and I met with him this morning – I’ll give you an update on what I learned in the next few weeks. We’ll also have a briefing in Committee sometime in the near future.

Community Centers

Bitter Lake Community Center

Sue Goodwin updated us on how the new tiered, geographic team approach to running Seattle’s community centers, which Parks started in response to budget cuts in 2011, is going. Parks has been installing people counters at the community centers to make sure our decisions about when the centers need to be open are made based on actual hard data

We learned that all but five of our new People Counters are installed, which puts Parks ahead of schedule. Installation will be complete within two weeks, and staff are training on the software. The whole system will be operating by the end of April. Sue explained that Parks intends to combine people counter data with class registration data to ensure we understand not only when people are using community centers, but why.

Other partnerships arising from the geo team process include a Korean food and fitness program opening in May at Bitter Lake, allowing the International Drop In Center to use Van Asselt to provide services when we are not open, and developing a new after-school, evening, and late night program for teens during the summer months in the Rainier Beach area. The Women of the World program at High Point is also a pilot Parks hopes to expand to other community centers after demonstrating success.

Sue reminded us that Parks’s goal was to increase our revenue and to decrease our reliance on General Funds. In fact, in spite of a complete reorganization and redefinition of staffs’ jobs, Parks has already seen a 3% increase in revenue in the first quarter.

Sue also noted that there have been some unintended consequences of creating “2b” sites, that is, centers that are open 25 hours a week. Unfortunately, these centers are only staffed for 20 hours a week, so there’s a 5-hour gap that Parks is trying to close. The gap is actually even larger, because the centers are bustling with programs during the hours when they aren’t professionally staffed. Parks is working with the Associated Recreation Council (ARC)  to find funding to give professional staff what they need to succeed, and gathering data from community center staff on the ground to bring to the next round of budget discussions.

Senior and Teen Programs

Sue told us about Senior Programs as well, noting that Seattle’s proportion of people over the age of 62 is growing fast. Lifelong Recreation has put on hundreds of events, serving 60,000 people, including programs like Sound Steps, led by the indefatigable Mary Grace Becker; food and fitness programs, Title V workers. Another name that kept coming up was that of David Jensen, a Parks employee whose work with Lifelong Recreation has garnered him citywide respect and gratitude. David is leaving DoN, and will be much missed.

Teen programs include 10 Late Night sites, which served 12,000 people in the first quarter of this year, and our three Teen Centers, which have served 9000 people so far. Also, Step grants and Summer of Service applications are available on our Teen Portal right now.  They include food service, lifeguarding, and more—some are paid, some aren’t, but it’s a great array of youth opportunities for the summer.

Dancing for all ages

Though we didn’t have actual legislation before us, we did learn a lot about our Parks systems and the work that DPR does. I’m so grateful to all our hardworking Parks staff, who’ve rolled with a lot of cuts and a lot of change in the past couple years, and taken on new levy acquisitions along the way.

See a video of the full committee meeting.

Our next meeting will be May 3, at 9:30 in Council Chambers. We’ll hear an update on the P-Patch/Community Gardening Program from Department of Neighborhoods, among other things.

Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O’Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen

Special Committee to discuss Seawall

SEATTLE – The Seattle City Council’s Special Committee on the Central Waterfront, Seawall and Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program will meet after Full Council on Monday, April 23. 

The Committee will discuss public safety and protection of the Central Waterfront, the downtown business district, transportation and public infrastructure, a possible bond measure to replace the Elliot Bay Seawall and the Seawall design, schedule, cost estimates and next steps.

WHEN:
Monday, April 23, 2012, following Full Council
(approximately 2:30 p.m.)

WHERE:
Council Chambers, Seattle City Hall
600 Fourth Ave, Second floor, Seattle 98104

View the committee agenda here.

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

Mayor McGinn, Councilmember Bagshaw announce
formation of Parks Preservation Work Group
Work Group charged with generating options to protect Seattle parks in the face of deep budget challenges

SEATTLE – Mayor Mike McGinn and City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw today announced the formation of the Parks Preservation Work Group, charged with advising the Mayor, City Council and Parks and Recreation on a range of options for generating more revenue and finding efficiencies that could reduce costs in the 2013 operating budget and beyond.

" Seattle's love for parks is part of what makes our city special," said Mayor Mike McGinn. "And with our challenging city budget, we need to think outside of the box if we are going to protect our parks system. I look forward to the recommendations of the Parks Preservation Work Group."

The impetus for creation of the group is Parks' challenges sustaining its operating budget in the wake of new parks and facilities built with funding from voter-approved levies, and in the face of continuing budget reductions. Parks' budget has been reduced by some $12 million over the past two years. There is a clear need to put the agency's budget on a more sustainable track.

"Our parks system is world renowned; it helps define who we are. I want to ensure that we have the best operated and maintained parks system of any in our country. This committee will help us achieve that," said Councilmember Sally Bagshaw.

The Parks and Recreation values the City wishes to preserve are access, opportunity and
sustainability. The working group will:

• Review Parks and Recreation's existing array of revenue sources;
• Review revenue enhancing examples from other jurisdictions;
• Assess the pros and cons of revenue and restructuring opportunities; and
• Develop recommendations to be considered in the 2013 City budget process.

The group's process will result in the development of specific recommendations for expanding Parks' funding sources and/or restructuring the agency's work, and an increased public awareness of the need for new funding sources and understanding of the group's recommendations.

The group will meet four times, on April 20 and 27 and May 4 and 11 at 7:30 a.m. in the Park Board Room at the Parks Administration Building at 100 Dexter Ave. N. At the conclusion of the meetings, Parks staff will prepare a summary document that identifies options, highlights potential revenue increases and/or cost savings, and describes a process for public review and possible implementation for each option.

The group members are:

• Thatcher Bailey, Seattle Parks Foundation
• Jerry Everard, Attorney, Groff Murphy
• Ian Gordon, Union Local 1239
• Bill Keller, Associated Recreation Council
• Diana Kincaid, Board of Park Commissioners
• Brice Maryman¸ Board of Park Commissioners
• Beth Purcell, Seattle Parks Foundation Board member
• Barbara Wright, Board of Park Commissioners
• Jerry Tone, Seattle Parks Foundation Board President

Office of the Mayor

Councilmember Sally Bagshaw was one of the 9.6 million visitors to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. Watch her tell her story and recount her memory of travelling from Portland with her Grandfather to experience all that the World’s Fair had to offer.

Some historical perspective from Seattle Municipal Archives:

The Century 21 Exposition – also known as the Seattle World’s Fair – was held between April 21 and October 21, 1962 and drew almost 10 million visitors. A defining moment in the history of Seattle, this fair began life as the brainchild of City Councilman Al Rochester. By 1955, the councilman had generated considerable interest in his idea from decision makers at the state and city level, and in January Washington’s legislature allocated $5,000 for a small commission to study the feasibility of such a fair. Public excitement, spurred on by effective advertisement, soon gave the project further momentum; in 1957 Seattle voters passed a $7.5 million Civic Center bond for possible fairground development, an amount which was then matched by the legislature.

By April 1962, all that remained to be done was to open the doors to the public, which occurred during an extravagant opening ceremony on the 21st. Amidst 538 clanging bells, 2000 balloons, and 10 Air Force F-102 fighters swooping overhead, Exposition president Joseph Gandy officially opened Century 21 for business. For the next six months, visitors would be entertained not just by the many exhibits, but also by an array of musicians, orchestras, dance troupes, art collections, singers, comedians, and other various shows traveling through the fair during its run. Adding to the star-studded atmosphere was the presence of the ‘King of Rock and Roll,’ Elvis Presley, who arrived to shoot a film, It Happened at the World’s Fair. A number of celebrities came to the Exposition as tourists, including Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, Walt Disney, and Prince Phillip of Great Britain. By the close of the fair on October 21, a total of 9,609,969 people officially visited, largely satisfying attendance goals.

Map of World’s Fair grounds, 1962. From souvenir program, Vertical File 435, Seattle Municipal Archives

This blog features highlights from the Parks and Neighborhoods committee meeting of April 5, 2012. (See the meeting on video instead.)

Funding opportunities for local parks projects

The Brighton Science Park was an Opportunity Fund project.

Reminder! The technical assistance workshops for the Parks Opportunity Fund are coming up at the end of May.

These workshops are open to anyone interested in learning about how to propose a park development project or acquisition. $8 million is available this cycle. Find out more about the application process, the workshops and the fund here.

Department of Neighborhoods

DoN was represented by program manager Pamela Banks (who is shortly to leave the city after 30 years of public service to become the CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, where she will be fantastic, but we will miss her terribly). Three of our District Coordinators, Christa Dumpys, Ed Pottharst, and Thomas Whittemore joined as as well.  We know our neighborhoods city-wide depend on the District Coordinators and we greatly appreciate what they do.

Large Project Fund

A Neighborhood Matching Fund project enjoys a light snack.

Pamela Banks reminded us about a DoN funding opportunity – the Large Project Fund. The final application deadline will be July 16, and there are three workshops in April to provide information about building community relationships around a project.  Please note, if you want to apply to the Large Project Fund, you must attend one of the three workshops.

PACE

Christa Dumpys briefed us on a promising pilot program she created that DoN is launching this month, the People’s Academy for Community Engagement (PACE), which is designed to help emerging leaders develop the skills to be highly effective.

The PACE Curriculum offers seven sessions over seven months, with hands-on homework in between. The curriculum focuses on very practical subjects, such as public speaking, resource development, event planning, and more, material that will covered by facilitators recruited from community groups, non-profit organizations, and City of Seattle Departments.

The pilot has 30 slots, and includes monitoring, reporting, and evaluating along the way to help gauge its success. Graduates will get a full year of support in a mentoring relationship after they finish the course. This first class has been selected, and I expect another program to be offered in the future. A special word of thanks to Seattle University for donating space on their campus for this program.

More from DoN: Department of Neighborhoods Director’s Report.

Parks

Kathy Whitman presented Parks’s response to the Rowing and Sailing Centers SLI, in which Council asked them to examine options for long term, stable funding of the Green Lake and Mount Baker Rowing & Sailing Centers.

Council passed the SLI to identify potential funding sources for these Centers, which host hugely popular and successful programs that serve around 73,000 people a year.

The department put together a Boating Action Team advisory committee comprised of seven citizens, an Associated Recreation Council (ARC) representative, and Parks staff, which looked at alternative management models:

• Non profit management
• Non-profit lease
• Long-term lease to a for profit entity

After evaluating these models, the department concluded that the current operational model should stay in effect. The Rowing & Sailing Centers rely on the General fund for approximately 10-15% of their operations, an investment from the general fund that leverages more than $1 million in outside funding—making the program extremely cost-effective for the City.

Parks decided that staying with a month-to-month or class-based fee system was preferable to moving to a membership model because it encourages more people to row and sail. (Memberships in local private clubs can cost up to $1200 a year). Parks also considered the possibility of generating revenue the way some private clubs do, by renting boats or renting rack space, but decided against pursuing those options for now.

The volunteers who work for the Rowing and Sailing Centers contribute greatly to the program. For example, we learned that the Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center volunteer Advisory Council participated in the largest Opportunity Fund project in the city to renovate their upper floor public meeting space. This space can now also function as a rental space to generate a significant amount of revenue.

We heard some wonderful stories about lives of youth transformed by rowing and sailing classes, including one about a high school freshman cancer survivor who responded to the high expectations and demanding hours of the Green Lake rowing program with joy and enthusiasm. More than two-thirds of Green Lake’s participants are youth, including summer camps for youth 11 and older, and programs for 170 teen participants every day after school.  

And of course, the Centers serve others as well. Kathy’s presentation showed a diverse population out on the water, and we heard about one masters-level eight-person shell that races out of Mount Baker in which every rower in the boat has at least one replacement body part.  I took rowing lessons about 25 years ago and look forward to getting back to it one of these days.

Thanks to Phil Defliese and Sean McCorkle, citizen members of the Advisory Councils and current officers for the Centers, for coming to the table, and to everyone who contributed to the collection of Rowing and Sailing stories that reminded us of the value of these facilities.

Legislation

We passed three council bills out of committee for vote by Full Council:

1)    Cascade People’s Center

Last year, Parks put together a formal Request for Proposal process for a private partner to operate the Cascade People’s Center. The YMCA was the successful respondent and began operating the Center last summer on a month-to-month basis. We heard citizen feedback that the YMCA’s outreach efforts and programming have been very successful so far.

Sarah Simpson of the YMCA, who has been doing excellent outreach work at the center, told us about meeting community members, residents, business owners to discuss volunteer opportunities and community needs. Especially of interest:

• BOLD and GOLD (Boys and Girls Outdoor Leadership Development) programs for youth
• Zumba and yoga classes onsite
• Working with Microsoft to create volunteer opportunities for that organization’s Day of Caring, hosting the P-Patch meetings
• Providing computer access to community members
• Supporting Americorps volunteers. 

I stopped by the center recently and met some of the Americorps volunteers.  What a terrific group.

The Cascade People’s Center legislation authorized the Parks Superintendent to enter into a 5-year agreement, with options to extend, with YMCA of Greater Seattle to operate and manage the Center.  Charles Ng in Parks explained that the lease requires the YMCA to provide a minimum of 10 hours of maintenance services for the facilities, calls on the YMCA to provide 20 hours a month of public meeting space, to form an Advisory Council to ensure that programs meet the needs of the public, to coordinate community volunteer efforts, and to offer outdoor programs for boys and girls during the summer months.

2)      The Transfer of Property from FAS to Parks legislation transferred jurisdiction of 25 properties, representing about 17 acres, to be used for open space, park, and recreation purposes to Parks from FAS. You can see them in the presentation; they include parcels located within or adjacent to Magnolia, Northeast Queen Anne, West Duwamish and East Duwamish Greenbelts; parcels located within or adjacent to Duwamish Head, Cheasty and Longfellow Creek Greenspaces; parcels located within or adjacent to Maple School Natural Area; parcels adjacent to Interlaken, Jefferson and Schmitz Parks; an underwater tideland parcel off Alki Point; and a view parcel in Magnolia.

A major way that Parks acquires space is through the transfer of properties to Parks from other City departments—in fact we’ve transferred more than 200 acres since the early 90s. The City wants to preserve these lands in their natural state, and that is best handled by Parks.  Most of the spaces in this legislation are adjacent to existing parks.

3)      Acquisition for park in Greenwood This legislation authorized parks to purchase 3 parcels comprising about 9000 square feet on the 8100 block Greenwood Avenue North, next to the Greenwood Library, for future development into park space. The property was selected through a public process that involved people in the Greenwood and Phinney neighborhoods, an area that had been identified as deficient in open space relative to Comprehensive Plan goals. The department will enter into leases with three businesses currently on the sites, until future funding is available to develop the sites into a park.

Details are here in the Greenwood Acquisition Memo.

Thanks to Christopher Williams and his team for the great work they do on our 6000+ acres of parks in our city!

Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O’Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen

Watch Seattle City Councilmembers share their
favorite Seattle Center memories

SEATTLE - In anticipation of the Seattle Center's Next Fifty celebration kick-off on Saturday, April 21, Seattle City Councilmembers sat down to share their favorite Seattle Center memories. Tune in to our Council Connection blog over the next week as they share their stories.

What:
Seattle City Councilmembers share their Seattle Center memories

When:
Morning and afternoon blog postings, April 16-20, 2012

Where:
Council Connection Blog at http://council.seattle.gov/
Subscribe to the RSS feed at http://council.seattle.gov/feed/

For more information on the Seattle Center's Next Fifty celebration, including the schedule of events, visit http://seattlecenter.com/news/detail.aspx?id=1719.

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmusse

Library leaders and city officials join together in support of levy for The Seattle Public Library

Seattle Public Library Board President Marie McCaffrey, City Librarian Marcellus Turner, Mayor Mike McGinn and City Councilmember Richard Conlin announced support for a Library levy to restore cuts and improve core services at a noon press conference at Seattle's Central Library. City officials and Library leaders were joined by scores of Library patrons at the event.

The Library levy would fund increased Library hours, build the collection of books and materials, enhance computers and online services and improve building maintenance. The plan grew out of a two-year process that involved comments from more than 39,000 residents through public meetings, open houses, surveys, focus groups and forums. There were more than 14 million visits to The Seattle Public Library last year and over 11 million books and materials circulated.

The City Council is expected to vote on legislation that would authorize an Aug. 7, 2012, ballot for a Library levy at 2:30 p.m. today.

The seven-year Library levy of $17 million annually would stabilize the Library budget after four years of cuts that have eroded services. The Library has been closed for one week each year since 2009, 15 of 26 branches are closed two days a week, and the budget to buy books and other items has been cut by more than 13 percent since 2009. The levy would also provide an estimated $5 million to address anticipated cuts in 2013. The Library would continue to rely on the city's general fund for the majority of its budget. At about 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, the levy would cost the median homeowner approximately $52 a year.

"We owe a huge thank you not only to the mayor and council for their collaboration and support, but also to the people of Seattle who helped shape the plan over the past two years," said McCaffrey. "This is an important step toward completing the vision of the 1998 'Libraries for All' bond measure, which resulted in new and improved libraries across the city."

McGinn said people depend on libraries for access to information and resources they need to succeed. "Libraries are the great equalizers for people of all ages," he said. "A strong Library system contributes to the economic, educational and cultural vitality of our city." He noted that libraries are key partners in supporting his initiatives for youth and families and to bolster civic engagement. "Libraries support our residents looking for work, students needing homework assistance, and people who cannot afford a computer," he said. "Our libraries are educational centers in every community and gathering places for neighborhood meetings and activities."

Conlin initiated a study of alternative funding options for the Library in 2010 after recognizing the city's fiscal challenges and declining tax revenues were affecting services. A levy package grew out of that effort.

"At the City Council's April 3 public hearing, Library patrons spoke to how they have been impacted by the cuts and how critical it was that our libraries be open with the resources and assistance they need," Conlin said. "Libraries are particularly important in challenging economic times and it just doesn't make sense to cut services when people need them the most."

City Librarian Marcellus Turner said the plan was built to reflect the priorities of the community. "Libraries are the city's classrooms for both individuals and the community," he said. "The Library levy will help ensure we can provide essential Library services now and for the next generation of users." 

Ninety-one-year-old Eleanor Owen and local mystery writer Kathrine Beck also spoke about how the Library has helped them, and their families and friends, throughout their lives.

For more information, visit www.spl.org and select "Libraries for All: A Plan for the Present, A Foundation for the Future," or call 206-386-4636.

For more information contact: Andra Addison, communications director, 206-386-4103

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen

Levy proposal addresses ongoing fiscal challenges and supports critical services

What:
After a two-year process involving the thoughtful contributions of tens of thousands of residents and collaboration between The Seattle Public Library, Mayor’s Office and City Council, a proposal to stabilize Library funding and improve Library services is complete.

Who:
Library Board President Marie McCaffrey, City Librarian Marcellus Turner, Mayor Mike McGinn and Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin will announce a proposed Library levy to address ongoing financial challenges and support key service priorities: Library hours, collections, technology and building maintenance.

91-year-old Library patron Eleanor Owen and Seattle author Kathrine Beck will also speak about the Library’s importance to the city’s educational, cultural and economic vitality.

Library and city officials will be joined by other members of the City Council and Library Board, as well as the Friends of the Library, Library Foundation and members of the public.

When:
Noon Monday, April 9, 2012

Schedule:
Noon to 12:30 p.m. – Event Remarks
Library Board president, mayor, City Councilman Richard Conlin and city librarian will talk about the levy plan and what it offers the community. Two Library patrons will talk about the importance of libraries in their lives. The press will receive copies of the proposal, “Libraries for All: A Plan for the Present, A Foundation for the Future.”

12:30 p.m. – 1 p.m. - Other Broadcast Opportunities
Library officials, the mayor, City Council members, Library patrons Eleanor Owen and Kathrine Beck, as well as Library Friends and Foundation members available for further interviews. Opportunities to film baby story time, tax assistance program and poetry group and other activities happening in the building. City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposed Library levy for the Aug. 7, 2012 ballot at 2:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 600 Fourth Ave.

Where:
The Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 3

Information:
Andra Addison, The Seattle Public Library, 206-386-4103, andra.addison@spl.org
Caroline Ullmann, The Seattle Public Library, 206-615-1627, caroline.ullmann@spl.org

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.