Comments on C.B. 117430, “Regulatory Reform”

 

Dear Councilmembers,

Attached and pasted below is a letter from the Federation about the regulatory reform proposal you will be considering.  We hope you will consider our comments.

Jeannie Hale, Pres

Seattle Community Council Federation

 April 11, 2012

 Members of the Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee

Seattle City Council
601 Fifth Avenue, Second floor

P. O. Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025

 Comments on C.B. 117430, “Regulatory Reform”

 Dear City Councilmembers:

The Seattle Community Council Federation has deep concerns about many portions of the so-called “regulatory reform” package.   The administration’s development of these proposals has not been inclusive, and as a result the distorted priorities unreasonably favor certain developers and businesses while undermining rights and protections that residents and small businesses now depend on to ensure the livability and sustainability of their neighborhoods.  

“Regulatory reform” is an Orwellian term for this legislation, which in important ways removes rights that Seattleites now have to participate in decisions that affect them.  One would never know from the many ways that it would degrade the quality of life and sustainability in neighborhoods and the democratic rights of the public.  The changes reverse nearly a century of precedent. They effectively repeal important portions of neighborhood plans without notice or consultation. 

There has been no real outreach and engagement so far with those who most negatively affected.   

The Department of Planning and Development grossly failed the City Council in no real outreach and engagement except to a chosen few, and the City Council must make up for this omission.   The March 28 public hearing was poorly publicized and was held downtown in the daytime. 

Please delay action on this package until public meetings and outreach mailings are held in neighborhoods throughout Seattle.  Not to do so is to disenfranchise the very stakeholders who should most be consulted and involved in consideration of changes of this magnitude.

To be sustainable, growth must proceed at a pace that the public finds acceptable, and through actions that the public understands and participates in.  The policy process must be open and consultative, and the policies themselves must be balanced.  For example, the public’s right of appeal is not a “regulatory barrier”—it is a fundamental of democracy that ensures reasonable and balanced land use decisions at the ground level. 

This legislation would so accelerate the changes occurring in neighborhoods that it will surely undermine the consensus on growth.  Seattle is already growing at a brisk pace, about as quickly as is possible without damaging communities as one sees happening in some world cities with less concern about humanity that Seattle believes it has.

   

As we understand that the issues of parking and SEPA thresholds are being held for a future Committee meeting, we will provide our comments to you on those topics in a separate letter.  In this letter, we particularly oppose the several ways in which the legislation would detract from the livability and sustainability of residential areas by injecting commercial uses into their midst.  Seattle must remember the answers for why we have residential zones.  The noise, pollution, congestion, and other disruption that accompany business development are damaging to communities.  

The Council should refuse to extend temporary use permits to 18 months from the current 6 months and must not remove the current right of appeal.  18 months is certainly not “temporary” and the term should remain at 6 months.  The right of neighbors to appeal the current 6-month temporary use permit is an essential way that land use decisions are kept sane.  This right must not be removed, especially if there is any increase in length of the permit.  The reasoning given for removing this democratic right—that the DPD permit fee could be less—misrepresents the issue.  The City Council can reduce the permit fee without damaging the rights of people to file an appeal that ensures the decision is a reasonable one.

The Council should also resist the proposals to expand the business presence in residential dwellings.  Communities are already being damaged in current law by the displacement of residential space by business space.  There are fewer people living in and participating in communities, fewer “eyes on the street,” and many other negative consequences that the Council has not considered. The proposed changes will accelerate this trend in which Seattle is becoming less of place where people live, and more a place where they maintain technical residence but actually use their residence for business that should be occurring in a commercial zone.  

 Thanks for your consideration of the above comments.  We will follow up with another letter on some of the matters not yet covered here. 

 Sincerely,

 Jeannie Hale, President

3425 West Laurelhurst Drive NE

Seattle, Washington  98105

206-525-5135 / fax 206-525-9631

jeannieh@serv.net

LIBRARY LEVY ORDINANCE must increase Library operating hours, NOT displace current funding, and MUST have a public oversight COMMITTEE

LIBRARY LEVY ORDINANCE must increase Library operating hours, NOT displace current funding, and MUST have a public oversight COMMITTEE

The Seattle Public Library is in trouble and needs your help!  In the next few weeks, the City Council will vote to put on the August 7 ballot a $17 million/year, 7-year property tax levy for operations, but Council Bill 117425 would leave the library unaccountable to voters in how it spends the levy and vulnerable to cuts in the funds it now receives.  The Council needs to hear about needed improvements by message (contact info below) in the public comment periods that are at the beginning of any City Council committee or full Council meeting when Council Bill or later proposals are discussed.

Background.  Libraries for All, the 1998 bond issue, was in danger of failing at the polls until the addition of ironclad numerical allocations of the revenues and a strong, independent, geographically based oversight committee.  Unfortunately, C.B. 117425 lacks numerical allocations or an oversight committee.  Letters from the City Neighborhood Council and the Seattle Community Council Federation recommend both, suggesting as a model resolutions 29846, 29952, and 29997 which created the public oversight committee for Libraries for All.  As currently proposed, the Library levy has less accountability than any property tax bond or levy proposed to voters in the last twenty years.  Please urge the City Council to make the following improvements:

1.     Amend C.B. 117425 to commit that the City Council will not cut the existing level of library support from the General Fund, and that the Library Board will increase the hours and days of the week in which libraries are open.  As written, the proposed levy ordinance would allow the Council to completely displace with levy funds the current level of General Fund support now provided to the Library, and allow the Board not to increase the hours and days of being open. 

Without a City Council commitment to maintain General Fund support and a Library Board commitment to increase the hours and days of the week when the libraries are open, passage of the levy could leave the Library with no more funds or operating hours than it has today, plus the possibility that funds and hours will decline when the levy runs out at the end of seven years.  Consider that although part of the 1999 parks levy provided operating support, when the levy ran out that funding was not fully restored from the General Fund, leaving parks funding in worse shape than before the levy was passed.  

2.   Add to C.B. 117425 a strong, independent, geographically based oversight committee like that for the 1998 Libraries for All bond measure as created by Resolutions 29846, 29952, and 29997.  Oversight committees were in the ordinances putting before the voters the Bridging the Gap transportation levy, the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy, the two parks levies, the series of housing levies, and the three Families and Education levies.  The proposed Library levy includes capital spending that needs oversight by a committee.  And contrary to claims that the levy’s primary purpose of operations spending does not require a public oversight committee, oversight committees cover the Families and Education levy (entirely an operations levy) and covered the 1999 parks levy (partially an operations levy). 

Voter-approved funding for the Library is in particular need of a public oversight committee because the City Council and Mayor and hence the voters have so little power over how the Library Board would spend the levy.  A geographic system of representation for the oversight committee is particularly needed because of concerns that the Central Library’s building and programs will take funds away from operations and hours of the branch libraries.  And the committee needs to be independent -- not with voting positions for high-ranking City officials (as with the Bridging the Gap oversight committee) or with just one member required to be a Seattle resident (as with the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy).

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

This is urgent, and you can make a difference!  NOW, please contact all nine Councilmembers. The message:  Amend C.B. 11745 committing to increase hours and days of operation while holding the Library harmless from cuts in its current General Fund allocation; and creating a strong, independent, and geographically based oversight committee like the one that Resolutions 29846, 29952, and 29997 created for the 1998 Libraries for All bond issue.  Below are voice mails and e-mail addresses (and/or find the Councilmembers on Twitter and Facebook).  It’s best to write to each separately, not address all in one message.  The fax number is (206) 684-8587.

sally.clark@seattle.gov 684-8802

tim.burgess@seattle.gov 684-8806

tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov 684-8808

jean.godden@seattle.gov 684-8807

richard.conlin@seattle.gov 684-8805

sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov 684-8801

bruce.harrell@seattle.gov 684-8804

nick.licata@seattle.gov 684-8803

mike.obrien@seattle.gov 684-8800

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION

March 28, 2012

Seattle City Council
601 Fifth Avenue, Second floor
P. O. Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025

Re:  Proposed levy ordinance should hold harmless the existing funding of the Library, commit to increased hours and days of opening, and create a strong, independent, and geographically balanced oversight committee to ensure accountability

Dear City Councilmember:

Throughout our 66 year history, the Seattle Community Council Federation has strongly supported funding for the Seattle Public Library.  As you know, Council Bill 117425 is a proposed ordinance that would place before the voters a 7-year property tax levy of about $17 million/year. 

SCCF has not yet taken a position on the proposed levy, but believes that improvements in the levy ordinance are needed to make it most deserving of assent from the voters.  First, we suggest that C.B. 117425 be amended to commit the City Council not to cut the existing level of library support from the General Fund, and to increase the hours and days of the week in which the downtown library and the branch libraries are open.  As currently written, the proposed levy ordinance would allow the City Council to completely displace with levy funds the current level of General Fund support now provided to the Library, and not to make any increase in the hours or days of the week of being open. 

Without a City Council commitment to maintain General Fund support and to increase the hours and days of the week when the libraries are open, passage of the levy could leave the Library with no more funds than it has today, plus no assurance of continued funding when the levy runs out at the end of seven years.  Consider that although the 1999 parks levy provided operating support, when the levy ran out that funding was not fully restored from the General Fund, leaving Department of Parks and Recreation funding in worse shape than before the levy was passed.  

Our other concern is that C.B. 117425 does not include an oversight committee to ensure public accountability for spending of the levy proceeds.  We urge that the levy ordinance include a strong, independent, and geographically balanced oversight committee by use of the same language from Resolutions 29846, 29952, and 29997 that created the oversight committee for the Libraries for All bond measure.

Accountability for voter-approved levy and bond revenues via oversight committees has been central to voter approval of the bond and levy measures of recent decades.  Such committees have overseen not only the Libraries for All bond measure, but the Bridging the Gap transportation levy, Families and Education levy, Housing levy, and both Parks levies.  In almost all cases, the oversight committees were created by the ordinance that put the measure on the ballot.  Some of the committees have been more effective than others, but none have greater power, independence, or geographic balance than did the oversight committee for the Libraries for All bond measure. 

Taxpayers are more likely to approve a bond or levy measure if they know that spending of the revenues will be overseen by an oversight committee.  A strong, independent, and geographically balanced oversight committee is especially needed for the Library levy as it was for the Libraries for All bond measure because the Library Board has so much power but is not elected, and because of concerns that branch libraries will be sacrificed to the funding needs of the downtown library.  

The City Council created a public oversight committee for the Libraries for All bond issue shortly before the November 1998 election because the bond issue was being criticized for a lack of accountability in how the funds were to be spent.  SCCF urges the Council to be more proactive in this case by establishing the oversight committee in the bond issue ordinance (C.B. 117425), using the same language as was in Resolutions 29846, 29952, and 29997.  This letter was discussed, revised, and approved at the Seattle Community Council Federation’s March 27 board meeting. 

Sincerely,

Jeannie Hale, President
3425 West Laurelhurst Drive NE
Seattle, Washington  98105
206-525-5135 / fax 206-525-9631
jeannieh@serv.net

 

Does Low Income Housing have a Future in Seattle?

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION

Monthly Meeting –Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 7 p.m.

Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South  98144

[This beautiful facility with free parking and a grand view of Lake Washington is just three blocks east of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and one block south of S. Jackson Street]

http://seattlefederation.blogspot.com/

AGENDA

Does Low Income Housing have a Future in Seattle?

featuring John Fox, Seattle Displacement Coalition and

Bruce Bowden, Citizens Rethink Yesler

Did you know that for every unit of subsidized housing the city creates, we lose three to four times that number due to redevelopment and gentrification?  As reported by the Displacement Coalition, last year alone, Seattle lost about 900 housing units to demolition.  As the housing stock fell, rents on 1,000 remaining rentals were pushed up above low-income thresholds.  Another 1000 were lost due to developers buying and selling apartment buildings and the new owners raising rents to cover financing costs.   Compare that to the 400 new subsidized units our city built over the same period using limited public revenues.  
 

Look what is happening at Yesler Terrace and Northgate.  At Yesler, the Seattle Housing Authority plans to sell half the publicly owned land to developers.  The redevelopment could include up to 4,500 units, with only 11 percent reserved for extremely low income people.

Issues to be discussed include the failure of the multi-family tax exemptions program, policies that could be implemented to preserve low income housing, and more. 

The March meeting also includes our monthly Round Robin to share with others the recent issues and projects in your neighborhood.  If you have informational materials you would like distributed at the meeting, please e-mail electronic copies or links to jeannieh@serv.net.

7:00     Administration

1.     Call to order and introductions

2.     Minutes /Treasurer’s Report / President’s Report

7:10     Does low income housing have a future in Seattle?  John Fox and Bruce Bowden   

8:15     Round Robin of issues and projects in your neighborhood

1.     City’s petition for extended hours for bars

2.     Car tabs legislation

3.     District or mixed elections for city council

9:00     Adjourn

 

Councilmember Tim Burgess on Rethinking Policing and on How to Better Engage the Public in Budget Decisions

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION

Monthly Meeting –Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 7 p.m.

Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South  98144

[This beautiful facility with free parking and a grand view of Lake Washington is just three blocks east of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and one block south of S. Jackson Street]

FED.02.12.2475AgendaFEBRUARY2011.dochttp://seattlefederation.blogspot.com/

AGENDA

Councilmember Tim Burgess on Rethinking Policing and on How to Better Engage the Public in Budget Decisions

Our featured guest is City Councilmember Tim Burgess, immediate past chair of the Public Safety Committee and new chair of the Special Committee on the Budget (membership includes all nine Councilmembers) as well as the renamed Government Performance and Finance Committee.  Burgess will discuss his hopes for a change in the culture of the Seattle Police Department and a reorientation of its activities to more effectively prevent crime.  (For more, see http://timothyburgess.typepad.com).  He will also discuss his ideas for improving how the City Council and the public participate in budgeting, and will be open to questions on budget-related topics.

The Mayor will propose a budget on September 24, and the City Council will adopt the final budget before Thanksgiving.  What can be done to better inform and involve the public during those frenetic final two months of the budget process--and earlier when there is more time for dialogue about specific programs, issues, and priorities?  Among the ideas to be discussed:  workshops to engage the public early about budget and revenue choices; opinion surveys and focus groups; an early annual staff report analyzing possible spending and revenue options; an annual resolution on the Council’s priorities for bond and levy issues; and improved availability to the public of Council and staff proposals and analyses. 

The February meeting also includes our monthly Round Robin to share with others the recent issues and projects in your neighborhood.  If you have informational materials you would like distributed at the meeting, please e-mail electronic copies or links to jeannieh@serv.net.

7:00                 Administration

1.     Call to order and introductions

2.     Minutes /Treasurer’s Report / President’s Report

7:10                 Councilmember Tim Burgess   

8:15                 Round Robin of issues and projects in your neighborhood

9:00                 Adjourn

COMMUNITY BUDGET CONFERENCE WHEN: SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 12-5 P.M.

WHAT:  COMMUNITY BUDGET CONFERENCE


WHEN:  SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 12-5 P.M.


WHERE:  SEATTLE CENTER’S NORTHWEST ROOMS

Sponsored by Seattle’s City Neighborhood Council and Seattle Center, in cooperation with the Mayor, City Council, City Budget Office, and Department of Neighborhoods  
 
Help Seattle City government kick off its two-year budget process!  Find out why budgeting matters and how to get involved in the decisions that affect you!  Join the Mayor, the Director of the City Budget Office, City Councilmembers, and representatives of more than 20 City departments in dialogue about Seattle's revenue and spending priorities.   
 
The Sunday, Jan. 29 Community Budget Conference begins with a budget fair (noon to 1 p.m.) where you can talk one-on-one with agency representatives.  At 1 p.m. there will be addresses by Mayor Mike McGinn, City Council Budget chair Tim Burgess, and City Budget Director Beth Goldberg.  At 2 and 3 p.m. there will be presentation/discussion groups where you can hear and quiz City officials from agencies large and small.  The conference will end with a 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. panel discussion among City Councilmembers.  

Only once every two years can you engage on budget issues with such a wide range of City agencies and officials -- transportation, parks and recreation, utilities, library, neighborhoods, economic development, civil rights, ethics and elections, arts, health, human services, housing, firefighting, emergency preparedness, police, planning and development, Seattle Center, and Seattle Animal Shelter.  Confirmed attendees include the City Attorney, City Auditor, City Librarian, Chief Judge of the Municipal Court, deputy police and fire chiefs, Seattle Center director, and the heads or deputy heads of most other City departments.

Sunday’s conference is open to the public, free of charge, with snacks and beverages.  Seattle Channel 21 will record it for later video rebroadcast, and streaming video will also be available anytime on the City web site.  Interpretive services are available upon request.  Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms are near the intersection of Republican Street and Warren Avenue, close to First Avenue North and Mercer Street.  On-street parking is free on Sundays.

Don't miss the Community Budget Conference--Sunday, January 29, noon to 5 p.m. at Northwest rooms at Seattle Center!   For further questions:  (206) 322-5463, cleman@oo.net; or credmond@mac.com.  The City Neighborhood Council is an official City of Seattle advisory body, composed of one representative from each of the thirteen district councils, which are also official advisory bodies.  The program agenda for Sunday’s conference, and background about CNC and district councils, can be found at seattle.gov/neighborhoodcouncil.

The memorial aka "wake" for Kent Kammerer will be at Mohai ( Museum of

History and Industry) on Friday, January 6, 

2012. The gathering will run from 5pm to 9pm with a slide show and speakers 

beginning at 7pm. The museum is open for touring until 7pm free to all 

attendees. Light hos-d'oeuvres will be served. Any donations to offset the 

costs will gladly be accepted but certainly not required.

Lile Kammerer, Kent's daughter

Seattle Loses its Neighborhood Yoga

http://crosscut.com/2011/11/14/mossback/21554/Kent-Kammerer%3A-Seattle-loses-its-neighborhood--Yoda/

By Knute Berger

Kent Kammerer wasn't a journalist, but he talked to people. He loved talking to people.

I first got to know him when I was invited down to the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition, a rag-tag, grassroots group of truly independent Seattleites that meets once a month in a diner to hear speakers talk about civic issues. The SNC can be a tough crowd. That first time, I was on a panel with then Seattle Times Executive Editor Mike Fancher, who was nearly eaten alive by citizens angry at the paper, and the media in general. The SNC may be a kaffeeklatsch, but the participants can bite.

A couple of things struck me. One was that it was a refreshing change from Seattle Nice: these were activists who weren't shy about asking questions or speaking their minds. And these were no-Astro Turf activists, but people who represented and loved their varied patches of Seattle. It was like a meeting of Darwin's finches all in one room. Grumpy finches.

The other was that the group had no particular ideological bias, save a general questioning of civic authority, namely city hall, downtown business, the media, and conventional wisdom. They are a coalition of folks who don't indulge in group-think. Some lament Seattle's one-party-townness, but at the grassroots, outrage is often less driven by ideology than circumstance. As a guest, you never knew from which field a ball was coming, left, right, or from somewhere up in the bleachers

Presiding over it all, like a mossback Yoda, was Kent Kammerer, who booked the guests and took careful, thorough minutes of the meetings, which he would send out afterwards. I was impressed by these documents because they showed that Kent actually listened to what was said, and worked hard to present even views he strongly disagreed with fairly. And over the years, as I attended breakfast both to speak and listen, I became friends with Kent. I found a retired teacher who was intensely curious, deeply thoughtful, not cynical — capable still of hope and outrage — and someone deeply committed to democracy.

Through the SNC, he helped facilitate direct links between neighborhood activists and policy makers and others who were civically engaged. Recent coalition guests include King County prosecutor Dan Satterburg, new city librarian Marcellus Turner, Sound Transit and Metro critics Emory Bundy and John Niles, Anne Levinson on police accountability, University of Washington Professor David Montgomery talking about how civilizations unravel and fall apart. The ensuing Q&A's at the breakfasts are always the best part. I love the image of a bunch of crusty neighborhood activists discussing theories on the fall of empire while eating hashbrowns at Ballard's Salmon Bay Cafe.

Kent was the ringmaster of a crucial level of civic debate in Seattle. He helped create an old-school social network with more substance than Facebook. It was a place where people could gossip and argue over the back fence, but also often put questions — big questions, or wonky or trivial questions — to people in the know.

Kent loved new information. He was a teacher, but also a student. And his love of asking questions extended everywhere. I remember early on Crosscut, I had written a story that had infuriated the town of Pomeroy, Washington. Kent wrote me. It turned out he had traveled to Pomeroy, he knew Pomeroy, and that I had missed some important things about the place. Kent knew these things because he'd once parked his RV there and had met and talked with the locals in this obscure part of Washington. He was well-traveled around the region, and I imagined him exploring it "Travels with Charley"-style. His impressions were insightful. They came from listening. It turns out, Kent not only took the minutes at SNC meetings, but he had a knack, an ear, and a love for talking to people who were just people and taking in their stories and opinions.

When we launched Crosscut, Kent approached me to explore the idea of writing for us. He loved Crosscut, which was non-ideological, eclectic, deeply civically engaged, and powered by a wide group of contributors. He began writing stories, coming to Crosscut's own pizza lunches to question guests. They are a bit like a writer's version of SNC. He didn't have to take minutes here, he could grill the visitors without the obligation of being a fair host.

I admired Kent. For his compassion for people. His belief that our world, our city, is full of variety and diversity, and that this is inherently good. I remember in the arguments about density, one of Kent's concerns was that the variety of housing options would disappear. People ought to be  able to have affordable choices of single-family homes, condos, apartments, and trailer parks, he thought. He didn't want planning to trump choice. He wanted a city for walkers, transit riders, drivers, and cyclists. He wanted government to be more open. He wanted it to be less mired in bullshit. He wanted it to stick up for the little guy. Not a classic urbanist, he still wanted to know how cities worked, and how they could work for everyone.

.His pursuit of that benefited all who received his advice, his feedback, who heard his questions, who listened to his stories, who were inspired by his caring, his activism. In echoes of Tom Joad, for me at least, wherever people are gathered in places like the Breakfast Club in Lake City, the last place Kent and I shared a meal together and talked about the state of the city, wherever they ask tough questions of their leaders and their neighbors, wherever they listen to the answers, Kent will be there.

Knute Berger is Mossback, Crosscut's chief Northwest native. He also writes the monthly Grey Matters column for Seattle magazine and is a weekly Friday guest on Weekday on KUOW-FM (94.9). His newest book is Pugetopolis: A Mossback Takes On Growth Addicts, Weather Wimps, and the Myth of Seattle Nice, published by Sasquatch Books. In 2011, he was named Writer-in-Residence at the Space Needle and is writing the Needle's official 50th anniversary history. You can e-mail him at mossback@crosscut.com

Fed meeting dates changed - Next meeting Tuesday, September 27, 2011

            PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR MEETING DATES HAVE CHANGED FROM THE FOURTH THURSDAY TO THE LAST TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH,

AND PLEASE MARK YOUR  CALENDARS TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION Regular Meeting Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South  98144 http://seattlefederation.blogspot.com/ Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Agenda Developing a Report Card for Seattle’s Transportation Department featuring Peter Hahn, Director, Seattle Department of Transportation The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) develops, maintains, and operates a transportation system to promote the safe and efficient mobility of people and goods, and to enhance the quality of life, environment, and economy of Seattle and the surrounding region.  With gas tax revenues down and budget shortfalls, how is SDOT doing in accomplishing its mission?  Where will cuts be in the upcoming budget process?  How will cuts affect the backlog in deferred maintenance?  What is the status of the Bridging the Gap Levy?  How will the $60 in increased car tabs be used, should voters approve that measure in November?  What will happen if the measure fails?  These are just a few issues that Director Hahn will address.  Bring your issues and questions. The September meeting will also include our monthly Round Robin of issues and projects in your neighborhood.  If you have informational materials you would like distributed at the meeting, please email electronic copies or links to Jeannie Hale atjeannieh@serv.net. 7:00                 Call to Order and Introductions 7:05                 Administration 1.      Changes to the agenda 2.      Treasurer’s report 3.      President’s report 7:10                 Developing a Report Card for SDOT:  Peter Hahn, Director, Seattle Department of Transportation 8:15                 Round Robin 1.      Text amendment on siting of essential public facilities—update 2.      Renewal of the Families and Education Levy—please review materials from August meeting 3.      Increase in car tabs ballot measure—should the Federation take a position? 4.      Other 9:00                 Adjourn