White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Approximately 12:20-12:40 pm today, KUOW Radio will take a look at the King County Parks mothballing proposal – and we’ll be among those participating, on behalf of White Center Now. The folks at KUOW are encouraging community members to call in with their thoughts and concerns – the number will be 206 221 3663. Or, if you want to post a comment here, we will be talking about what we’ve been hearing from people.

That’s the ballot dropoff box outside White Center Library. If you don’t want to vote until the absolute last moment, that’s where to take it – till 8 pm (or another dropbox – here’s the full list). Then, the vote-counting begins. According to the Monday night update from King County Elections, 23.35% of the ballots have been received – that’s 1,492 of the 6,390 ballots issued in the proposed annexation area. Be heard – get yours in. On ballots in this area, the King County Executive race is huge too – county government is in a financial crisis among other challenges. Since it’s an all-mail election, we won’t get final results tonight, but vote totals will go public starting shortly after 8 pm, so check back here for results.

(photo of White Center Heights Park – which is on the list – added 7 pm)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 12:06 PM: As part of the county’s budget woes, County Executive Kurt Triplett has just proposed “mothballing” – keeping them open but no longer maintained – more than three dozen parks in urban areas of the county, including White Center. The list is on the right sidebar here. Though the parks will technically remain open, the announcement says that playground equipment will be fenced and restrooms locked in December, if no one steps up to take over the parks. We’re pursuing reaction and will add to this story. ADDED 12:53 PM: County Council Chair (and County Executive candidate) Dow Constantine‘s office says he’ll have a statement shortly — you’ll see it here as soon as it’s out — and adds that the Council will have to sign off on this because it involves next year’s budget.

4:01 PM UPDATE: Just received Council Chair Constantine’s statement:

“I am opposed to Executive Triplett’s proposal to cut all funding for King County parks in the urban unincorporated areas.

“Parks are important to the health and quality of life of everyone in the communities in which King County provides basic services—especially to our young people. To eliminate these parks with the stroke of a pen when economic times get tough would be short-sighted.

“We need to look at all other possible cuts and explore innovative budget solutions—including reductions to administrative staff—before we consider the elimination of direct services to King County residents. I have laid out a set of ideas to serve as a starting point for substantive discussions by the King County Council to create a balanced 2010 budget without raising taxes or cutting funding for urban unincorporated parks.

“It should be noted that Executive Triplett’s proposal addresses only parks whose upkeep is financed through the general fund, and would not affect King County’s regional parks and trails, which are funded through the County Parks levy.

“I am committed to keeping our parks open in the urban unincorporated areas of King County and will work with Executive Triplett and the Council on accomplishing this goal.”

ADDED 6:41 PM: We also asked North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Greg Duff for comment, and he replies:

The mothballing comes as no surprise to me. The county has been telling us that they want all of the unincorporated areas to be annexed and that they would begin cutting services to those areas. The people who think they can hold out and not vote to annex to Burien or Seattle better wake up. I see this as just the first step in the county telling us to get on the ball and get the annexation done. I hope the people who have not voted yet see what the county is doing and will vote yes to annex to Burien.

We got the chance to chat with Audrey Zemke from White Center Food Bank on Saturday while covering Picnic at the (Southwest) Precinct on behalf of partner site West Seattle Blog, and she gave us some scoop on WCFB’s upcoming annual Harvest Dinner/Auction: It will be held at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, 5:30 pm October 17th. North Highline Fire Chief Scott LaVielle will emcee; media personality Cindi Rinehart (a West Seattle resident) will be the auctioneer. Invitations will go out in about two weeks, but if you want to lock in your tickets now, you can call or e-mail White Center Food Bank – contact info’s all online, whitecenterfoodbank.org.

Just looked at the King County Elections Department‘s updated-daily count of returned ballots – and noticed that at the very end of the list, they’ve got a breakout for the area voting on the North Highline South Annexation. Only 19.5% of the ballots were in as of yesterday.

When we walked toward Mount View Presbyterian Church and Mount View Elementary on Friday afternoon, the line for backpacks stretched across the (closed) street – and then some – all the way around the front of the school, which sported this welcoming sign:

The YES Foundation of White Center‘s annual block party wasn’t just for getting ready for school – it really was a party – free food, plus games and of course bouncers:

Entertainment too:

And another kind of goodie bag – these were provided by World Vision – with personal-care items and “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies inside:

Along with YES Foundation of White Center and World Vision, other agencies and organizations at the event included Southwest Youth and Family Services, White Center Community Development Association and South Seattle Community College.

We brought you first word of the date four weeks ago – and now, the day is here: 3-6 pm today, between Mount View Elementary School and Mount View Presbyterian Church – local kids welcome to come get their free backpacks for the new school year, and to bring their families for food, music and more. (You can read here about what else the YES Foundation has been up to.)

From White Center for the Arts:

Join us for our August Third Saturday Art Event!!!
Prepare to be surprised and amazed at the wealth of art to be had in White Center.

We will host music, sculpture, drawing, painting, film, and an interesting installation.

Saturday, August 15, 2009
5:00 PM until 10:00 PM
9639 16th Ave SW.
(Don’t try the 17th St. entrance. It will be locked.)

Support your local artists, and the community of White Center!

It’s been a week and a half since ballots started arriving – and only one week is left to get yours in. If you’re in the North Highline South Annexation zone, of course, you know you are making a decision that’ll affect people for decades to come – so don’t let your ballot gather dust. If you’re not – still some big decisions to make – including who’ll make it to the general election in the King County Executive race. Your ballot needs to be out of your hands by 8 pm Tuesday, August 18. The county King County Elections Department is publishing nightly 8 pm updates on how many ballots it’s received. According to last night’s update, just under 8% are in so far: See the count here. (It includes breakouts by various jurisdictions; among County Council districts, the one including White Center, District 8, has returned the second-highest percentage of ballots so far, 9.2%, second only to 9.4%, from District 6 (metro Eastside). If you would prefer to drop off your ballot rather than mail it, there’s a White Center dropoff box available 24/7 till the voting cutoff time — the King County Library‘s White Center branch (11220 16th SW; map). Work somewhere else, and rather drop it off near your workplace? Here’s the full list of dropboxes countywide. Once your ballot’s on its way, keep checking here to look for confirmation it’s arrived. To review voter guides online, the county/port guide links are here.

Perusing the Seattle City Council‘s agenda for today, on behalf of partner site West Seattle Blog, we spotted an agenda item that actually has to do with White Center. The council will consider a proposal for Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program, which is city-chartered, to partner with Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association to advance the SOPI Village affordable-housing project, for which DNDA got county and state funding two years ago. The development site is 13th SW/SW 100th (map). The legislation that the council will consider says “low-income housing tax credit equity is also needed as a major subsidy source, and DNDA has concluded that a joint venture is necessary to secure tax credit equity funding; and … DNDA desires to partner with Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program (CHHIP) to secure tax credit equity necessary to allow the Project to move forward …” Though CHHIP’s properties are mostly located in areas closer to its namesake, its website says the organization does manage Holden Vista in the Highland Park area of southeastern West Seattle.

Big agenda at Thursday night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting. We recapped the crime update earlier today; now, the topic that took up the largest portion of the NHUAC meeting – the future of Evergreen Pool, the county’s only 9-lane indoor pool.

After months in which the pool’s prospects of survival seemed iffy at best – and right now, it’s still facing closure at the end of the month if nothing changes — a plan to keep it open has surfaced:

That’s Joel Schweiger, head coach of the WhiteWater Aquatics swimming organization, which includes almost 100 area swimmers. He opened his presentation by recapping the group’s seven-year history, leading up to its status now with workouts five days a week, 48 weeks a year at Evergreen Pool. He says “other summer league pools” are involved with WhiteWater too, including Arbor Heights. Swimmers’ parents run the non-profit organization “through an elected board of directors.”

He didn’t get into the numbers that the group has crunched, but briefly showed that they expect revenue from swim-lesson programs, teams, and event rentals to provide the operating budget, from which they would handle pool maintenance as well as operations.

According to Schweiger, staff cuts would be necessary – he says they believe that’s a big part of the pool’s current budget problem, so “restructuring staffing to appropriate levels” would be necessary: “Staffing costs are one of the things pulling the pool down.” He said lifeguards and instructors would make more, but not managers.

But long operating hours would still be possible, he said – 5 am to 9 pm Mondays-Fridays, 8 am to 3 or 4 pm on Saturdays, and a “smaller scale” on Sundays, plus he promised more commitment to public-swim and free-swim hours.

If the WhiteWater Aquatics plan goes through, he says, the pool would still close temporarily at the end of this month, for maintenance work including federally mandated safety upgrades on the drain system, then they’d aim to reopen it and “begin programming in October.”

WhiteWater came before NHUAC members seeking a letter of support for their efforts to take over the pool. It wasn’t a slam dunk; several members questioned him sharply regarding how they would ensure public involvement on the board, not just the team-involved parents who he had said are part of it now. And community member Rachael Levine told the council she and other people concerned about the pool didn’t want them to commit support to WhiteWater before others had a chance to come forward; eventually it was pointed out that meetings about the pool’s potential closure had been under way for months, and if no one else had come forward so far, who’s to say they would now?

Levine’s concerns also included making sure of a commitment to “wider community use” of the pool, and determining that the business plan was sound enough that the pool wouldn’t be back under threat of closure in a year or so.

Questioned further by board members including chair Greg Duff and Heidi Johnson, Schweiger said the pool would remain open to school groups, therapy groups, and others: “We want all those groups in there, and (to) expand on (them).”

The question of who would actually own the pool still seems to have a few details to work out – “we’re looking at how to deal with that,” Schweiger said – Highline Public Schools owns the land, King County Parks owns the building but might turn it over to the school district, he explained. But his group has not yet appeared before the Highline school board, he acknowledged.

In the end, a majority of board members voted in favor of a letter of support; Ray Helms said, “I think supporting an organization that is trying to work to keep the pool open and acknowledges it needs the public support is not too far out of the question … with the understanding that we hope in the final phases there will be full public participation.” Pat Price noted that the letter is, in the end, just a letter, and that NHUAC doesn’t hold “a lot of clout” in the situation, saying, “In the end, we’ll be lucky to see the contract.” Christine Waldman observed, “The county wants out of the pool business, and we’re running out of time.”

The letter of support will be written by Heidi Johnson and sent to various stakeholders including the Parks Department, King County Council and the school district. Schweiger said his organization has another meeting next week to determine more of the next steps in the process.

Our next story: The annexation discussion from Thursday night’s meeting. In the meantime, miscellaneous other notes —

COMMITTEES AND EVENTS: NHUAC chair Greg Duff says he wants to hear at least two committee reports every month – “we’re not hearing from the committees enough.” And he wants two people in charge of each special event, instead of just one – to lighten the load and to ensure backup in case someone gets sick, has an emergency, etc.

NHUAC WEBSITE: Board member Ron Johnson got big kudos for keeping it updated. But he says he can’t do it alone: Got an article? An event to add? Send it to him. (The website’s at northhighlineuac.org)

COMMUNITY REMINDERS: The annual Pasefika festival is tomorrow, noted Pat Price.

STEVE COX PARK PICNIC SHELTER: Christine Waldman is working with the Parks Department to get it moved.

BUS SHELTERS BY THE WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK/PUBLIC HEALTH: Ron Johnson’s been working on this one for a while, at 8th/108th, and says it got bogged down in the bureaucracy – but now the shelters are supposed to be installed this fall.

From the White Center Community Development Association website – HomeSight has another session for would-be homebuyers coming up at the Greenbridge YWCA at 6 pm August 19. Full details here.

First of three reports from last night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting:

King County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Hancock briefed the group on crime in its coverage area over the preceding six weeks, late June through early August. While what he discussed comprised a somewhat-long list, as he summarized at the end, “A few years ago, this would have been a weekend recap – what in this case happened over (a month and a half).” He also took pains to point out that only one of the violent incidents was truly random. Note: Since the group oversees areas beyond White Center, his overview included those other areas too.

Toplines: 3 rapes, one involving a child (he indicated a suspect had been arrested). One armed robbery – “Five girls asked the victim, at Albertson’s, if they could have a ride. They held him up at knifepoint and took all his electronics and cash.” Six felony assaults, including a stabbing at a “homeless camp” and a “large fight disturbance at the Roxbury/15th bus stop.” Two shootings in which nobody was hit – described as gangs exchanging gunfire – one near the Bernie and Boys Market at 112th/1st (map), and Deputy Hancock says that one resulted in an arrest. The one “random normal person who was a victim,” as Deputy Hancock put it, incident was a mugging at South 96th/8th Ave So (map). The other violent incidents, he repeated, involved “people … in dangerous lifestyles – it’s not like you or I are going to the grocery store and people are shooting at us.”

A few more numbers: 36 4th-degree assaults, “mostly domestic violence,” though one involved an upset bar patron throwing a pot full of coffee. 3 commercial burglaries. 15 residential burglaries, 15 shoplifting cases, 12 shoplifting incidents, 12 vehicle thefts, 19 car prowls. He also recounted a story told at the last White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting – about a frequently arrested homeless man who OD’d at 98th/15th and was brought back to life, recovering well enough that “we arrested him for the 10th time three days later.” 2 more updates from NHUAC, later today.

As noted recently, White Center Now is offering to publish “letters to the editor” for those who would like to share their views on the North Highline South Annexation vote (ballots have been mailed, and must be postmarked by the official primary-election day, August 18th). First one was here (with 17 comments as of right now); this one has come in as a rebuttal:

I would like to refute Mr. Lamphears comments. And also to say, shame on you for lowering the debate with statements about “steamy, smelly pile of bovine fecal matte”, please spare me your potty comments:

Pile #1 — Mr. Ufkes does not live in the voting area – but he does live in Area 2 which Burien makes no secret that it will attempt to annex if they are successful in Area 1

Pile #2 — The Westwood Village and White Center areas are not included in the voting area, In the voting pamphlet there is no reference to Westwood village. But if we are going to try to find relevance this is the point. If you want to do a search for a home in Seattle once Seattle annexes North Highline your home will show up in the search. This will elevate your property value. Also, as Seattle and King County allow greater density homeowners who want to subdivide will have more options. Either way King County or Seattle your home will be worth more without a Burien address

Pile #3 — Mr. Ufkes has been a vocal critic of the North Highline Fire Department. Once again, there is not direct relation between customer satisfaction and response times.

Pile #4 — Burien has no plans to hire more police officers AT THIS TIME because it’s not necessary. As a resident of Area 1 I personally feel underserved and believe we do not have adequate police coverage.

Pile #5 — Burien has no budget deficit — No but Burien does have a looming tax crises. With Auto sales tanking and sales tax revenues down Burien needs a greater tax basis this is really the issue. Burien would like to ‘sell’ annexation as some type of ‘affinity’ issue. It is insulting to think the city council would like to annex North highline out of the goodness of their hearts. Burien is about to have a fiscal crises and they are casting about for an increased tax base. North Highline can live without the higher taxes a future in Burien will assure

Pile #6 — If Burien decides to build a new community center with a tax, the law requires the voters to approve any new taxes. There is no new tax on the horizon. Same as above, Burien wants access to a larger tax base

Pile #7 — There is no such thing as a Burien downtown fire department tax for Town Square. Not having personal knowledge about this I will defer to others to fill this in

Pile #8 — There is no evidence that property values have any relationship to your address. Once again, I do not agree zip code and city matter. Minimum lot size matters. King County 5000sq/ft versus Burien 7800 sq/ft. Do the math.

I urge my fellow residents to vote no annexation, there will be no benefit in being annexed to Burien. Vote for no change, no potential new taxes, and no to the Burien City council who consistently ignores the wishes of its constituents who do not wish to annex North Highline.

David Feinberg

If there’s something you’d like to say, e-mail it to whitecenternow@gmail.com – thanks!

From Frank Cantwell, principal of Holy Family Parish School in White Center:

I would like to invite you to “El Carnaval” that we are holding on August 29 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and August 30 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) 2009. We are planning to close 20th Street from Roxbury for one block between the Parish and the School, and open this area to the entire community for an opportunity to meet our neighbors. We plan to have bands, a variety of food, and a beer garden. We will have our school open to everyone. We are also planning to have lots of fun and games for the children.

Holy Family Parish School has a rich history having served the White Center community for over 80 years. We are a very diverse community and we are welcoming everyone to come together to have a lot of fun.

This is the last meeting before the election in which the North Highline Unincorporated Area itself just might get smaller. Lots of issues for the NHUAC to discuss – here’s a preview from Greg Duff:

The August meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council (NHUAC) will be held on Thursday, August 6 from 7-8:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the North Highline Fire Station, 1243 SW 112th.

We invite the public to come and hear what is happening in the community. Scheduled to speak at our meeting is White Water Aquatics, which has just made a proposal to run the Evergreen Pool. We will also hear from Mike Martin, Burien City Manager, who will give us a quick update on how the annexation efforts are going. Deputy Jeff Hancock of the King County Sheriff’s Office will be letting us know how the month was in White Center.

As you can see, it is going to be a busy and informative meeting. If you have any questions, please call Greg Duff at 206-235-8966

We first mentioned this a month ago – now the big day is here, 10 am-noon at McLendon. Here are the details.

The new forecast came out early this morning and it’s NOT expected to hit triple digits again today. Or so the National Weather Service says.

Thanks to Wayne Del for sending word of a fire tonight in the 11000 block of Occidental (map), as well as photos of the smoke. He says it was in a “backyard – looks like it could have been a shed where gasoline was stored. Very combustible. Fire trucks on the scene, everyone appears to be safe. Helicopters, fire trucks, local citizens helping with garden hoses. Thank goodness for the community.” 8:45 PM UPDATE: We’re at the fire scene now – Occidental, a narrow residential street, is still blocked off with yellow tape, and fire crews are still here. This is in the Top Hat neighborhood. The incident commander tells us that the fire burned sheds and a carport, but the house itself wasn’t damaged. Nobody was hurt. Investigators are still on the scene, two hours after the fire was first reported, but they don’t know yet how it started. We’ll add our photos in a bit. ADDED: This is as close as we could get:

Just in:

Volunteers Needed 8/8 and 8/12 to Clear Out White Center Food Bank Warehouse

Volunteer Alert: The White Center Food Bank needs volunteers on Saturday, August 8th, and Wednesday, August 12th. We are having the floor replaced on that Monday and Tuesday, so we need to totally empty the warehouse on Saturday and put everything back on Wednesday.

If you can lend a hand, please contact Audrey Zemke, Volunteer Resource Coordinator, at 206-762-2848 or email her at audrey@whitecenterfoodbank.org