White Center Now: The blog about White Center

By Tracy Record
Editor, White Center Now and West Seattle Blog

Progress, challenges, and inspiration filled a first-of-its-kind lunch meeting at the Technology Access Foundation‘s Bethaday Community Learning Space in White Center on Wednesday.

The Racial Equity Team – a People of Color-led advocacy group explained here – organized a Tribal Lunch and Learn event, with two Native leaders front and center (as they are in our photo above) – State Sen. John McCoy and former Sen. Claudia Kauffman.

“It is tremendously important that we work together to better understand and serve our Native communities in Washington state. Hearing from Native leaders is the first step in this process,” declared the event announcement.

McCoy has been in the Legislature for 15 years. Kauffman served in the State Senate for one term, 2007-2011. They were joined on Wednesday’s panel by Eir Cheeka, Early Native Learning Coordinator from the White Center Community Development Association, and Aren Sparck, Government Affairs Officer from the Seattle Indian Health Board.

The conversation was wide-ranging. Kauffman stressed the importance of maximizing “assets and opportunities.” She recalled organizing a group of Native women for a trip to Olympia, where they toured state offices, and advocated for state action on behalf of missing and murdered Indigenous women (a new state law was signed just two weeks ago).

In Q&A, Kauffman was asked what led to her becoming a legislator. “I’ve always been in politics!” she replied, citing inspiration dating back to childhood. She said those who inspired her included former Montana state legislator Carol Juneau (who is also the mother of Denise Juneau, who is in negotiations to become Seattle Public Schools‘ next superintendent).

WCCDA’s Cheeka spoke of her journey to advocacy, and the importance of education – both in her life, in her work, and what she is considering now as a parent of young children who will be in school soon. She also shared memories of life-changing events, such as the 1989 Paddle to Seattle.

How can non-Natives help with the fight for equity? she was asked. Educating yourself is the first task, Cheeka said, who also advised seeking out Tribal leaders and Native professors and other educators, asking questions.

Sen. McCoy picked up the discussion of education, recounting the system being geared toward “assimilation, institutional racism … (and) belonging to the whites,” so “we really don’t have a handle on the data around who’s in our schools … we are trying to correct that.” He serves on two committees, co-chairing the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee. The lack of data is a major concern to him, and he fears it will get even worse with the Census results after the Trump Administration’s addition of a citizenship question. The count is important, McCoy stressed, because “that’s how we get funding” – it’s important to get the data “so we know who we are working with.”

Last to speak was Sparck from the Seattle Indian Health Board, and he brought a slide deck with a primer, “Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Health 101.” The history lesson went back to the “doctrine of discovery” starting in 1492, continuing to the present day, and talking about the unique status of Natives. He, for example, is an Alaska Native, and notes that “just because I leave my hometown I don’t stop being a Cup’ik person.” You don’t have to be an enrolled member to get service from Urban Indian health programs: “We work with everybody.”

There was a little more Q&A time before the event wrapped up, and that led to participants’ acknowledgment of communities working in solidarity – different Native communities, and beyond that, different communities of color. It’s vital to include youth in leadership development, participants agreed.

Concluding the lunch meeting, the RET’s community liaison, former state legislator Velma Veloria, declared it a “historical moment for equity and education,” commemorated with a group photo (as seen atop our story). To find out about future RET events, you can e-mail info@eec-wa.org.

One of U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell‘s three upcoming “town hall” meetings is in White Center, at TEC High School (830 SW 116th SW). It’s at 11 am next Saturday, July 8th. You’re asked to RSVP if you’re interested in attending – go here.

(Also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

Tonight we know the locations where King County Elections is proposing to add more than three dozen fixed ballot dropboxes, including White Center, West Seattle, and South Park this year; Boulevard Park might get one next year. Read the full news release here.

Toplines for our area:

In White Center, the dropbox would be at the White Center Library (the address listed in the county report is for the current one on 16th, though the new one on SW 107th is scheduled to open soon, so we’ll be doublechecking on that tomorrow). West Seattle’s location would be the High Point Library. The South Park Library is proposed for a dropbox by the November general election. And the Boulevard Park Library could get one next year.

A 132-page report including how and why these locations (and the others around the county) were chosen – and why some other locations were not chosen – can be seen here.

The county says it will spend $239,695 to have the boxes made, wrapped, and installed. Assuming approval is received from the King County Council and all property owners, this would put 91.5% of the county’s population within three miles of a dropbox, the county says. A public hearing is planned before the County Council’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee at 9:30 am Tuesday, April 26th, in the council chambers downtown.

The current WC Library used to have a dropbox, but since its removal, the county has only sent a temporary van to Greenbridge for a few of the final days before each election.

From the 7th District U.S. House campaign of State Sen. Pramila Jayapal, which says it’s NOT a fundraiser (we don’t promote political fundraisers), just a meet-and-greet:

What: Latinxs Organizing Party with Pramila Jayapal

When: Thursday, April 14th at 6-8 pm

Where: Salvadorean Bakery & Restaurant, 1719 SW Roxbury

Join us as we organize for Pramila for Congress. Good food, music, and good company while we learn how to get involved. Everyone is welcome!

Sen. Jayapal is one of the candidates running to succeed U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle), who announced he would not run for re-election.

Tuesday is Election Day. If you haven’t sent in your ballot yet, three of the next four days bring visits by the King County Elections ballot-dropoff vans. Same White Center spot as recent elections – on the street outside Greenbridge Library (9720 8th SW). The van will be there 10 am-5 pm Saturday and Monday, 10 am-8 pm Tuesday. No postage needed if you’re taking your ballot to a van or to the 24-hour dropboxes elsewhere in the county, but you DO need correct postage if you’re mailing yours. If you’ve already sent in/dropped off your ballot, track it online. Two other links of potential interest: Sample ballot here; pamphlet info here.

New location tonight for the 34th District Democrats‘ summertime fundraiser – the Garden Party moved to White Center, at TAF’s Bethaday Community Learning Space in Lakewood Park. And so, with Hicklin Lake in view, the party was dubbed “Luau at the Lake.” As always, the crowd included elected officials, like State Rep. Eileen Cody and Seattle School Board director Marty McLaren:

State Senate Democratic leader Senator Sharon Nelson:

34th leaders too – that’s Chris Porter with the big smile:

You can’t have a luau without boat drinks:

And this was an auction, too, with at least one item carrying a Presidential seal:

When not garden-partying, the 34th District Democrats meet monthly on the second Wednesday, 7 pm, at The Hall at Fauntleroy in West Seattle.

The second round of results is out for Proposition 1, the transit/roads money measure on Tuesday’s ballot, and “no” is still leading, by nine percentage points. Current tally:

No – 224,441 votes, 54.51%
Yes – 187,324 votes, 45.49%

County leaders have issued a news release saying that they’re now making plans for Metro cuts. County Executive Dow Constantine: “We gave the voters a choice, and presented a proposal for saving Metro Transit and maintaining our roads. They have chosen a reduced level of service, and we will carry out the will of the voters. Tomorrow I will transmit legislation to the King County Council to reduce service by 550,000 hours and eliminate 72 bus routes.” The County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment committee will have public hearings on the plan before taking final action by the end of May. Here’s the draft version of the 550,000-hour reduction:

It leaves more routes unchanged than the original proposal, and would be phased in between September 2014 and September 2015. Still on the list of routes to be eliminated: 21, 22, 37, 57. Route 113 was on the deletion list in November but is on the “would be unchanged” list now.

Two weeks from tomorrow – the afternoon of Sunday, March 9th – the 34th (Legislative) District Democrats’ caucuses will happen at the Evergreen campus in White Center. Here’s the official call to caucus; as it mentions, “This is truly the first step in the journey toward the all important 2016 election.” Specific tasks to be accomplished including electing delegates and alternates to the June 21st statewide Democratic convention, registering voters, collecting resolutions and platform issues for the countywide convention in April, and a food drive. The link above explains how to participate; watch the 34th District Democrats’ website for updates.

P.S. The 34th DDs’ big annual summertime fundraiser will be in White Center this year too – it was announced at the group’s February meeting (here’s coverage on our partner site West Seattle Blog) that the annual Garden Party will move to the TAF Bethaday Community Space at Lakewood Park, after years of being held in West Seattle.

Where should marijuana-related businesses be allowed in the unincorporated areas? King County is having four public meetings on the topic – including one in White Center one week from tomorrow. Here’s the full KC announcement:

Following the voter initiative creating a state licensing system for production and sales of recreational marijuana, a King County agency has developed proposed standards for the zoning of marijuana-related businesses that would be regulated by the state and located in unincorporated King County, outside of cities.

“The voters have mandated that marijuana-related businesses are allowed uses, so we have worked to identify appropriate zoning districts for them,” said John Starbard, director of the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review. “As a next step we now seek public input on this proposed zoning, which will define where these uses will be permitted in the unincorporated areas outside cities.”

The agency will hold four public meetings in August on the proposed legislation. All meetings will be held from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, with an open house the first hour with King County staff available to answer questions. The public comment period will begin at 7:00 pm.

Wednesday, August 7
Snoqualmie Valley area
Fall City Library
33415 SE 42nd Pl., Fall City

Thursday, August 8
North Highline area
Technology Access Foundation
605 SW 108th Street

Monday, August 12
Southeast King County
Maple Valley Library
21844 SE 248th Street, Maple Valley

Tuesday, August 13
Vashon/Maury Island
Courthouse Square
19021 Vashon Highway SW, Vashon

Among the elements of the proposed ordinance that will be discussed:

* Indoor growing and processing of marijuana would be allowed in areas zoned as Community Business, Regional Business, and Industrial.

* Outdoor growing would be limited to the Agriculture and Rural Area zones.

* Retail sales would be allowed in the Neighborhood Business, Community Business, and Regional Business Zones.

All recreational marijuana businesses operating under the system created by voters through Initiative 502 would require a valid license from the State of Washington. The initiative prohibits the siting of those businesses within 1000 feet of youth-oriented facilities such as parks, libraries, schools, child care centers, and game arcades. Proposed rules under consideration by the state would require fencing and other security measures for all licensed facilities, including outdoor growing.

The proposed King County ordinance would also codify standards existing in state statute for medical marijuana uses, by allowing individual growing and collective gardens authorized for qualifying patients under that state law. The proposed ordinance would prohibit collective gardens within 1000 feet of youth-oriented uses, the same as with recreational marijuana facilities.

Voters enacted I-502 in November to establish a regulatory system for the growing, processing, sale of marijuana for recreational purposes. The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) was charged with responsibility for implementing the regulatory system of recreational marijuana, and is expected to adopt final rules in September for the licensing of recreational marijuana businesses. Once the state rules are adopted, the WSLCB will begin accepting applications for licenses. Licensees will be required to identify the location of the business and the WSLCB will issue licenses for a specific location.

With input from the four public meetings, the County Executive is expected to submit a final proposed ordinance to the Metropolitan King County Council by the end of August.

Copies of the proposed ordinance should be ready for download by the end of the day at www.kingcounty.gov/permitting.

The state legislators who represent this area are trying something out of the ordinary next week:

Who: State Senator Sharon Nelson and Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon (34th Legislative District)

What: Telephone town hall

When: 6:00 – 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 20th

Why: To discuss legislative priorities with constituents, solicit their feedback and answer questions about the current legislative session.

34th Legislative District residents should receive a call from their legislators at about 6:00 PM on the 20th. To participate, simply pick up the phone and follow the prompts. Sen. Nelson and Reps. Cody and Fitzgibbon will deliver short opening thoughts and then will open up for questions. If you have a question for the lawmakers, simply press *3.

If for some reason you don’t receive a call, you can call into 1-877-229-8493 and enter 18646 to participate.

(UPDATED: Video below is the archived clip from this morning’s meeting)

9:08 AM: Clicking “play” will bring you the live stream of the Seattle Channel, where the Seattle City Council’s weekly briefing meeting is under way. Toward the end of that scheduled two-hour meeting – around 10:40 am – the council will hear an update on potential annexation areas. It’s been focused on the South Park “sliver by the river” and Duwamish Triangle, but we’re told that Area Y will be discussed too. We’ll have toplines during the meeting, too. (If you have any trouble with the video window above, just follow the link in our first line to the Seattle Channel and watch the live stream on their site.)

11:07 AM: We’ll substitute the archived video of this morning’s discussion as soon as it’s available. Meantime, not much was said about North Highline/Area Y – except that Seattle leaders are not likely to take a closer look at it before late this year at the earliest. Here’s our as-it-happened notes on how the entire discussion of possible Seattle annexations went:

The discussion began at 10:43 am. Meg Moorehead from Council Central staff reminds councilmembers there are four possible annexation areas in all. She notes that Council directed them months ago to pursue the two South Park areas and not stand in the way of Burien’s then-attempt to annex Area Y. She reminds that there are four ways to annex: 1. Vote of the people in the annexation area, 2. Petition of property owners with at least 60 percent of property value, 3. Interlocal agreement.

SLIVER ON THE RIVER + DUWAMISH TRIANGLE = ‘SLIVER Q‘: First, she updates the “Sliver on the River” – it will officially be a Seattle potential annexation area as of March 4th when countywide planning policy is complete. Regarding the Duwamish Triangle, they had started discussions – when businesses there took note and submitted a petition for Tukwila to annex them. Since property owners submitted the petition representing at least 60 percent of the assessed value, that kept Seattle from taking further action at the time. Then, on February 14th, the Boundary Review Board officially said no to Tukwila (we had reported the preliminary decision here). Moorehead said the city had wanted to annex both South Park areas because while the sliver is a “revenue drain,” the Triangle is not. But everything is in limbo right now because there is a monthlong period for an appeal to be filed. If there is an appeal, it will take several months; if not, annexation could come back to the council, via interlocal agreement, before year’s end. And if that doesn’t work out, they could pursue a vote of the people. The population is relatively low, there, which is why that’s not being pursued first – about 110 registered voters, city staffers say. The soonest a vote could be pursued would be February 2014.

Regarding the interlocal agreement, Clark says it wouldn’t just be the entities discussing it in a back room so far – she vows there would be a lot of outreach and discussion with the business committee.

AREA ‘Y’: Moorehead mentions that studies have shown the cost of annexing Area Y would exceed the revenue brought in, and that’s why the Council had taken a pass in recent years, and let Burien take a shot at it. She notes the Burien rejection does not necessarily mean the area wants Seattle. She says staffers propose that they handle Sliver Q – the South Park areas – before deciding anything about Area Y, with a discussion to follow in late 2013 or early 2014. She mentions there is an incentive to deal with it in 2014 because of the sales-tax credit expiring at the start of 2015.

Moorehead also reminds councilmembers that a small area of about 10 homes near Lake Ridge Park in southeast Seattle is a potential annexation area too and should be dealt with before long. As for West Hill, though, which rejected Renton last November, that is NOT a potential annexation area for Seattle.

So the next step in all this depends on what happens with the possible appeal period for “Sliver Q.”

(34th District Democrats’ leadership, photographed tonight by Patrick Sand for WCN/WSB)
Meeting tonight at West Seattle’s Hall at Fauntleroy, this area’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, elected new leadership slate during their annual reorganization meeting. The candidates listed, with bios, on this page of the 34th DDs’ website all ran unopposed and were elected:

Chair – Marcee Stone-Vekich
1st Vice Chair – Ted Barker
2nd Vice Chair – Tamsen Spengler
Treasurer – Karen Chilcutt
Secretary – Marlene Allbright
State Committeeman – Chris Porter
State Committeewoman – Lisa Plymate
King County Committeewoman – Maria Ramirez
King County Committeeman – Michael Arnold
KC Committeewoman Alternate – Layne Batista
KC Committeeman Alternate – Jimmy Haun

Our photo above includes those newly elected leaders as well as committee chairs and other group leaders – including White Center’s Aileen Sison, Diversity Committee chair. The 34th Legislative District encompasses White Center and vicinity as well as part of Burien, West Seattle, and Vashon/Maury Islands. The 34th DDs meet regularly on the second Wednesday of the month, 7 pm, at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW in West Seattle).

Meantime, the 34th DDs are co-hosting an Inauguration Day bash, and you’re invited:

2013 Inaugural Party

Hosted by
West Seattle Democratic Women and the 34th District Democrats

Monday January 21, 5-9 PM
at the West Seattle Golf Course
Music By
The West Seattle Big Band

Tickets: $40 ($75 Couple) Cocktail Attire (must buy tickets online by 1/16/2013)
https://www.completecampaigns.com/public.asp?name=34thDem&page=7

Buffet Dancing No-Host Bar

Co-Sponsored By

The West Seattle Democratic Women
and The 34th District Democrats
For more information go to www.34dems.org/2013
Or call (206) 935-4693 or email martintam@gmail.com

Don’t skip voting in today’s election – two major ballot measures, and the judicial races (as explained here), will be settled today. You can take your ballot to the dropoff box at Burien City Hall (400 SW 152nd), or the “dropoff van” at West Seattle Stadium (off 35th SW south of Avalon Way). Or, if you’re mailing your ballot, make sure it’ll be postmarked today. For your online sample ballot and last-minute info about candidates and races, here’s the official pamphlet.

For those following all matters annexation – Seattle’s discussion of pursuing annexation of both the “sliver by the river” and the Duwamish Triangle has suddenly hit a snag: Property owners in the Duwamish Triangle are seeking annexation by Tukwila, which also claims that part of the area as a “potential annexation area.” The Seattle City Council discussed this a short time ago, and our report is on our partner site The South Park News.

While setup went on outside for the Greenbridge Plaza party that’s part of today’s White Center Spring Clean, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott – sporting a maroon Spring Clean T-shirt – spoke to more than 50 people at Dubsea Coffee this morning. His hourlong Q/A touched on topics from Occupy Wall Street to the presidential election to farm subsidies, with much more inbetween. We recorded it all on video and will add that later, along with more toplines.

ADDED 3:23 PM: There’s the video – note it’s a coffeehouse and a casual roving format, so the audio quality varies greatly!

White Center Spring Clean may be the biggest thing in WC on Saturday, but as first reported here last month, there’s another big event that morning – Congressmember Jim McDermott will host a “Coffee with Your Congressman” chat at Dubsea Coffee for about an hour at 10 am.

Since we had mentioned it here on the home page when Dubsea Coffee first announced it, just wanted to make sure you knew that U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott’s appearance for “Coffee with Your Congressman” has been rescheduled – 10 am May 19th, instead of tomorrow. He IS scheduled to be in White Center tomorrow – speaking at the 34th Legislative District Caucus at the Evergreen Campus around noon.

Though the presidential candidate is not in question, the 34th District Democrats say local D’s have plenty of reasons to join in the official precinct caucuses today. 1 pm is the start time; here’s how to find your meeting spot, though from clicking around a locator map on that same site, it appears the Evergreen High School campus at 830 SW 116th is the main caucusing spot in the White Center area.

(Crossposted from partner site West Seattle Blog, since White Center’s part of the 34th District too)

“If someone [still] doesn’t know the caucuses are happening, we can’t help them at this point,” said 34th District Democrats chair Tim Nuse at Wednesday night’s monthly meeting, mentioning an awareness-raising campaign that he said has included 7,000 door-knocks, thousands of phone calls (including 10,000 robocalls Wednesday with a message from King County Executive Dow Constantine), and paid ads (including one here on WSB).

That would be the Democratic precinct caucuses – happening this Sunday at 1 pm at locations all around the district (if you’re a Democrat, find your location here). Even though the presidential candidate is not up for debate, the 34th DDs say there is much to talk about and many reasons to attend yours. But after that pep talk, Wednesday night’s meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy in West Seattle moved on to many ways of looking ahead to August and November, including a surprise speech by our area’s Congressmmember, and three mini-campaign-forums – we have them all on video, ahead: Read the rest of this entry »

Just announced by Dubsea Coffee via Facebook – U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott will be there at 11 am April 28th – three weeks from today – for his next “Coffee with Your Congressman.” If you want to see what one of these events is like, here’s our West Seattle Blog coverage – with video – from his visit to C & P Coffee a year ago. (Dubsea Coffee is at 9910 8th SW in Greenbridge.)