Great show over Steve Cox Memorial Park tonight – the White Center Jubilee Days fireworks, bursting in air over Mel Olson Stadium. We watched from north of the fieldhouse, which provided a unique view – the almost-full moon hanging in the sky right behind the fireworks. Our clip features three minutes from the second half of the show. Much more Jubilee Days excitement to come, including the street fair and parade this weekend, plus the annual pancake breakfast – we received this announcement:

The Jubilee Days Kiwanis Pancake breakfast is being held again this year on Saturday, July 16th, from 8 am to noon.

The cost is $5 for adults and free for kids under 5 years old. There will be pancakes, sausage, and Juice. Raffle tickets are available. All proceeded got to the Kiwanis Club of White Center (Helping Children of the World)

The Pancake breakfast will be at:
Holy Family School:
9615 20th SW

No council action was taken – they voiced opinions, as you will read below.

First, Martin described Seattle’s recent decision to table annexation till February as a “major departure” from where things had stood previously. That wasn’t the only factor sparking a new Burien council discussion of annexation, however, he said, mentioning the King County Library Board’s discussion of potentially consolidating the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries.

Martin also mentioned commissioning a financial study with an organization that he says does this type of study and already has “a tremendous amount of information about the (prospective) annexation area.” He says the financial data should be available in late July/early August.

Councilmember Gordon Shaw followed up Martin’s briefing by voicing skepticism about the financial viability of annexation, given a previous study, but said he would like to see the study showing the effects of a changing economy, and what he said was apparently a lower population: “I think they’ve lost 3,000 people up there.” He also said he would like to know how it would affect the city overall.

Councilmember Lucy Krakowiak asked what kind of educational outreach is planned for citizens. Martin said “Council will be taking comments at every council meeting they have until they make a decision – identical to last time.” She also wondered if information was available about major developments planned in the potential annexation area.

Councilmember Jack Block, Jr. talked about the difference between the perception and the reality of White Center. “if you take a drive through White Center, there are virtually no empty storefronts – I wish we could say that here in Burien.” He described WC’s “vitality and growth” as “homegrown” and expressed a hope that it would be emulated in Burien.

“If we don’t vote for it, we don’t have control over that area, and the density could increase, crime could increase, a bunch of public housing is put in there because historically that’s how Seattle does things,” Block suggested, worrying about a “spillover … Think about protecting our community. Do we want to have a say in that area, or just let whatever happens, happen up there?”

He noted that Burien has a budget surplus, while King County has been dealing with a budget shortfall, and, in his view, has put unincorporated North Highline problems “on a back burner.” He also voiced concern about county housing projects in the works, and whether they might unduly burden Burien.

Councilmember Gerald Robison pointed out that he has been working on the annexation issue “for a long time” and says “there are a lot of perceptions out there that I don’t think is accurate.” He contended that it’s “simply not true” that the area is made up of a large population of people who require government services. “What they need is good government, and that’s what they’ve been lacking up there,” he contended, adding that he believes Burien could provide that “good government.” He echoed Block’s point that White Center has a lot of thriving businesses, “the kind of independent businesspeople who are exactly what we are talking about in our mission statement.”

But “I won’t even vote for annexation if it means raising taxes on the rest of the residents in Burien,” Robison vowed. And he said he believes it’s important for Burien’s “survival” to take a look at annexing the area if it can be done. The area doesn’t need Burien, he acknowledged, but “if their options are going to Seattle or going to Burien, I think for the sake of Burien and the sake of the people in North Highline, if we can manage it, we should do it.”

Councilmember Rose Clark said she agreed wholeheartedly with Block and Robison. She said she also believes that if there’s a continued effort to “concentrate poverty” in the greater Highline area, it will “break” the community – and she says what happens in White Center (etc.) will affect Burien too. “The only way to address that is to take a good hard look at North Highline and what we can do to mitigate” the concentration of poverty to which she referred. “If all of that (financial analysis) pencils out, we have to look at what that area becomes” with King County services dwindling.

Deputy Mayor Brian Bennett discussed his roots going back generations in the North Highline area, and saying that while that area likely would prefer to be left alone the reality of county and state laws and finances are that, they cannot be left alone – “they’re going to be incorporated somewhere … If Seattle does take over Area Y, what their incentives are going to be in how they treat Area Y , and whether the decisionmakers for that area are going to be impacted by what happens there, or are they going to be in the north side (of the city) and not affected.”

Councilmember Krakowiak then said “This is a big issue before us and it behooves us to take our time.” She said she would be a likely “no” vote if they were voting on it right now.

At the start of the meeting, in a public-comment session that lasted more than half an hour, seven people expressed opposition to or concern about annexation – with a common theme, if Seattle says it can’t afford annexation, how can Burien? – while two familiar White Center community advocates, Liz Giba and Rachael Levine, spoke favorably about it. (We will add details of the comments later.)

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for White Center Now

We stopped by the White Center DSHS offices for Thursday night’s White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, where about 20 attendees gathered to discuss neighborhood safety issues, liquor and crime enforcement, and policies for reporting “problem properties” in the WC community.

The meeting was led by WCSDCSC chair Sean Healy and was called to order shortly after 6 pm.

Three upcoming events, mentioned by attendees:

• North Highline Unincorporated Area Council: Next meeting Thursday November 4^th from 7-9 pm at the North Highline Fire Station, 1243 SW 112th St. (map).
• Landlord Training Workshop: Keeping Your Property Safe & Crime-Free: Held by the Seattle Neighborhood Group
  on Monday November 15th from 8:30am-4:30pm, at 2100 24th Ave South. Cost is $25/person, register online at the SNG website.
• South Seattle Drug Free Communities Coalition Meeting: “Come join efforts in High Point to create a safe and healthy community that supports youth and prevents drug, alcohol and tobacco use.” Held on Thursday November 18^th from 3:45-5:45pm at High Point Neighborhood House, 6400 Sylvan Way SW.

First on the agenda for the evening was Lt. Woodrow Perkins from the Liquor Control Board, who reported on two active cases his team is working on:

• Center Market: Perkins reported that the store’s current liquor license expires Oct. 31st (this weekend), and that he hasn’t heard from the owner if they definitely plan to renew. The store had been selling liquor under two temporary permits recently, and had been subject to a suspension.
• Evo (aka Club Evolution): With complaints about Evo dating back to 2002, Perkins reported that his team had made a visit to the club and found they were serving alcohol, which they “confiscated and destroyed in large quantities.” Perkins’ team is doing additional follow-up now (and on a similar club in another location), and is planning to file a report with the King County Prosecutor’s Office with the recommendation that 2 individuals involved would be criminally cited.

This segued into a discussion about alcohol and tobacco advertising in the area, with comments from Perkins as well as Mike Graham-Squire (pictured below, with a poster showing his group’s efforts) from High Point Neighborhood House. Squire led a project this past summer to visit businesses in the 98126 and 98106 area codes to evaluate their compliance with the Liquor Control Board’s new alcohol advertising restrictions adopted statewide earlier this year.

A summary of what the rules entail:

Limiting to four the number of signs advertising alcohol, brand names and manufacturers that are visible from the outside of a retail licensed premises such as stores, bars and restaurants;

Restricting the size of alcohol signs visible from the outside of a retail licensed premises to 1,600 square inches; and

Applying the rules to signs at civic events where alcohol is served, such as beer gardens.

Graham-Squire told meeting attendees that his group found a “high concentration of violations around White Center,” which prompted nods around the room and comments like “that’s not surprising.” He added that his group is planning to do a similar effort again, including giving awards to businesses that go above-and-beyond to limit alcohol advertising. He also said he’s involved with the state’s new Let’s Draw The Line campaign against underage drinking, and encouraged anyone interested in helping to contact him.

Perkins said citizens who notice violations to the advertising rules are encouraged to report them to the project hotline – 888-838-3956 – and “we’ll go visit them.” He did note that his enforcement team is “spread pretty thin” with 4 officers working 8 areas, each covering 500-600 locations, but tries to respond as best they can.  His team uses a “progressive discipline” approach for enforcement, moving from verbal/on-site warnings up to legal action.

Perkins also talked about the city’s Good Neighbor policy, targeting individual businesses selling alcoholic beverages, and listened to concerns from attendees about the rising consumption of energy drinks with high alcoholic content. Local residents reported seeing a huge increase in discarded containers of these “crazy beverages,” which Graham-Squire said  “are the equivalent of 6 beers and 5 cups of coffee in a single 24-ounce can, for $3.”  Perkins acknowledged the issues with the drinks, but said the LCB isn’t in a position to really target them — banning them would require state or federal legislative action.

Next on the agenda was the evening’s guest speaker, Kay Godefroy, executive director of the Seattle Neighborhood Group, who offered tips and strategies for dealing with “problem properties” and “nuisance issues” in the area’s residential neighborhoods. Godefroy encouraged neighbors to gather documentation like photographs and detailed log books (but be safe collecting the information) about any problems you see.

“It’s all about gathering good documentation, getting good detail, and having lots of neighbors do it,” she said. “If we can all help create safe livable residential communities, with no drug dealers or problem neighbors, it makes us all safe.”

Godefroy said the small-claims court system (or rather, the mere threat of small-claims) is an effective way to put pressure on problem neighbors, but “it clearly works best when there are many neighbors co-signing a strongly-worded letter about the problem, not just one signer.” In most cases, she said, the issue never even has to go to court, and the neighbor voluntarily moves toward compliance if 10-15 neighbors manage to co-sign and file a complaint. “You have to be ‘noisy’ and stand up for yourselves,” she said.

Godefroy also emphasized education of property owners, using her group’s Landlord Training Workshops as an example of how they’re trying to keep people informed. The hardest situations, Godefroy said, are single-family properties that are owner-occupied, particularly by someone who may be “2nd or 3rd generation of a family, they inherited the property and just don’t value it.”

When asked by an attendee if renters have the same rights, Godefroy said yes — you can file complaints with the landlord on behalf of multiple residents. In all cases, the idea is to get a letter together — that way, if the issue does go to court, the recipient “can’t say they didn’t know about the problem, they can only say they chose not to address it.”

When asked about how this extends to businesses that may not be cracking down on troublesome activity on their property, Godefroy clarified the difference between criminal activity and “nuisance activity.” If you see a crime happening, report it to 911 and the local authorities immediately. She said it’s good to also document such reports, for the future.

“It’s amazing what a business can do, to help the problem,” she said, saying there are businesses in White Center that had “people outside doing bad things, and got them to stop or to move somewhere else.”

Next meeting: Because of holidays in November and December, the group will hold a single meeting to cover the rest of 2010: It will be on Thursday December 9^th, at the DSHS offices at 6 pm.

If you have ever attended Drinking Liberally, you almost certainly know of Cherisse’s incredible energy and her unstoppable drive to make our community a better place. From her decades as a King County Sheriff’s Deputy to her impressive track record as an activist an advocate, Cherisse made a huge difference, both for Burien and for the broader community.

Cherisse touched thousands of lives and was a role model for many of us. We will sorely miss her.

We will be in touch with memorial information. In the meantime, if you know of or are able to provide a home to two of Cherisse’s much-loved cats (Howard and Harris, who are four years old and would prefer to be adopted together), please let us know as soon as possible.

(Via Liz Giba) Photos from Flickr

Sometime in my adolescence my mom became a fundamentalist Christian.  I abhorred this sect from the very outset.  I found their rituals, primitive:  speaking in tongues, meeting in store-fronts, fire & brimstone, the rapture – coming very, very soon.  And when I went away to college and matured into my progressive political views, I despised their unabashed right-wing politics.  Needless to say, none of this played well with my mom.

In high school, I would always goad my mother about politics, religion, culture; pretty much anything incendiary that would ignite a fire-storm between us.  These dramas took on heightened intensity on holidays like Thanksgiving, when my mother wanted everthing to proceed just so.  So, many of my memories of Thanksgiving revolve around the interactions with my mom.

My mom adopted, not only the rituals of Christian fundamentalism, but the cultural affects as well.  Instead, of mole and tamales, we got mashed potatoes and gelatin.  When I visited from college and the “gringo food” was served I would storm into the kitchen, fry up some beans, warm up rice and dig out the salsa.  I would set them down and exclaim, this is our food and we should celebrate the holiday with our food, (the turkey is ironically – our food – a New World bird).  I did not goad my mother, but I did ask her why we had to eat mashed potatoes when beans and rice were so much healthier.  And besides, “it is our food.”

I’ve mellowed considerably as I have become a parent.  The curse, “may you have kids like yourself” has come to bite me in a big way.  If I were celebrating Thanksgiving with my folks in El Paso, I would still pull out the home-made salsa, the tortillas, beans and rice, but instead of berating my mother, I would give her (and my dad) a big hug and a kiss and say, “I”m so very happy to be here.  I love you.”  And then we would retire after the meals and root for who-ever was playing the Cowboys.

Chris Stevens Surf Monkeys

Rock Cafe Rozella

Saturday October 10th

7pm-10pm

Admission is FREE

Ms. Hutchison has never held public office.  She has never had to struggle with the political realities of governing a complex political entity whose ambits include not only roads and sewers but social services, neighborhoods and law enforcement.  It is difficult to see how her experience on the board of the Seattle Symphony prepared her, in the slightest way, for such a weighty role.

If anyone had any doubt about Ms. Hutchison’s lack of specificity on issues, policies or even advisors, it is worth a listen (available on podcast).  Pressed by the moderator to name a single advisor who she consults, or who she would bring to her administration, she flatly resisted naming anyone, except to say bus drivers.  Her conclusion was “trust me” they will be great people.  I have nothing against bus drivers, but maybe she could have named a couple of the guys that she intends to bring to the Hutchison administration that will “bring people together.”  I’m sorry but calling Hutchison a “lightweight” does not begin to describe the chasm that is her lack of qualification to hold such an important post.  Listen for yourself.