I parked at Pacific Place and walked around to see how things looked after the Black Bloc attacks of yesterday. By 9 a.m. there were more media with cameras and mics than workers with drills removing plywood.

A few photos from my visit to Sixth Ave. and Pine Street this morning

Everyone seems to be trying to make sense of yesterday’s action and determine if the City could have done more. Personally, I think SPD officers did a terrific job channeling, quelling, protecting, seizing and arresting where necessary. Some radio voices have called yesterday “WTO II,” but I have a feeling those might be people who weren’t here during WTO I.

A few photos from my visit to Sixth Ave. and Pine Street this morning

A lot of people are talking about what the message from the destruction is supposed to be. I’m “the establishment,” so I know I’m not supposed to understand the message. No one is for corporate greed, but I do like jobs in Downtown. I need a new pair of running pants and was thinking about going to Niketown soon (gasp). I don’t agree with everything in his post, but I did find Brendan Kiley’s post from early, early this morning, “Why All the Smashy-Smashy? A Beginner’s Guide to Targeted Property Destruction,” to be thought-provoking.

A few photos from my visit to Sixth Ave. and Pine Street this morning

I was on the UW campus in 1986 and recall the anti-aparthied actions. I recall the shantytown in Red Square and the crashing of Board of Regents meetings, but not the breaking of a window. It’s hard for me to see the Black Bloc as a meaningful, effective extension or adaptation of the track I personally value more – peaceful, focused civil demonstration and, when necessary, disobedience.

This afternoon the Council’s Committee on Economic Resiliency and Regional Relations will receive a report we commissioned on increasing job density without radically altering allowed land uses around the SODO light rail station. For those of you not familiar with the area or if you’ve been daydreaming whenever LINK stops at this under-used station, the SODO platform sits in the middle of an industrial area to the south of the Stadium stop. Just to the west you see the Lander Post Office garage and the Starbucks mermaid coyly peeking up out of the Starbucks SODO headquarters. A light rail stop in an industrial area is a little bit like a unicorn or an odd carnival sideshow. It’s odd. Job densities in industrial areas are low almost by definition. Industrial and manufacturing companies need space to make and store things. Over time, manufacturing has become generally more streamlined and automated, meaning it takes fewer people to make and store things than it did a few decades ago. Also, it’s not like you and I use light rail to pick up a few things from Home Depot, a cabinet maker, or a granite counter-top showroom.

So, what’s the stop good for? A year or so ago I started thinking about whether we could induce more job density near the station while still tilting the area game toward industrial and manufacturing-friendly companies. The report from Community Attributes gives us a great snapshot of who works in the area, where the employees come from, and what kind of demand we see in the space market that could be met in the area. Not surprisingly, there’s no easy, quick answer to attracting businesses with more employees who might actually uses light rail to commute. Check out the recommendations, though. Maybe a “mixed use overlay” allowing additional office space (though not residential) near the station would be OK. I also like the “compatability matrix” employed by some of the other cities reviewed.

After today’s presentation we’ll spread the report around to advocates in the SODO area and some real estate and employment experts to determine which ideas to pursue. Your feedback is welcome.

Council President Sally J. Clark

Seattle City Council President at West Seattle Elementary to promote financial awareness for young people

SEATTLE – Join Seattle City Council President Sally J. Clark and Jump$tart Washington Coalition to promote financial education during Money Smart Week®.

President Clark will read "Rock, Brock and the Savings Shock," written by former FDIC Chair Sheila Blair, and lead a student discussion, with a group photo of the students.*

In addition to educating young consumers about money management and generating awareness of financial education available on a wide range of topics, elementary students will receive financial education lessons during the Third Annual Financial Literacy Reading Days.

WHAT:
Money Smart Week with Jump$tart Washington Coalition

WHO:
Council President Sally J. Clark
Jump$tart Washington Coalition

WHEN:
Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 10:30 a.m.

WHERE:
West Seattle Elementary
6760 34th Avenue Southwest  
Seattle 98126

*NOTE: Members of the media, please remember to contact the school regarding sending reporters/photographers/camera staff on campus grounds and photo permissions PRIOR to the event.

ABOUT: Money Smart Week® began 11 years ago as a coordinated effort of more than 40 Chicago-area organizations working together to promote personal financial literacy. Today, more than 30 states host Money Smart Week® events. Washington was the first West Coast state to participate, with its first Money Smart Week® in 2010.

For more information about events slated for Money Smart Week® Washington contact Jump$tart Washington Coalition President Amy O’Donnell at aodonnell@wscpa.org or 425-586-1140.

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.

I’m supposed to be fair and rational. I’m supposed to give new ideas a fair shake. I’m supposed to ask first, fire later. But drones? Really? This is the latest tech toy we absolutely have to have?

OK, I’ll ask and learn, but I’m not optimistic about warming to this idea. I know they aren’t the drones we hear about on the news in Iraq, but I still see it as a step further away from human interaction and decision-making. Even if I can be convinced that we – cities — need small, pilotless, helicopter-like vehicles for surveillance and searches, does every city have to have a drone or two? Couldn’t we have a regional holder of the drones? We could check them out as needed and share the cost maybe. And we could have a thoughtful conversation about whether we really need them and under what circumstances they should be checked out of the regional drone library.

Apparently we’re already under way since we’re training operators. How did that happen?

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.

Council President Sally J. Clark

Join the Seattle City Council in discussing sustainability on Seattle's college campuses

SEATTLE – Join the Seattle City Council on Thursday afternoon, as they discuss sustainability programs at a forum with representatives from five colleges and universities located in Seattle.

Presentations will cover many topics: energy, green house gas reduction, water conservation, transportation, local food and student involvement. This forum is a brown bag lunch. People are encouraged to bring their lunches to Council Chambers and watch the presentations.

WHAT:
Seattle City Council's Committee on Economic Resiliency and Regional Relations college sustainability forum

WHO:
Presenters include:
Ruth Johnston and Jamie Rowe, University of Washington;
Robert Schwartz and Karen Price, Seattle University;
Carin Weiss and Linda Chauncey, Seattle Community Colleges

WHEN:
Thursday, April 19, 2012, noon-1:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Council Chambers, Second Floor
Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle 98104

View the meeting agenda here.
For more information, contact David Yeaworth at david.yeaworth@seattle.gov or 206-684-5328.

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 has visited the Seattle Center many times since it opened for the 1962 World’s Fair. Watch as she describes one of her favorite memories of the center: meeting her partner at a Seattle Storm basketball game.

For more information on the Seattle Storm, visit their official web site.

For more information on this weekend’s Next 50 opening celebration at the Seattle Center, visit http://www.thenextfifty.org/.

Seattle Municipal Archives has some excellent resources on the 1962 World’s Fair.  Click to view digital files, text files.  Image files can be viewed here and here.

I once wrote an editorial for the UW Daily that somehow connected a squirrel carcass that I cycled by every day on my way back and forth from campus to the need for greater recycling. Institutional and devoted recycling was still a new-ish thing. Critics said there’d be added costs and the confusion of how to separate recyclable items. I think I said something about how the squirrel carcass would break down long before any of the non-recyclable materials we were throwing away. I think I ended with “Do it for the squirrel.”

But that’s not my point. My point is you can learn what several of Seattle’s major Universities and college campuses are doing to reduce waste, operate more efficiently, and cut green house gas emissions by attending or checking out the broadcast of Thursday’s noon Council meeting (in City Council Chambers, City Hall) on sustainability on Seattle’s college campuses. We’ll talk with reps from the University of Washington Seattle campus, Seattle University and the Seattle community colleges about their goals for carbon neutrality, recycling, composting and even the production of locally grown food.

The discussion is part of Council’s overall work on climate action. The City is in the midst of devising a new Climate Action Plan and we’ve committed to “carbon neutrality” for Seattle. In discussing with partners how to get to carbon neutrality we decided we’d like to hear from and showcase the work of some of the city’s biggest (in terms of property and operations) institutions. It’s one thing to offer courses on sustainability, it’s another to practice it with tens of thousands of students, thousands of faculty and staff, dozens of kitchens, hundreds of buildings, multiple vehicle fleets, huge public events, and so on.

More Thursday. Do it for the squirrel.

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.