Magnuson Park Privatization

The city has long restricted the sort of tenants that can lease space in Magnuson Park: concession stands, recreation-equipment rentals, a few nonprofits, and art studios. Certainly no commercial offices were allowed—a park rule prohibited them. But in the last year, the city has used fancy footwork to eliminate that restriction for Building 11, on Magnuson's north shore, and 20-odd artists are being evicted to make room for commercial development.

Under the plan, more than one-third of the 1940s building in Magnuson Park—one of several warehouses and hangars among the lawns and ballfields—would be renovated for commercial office space, rentable to any tenant, regardless of its contribution to the community.

"I think we're drifting away from our original vision of what Magnuson Park was supposed to be," says city council member Nick Licata, who in 1999 brokered the official deal transferring the naval property at Sand Point to the City of Seattle. (The U.S. Navy–owned land had been used as a park since the 1970s.) The city envisioned a park dedicated to the arts, recreation, and environmental stewardship. Now, Licata—along with the council's Parks & Seattle Center Committee chair Sally Bagshaw and Council Member Tom Rasmussen—is concerned with the changes under way.

It wasn't until August 2009 that Seattle Parks and Recreation skirted around land-use covenants put in place to keep the parcels from being leased to just anybody. "This property shall be used and maintained for public park and recreation purposes in perpetuity," the covenants on Magnuson Park state. Adding, "The property shall not be sold, leased, assigned or otherwise disposed of except to another eligible governmental agency."

Last year, the parks department (with the city council's blessing) persuaded the federal government to let the city transfer the covenant from Building 11 to property next to the former Crown Hill Elementary in Ballard. The parks department didn't make any announcements or field input regarding the covenants, and it is currently undergoing the same process for Building 2. The spaces would be divided into offices, a restaurant, and other commercial ventures.

Read the full story here:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/open-for-business/Content?oid=3538310

Arboretum --Construction of "Gateway to Chile"

Pacific Connections Phase II

Construction of “Gateway to Chile”

Join in a tour or participate in a public meeting for the future development of the Chilean focal forest in the Pacific Connections Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum. The “Gateway to Chile” project is situated at the southern intersection of Arboretum Drive and Lake Washington Boulevard and will go into construction in late spring 2010.

The project includes the restoration of the now overgrown Holmdahl Rockery and creation of an eye- catching display of colorful Chilean plant species. Before construction starts on the project, Parks will remove 34 mature trees, which include some native species, to make way for the new Chilean garden.

The project includes the planting of 72 Chilean trees that will contribute to the horticultural collection.

The Washington Park Arboretum is a living museum that hosts a diverse world of plants and is a valuable educational tool for the people of Seattle and the entire northwest. Both of these events offer an incredible opportunity for the public to learn more about this development in one of the city’s most prominent Olmsted parks.

Public Tour

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

5:30 p.m.

Meet at Washington Park Playfield (parking area at the south end)

2500 Lake Washington Blvd E., Seattle, WA 98112

Public Meeting

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

6:30-7:30 p.m.

Graham Visitor Center, Washington Park Arboretum, 2300 Arboretum Drive E.

For more Information or If you requIre special meeting accommodations, please vIsit:

http://seattle.gov/parks/projects/arboretum/

or contact: Andy Sheffer, Project Manager, Seattle Parks and Recreation

800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98134. 206-684-7041, andy.sheffer@seattle.gov

visit us at seattle.gov/parks

Jill Simmons appointed as acting director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

NEWS RELEASE

City of Seattle

Mike McGinn, Mayor

For Immediate Release: February 26, 2010

Contact: Aaron Pickus, (206) 233-2650

aaron.pickus@seattle.gov

Jill Simmons appointed as acting director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment

Charged with coordinating citywide approach to sustainability

SEATTLE – Mayor Mike McGinn today announced the appointment of Jill Simmons as acting director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE). Simmons replaces the OSE’s outgoing acting director, Michael Mann.

As part of her new role, Simmons has been asked to recommend ways to strengthen sustainability efforts across City departments. She will co-lead the effort with Marshall Foster, the new City Planning Director in the Department of Planning and Development (DPD).

“While Seattle is a national leader in sustainability, I believe we can be more coordinated and efficient in our efforts,” McGinn said. “I am asking Jill to carry forward the work of the Office of Sustainability and Environment and to partner with key departments like the Department of Planning and Development to develop an action-oriented approach – one that sets clear goals and identifies specific actions to reduce carbon emissions, improve environmental quality and create sustainable communities.”

Prior to the appointment, Simmons served as OSE’s climate protection program manager. Before coming to OSE, she worked in the city’s Finance Department as a fiscal and policy analyst, and also worked on community development and sustainability initiatives at the Northwest Area Foundation. She holds a law degree and master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington.

“Jill brings the right combination of strategic thinking, dedication to sustainability, and city experience,” McGinn said. “I look forward to working with Jill to enhance OSE’s work and to develop a bold sustainability agenda for Seattle. “

Simmons will begin her new role on March 1.

###

Join a citywide conversation on Library services

City Librarian Susan Hildreth invites you to join a citywide conversation on Library services • What's one thing you wish the Library could provide, or change? • What's the role of the Library in our community? • What should we be doing in five to 10 years? • How should the Library be using new technology? Please join me and members of the Library Board next month to discuss your hopes and dreams for The Seattle Public Library. Feel free to drop in anytime for a few minutes to share your views. With your help, we will develop a strategic plan to guide our growth and services through 2015. Later this year we also will conduct surveys, hold focus groups and host two citywide public forums that feature expert panelists on key library issues. By September, we hope to complete a draft strategic plan, which we will share at meetings across the city. We hope to have a final plan by December. You helped develop and complete the 10-year "Libraries for All" program to rebuild our facilities. Now it's time to make sure the services and resources we provide meet your needs. Please help us think creatively about the future of Library service. Last year, more than 14 million people visited the Library. We want that number to keep growing. Sincerely, Susan Hildreth City Librarian

Citywide Conversations Stop by an open house and "think big" to consider new models, services and roles for The Seattle Public Library. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Noon to 2 p.m. Monday, March 1 Central Library 1000 Fourth Ave. Level 3, Living Room 206-386-4636 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 2 Northgate Branch 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E. 206-386-1980 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 3 High Point Branch 3411 S.W. Raymond St. 206-684-7454 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 6 Ballard Branch 5614 22nd Ave. N.W. 206-684-4089 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 Beacon Hill Branch 2821 Beacon Ave. S. 206-684-4711 Feel free to drop in for a few minutes to share your views. If you can't attend a meeting, but would like to comment, please send an e-mail tostrategicplan@spl.org. For more details, please see Strategic Planning on the Library Web site.

New web site opens city data to the public -- http://data.seattle.gov

NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR &

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Mike McGinn

Councilmember Bruce Harrell

Council President Richard Conlin

Councilmember Nick Licata

For Immediate Release: February 25, 2010

Mayor Contact: Aaron Pickus, (206)233-2650 aaron.pickus@seattle.gov

Council Contact: Laura Lockard, (206)684-8159, (206)650-6692 (cell)laura.lockard@seattle.gov

New web site opens city data to the public

http://data.seattle.gov

SEATTLE -- Sixty city of Seattle datasets are now accessible online at http://data.seattle.gov, which is part of Seattle’s municipal web site. The new site holds significant amounts of information about operations and infrastructure, such as locations of city facilities, schools, and food banks.

“The launch of data.seattle.gov is the first of four new major web services being launched this year to enhance transparency, improve access to public city information, and streamline customer service reporting and tracking,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell.

Data.seattle.gov is a first step in making data publicly available to meet the city of Seattle’s goals for an open, transparent and accountable government. The site initially posts datasets from My Neighborhood Map, which is a feature on the city’s website, www.seattle.gov. It will add data managed by city departments, beginning with data which is commonly requested through the public disclosure process. Some of this data is already available on department websites, but data.seattle.govwill centralize the information on a single site.

“The launch of this web site represents the first step in an ongoing effort that we hope will make the work of city government more open and accessible to residents,” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “In the course of our work, we gather a great deal of data on the state of the city and on our performance. We believe that information belongs to the people of Seattle. The Department of Information Technology is doing excellent work toward realizing this goal and all city departments are committed to working together on this project. Councilmember Harrell’s leadership has been invaluable and we look forward to his continued efforts on this project.”

“Data.Seattle.Gov transforms the way the city provides public city data to the people of Seattle. This is a key step in our initiative to engage the public in the process of creating new applications for public use and involve them in analyzing city data to improve service to our residents,” said Council President Richard Conlin.

“I’m looking forward to seeing people interpret and apply this data to improving our city services for their neighborhoods and businesses. I expect to see a more responsive and cost efficient city government as a result,” said Councilmember Nick Licata.

The site will grow as city departments build an inventory of datasets that can be added. Information such as business licenses, redacted police reports, and police 911 calls are scheduled for implementation, and more datasets are being readied. The web site includes a contact email address so users can provide comments and suggestions.

Data.seattle.gov provides information in a standard format, easily downloadable and usable by the public. The site is powered by software from Socrata (www.socrata.com), a Seattle company that supports a number of federal government agencies.

Youth and Families Initiative First Large Group Meeting is Tonight

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

NEWS RELEASE

City of Seattle

Mike McGinn, Mayor

For Immediate Release: February 22, 2010

Contact: Aaron Pickus, (206) 233-2650

aaron.pickus@seattle.gov

Youth and Families Initiative

First Large Group Meeting is Tonight

Dear fellow Seattleites,

Mayor Mike McGinn invites you to participate in the Youth and Families Initiative, a major initiative announced during his inaugural address. The first of five large group meetings is tonight at the Rainier Community Center from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Versions of this invitation have been translated into Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrigna, Chinese, Oromo, Russian, Thai, Amharic, Cambodian, Somali, Korean and Vietnamese (attached).

The children and families of our city are facing many difficult challenges. As a community, we need to talk about what we want for our kids and how best to create a healthy, positive and equitable environment for all families in our city.

Toward this goal, Seattle’s Department of Information Technology has created an online embeddable form for collecting community input for the Youth and Families Initiative (attached). The form, designed to be embedded in blogs and web sites, extends the online outreach outside of the Mayor’s Office.

Let’s start a discussion together and come up with a plan that works.

Please join us in attending one of five workshops, where trained facilitators will lead participants through the beginnings of this group discussion.

February 22 – Rainier Community Center 7:00-8:30 p.m.
March 1 – Northgate Elementary School 7:00-8:30 p.m.
March 8 – Van Asselt Elementary School 7:00-8:30 p.m.
March 15 – Denny Middle School 7:00-8:30 p.m.
March 22 – Garfield Community Center 7:00-8:30 p.m.

The Mayor’s Office has created a visual representation of the outreach process and timeline for the Youth and Families Initiative (attached).

Activities for kids older than three years of age and light refreshments will be provided at each meeting. If English is not your primary language and you would like translation or interpretation, please notify the Department of Neighborhoods at 684-0464 so we can work to provide the best resources available.

“Our goal with the Youth and Families Initiative is to get input from everyone in Seattle who cares about these issues,” said Mayor’s Office Community Engagement Coordinator Sol Villarreal. “We realize that not everyone is going to be interested in attending or able to attend one of the large group workshops, so in order to make sure we’re hearing from a representative sample of the population of the city, we’re also going to be holding up to 100 Community Caucuses around the city. The idea is that instead of asking someone to come to us, we’re going to go to them to make sure that their voice gets heard.”

Each Community Caucus will elect one delegate to send on to the Kids and Families Congress on June 5 at Seattle Center.

It is only together that we can solve the deep, complex problem of how to create an equitable community for our great city’s youth and families. There is no one solution, no one program or person who can point our neighborhoods in the right direction.

We ask that you join us at the beginning of this discussion so that we may all work together toward the common goal of a stronger community.

Please visit http://www.seattle.gov/engage to get involved in the Youth and Families Initiative.

Web site: http://youthandfamilies.seattle.gov/

Facebook: Youth and Families Initiative

Twitter: MayorMcGinn

Message from John Barber, Parks Board

Dear Parks and Open Space Advocates --

Tomorrow, Seattle City Council has invited testimony to help it set its priorities for the year.

At this time, I do not know if I will be able to testify due to conflicting commitments, but I'd just like to toss out an idea:

There is one priority this city needs to attend to: A question -- "What are the measures of livable, sustainable communities?"

The complex of current realities that we face now and in our future -- climate change towards storms and warmer times, childhood and adult obesity, limited infrastructure, changing economy towards austerity, declining urban forest -- suggest that improving our neighborhoods to make for a more satisfying and sustainable life and how to accomplish such should be among our top priorities.

The most specific measure I don't think we have a good handle on is tree density. The benefits of trees for livability -- stormwater retention, shade,

habitat, local source of oxygen, proximity to nature -- should result in measurable goals.

Right now, a good portion of the "urban forest" is in residential areas, which are no doubt experiencing the greatest declines in canopy due to development.

How many trees should be in street right of way? Bearing in mind that large trees there are inhibited by overhead wiring and pavement, how much canopy should be targeted for private property? We need measures to guide our development rules, regulations, fees, and incentives.

Another element of sustainability and livability is walkability -- desired distances for residents to parks, natural areas, groceries with fresh produce, schools and transit.

John