White Center Now: The blog about White Center

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.

Sorry we didn’t see this sooner, but there’s still time to get there:

Sunday, Aug. 9th
2:00 PM
12424 – 12th Ave S, 98168, Boulevard Park

The Boulevard Park Community,
in Conjunction with the Boulevard Park Chapter of ACORN, is hosting

Port of Seattle Commissioner Candidates Forum

Hear and Meet the Candidates – Experience Grassroots Democracy

Candidates accepting the invitation:

Position No. 1:
John Creighton

Position No. 3:
Rob Holland
Al Yuen

Position No. 4:
Tom Albro
Max Vekich

Also attending, but not formally speaking:
Candidates for King County Executive:
Dow Constantine and Ross Hunter

Various other community candidates and special interest groups are expected to attend, as well.

This is a “down home”, informal event in the backyard of a Boulevard Park neighbor.

There will be grilled hot dogs with pop and chips. We are asking for donations to help with costs.

This is a residential neighborhood and parking is limited. Please carpool and plan on walking a ways. Please do not block driveways.

Seating is also limited. To assure a seat, please bring a lawn chair.

Bring questions!

This is not an endorsement of any candidate, but an informational event to help voters make informed choices on their ballots.

We are looking forward to a very interesting afternoon

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.

With ballots arriving in King County homes starting today, voting begins, and everything’s going to get pretty intense for the next two-plus weeks till voting ends and vote-counting starts on August 18th. We are welcoming any “letter to the editor” format comments on the election – as long as it’s an issue or position that White Center voters will be considering in this election. We start with one received from Stephen Lamphear:

Attention North Highline Annexation Voters: your voters pamphlet contains
a steamy, smelly pile of bovine fecal matter about annexation to Burien.
Here are some of the dung piles dropped by opponent Mark Ufkes:

Pile #1 — Mr. Ufkes does not live in the voting area – he is not affected
by the annexation vote. [full disclosure: I, too, do not live in the voting
area, but as a Burien resident will be affected by the vote.]

Pile #2 — The Westwood Village and White Center areas are not included in
the voting area, but I’m sure you can find a particular home in N. Burien
that is valued lower than a particular home in Westwood. So? Truth is: the
homes in unincorporated North Shorewood, Salmon Creek and Boulevard Park
(neighborhoods within the voting area) and similar to their long-time N.
Burien neighbors’ homes

Pile #3 — Mr. Ufkes has been a vocal critic of the North Highline Fire
Department. That despite the huge satisfaction level of residents. The
city of Burien does not provide fire services. All of Burien and North
Highline are served by independent Fire Districts — voters elect
Commissioners who set policies and standards. You will continue to be
served by Fire Commissioners you elect.

Pile #4 — Burien has no plans to hire more police officers AT THIS
TIME because it’s not necessary. Burien and North Highline share police
services provided by King County. That will continue after annexation. The
size of Burien’s police force will always depend on need.

Pile #5 — Burien has no budget deficit — in the state of Washington, all
governments are required to have balanced budgets; Burien always has. What
Burien doesn’t have is debt – it has operated as a cash basis city.

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.

Pile #7 — There is no such thing as a Burien downtown fire department tax for
Town Square. Town Square is a private development. No taxes have been or
will be used for this private project. There is also no massive property
tax giveaway to potential Town Square residents.

Pile #8 — There is no evidence that property values have any relationship
to your address. Property values are simply the value of your property
compared to similar properties in a similar neighborhood. Fire services are
also not related to your property value — a mansion gets the same fire
truck, the same emergency medical team, as does a modest bungalow.

An 8-year Burien City Councilmember, I live 4 blocks from the proposed
annexation area. I’m anxious to re-unite with my neighbors under one
government that promotes strong single family neighborhoods rather than the
rampant multifamily projects favored by King County and Seattle. Vote ‘YES’
on annexation.

Stephen Lamphear
North Shorewood

Again, other “letters to the editor” are welcome – whitecenternow@gmail.com is our address.

Things are finally beginning to cool off.  For those of you who, like myself, have family in places that get this kind of heat all the time, you might want to send them some of these facts as culled by Cliff Mass, UW Meteorologist.

It happened…Sea Tac is now 101 and STILL CLIMBING. Everett is an amazing 98 and Renton 102. And this is not over yet. We will not only break the record but smash it. Locations near the foothills are reaching 104- 106. This is an extraordinary event. Many stations will break their all-time record temperatures today and even more their daily values. Ballads will be written about the heat experienced today. (two days ago)
I went outside before…when I walked over asphalt or concrete my face felt on fire from the combination of high air temperature plus radiation emitting from the surface. Some students in my dept measured the surface ground temps with an infrared thermometer…they found 120-150F in some locations.

there have been a number of reports of western WA temps over 110F. Here is a report from Mark Albright, research scientist at the UW:

The highest temperatures in western Washington today (29 Jul 2009) seemed to be between Portland and Olympia. Check out this map for 2009073000 UTC:

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/marka/sfcplot.hot.gif

High temperatures reported today: Chehalis MS (CHHLS) reported 111F, Winlock (WINLK) 110F, and the Chehalis RAWS site reported 2 hours at 114 F

Some interesting sidenotes, New York City has experienced almost no days above 90, making it one of the coolest summers on record.   Enjoy the return of normal weather.

Regardless of whether or not your part of White Center will remain unincorporated, you have a stake in King County’s future – and you’re invited to come discuss it tonight in West Seattle. It’s the last in a series of meetings around the county, and the closest one to White Center – 6:30 pm tonight, The Hall at Fauntleroy; read more about it here.

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: