White Center Now: The blog about White Center

From the NHUAC website:

7:00 p.m. Call to order
Flag salute
Roll call
Approval of agenda
Approval of minutes
7:05 p.m. Public announcements
7:10 p.m. Public comment – 3 minutes for individuals
5 minutes for groups
7:15 p.m. Mike Martin, Burien City Manager
7:20 p.m. KCSO Capt Joseph Hodgson – Crime Stats
7:30 p.m. Sally Abella, King County DNRP – Hicks Lake Alum Treatment
7:45 p.m. Treasurers Report
7:50 p.m. Corresponding Secretary Report
7:55 p.m. Committee Reports
1. Governance
2. Arts and Parks
3. Public Safety
4. Housing and Human Services
5. Public Outreach
6. Transportation
7. Steve Cox Memorial
8:05 p.m. Unfinished Business
Burien Strawberry Festival
UAC Status
8:15 p.m. New Business
2012 Comprehensive Plan – Zoning Changes

The meeting is at 7 pm Thursday (April 7), North Highline Fire District HQ as usual.

WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz has been investigating reports of potential medical-marijuana dispensaries opening in White Center, and has just confirmed one.

First, a little context: While the state says dispensaries are illegal, county and city authorities have said that since medical marijuana itself IS legal, dispensaries are doing business in a gray area, and they are hopeful that the State Legislature will vote soon to allow regulation of these types of operations. (There is a bill, SB 5073, that has passed the State Senate and is now making its way through the State House.)

Now, Deanie’s report:

Property owner Tan Chung confirmed to WCN earlier this week that he had leased his space, the former EZ Aquarium at 9619 16th SW, to a medical marijuana dispensary, but was unable at that time to identify the company name.

WCN has confirmed this morning with the new store’s owner, Chris Cody of West Seattle, that Herban Legends dispensary is tentatively scheduled to open there around May 1.

Another followup to the Seattle City Council vote on North Highline annexation – delaying a final decision on Seattle’s interest, or lack of it, until (no later than) the end of next February – NH Unincorporated Area Council members received a letter from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who is a West Seattle resident), replying to their letter saying they are on record against Seattle annexation. NHUAC’s Barbara Dobkin shared the text:

I appreciate you writing to me regarding the potential annexation of White Center (in the North Highline designation) by the City of Seattle. I do not live far from the area proposed to be annexed and I am quite familiar with the neighborhood.

While I find White Center to be a wonderful, vibrant neighborhood, I do not favor moving forward to take the next step to possibly annex the area to Seattle. The reason is because we have huge unmet needs for roads, bridge and other maintenance costs and repairs in Seattle neighborhoods. I cannot justify taking on additional costs for the City which according to the Annexation Report presented to the Council earlier this year, estimated that the operating expenditures could be as high as $16.8 million, and net one-time expenditures could range from $4.7 million – $91.3 million.

Seattle had to make serious budget cuts for this year. Many Seattle neighborhoods, including ones bordering White Center, need sidewalks, drainage and other services, but we do not have sufficient funds to pay for them. Again, in light of the financial costs I did not support a ballot measure for the annexation of North Highline at this time.

Thanks again for writing.

Regards,

Tom Rasmussen
Seattle City Councilmember

Most of the Seattle City Council members keep blog-format websites that they use to expound on various issues. Among them: Council President Richard Conlin, who has said he would like to put Seattle annexation to a vote in unincorporated North Highline, has just written about his thoughts following the Monday vote to delay a final decision till next February.. Among his points:

* Public safety and business development issues are harder to address because Roxbury is an artificial boundary that divides this business district. Policing resources are dramatically less on the south side of Roxbury and southward, putting the safety of Seattle residents at greater risk. Law enforcement in White Center as a whole would be much more effective if it were uniform throughout the neighborhood. Arbor Heights will get better fire service from the North Highline fire station than it currently gets from our Seattle fire station. The many immigrant communities in North Highline will be in the same governmental unit as the other members of their community in Seattle.

* In addition to being another great neighborhood for Seattle, this area has great potential for development and/or redevelopment. The business district could become another Ballard or Lake City, with mixed use buildings and vibrant business activity. …

* We should be clear that none of our residential neighborhoods pay for themselves. If money is our only concern, we should immediately start deannexing many of our neighborhoods. Georgetown, Lake City, Broadview, Beacon Hill, they are all money pits. …

I hope that we do have more certainty in 2012, and that Seattle does move forward with this unique opportunity. We will never know what the people of North Highline want unless we give them the chance to vote on their destiny.

Again, you can read his entire musing here. (Hat tip to contributor Deanie Schwarz for finding it.)

Story and photos by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

Audrey Zemke, Volunteer Coordinator for the White Center Food Bank took a peek to see if WCFB’s brand new hens had laid any eggs on Tuesday. The count was three!

The chicken coop and three hens (Henrietta, Henrietta and Henrietta, respectively) were donated by a couple who were moving out of state and have only been on site since Friday.
p>

Audrey says they still have some research to do about how the hens will participate as new members of the WCFB, but it is certain the hens will be used in an education program for those interested in backyard farming.

As recently noted in a Washington Post article posted on the food bank’s Facebook page, the cost of staple groceries, especially milk and eggs, has risen 16 percent globally. Whether the food bank ultimately provides eggs to their clients is not known, but the rise in certain grocery products might be reason for some to try their hand at raising chickens for their eggs.

The food bank now has four food gardens which are providing community members instruction in how to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Now, those folks will have a place to learn all about urban chicken husbandry, if they have the interest.

More information on the White Center Food Bank can always be found on their Facebook page or their website whitecenterfoodbank.org. And remember that since it’s Feinstein Challenge time through the end of April, any donation you make now counts extra.

Following up on our Monday report, we had an e-mail exchange with Burien mayor Joan McGilton. Her quote on potential annexation of the rest of North Highline, now that Seattle has said it won’t get in Burien’s way if they want to proceed: “The Burien Council will begin discussions once our staff has a chance to do some preparatory work on the issue.”

(UPDATED 8:10 PM WITH NOTES FROM BURIEN COUNCIL MEETING)

(That’s the archived video of this afternoon’s Seattle Council meeting)
ORIGINAL 2:26 PM REPORT: Live right now at seattlechannel.org – the Seattle City Council is meeting, with the latest version of the annexation resolution on the agenda. This one (see the full text here) would put the council on record as saying they will make a decision whether to proceed with a North Highline annexation vote by the end of February next year, or will withdraw their interest in the area. The resolution is fairly high on the agenda (which you can see here). When introduced, as reported here, the Regional Development and Sustainability committee passed it 2-1 (the no vote was Councilmember Jean Godden).

3 PM UPDATE: The public-comment section at the start of the council meeting was devoted almost entirely to the annexation issue. We don’t have the full list of those who spoke but it was a distinguished list – Burien City Manager Mike Martin spoke briefly, not to take a side but to let the council know he was there in case needed for any questions/information. Fewer opponents than supporters spoke; opponents included Barbara Dobkin and Liz Giba, supporters included Mark Ufkes and son Patrick Ufkes, Karen Veloria, and West Seattle community activist Chas Redmond. (We will add other names when we review the video.)

3:18 PM: The council has just voted to pass the resolution as amended: They say they will make a final decision by the end of next February on whether Seattle would seek an annexation vote – but with a BIG change: If Burien wants to pursue annexation in the meantime, they won’t object or get in their way. More to come.

7:11 PM: We’re watching the Burien Council meeting livestream to see if anything is said about today’s Seattle decision, or annexation in general. County Councilmember Joe McDermott updated the council on a variety of issues and briefly mentioned annexation, but did not mention the specific developments today, only saying he is committed to seeing the rest of North Highline incorporated, one way or another. (You can watch at burienmedia.org.)

8:11 PM: City Manager Mike Martin just briefed Burien councilmembers on this afternoon’s Seattle developments – no additional information; he summarized the move as, “They came just short of encouraging the city of Burien to annex” the rest of North Highline. Councilmembers had no questions; Mayor Joan McGilton said she had seen the news right here on WCN (which as of this writing, is the only neighborhood-news website with coverage). No hint at future action or what’s next; we’ll be following up. You’ll be able to find the archived meeting video on that same link featured above, once it’s over.

(Photo by Deanie Schwarz for WSB/WCN)
One month after WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz broke the news that the former Southgate Skate Center is returning to its roots as Southgate Roller Rink, she reports tonight that the opening date is set – actually more like an opening weekend, Thursday, April 7, through Sunday, April 10, with a private “soft-open” event planned immediately preceding the four-day weekend. (We neglected to post her previous update on the rink here on WCN – so in case you didn’t already see it on partner site West Seattle Blog, she reported two weeks ago about the first Rat City Rollergirls sighting at Southgate!)

Today you don’t have to head far to help support West Seattle for Japan, a fundraiser for the quake/tsunami relief efforts, with 26 businesses to the north participating – plus North Highline’s own Village Green Perennial Nursery (see the bottom of the Google map above). A percentage of Village Green’s proceeds today are going to the cause.

Week after next, two Burien venues are helping raise money for libraries at White Center’s Mount View Elementary School. Here’s the announcement we received:

Highline School District cut all funding for libraries this year, so in order to raise money for books and supplies, B Town Burgers & Shakes and Burien Books are helping out Mount View Elementary School Library the week of April 3-9.

At B Town Burgers and Shakes, just mention Mount View when you go in to eat, or order the Tiger Burger or Tiger Shake and all the proceeds from your order will go to the library. At Burien Books, donate one of the books from Mount View’s wishlist, and receive 15% off.

The agenda is available for Monday’s Seattle City Council meeting – see it here – including the resolution that passed out of the Regional Development and Sustainability Committee one week ago, after Council President Richard Conlin at the last minute. If passed, it commits the Seattle council to decide by February 28th of next year whether to go ahead with an annexation vote for North Highline, and if the decision is “no,” to withdraw the city’s interest in NH as a “potential annexation area.” Monday’s meeting is at 2 pm at Seattle City Hall. (Here’s our report on last Friday’s committee meeting – including the full meeting on video.)

Side note … next year is a leap year, so the last day in February is actually the 29th …

(Photos by John McLellan for WCN)
As previewed here earlier this week, the Union Gospel Mission‘s Search and Rescue Van made its first trip to White Center on Wednesday night, looking for people sleeping on the street, to offer them help in ways large and small, and photographer John McLellan was along for part of the ride, for WCN. Above, Melissa Engstrom was in the driver’s seat as they headed out from Pioneer Square, where UGM is headquartered. Inside the van, practical things – like this:

Volunteer help included people from churches elsewhere in the metro area: Eastside Foursquare community outreach pastor Chris Peppler loaded supplies into the van.

Once they arrived in White Center, he organized volunteers to look for people in need of help:

They found some – Patrick “Red Dog” got a blanket and sandwich from the Search and Rescue volunteers:

The streets can look lonely for volunteers, as well as for those who live out there:

And onward they trudged:

UGM tells us they expect to be back in White Center/West Seattle weekly, starting next month.

And you are welcome to suggest areas for them to visit (you can post on their Facebook wall).

Two meeting announcements:

WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY SAFETY COALITION meets tonight – fourth Thursday as always – 6-8 pm, White Center DSHS office.

WHITE CENTER BUSINESS OWNERS’ HAPPY HOUR: Aileen Sison sends word of this, and asked that we would invite the community: It’s a first-ever happy hour for business owners, one week from tonight, Thursday, March 31st, 4-7 pm at Company Bar in downtown WC. Aileen adds that it’ll happen every last Thursday of the month.

Speaking of Company – our friends at Seattle Weekly are showcasing them right now – check out the story here.

The Union Gospel Mission Search and Rescue van is about to hit the streets in White Center/West Seattle for the first time, according to UGM’s Sharon Thomas. She says it’s outreach to “homeless individuals sleeping outside.” Usually the van travels around downtown, delivering food, blankets, and clothing to help those people “survive the night,” and offering them a space in their shelter; this time, they’re traveling further south, and they’re planning to make it a weekly visit starting April 7th. They plan to set out tomorrow night from Westwood Christian Assembly sometime after 8 pm tomorrow (Wednesday). And if you know someplace where people are sleeping outside and might need help, UGM invites you to let them know via their Facebook page. (They also would like to hear from you if you can help – Thomas adds, “We always need sandwiches made, hot chocolate and warm clothing, especially men’s pants.”)

Just a quick reminder – the meeting about potential county action to try to help with Hicks Lake‘s water-quality problems is at 6:30 pm tonight at White Center Library. Here’s the original announcement with details.

Story and photos by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

The gong of the bell and an electrified hard-rock version of the national anthem opened this afternoon’s White Center Boxing Club Showcase at Evergreen High School.

About 40 kids, including several representing the Police Activities League Boxing Club, were present to compete in matched bouts (equivalents in weight and experience are pre-determined by Head Coach Tony Rago) of three, roughly one- to two-minute bouts. Twenty total bouts were slated for the crowd of about 150.

The pre-bout safety preparations include painstaking wrapping of the young boxers’ hands by trainers, as well as fitting the fighters with headgear and mouthguards.

Today’s first bout happened to feature two young women.

Girls comprised a tenth of the competitors today, according to Lori Graham, assistant coach. Referees and ringside coaches keep an eagle eye on the boxers, as do medical personnel:

In general with PALS boxing, if there is any indication that an equivalent match is not happening, the bout is stopped without hesitation, though all matches in this afternoon’s competition were good and that was unnecessary.

King County Sheriff Sue Rahr sat with her sons Peter and Bill and PALS Special Events person Laurie Perkins. Sheriff Rahr was pleased to see the large turnout today and gave big kudos to the entire volunteer crew who work on behalf of the kids with tireless dedication. Rahr pointed out, for example, the work that Tony Rago does. “He runs a very tight ship and is an amazing human being,” she said.

On March 29, the sheriff will appear before a King County Council committee to seek funds to restore a deputy to Skyway and bring the LEAD program there, and potentially to WC as well. “Utilizing this program is a chance to be innovative,” says Rahr, “It is a prebooking intervention program [and] would serve these communities which are of great need.” Regarding recent speculation by a WC deputy at the last NHUAC meeting that the Kirkland/Juanita annexation process might free up additional deputies to bring back to North Highline, Rahr said that was a little too optimistic. “We have some deputies retiring and so are letting our retirement attrition get ahead of cuts,” Rahr says. It is unlikely any additional officers from Juanita-Kirkland will be transferred to North Highline, according to Sheriff Rahr.

Meantime, more information on White Center PALS, as well as volunteer opportunities can be found by going here.

They may have been partly within Seattle city limits at some point, but they also did some North Highline pickup today as part of the “Keep Seattle Beautiful” cleanup. We caught up with these volunteers on the hill between Highway 509 and White Center/West Seattle – County Councilmember Joe McDermott was there too (see photo on partner site West Seattle Blog). Keep up with founder Michael Merta‘s volunteer beautification campaign via this Facebook page.

From the White Center Art Walk‘s organizers – tonight’s lineup, 6-9 pm:

Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th Ave SW): Martijn Caspar Swart – Varied Paintings. Beautiful interpretations of the human form; bold, cutting colors blended with dynamic compositions. Do not miss this.

Salvadorean Bakery (1719 SW Roxbury): S.M. Selby– photography. http://www.artdykes.com/ Psychedelic, kaleidoscopic modifications of photographs. High contrast, abstract images. Well worth a visit for a pastry and a peek see.

Café Rozella (9434 Delridge Way SW): Nancy Rich- Mixed Media- Celestial flow with and earthy base. Fitting for the worldly feel of Café Rozella. Stop by for some warm ambiance, delicious coffee, and sinuous art. Re-run from last month.

Dzul Tattoo (9622-B 16th Ave SW): The Dzul Family – Tattoo, airbrush, cool urban art. Check out the shop, get that long-desired tattoo!

The Company (9608 16th SW): Group Show – oil, acrylic, encaustic, illustration. Eight artists work graces the walls of this fine establishment, new to the Art Walk. The perfect spot for a scrumptious cocktail, out of this world noshes and some rock and roll! Did we mention the GORGEOUS artwork??

3.14 Bakery (9602 16th Ave SW): Robin Jordan-Oil on Canvas. Jacob Lawrence would be proud- Figurative, African, expressionist paintings that keep the eye moving. Come on in for a coffee and a look around, very family-friendly.

Full Tilt Ice Cream (9629 16th Ave Sw): Angelina Villalobos- 179– Illustrations. Native art meets Art Nouveau meets bold-graphic-lined interpretations of awesome. I can’t stop flipping through the images. The world has delivered us the perfect trifecta: Full Tilt Ice Cream, Beer and Angelina.

Big Al Brewing (9832 14th Avenue SW): Dave Bloomfield- STARHEADBOY- Mixed Media. . Always a crowd pleaser, fun-Fun-FUN pieces that make you feel floaty and free. Creatures from a happy land invade your eyeballs. Stop by for a pint of Winter Warmer and float upstairs for some darts, Atari and Starheadboy. You will not be disappointed.

Proletariat Pizza – (9622-A 16th Ave SW)-Aaron Loidhamer- Hand carved wood/lino-block prints, acrylic ink on paper- A variety of different print styles on found paper. Stop by- drool on top of the Ham&Egg pizza (with arugula), and absorb Aaron’s work. This will be a flash-back from last month for those that missed it.

Uncle Mike’s BBQ– (9640 16th Ave SW)- Pop in to see their house artwork. Don’t forget to taste the Pulled Pork Sammich- it’s delicious!

(Substituted in early evening – archived video of today’s meeting)
1:50 PM: At 2 pm, you’ll be able to click above and watch live Seattle Channel coverage of the Seattle City Council Regional Development and Sustainability Committee discussing items including North Highline annexation. (later note: the video you see above is now the recording of the meeting)

2:47 PM UPDATE: The resolution is now being discussed by the committee. Council President Richard Conlin says he personally feel there are a lot of opportunities and he would like to see it move forward. But he says other issues have come forward. And he reveals that the City of Tukwila has appealed a small part of the annexation area, requiring mediation. He thinks that there’s no way to handle that in time for a fall 2011 vote. He is proposing a substitute resolution. The resolution says the city will decide by February 2012 whether to call for an annexation election. In 2012, the resolution says, we will either decide to proceed or will withdraw this as a potential annexation area. He says he regrets that they are unable to proceed this fall.

Councilmember Jean Godden asks if that would violate the “memorandum of understanding” that they had with other parties including Burien. Mayoral staff member Kenny Pittman says that though the council didn’t approve that, in the spirit of the agreement, Seattle had basically dibs until the end of this year. So technically beginning in the start of 2012, Pittman says, Burien could declare they want to go after it themselves.

Councilmember Mike O’Brien says he’s disappointed they are not at a place today to be able to go ahead to give NH residents a chance to vote. He says he disagrees with what he heard in public comment, that White Center could be a “drain” on the city of Seattle; he feels it would be an asset. On the other hand, O’Brien said, if you want to look at it that way, any neighborhood could be a “drain” on a city, just because that’s the way it works.

Councilmember Godden says she shares the financial concerns that have led Mayor Mike McGinn to oppose proceeding with annexation, and notes that the financial picture got even worse when the state’s new revenue forecast came out last Thursday. “Waiting till next February isn’t going to give us an awful lot of new information,” she says, “I feel it is unfair to keep people in limbo. … I must say that shelving our decision is possibly the least ethical choice.” And yet, she says, “I feel terribly, terribly torn about this” because the financial outlooks regarding annexation effects have conflicted lately.

They vote; Conlin and O’Brien pass the delay-till-Feb. 2012 resolution, Godden votes no. The resolution goes to the full Council on March 28th.

ADDED 4:35 PM: We contacted Burien’s city manager Mike Martin for comment. He said he’s “seeking clarification” on how this affects the situation; he also says he did not have advance warning of the sudden Seattle move to delay rather than vote yay or nay. (We’ll see if this comes up for discussion at next Monday night’s Burien City Council meeting.)

ADDED 5:27 PM: Archived video of today’s meeting in its entirety, added in the video window atop this story.

From King County Councilmember Joe McDermott‘s office:

King County Councilmember Joe McDermott was listening when North Highline resident Mike Merta expressed concern about increasing amounts of graffiti and litter in West Seattle and South Seattle.

What Merta and others are seeing, McDermott said, is the result of declining county revenues and budget cuts. King County cut back its litter control program in an effort to balance the County budget.

And that’s the impetus behind a community clean up event scheduled from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday, March19. McDermott is spearheading the event with support from Merta and Waste Management.

“We have all been impacted by the cuts made to balance state and county coffers. Communities must work together to fill the void that has been left,” Councilmember McDermott, who represents North Highline, said. “Residents of North Highline love their community, and I’m thrilled to help them keep it clean.”

Volunteers are invited to a free kick-off breakfast at 10am. Breakfast will be hosted by Waste Management at the company’s site at 8111 First Avenue South.

“Waste Management is all about helping make communities cleaner and greener,” said Katie Salinas, public sector manager for Waste Management. “We are inspired by the community spirit that’s driving this event and pleased to provide breakfast to fuel this important volunteer effort.”

Volunteers are urged to bring gloves and to wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes.

For more information, “like” Keep Seattle Beautiful on Facebook.