White Center Now: The blog about White Center

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

After three months of intensive discussion about potential annexation of most of the rest of North Highline (as we’ve chronicled here), the Burien City Council is finally on the brink of deciding whether to proceed full speed ahead.

During last night’s two-hour-plus council meeting, they asked staff to prepare a resolution for them to vote on, possibly as soon as next week – a resolution that if passed would indicate their intent to annex.

But that vote was a close one – four councilmembers in favor of having that resolution drawn up, three (Brian Bennett, Lucy Krakowiak, Jack Block Jr.) opposed. The major concern: It’s “premature” — as in, what’s the hurry? General consensus among opponents was that Seattle still has no intent of proceeding toward annexation, having just announced another cut-laden budget plan hours earlier, so Burien doesn’t have to rush into things.

And there was one revelation – if Burien annexes White Center (etc.), its existing marijuana businesses may be out of business, as city leaders said they deny business licenses to those types of establishments now, and would require any businesses in an annexed area to apply for a license.

Council discussion, and the initial vote, followed a public-comment period in which they heard from mostly familiar commenters. Our summaries of those comments, and councilmembers’, ahead: Read the rest of this entry »

The White Center Albertsons will be a site for donating food during this Saturday’s “Global Volunteer Day” efforts by Prudential Northwest real-estate brokers. You can also donate cash, if you don’t have food items to offer. You’ll find them there from 10 am-2 pm (and if you are in West Seattle, look for them at West Seattle PCC as well as West Seattle Thriftway). “One can or one dollar is all we ask,” the official announcement quotes event coordinator Shari Kruse as saying. “It really takes very little from each person to make a big impact.” Area beneficiaries include the White Center Food Bank and its West Seattle counterpart.

8:02 AM: This morning at 11 am, we’ll find out what King County Executive Dow Constantine is proposing for next year’s budget, and how that might affect this part of unincorporated King County. Right afterward, the County Council will comment. If you’re not going downtown for the occasion, you can watch on King County TV, via cable or online.

ADDED: All the links for the budget docs are here (we’ll be reading them for highlights as the evening goes on).

1:50 PM: Here’s how the County Council breaks it down – note the time and place for upcoming public hearings:

The budget leaders of the Metropolitan King County Council said today that even with the reality of having had to trim $233 million from King County’s General Fund budget over the last four years, the Council’s proactive approach to reforming county government has prepared the Council for the 2012 King County Budget deliberations.

“We’ve already shrunk the size of our government, including cutting $233 million from our General Fund in the last four years. As a result, we no longer face the stark choices that many cities and the state legislature are dealing with,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, who will direct the Council’s 2012 Budget deliberations. “But because our revenues are still affected by the economic reality, we are going to have to work smarter and continue the reforms we have been implementing in the 2012 budget process.”

After budget cuts of $25 million in 2008, $93 million in 2009, $56 million in 2010 and $59 million in 2011, King County has been facing a $20 million deficit in its General Fund budget in 2012. King County Executive Dow Constantine today proposed a $5.3 billion budget that includes no cuts to the $648 million General Fund budget, more than three-quarters of which is targeted for law, justice and public safety services.

Councilmember Patterson said the Council will review the Executive Budget Proposal in three separate panels:

Councilmember Kathy Lambert will serve as Vice Chair of the Budget Leadership Team and direct the Public Health and Safety Panel, which will assess the Executive’s proposed budgets for law, justice and public safety agencies along with the departments of Community & Health Services and Public Health.

“I will be looking closely at programs that help keep people from returning to the judicial system and that save money for the taxpayer,” said Councilmember Lambert. “In the past decade, King County has been a national leader in implementation of therapeutic and prevention alternatives to incarceration with Drug Court and Mental Health Court programs. Our new Veterans Court pilot will continue the work of the Mental Health Court by dedicating specialized services for our veterans. They will get the help they need instead of jail time. We see the positive results of these therapeutic programs in creating improvements for people’s lives.”
Councilmember Joe McDermott will lead the Physical Environment Panel, which will review services provided by the Departments of Natural Resources & Parks and Transportation.

“Critical transit service was preserved in our region thanks in part to strong reforms pursued by the County. This year, the Council turns its attention to maintaining county roads which face an eroded tax base and drastic cuts,” McDermott said. “One of the issues the Physical Environment Panel will examine is the proposed Roads Strategic Plan. We will be looking for further reforms in this and other areas.”

Council Vice Chair Jane Hague will serve as Chair of the General Government Panel, which will be responsible for General Fund budgets such as Assessments and Elections, and the County’s internal service funds like Facilities Management, Human Resources and Finance

“Many people in King County are facing a tough economic reality right now,” said Hague. “As they tighten their belts, they expect county government to do the same. As Chair of the General Government Panel, I look forward to examining how we can continue to reform King County internally. I hope to expand on the success we’ve had recently in reducing costs and eliminating waste.”

The panels will begin their review of the Executive Proposed Budget on Tuesday, October 4. All members of the County Council serve on the Budget Committee during the annual review and adoption of the County budget. Traditionally, the Council adopts the County budget the Monday before Thanksgiving.

Starting Thursday, October 13, Councilmember Patterson and the Budget Leadership Team will host three evening public hearings on the 2012 Executive Proposed Budget:

Thursday, October 13 – Pacific Cascade Middle School, 24635 SE Issaquah Fall City Rd, Issaquah
Wednesday, October 19 – Maleng Regional Justice Center, Courtroom 3F, 401 Fourth Avenue North, Kent
Tuesday, October 25 – King County Courthouse, County Council Chambers, 10th Floor, 516 Third Avenue, Seattle
All meetings begin at 6:30 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 2012 Budget web page, Facebook and Twitter.

WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz reports that Jali Studio in the 9600 block of 16th SW was held up this afternoon. The store owner says the robbers were two men who appeared to be in their 30s, one black, one Hispanic or darker-skinned Caucasian, both with hoodies obscuring their faces. They got away with money, an iPod, and a cell phone. If you have any information, contact King County Sheriff’s deputies, who are investigating, via 911.

(Photos by Deanie Schwarz for WCN)
Yes, you can have a prom on rollerskates – check out Blair and Dina Lydia Johnson from neighboring Highland Park, at tonight’s Rat City Roller Prom, raising money for the White Center Food Bank at Southgate Roller Rink.

MORE PHOTOS ADDED EARLY THURSDAY:
Some of the scenes, also photographed and reported by Deanie:

Davin Kim, raised in White Center and now living in West Seattle, and Maricris Mende of Beacon Hill were getting ready to meet the beat on the floor – with some punchy punch.

That’s Steven Hensyel, Rat City Roller Prom organizer, with his prom date, getting their picture taken by RJB Photo. Steve conjured up this roller prom featuring three hours of skating, free skates, PBR on tap, spiked punch and prom photos. This was the first time Steve has organized an event like this and he told WCN that next year will be even better. So, if you couldn’t make it this time, you’ve got a chance next year to support a great cause.

Lots of tuxedos (pale blue and peach were faves) were rented for the night, but few were donning top hat and tails like this guy – spinning with his baton in his mouth.

Above and below, it wasn’t all tuxedos – name the fashion trend of decades gone by and chances are someone at the prom was representing it …

Promgoers also were invited to a pre-func at Company and an afterparty at Mac’s Triangle Pub.

Perhaps the craziest fundraiser ever is happening this weekend in SODO – and its organizers chose White Center Food Bank as a beneficiary – but to pull it off, some help is needed! In case you haven’t already seen this alert on Facebook or Twitter – we’re putting it here online. From Ann Kendall:

The Tomato Battle selected White Center Food Bank as a beneficiary for this upcoming weekend’s battle and we are looking for a few folks to help out. Yes, it does sound messy but we’re not asking anyone to jump into the actual battle. Help is needed with set-up (hanging banners, and other decorating), observing the battle (reporting anything odd to security, checking IDs at entry) and tear-down; 2 hour shifts from 10:30 until 9pm. All volunteers receive a “crew” t-shirt. If interested, contact Ann Kendall at ann@annkendall.com directly.

Find out more about the Tomato Battle – and buy tickets, if you’d rather do that than volunteer! – by going here.

They’re A Punk and His Guitar – and they featured an accordion, too. They were part of the scene on a gorgeous late-summer night on the West Seattle side of White Center, as Café Rozella hosted an event looking ahead to next month’s Seattle stop of the Aviation Justice tour.

Aviation Justice is an advocacy group working to raise awareness of aviation-related issues including aircraft and pollution noise. Its big local event brings two UK activists here on October 26th, 5-9 pm, at Town Hall in downtown Seattle.

Absent public comment – by design – and with only two items on the agenda, last night’s special meeting of the Burien City Council ran just an hour and a quarter. When it was said and done, the council was not officially any closer to a pursue-annexation-or-don’t decision; the only official action taken was to adjourn and to talk about it more next Monday.

Mayor Joan McGilton returned after several weeks away because of surgery. She and the council considered yet more crunched data, including rates for services now provided by special districts, and comparisons of numbers such as what the city had thought the first round of North Highline annexation might cost, vs. what it has really cost, so far.

The numbers seemed to have some councilmembers doing double-takes, particularly in regards to staffing. City Manager Mike Martin had to assure them it really was true that – aside from police – the city had only added one employee (in parks maintenance) to handle the added workload. And no, he had to insist, there is no other shoe waiting to drop, that’s it, they’re really handling it all with the existing workforce, plus that one employee. “It is nothing short of remarkable,” Martin declared.

Everything, however, was taken under advisement; no opinions were voiced or motions made. Annexation is on the agenda again next week, and this time, there will be another chance for public comment – adjacent to the actual agenda item, rather than lumped in with the rest of the public comment at the start of the meeting. And yet more information will be brought to councilmembers as they continue to ponder, including a requested primer on how the sales-tax credit – a key Legislature-approved incentive in the pursuit of annexation – works.

You can watch last night’s meeting in its entirety at your leisure – find the video archived at burienmedia.org.

Story and photo by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

Another White Center medical-marijuana patient collective will be opening next weekend – Saturday, September 24 – at 9640 16th SW. Northwest Cannabis Market (NCM), a private cooperative of patient-farmers and collective gardens, will be the third medical marijuana venue in White Center.

Managed by Michael Keysor, the NCM cooperative formed in April of this year with plans to operate as a weekend-only patient-farmer market in Everett, according to Keysor. That city, however, took action to put the brakes on medical marijuana. NCM began a search for a new “market” location outside of Snohomish County that was more “friendly to patients” and to “provide safe, secure access” to their medicine.

He said rent costs were prohibitive in Seattle, but the White Center space next door to Uncle Mike’s BBQ provided the square footage needed (3,900 sq. ft.) for the cannabis patient/farmers and patient/medible providers to set up tables, farmers-market-style. A testing area for patient members to sample the varieties of cannabis offered by the farmers will also be incorporated into the “market.” However, Keysor said that this is not like the lounge/socializing model which G.A.M.E. Collective (one-half block south at 98th/16th) operates with. He anticipates members/patients will be in and out of the market within 20 to 30 minutes.

The hours will be limited to Saturday and Sunday only, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with uniformed, armed, security on site through a private security firm. Keysor thought it was possible that the hours will be shortened during the winter months, but also that they hoped to eventually be open three days a week at some point. The members must provide proof of their tamper-proof medical-marijuana patient cards at the door, along with ID. Non-member patients with paperwork will be able to become members at the door. According to Keysor, this collective is only the second one in the country to use the “farmers market” collective model. The first, he said, is the Cannabis Farmers Market, which runs periodically in Tacoma and Seattle. Based on that group’s market, Keysor believes NCM will have 100+ patients over the weekend at about 10 patients per hour, but currently there are only eight or nine vendors committed for the opening. He anticipated there could be up to 25, however, as the collective network has about 600 members currently.

Keysor told WCN at the end of last week that he had not yet met with any members of the King County Sheriff’s Office and assumed that they would come to him, but that perhaps he would stop by the Storefront Office to introduce himself. Keysor also thought his business would be good for the neighborhood, particularly the food and restaurant establishments. However, he didn’t want to have his photo published; the picture atop this story is the storefront where he plans to open.

If you’re tracking the Burien City Council‘s path toward deciding whether to pursue annexation of the unincorporated area of North Highline that includes White Center – you’ll want to either attend or watch (online at burienmedia.org) tonight’s meeting, 7 pm. As this news release notes, no public comment will be taken tonight – different story next Monday. Last week, as reported here, the council said it wasn’t ready yet to set a date to make a decision. The “packet” with info for tonight’s meeting, including a comparison of what newly annexed North Burien has cost the city in the early going, compared to originally projected costs, can be seen here.

By Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

The White Center Chamber of Commerce’s rededication of Veterans Park in the Delridge Triangle this afternoon was the culmination of a six-year dream of nearby Triangle Tavern owner Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy.

Speaking at the ceremony, he told of his adoption of the bedraggled, non-standard-sized flag he discovered in the park upon taking ownership of the tavern six years ago. As a Navy veteran and member of a longtime military family, he recalled the importance of the journey to raise not only a properly sized flag, but to be able to have the flag fly 24 hours a day over the place where White Center and West Seattle meet.

Years of inquiries to city and county agencies, VFW groups and others were made by Mac to determine who was responsible for the orphaned veterans’ memorial, originally established by a now-defunct Glendale veterans group decades ago. Through those years, Mac paid for small replacement flags each year, but his dream was to have a full 5×8 flag fully illuminated at night, as required by federal law to fly the Stars and Stripes.

Finally, as WCN reported last December, the Chamber of Commerce, with the help of Seattle Public Utilities, determined that the flagpole did indeed have power, though the mechanisms had not been maintained or tested in years. The power source was determined and the fixtures upgraded to halogen lights in anticipation of POW/MIA Recognition Day, a national day befitting acknowledgement of those veterans who have served but never made it home.

A Color Guard in full blues from Joint Base Lewis-McChord participated in the formal ceremony and presentation of the flag.

Chamber president Mark Ufkes’ White Center Boy Scout troop also played a role, playing the somber Taps and removing the old flag, with the lively Reveille (video to come) as the brand new and much larger flag was hoisted by a troop member.

The commemorative plaque, inscripted with “To All Who Have Served Our American Flag” rededicates the park to those in the past and the present and will be maintained in perpetuity by the White Center Chamber of Commerce so that the light will always remain upon the flag, reminding future generations of those who have valiantly served.

(Photo by Patrick Sand for WCN)
One more reminder – 4 pm today, the community, and especially veterans, are invited to the re-dedication of the White Center Triangle Veterans’ Park at the south end of Delridge. A new flag and plaque will be highlighted. If you are a veteran and are able to wear at least part of your uniform, organizers have made that request. Here’s the detailed invitation we published here last weekend.

(Adapted from an announcement first published earlier this week on partner site West Seattle Blog)
White Center-headquartered WestSide Baby has accepted car seats for recycling before – but usually, just the ones in good enough shape to reuse. Starting tomorrow (Saturday), they will accept ALL used car seats – 10 am-2 pm on Saturday, bring yours to their donation HQ, 10032 15th SW (map) – so if you have one, in any condition, in the basement, the attic, the closet, the garage, bring it over! For the new campaign Re-Ride: Car Seat Reuse and Recycling for Local Children in Need, WS Baby is now partnering with recyclers Total Reclaim to enable acceptance of any and all car seats. If yours can’t be reused, they request a $5 minimum donation to help cover the cost of recycling its materials. WS Baby says they are only able to fill about HALF the requests they currently get for car seats, so widening the recycling program will hopefully help them fill more. P.S. If you can help them dismantle car seats in preparation for recycling, please contact Shana Allen at shana@westsidebaby.org or 206-767-1662.

WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz sent that photo with news that the tennis courts at Steve Cox Memorial Park are dug up, as work starts on a renovation project. She checked with Darlene Sellers from King County Parks, who tells WCN it’s a two-phase project:

Phase I of the project began on Monday, September 12th and is expected to run 45 days, until around October 31st. At that time the courts will be temporarily lined, and should be playable again in early November. Phase II is scheduled to begin in May and should last for about three weeks.

The money is from a $100,000 Community Development Block Grant (process explained here) obtained in 2009.

At one point a few months back, some observers had wondered whether the Burien City Council was hell-bent on rushing forward with annexation of most of the rest of North Highline, since Seattle had basically said, hey, we’re not even ready to think about this again till next year, so if you want it in the meantime, it’s yours.

Those observers need not have worried.

Going into Monday night’s Burien council meeting, city staff recommended that councilmembers at least set a date for making a decision on whether to pursue annexation.

They didn’t, saying they still need more information and more time.

First, the public comment period was dominated by annexation comments – concerns voiced mostly by Burien residents who have spoken against annexation before; support voiced mostly by North Highline residents who want to be part of Burien.

Later, when the item formally came up on the agenda, councilmembers listened to presentations from reps of the special districts that currently serve the area – and then talked about whether they were ready to take a step toward signaling whether they might proceed or not.

Those who were – like Councilmember Gerald Robison, who quoted what he said was a real-estate-business saying, “If you sleep on it, you’ll never sleep in it” – were not in the majority, so in the end, the council decided to keep fact-finding and keep talking.

(One of those who said moving ahead now feels “premature” was Councilmember Jack Block Jr., who countered Robison’s real-estate saying with, “We’re not buying a house, we’re committing 48,000 residents of Burien .. and the health and welfare and public safety of 17,000 residents of North Highline.”}

So the council asked for more data to be brought to them at an extra council meeting next Monday night, though there were so many questions that City Manager Mike Martin said he would have to get back to them sometime in the next few days regarding how much of the requested data he’d be able to procure.

You can watch the discussion for yourself, since the meeting video’s available online – find it here.

The Pledge of Allegiance, led by 9/11 first-responder Rudy Alvarado, and the national anthem, led by Holy Family School assistant principal Anca Wilson, started this morning’s tribute at the HF Community Street Fair. Alvarado then said the Firefighters’ Prayer:

Alvarado is a retired Redmond fire captain; his memories were featured in a Redmond Reporter story last week – note the bandanna around his neck in today’s video is like the one he was shown wearing during his work at Ground Zero ten years ago.

P.S. The Holy Family fair continues until four this afternoon:

It’s at 20th/Roxbury, on the south side of the school/church campus.

(Photo taken this morning by Patrick Sand for WCN)
On this tenth anniversary of 9/11, tribute is being paid not only to those lost on that day, but to those who have served, before and since, to keep our country free. The White Center area’s most visible tribute is days away from rededication, and Mark Ufkes has shared the invitation to all veterans – and the rest of the community – for the event one week from today:

Calling all Veterans! There will be a re-dedication of the White Center Triangle Veterans Park, scheduled for Sunday, September 18 at 4 pm. Veterans and the entire community are invited. We have invited Medal of Honor Recipient Joe M. Jackson from Kent to help us install a new American flag, a plaque, and re-dedicate the park.

The park is located at the corner of Roxbury, Delridge and 16th Ave. SW. in White Center. (9200 Delridge). The park and flagpole were dedicated well over two decades ago by the now defunct Glendale White Center Veterans of Foreign Wars. The White Center Chamber of Commerce, working with Seattle City Light, installed flagpole lighting at the site and use the site each year to install the White Center community christmas tree.

A new plaque will be installed, and we will acknowledge the installation of lighting to allow the Chamber to fly the flag legally 24 hours per day at the park. The plaque will read;

Re-Dedication
Veterans Triangle Park
To all who have served
our American Flag

White Center Chamber of Commerce, Sept. 2011

All veterans are invited and we ask veterans to wear part of their uniform if possible. Light refreshments will be served.

SATURDAY MORNING: Under way now! Pony rides are just part of the fun!

ORIGINAL FRIDAY MORNING NOTE: Tomorrow and Sunday, 20th/Roxbury is the place to be – and the weather will remain perfect, forecasters say.

(Click the image to see a full-size version!)

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

After King County leaders’ move to restore funding for the White Center storefront sheriff’s deputy, the question immediately arose: Can Deputy Jeff Hancock come back?

(June 2010 WCN photo of Deputy Hancock speaking to North Highline UAC)
He held the job after the murder of Deputy Steve Cox, and became ingrained in the community. Then suddenly in summer of 2010, Deputy Hancock was out of White Center (WCN broke the news), and there was an uproar. The Sheriff’s Office insisted he had been reassigned to duties including Vashon Island because of family concerns, among other things (as explained in this July 2010 WCN story, which also noted that deputies were taken out of storefronts, period, at that time).

So now, the storefront deputy job will return in October. When King County Sheriff’s Office higher-ups appeared at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council last Thursday, they were immediately asked about the chances of bringing back Deputy Hancock. As we reported after the meeting, their answer was fairly cautious, including caveats that they hadn’t spoken with him, and that the formal application process hadn’t been opened yet.

Now, fresh off her successful campaign fighting a bank over a foreclosure threat, Village Green Perennial Nursery owner Vera Johnson is spearheading a letter-writing campaign to support returning Deputy Hancock to the storefront job. Co-publisher Patrick Sand dropped by the nursery for a quick interview this afternoon, and she told WCN he told her he’ll apply for it:

In case you can’t see the video – the address where she’s asking for letters of support is verajohnson5@comcast.net. She is in particular looking for actual stories of ways in which Deputy Hancock made a difference in the White Center community while working here.

As the KCSO leadership made it clear at the NHUAC meeting last week, the final decision is theirs – but they appear to be moving on a fast timetable, as the funding restoration was expected to take effect within weeks, and they hoped to have the deputy in place next month. So Vera is putting out the “call to action,” as she called it on Twitter, right now.

We first told you last month about the plan to shoot part of a new movie called “Eden” in downtown White Center. The dates were pushed back – and now, according to this news release just forwarded by Patricia Julio at the White Center Community Development Association, it’s scheduled for tomorrow:

“Eden,” an independent feature film directed by Seattle’s Megan Griffiths, will be filming scenes in the White Center area on Friday, September 9th. Filming will occur in the vicinity of 16th Avenue SW and SW 98th Street in the afternoon and into the night.

Sections of street parking on 16th Avenue SW and SW 98th Street will be reserved for production vehicles. With the assistance of the King County Sheriff’s Department, vehicle traffic on 16th Avenue SW between SW 98th Street and SW 100th Street will be rerouted between 7 pm September 9th and 5 am September 10th. The production company is coordinating with King County and the White Center Community Development Association regarding these parking and traffic revisions. Questions regarding the filming activity can be directed to Location Manager Dave Drummond at dave@drummondmedia.com.

Here’s more background, in an article about a recent session of filming “Eden” over in Kirkland.