White Center Now: The blog about White Center

King County Executive Kurt Triplett – who will be succeeded immediately after the November election results are certified, by the winner of the Dow Constantine-Susan Hutchison race – has released his proposed budget. It still calls for mothballing county parks in unincorporated urban areas, which means the section of White Center not affected by the annexation vote, since Burien has said it will keep the annexation-area parks open. Here’s the full announcement from Triplett’s office; here’s the county council’s hearing plan:

Council to host four public hearings on 2010 King County Budget
in Bellevue, Kent, Renton and Seattle

Public input vital to budget process

The Metropolitan King County Council will host four public hearings to take comment on the 2010 Executive Proposed Budget.

Led by Councilmember Larry Gossett, chair of the 2010 Budget and Fiscal Management Committee, the four public hearings will be held:

· Wednesday, October 7 – Bellevue City Council Chambers, 450 110th Ave. NE, Bellevue

· Tuesday, October 13 – Maleng Regional Justice Center, Courtroom 3F, 401 4th Avenue North, Kent

· Thursday, October 22 – Redmond City Council Chambers, 15670 NE 85th Street, Redmond

· Thursday, October 29 – King County Council Chambers, 516 Third Avenue, Room 1200, Seattle

All meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. Day-after coverage of the public hearings will be available both online and on King County TV, seen on Comcast and Broadstripe Cable Channel 22. You can also sign up to follow the deliberations through the Council’s 2010 Budget Blog and Twitter.

Follow the Council’s deliberations through Twitter and our 2010 Budget Blog by visiting the King County Council Budget Web site at:
www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget.aspx

Betsy wanted to get the word out about this item she found: A Girl Scout-type brown ribbon with 2 pins (awards?) attached, in the parking lot at the Westwood Village QFC. Sound like something you’re looking for? E-mail her at bjkbjh@yahoo.com.

If you don’t check out the White Center Community Development Association‘s website routinely – you should! We just checked in and discovered a couple of new items, including awards won by two WCCDA staffers – executive director Aileen Balahadia and community-building director Virgil Domaoan were honored this past week as Emerging Filipino Leaders. Read all about it (and see photos!) here.

What a beautiful afternoon it was at Lakewood Park when we stopped by Hicks Lake to check on the final hour of the annual volunteer cleanup and get some photos. Note the placid scene above – then the volunteers gathered for a group shot:

Just minutes earlier, they’d wrapped up their work clearing invasives and trash, among other jobs:

Dick Thurnau from Friends of Hicks Lake summed it up this way:

Twenty-five hard-working student volunteers from Seattle Pacific University came this Saturday to Hicks Lake located in King County’s Lakewood Park to remove invasive weeds. Two dumptruck loads of weeds, tree parts and litter were removed. We wish to thank the following: Disc Golf Club, Friends of Hicks Lake, a member of the NHUAC, managing engineer of King County’s surface water, providing their help to make this park and lake a better place.

Also the King County Maintenance crew cleaning up and filling the dump trucks with this trash all deserve a large THANK YOU. These students’ performance is a perfect example of what can be accomplished with proper guidance.

Knights of Columbus Council 8437 is sponsoring a spaghetti dinner at Holy Family School (9615 20th Ave SW) on Saturday night. Seating for dinner will start at 4:30 pm and continue until 7:00 pm. In addition to dinner, there will be a raffle for prizes. The cost for dinner is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children under 12. Tickets can be purchased by calling Ross Youngs (206) 932-8771; they can also be purchased at the door.

From Audrey at White Center Food Bank:

Evergreen High School Key Club is doing a food drive benefitting the White Center Food Bank as part of the Mayors’ Day of Concern for the Hungry on Saturday, September 26 from 10 am to 3 p.m. at Roxbury Safeway and Burien Safeway.

Also, Prudential West Seattle is conducting a food drive benefiting the White Center Food Bank and the West Seattle Food Bank on Saturday, October 3, at local Safeway Stores, Albertsons in White Center and Morgan Street Thriftway. Donations can also be made at the Prudential office on 4700 42nd Avenue, Suite 600 or through a local Prudential agent.

The big cleanup is this Saturday:

Please come join Friends of Hicks Lake and first-year students from Seattle Pacific University next Saturday (9/26/2009) from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM for cleanup day at and for your Lakewood Park and Hicks Lake. Location 10 Ave SW next to Cascade Middle School.

Gloves and tools will be furnished; we need volunteers plus willing hands to remove weeds, broken tree limbs you get the picture. Your help will make this park and lake a better place for our community. We appreciate your help and thank you in advance.

Bret the Brat, star of that quick clip, is the mascot for the Burien Brat Trot, coming up October 4th and benefiting White Center-based WestSide Baby. No, no, no, not THAT kind of brat – think “rhymes with trot.” Goes with beer. Oom-pah music. Etc. (But not till AFTER you run.) Register online, for solo or relay, by going here.

Here’s your chance to do a good deed at the shopping center closest to White Center:

Sleep Country USA is holding its annual Coat Drive for Foster Kids, beginning Monday, September 21st.

WHAT: Sleep Country USA¹s Winter Coat Drive for Foster Kids
WHEN: September 21, 2009 through November 1, 2009
WHY: Because many foster kids arrive with only the clothes on their backs, Sleep Country USA is collecting winter coats to help keep the more than 26,000 foster kids in Oregon and Washington warm this winter. Our drive helps give foster children a leg up and keep them warm during the blustery winter months.

New coats in every shape and size can be donated to any Sleep Country USA store and will be distributed among 20 Pacific Northwest foster care organizations. For more information, please use the Sleep Country store locator at www.sleepcountry.com or call 1-888-88-SLEEP.

(photo added 11:02 pm – Stefanie and Mike, Proletariat proprietors, and daughter)
We checked in with Stefanie and Mike at Proletariat Pizza just before 8 pm, three-fourths of the way into the first night of the new pizza parlor on 16th SW (next to Dzul Tattoo, across from Full Tilt Ice Cream). Stefanie told us they had a great rush in the early hours – then it settled down a bit – there was still a nice crowd when we dropped by. The atmosphere is very simple; some fun handmade signs (like “Home of The Big One”) up on the walls:

The signs look aged but Stefanie said they’re new, made by an artist friend. While their name has drawn a bit of controversy, their signage plays right to it – one door says BY THE PEOPLE and the other door says FOR THE PEOPLE:

Their menu has a logo of a “power to the people” type fist tossing a pizza, over the slogan “The Pizza That Made White Center Famous.” We’ll add photos in a bit; we brought home a menu and thought you’d be interested:

Pizzas
Cheese
Pepperoni
Margherita
Two Meats
The Favorite (Italian sausage, fresh chopped garlic, Mama Lil’s peppers are the toppings)
Ham and egg
Anchovy
The Real Hawaiian (SPAM and pineapple)
Cinco (fontina, provolone, asiago, gorgonzola, mozzarella cheeses)
Vegetarian (sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, goat cheese plus mozzarella)

They offer pizza in “whole, half, slice” sizes — slices for cheese/pepperoni only ($2 and $3 respectively) with the most expensive “whole” $18 (cheese only, $15 whole, $9 half). Also a mixed green salad at $4 -organic mixed greens with garbanzos, kalamatas, gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette. Homemade tiramisu for dessert ($5) and two sugar-only sodas (Mexican Coke/Jarritos, $1.50) plus beer/wine for beverages.

For starters they’ll be open 5-9 pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, closed Thursdays and Sundays.

PROLETARIAT PIZZA: According to their website, they’re a go for grand opening at 5 tonight. 9622 16th SW.

PHO MY LOI: According to this online listing, Pho My Loi is for sale, less than a year after it opened.

Shelli Park from WCFTA sent this update on the Saturday night event at Big Al Brewing in White Center:

White Center for the Arts is excited about the Art Party on Saturday, September 19th!

Two bands will be performing over the course of the evening. The first band will start at 7:00. They are Mucho Gusto, a jazz trio whose drummer is from White Center.

The other band is Urban Achievers, a Led Zeppelin cover band, which has for a member another local musician, Ryan Burns. This is a really GOOD cover band! Stellar musicians.

Come and enter the raffle for a piece of art, or try that Big Al Smoked Porter! There is something for everyone.

As reported here several weeks back, King County Executive Kurt Triplett has proposed closing more than three dozen county parks in unincorporated urban areas, like White Center, because of the county budget crisis. King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, who is running for KCE, just announced his proposal to keep those parks from closing:

King County Executive candidate Dow Constantine today issued a four point plan intended to keep parks across King County open as the County moves to close its current budget gap.

Current King County Executive Kurt Triplett has called on the County to begin mothballing parks December 1st of this year in order to help close the budget deficit.

“I do not believe that closing parks is the right approach for dealing with the County’s budget problems, nor is it necessary,” Constantine said. “If we use our existing resources more wisely, we can keep our neighborhood parks open and available for use by the people of King County.”

Constantine’s concern with the Executive’s proposal to shutter parks is two-fold.

“Our 39 local parks provide critical services to the communities in which they reside. Many of these parks are in low-income communities and are important community gathering places that provide recreation and exercise and enhance the quality of life for the communities in which they are located,” Constantine said. “Moreover, the voters of King County passed two parks levies in 2007 in order to save all our parks. While this levy applied only to regional and rural parks, this was not the perception of the voters and I am not interested in closing these parks based on this technicality.”

Constantine’s parks plan outlined the following points:

Prioritizing Parks in the Budget: When the Executive transmits his budget to the Council in late September, Constantine will propose funding these parks through 2010. This would provide the County Parks Department with the appropriate amount of time to execute on the Executive’s current plan – which Constantine believes has merit – to transfer urban parks to cities and other entities. With reduced maintenance and other efficiencies, the cost of keeping the affected parks open should be able to be reduced to about $1 million. In his nine-point budget proposal, Constantine has previously highlighted up to $75 million in cuts and other efficiencies that could be used to find the necessary funding.

Aggressively Pursue Annexations: All but five of the threatened neighborhood parks are in urban unincorporated areas slated for annexation by surrounding jurisdictions. The annexation of part of North Highline by Burien, approved by voters in the August ballot, will ensure that beginning in January six of these 39 parks will remain open. Similarly, the three other annexations on the November ballot, if approved, will protect 12 more parks. The willingness of cities like Burien to take over their annexed parks earlier then initially planned is a positive step, and Constantine is confident that the County can keep expenses low and transfer these assets without disadvantaging the communities that hold them dear.

Partner with Community Groups: Constantine will initiate and expand discussions with local community groups and other interested organizations to support threatened parks. As an early model for such partnerships, Constantine cited his work with White Water Aquatics to facilitate their takeover of the Evergreen Pool in White Center early next year. While that effort has not been perfect – the pool will have to be shut down for a few months until the transfer occurs – partnership and/or sponsorship efforts with respect to parks could help ease the cost of keeping these parks open.

If Necessary, Modify the Existing Parks Levy: The second of the two regional parks levies passed in 2007 includes significant funds for new open space acquisitions. Constantine is a long-time supporter of parks, open space and trails acquisition. However, in a time of recession it would make sense to use a portion of those funds to keep our existing parks open and maintained. If the pace of annexations is slowed and the need arises for King County to continue funding these parks beyond 2010, Constantine will propose going back to the ballot to modify the existing levy to allow existing levy funds to be used to keep threatened neighborhood parks open. Such a modification would require no new taxes but would simply allow more flexibility with existing resources to ensure no parks are closed, and would still leave millions of dollars in funding to continue expanding the County’s regional trail system and make other acquisitions.

“By transferring the majority of these parks to other entities in 2010, my plan will also allow the County to use money already set aside to fund these parks in 2011 right now. This money will be critical in closing our 2010 budget gap and still allow us to keep our local parks open in the meantime,” Constantine said. “Given the County’s shrinking revenues, it is an economic reality that the County will have to stop funding local parks in the long-term. However, this process must be done in a responsible manner that allows adequate time for other jurisdictions or interested parties to step up to keep these parks open and available for use. It is the responsibility of your elected officials to find creative solutions that protect our citizens’ quality of life, and that is what I intend to do as Executive.”

The 39 parks that at risk of being closed are:

132nd Square
Arbor Lake
Bingamon Pond
Boulevard Lane Park
Bridle Crest Trail
Bryn Mawr Park
Camelot Park
East Norway Hill
Edith Moultan Park
Evergreen Athletic Fields
Five Mile Lake Park
Green Tree Park
Hamm Creek Natural Area
Hazel Valley Park
Hilltop Park
Juanita Heights Park
Kingsgate
Klahanie Park
Lake Geneva Park
Lakewood Park
Maplewood Heights
Maplewood Park
May Creek Park
North Green River Park
North Meridian Park
North Shorewood Park
Park Orchard Park
Puget Sound Park
Renton Park
Salmon Creek Park
Sierra Heights/Honey Dew
Site 1 Duwamish
Skyway Park
South County Ballfields
Southern Heights
Sunset Playfields
White Center Heights
White Center Pond Natural Area
Windsor Vista

By the way, something we didn’t realize till a conversation this morning with State Senator Joe McDermott, who’s campaigning for Constantine — the new county executive will be sworn in after the election results are certified in late November, rather than the more standard January swearing-in, since the current KCE is appointed rather than elected.

This Saturday, noon-3 pm, you can buy fall vegetable starts at Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle‘s sale at St. James Place, 9421 18th SW (map). Bring produce for the food bank if you have some – taste heirloom tomatoes – and celebrate locally grown food. Need to know more? 762-0604 or info@gleanit.org – and at the CHoSS website, gleanit.org.

Jeni at Cascade Middle School shares word of this event and is hoping that as many community members as possible will show up to pitch in (and enjoy a free lunch!):

Cascade is honored that RESA Seattle, an organization of professional stagers, has chosen our school for their first service project. They will be redesigning several areas at our school, helping to improve functionality and beautify our surroundings.

Stagers will be joined by the staff of Cascade and the community to make improvements to the Main Office, Cafeteria/Gym Foyer, hallways, Staff Lounge and exterior of the grounds.

Many hands make light work – Join our Community Service Day!

Date:
Saturday, September 19th

Time:
9 a.m. until the work is done

Place:
Cascade Middle School – 11212 10th Ave SW

Meet in front of the Main Office

Bring your garden gloves, dress to paint, and work outside.
Barbecue lunch will be served courtesy of Cascade Middle School

If you want to call or e-mail the school for more info on this, contact info is on its website.

We got a question about this not long after it happened but didn’t have official information till today. King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart confirms there was a stabbing downtown on Friday night. Here’s his account of what deputies found out:

The stabbing occurred in front of Brewsky’s on Friday, Sept. 11th about 11:00 PM, 9636 16th SW. We responded to a 9-1-1 call and found the victim covered in blood a short distance away for the bar. He was somewhat incoherent but conscious. However he was uncooperative as to details of the stabbing and even where it occurred. He would not tell us who stabbed him. We also spoke to several patrons of Brewsky’s. All were moderately to severely intoxicated with varying accounts of the event.

The victim is 39 years old from Kent, and the suspect is in his mid-30’s, a black male. This apparently was a mutual fight that led to a stabbing. No arrests and no suspect.

From the White Center Community Development Association website: Feet First is out with its White Center On Foot map – the links are in this WCCDA post.

Music! Bicycles! Facepainting! And White Center’s own Full Tilt Ice Cream. “Crank It Up” is happening at Cesar Chavez Park (7th and Cloverdale) till 6 pm – here’s an update from our partner site West Seattle Blog.

On Friday, coast to coast, the 9/11 anniversary was honored with a Day of Service/Day of Caring. As part of that, Microsoft workers volunteered on behalf of White Center Food Bank — helping at the food bank as well as working on a food drive at grocery stores in West Seattle and Burien. You can see a mini-photo album at the White Center Food Bank Facebook page (that’s the source of the photo you see atop this item).