Seattle City Council’s president on North Highline Annexation, post-delay vote
Most of the Seattle City Council members keep blog-format websites that they use to expound on various issues. Among them: Council President Richard Conlin, who has said he would like to put Seattle annexation to a vote in unincorporated North Highline, has just written about his thoughts following the Monday vote to delay a final decision till next February.. Among his points:
* Public safety and business development issues are harder to address because Roxbury is an artificial boundary that divides this business district. Policing resources are dramatically less on the south side of Roxbury and southward, putting the safety of Seattle residents at greater risk. Law enforcement in White Center as a whole would be much more effective if it were uniform throughout the neighborhood. Arbor Heights will get better fire service from the North Highline fire station than it currently gets from our Seattle fire station. The many immigrant communities in North Highline will be in the same governmental unit as the other members of their community in Seattle.
* In addition to being another great neighborhood for Seattle, this area has great potential for development and/or redevelopment. The business district could become another Ballard or Lake City, with mixed use buildings and vibrant business activity. …
* We should be clear that none of our residential neighborhoods pay for themselves. If money is our only concern, we should immediately start deannexing many of our neighborhoods. Georgetown, Lake City, Broadview, Beacon Hill, they are all money pits. …
I hope that we do have more certainty in 2012, and that Seattle does move forward with this unique opportunity. We will never know what the people of North Highline want unless we give them the chance to vote on their destiny.
Again, you can read his entire musing here. (Hat tip to contributor Deanie Schwarz for finding it.)
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March 31st, 2011 at 12:15 pm
“Public safety and business development issues are harder to address because Roxbury is an artificial boundary that divides this business district.”
Really? Then why have you not addressed the public safety issues in Delridge, South Park, Rainier Valley, or even Belltown?
“In addition to being another great neighborhood for Seattle, this area has great potential for development and/or redevelopment.”
The developement he wants to do is just like what they have done on Delridge. Huge, sprawling slums of cheap apartments. Seattle needs room for low income housing, and White Center looks like a great place compared to Queen Anne to put all of it. OR maybe he has in mind the business development that he did for South Park; tear up 14th for 2 years until most of the business are forced to close, even though they knew the bridge was about to be closed.
“We should be clear that none of our residential neighborhoods pay for themselves. If money is our only concern, we should immediately start deannexing many of our neighborhoods. Georgetown, Lake City, Broadview, Beacon Hill, they are all money pits.”
Some of them are better money pits than others. Beacon Hill does not get near the attention that Magnolia gets. Even the stark difference between police patrols of Columbia City and Hillman City, a few blocks from each other, is infuriating.
People should be asking themselves a few things. If this neighborhood is going to be such a money pit, why does Seattle want it so bad? One of the reason is that Seattle needs a place to build their slum, and White Center looks like a good place. They sure as hell are not going to do it in Ballard or Magnolia. Maybe they could build it next to the new jail.
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:26 pm
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April 3rd, 2011 at 9:36 pm
JW you just don’t know what you’re talking about.
April 5th, 2011 at 1:10 am
Way to add to the debate George.