White Center Now: The blog about White Center

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That’s County Executive Ron Sims, with brief informal comments about President-Elect Obama‘s victory, during this morning’s dedication of the YWCA Learning Center and new King County Library branch at Greenbridge. Here are the kids to whom he referred — White Center Heights Elementary School students who sang “Library Boogie” at the event:

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As for the actual ribboncutting, we’ll add that visual in a bit. Meantime, you are welcome at an open house at the new facility, happening all day long, with special events including Story Time for kids 2-6, 1:45-2:45 pm. It’s in the 9700 block of 8th SW, just south of Roxbury (map).

Sheriff Sue Rahr said this, to applause, at the budget crisis town hall meeting at the Steve Cox Memorial Park “log cabin” — she says the White Center Sheriff’s Office storefront fills “a critical need,” so she’s made an exception, though other storefronts are in jeopardy. More later; any other announcements, we’ll add them as the meeting goes. ADDED 9:04 PM: Meeting’s over, so we’ll be adding more details here, starting with this video clip of Sheriff Rahr after she was asked later in the meeting why she wasn’t going to cut White Center but was cutting other storefronts including Boulevard Park:

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She added that none of the storefront buildings will be closed – just that they will not be staffed with a deputy, and those deputies will be transferred to openings elsewhere in the department. By the way, murdered Deputy Steve Cox‘s mom Joanne Cox was in the audience tonight, and given recognition – to warm applause from the 100 or so attendees – at the start of the meeting. UPDATE: The rest of the story — click ahead to read what else happened: Read the rest of this entry »

The third in a series of four town hall meetings held by King County Sheriff She Rahr and Prosecutor Dan Satterberg is Wednesday in White Center.

Rahr has said proposed county budget cuts will put the public at risk, and is holding the meetings to hear from the public. For more on the previous meetings, click here.

The meeting is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the log cabin at Steve Cox Memorial Park, at 1321 S.W. 102nd St. in White Center.

Just announced by the King County Executive‘s office, a major step toward enabling a plan to save $10 million next year – applied toward the $90 million-plus projected county budget deficit – by a near-shutdown of county government for 10 days. Which 10 days, not specified yet; here’s the official news release from an announcement made by Executive Ron Sims a short time ago: Read the rest of this entry »

Somebody making a mess, someplace they shouldn’t? Action taken by King County Councilmembers today might help. Read on for the full details: Read the rest of this entry »

I just got my ballot in the mail and I am going to fill it out and send it out, just as soon as I find out where they sell those things called stamps. Seriously folks, the last governor’s election was decided by just 130 votes, so your vote makes a difference. And it looks like this governor’s race is going to be a squeaker as well. So get your ballot, vote and then tell everyone you know to do the same. By the way if you are not registered to vote, TODAY is your last chance! You have to do it in person at King County Elections HQ, which is in Renton; here’s directions – they’re open late today, till 6.

Lots to read through in the county budget proposal from Executive Ron Sims, and some White Center-centric notes already have been featured here. We are continuing to read through the documents (which you can find here) and just hit on one in particular — in the proposed Parks budget, Evergreen Pool could face shutdown at the end of next June unless, as the budget summary language puts it, “King County secures sufficient flexibility and revenue tools from the state legislature to sustain (it).” For now, the $172,000+ that would be saved by closing Evergreen Pool is considered to be in the “lifeboat” — afloat unless that $ doesn’t come through.

Word is that the King County financial crisis is worse than has been represented by Ron Sims. Cuts to the King County Sheriff’s Office will be much more severe than represented. One of the casualties may be Deputy Jeff Hancock, who took over after the death of Steve Cox. The White Center Sheriff’s store-front and Deputy Hancock’s beat may well be on the chopping block. Expect to hear conflicting accounts from the Sims Office and the Sheriff’s Department.

King County’s current budget woes will have substantial impact on a number of levels, not the least of which is the present and future of unincorporated King County, which is to say White Center. In today’s PI article on the subject the piece end with this, “To keep 39 parks open in urban unincorporated areas, Sims asked the council to maintain those parks for three years with $7.7 million currently set aside as incentives to cities that annex such areas.“

King County Executive Ron Sims has officially unveiled his budget proposal, and says it balances an expected $93 million-plus deficit. Here’s his news release; you can read the budget summary here. Meantime, County Councilmembers — with elected county leaders including Sheriff Sue Rahr at their side — came out swinging, saying Sims’ plan doesn’t do the job, and relies on money that may not even exist (including future “legislative relief” and concessions in labor contracts). Their statement’s not online yet – read it here: Read the rest of this entry »

That’s the source of $ savings included in a budget announcement from the King County Executive’s office late today; read it here.

We’ve talked about the county’s serious budget woes, including the public-safety budget challenges that will bring the sheriff, prosecuting attorney, and others to White Center for a town hall meeting later this month. If you want to speak out to other county leaders, six public meetings are set; the closest ones are in Kent and Seattle – read on for full details: Read the rest of this entry »

Just in from King County Sheriff Sue Rahr (left) – plans for a series of town-hall-style meetings to talk about how the county budget crisis will affect public safety. She and other county leaders including Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Bruce Hilyer, and King County District Court Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde will be in White Center for one of these meetings at 7 pm October 29, Steve Cox Memorial Park. The announcement says, “Because of an estimated $90 million county budget shortfall, the King County Executive has directed the criminal justice system to take an “across-the-board” budget cut of 11.4% for 2009. These cuts threaten the quality of justice in King County and put the public’s health and safety at risk. Your criminal justice elected officials are hosting a series of town meetings to discuss the issue. It’s critical that your voice is heard.” (Before White Center Now launched in August, we covered an early-warning briefing by Sheriff Rahr in SeaTac on June 21st; see that report, which includes video, here.)

Word just in from the office of County Councilmember Dow Constantine: A discussion is set to look at the “concept of setting up an Alcohol Impact Area in the White Center business district.” This will happen during the next regular monthly meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, 7 pm October 2 at the North Highline Fire District HQ. According to the announcement, “A representative from the Washington State Liquor Control Board will give a short presentation and will be available to answer questions,” and it further explains, “The Alcohol Impact Area (AIA) program was established by the Washington State Liquor Control Board several years ago. Liquor licensees within the borders of an AIA are subject to special restrictions as to what products they can sell. AIAs were established to deal with the problem of chronic public drunkenness and have been put in place in Seattle and Tacoma. Setting up an AIA requires an extensive neighborhood effort to document a neighborhood’s alcohol-related problems (police calls, aid calls, litter, etc.) along with a government effort to convince liquor license holders to sign “Good Neighbor” agreements. Because the White Center business district is bisected by the Seattle-King County border, we should also consider the concept of setting up adjacent AIAs in unincorporated King County and the South Delridge area (city of Seattle).” The invitation has gone out to “law enforcement personnel, community activists, and crime prevention experts on both sides of the city-county line to attend this discussion.”

King County’s out with a new report today about growth, and is using the occasion to reiterate that it needs unincorporated areas such as White Center need to be annexed to cities. Here’s the official news release: Read the rest of this entry »