REMINDER - Annual Federation Potluck ‑ Sunday, July 31, 2-5 p.m. at the home of Jeannie Hale, 3425 W Laurelhurst Dr NE, 98105

Annual Federation Potluck

Sunday, July 31, 2-5 p.m.

at the home of Jeannie Hale,

3425 W Laurelhurst Dr NE, 98105, 206-525-5135

The Seattle Community Council Federation invites you to kick back at its annual summer potluck, the singular gem of our yearly events.  Enjoy lively conversation with community leaders in a garden setting.  Do you know where things are with the Roosevelt-Ravenna Zoning Issues?  How about our new and wonderful meeting place at the Central Area Senior Center? These are just a couple of things that will likely surface.  Since it’s election season expect to see a few hopefuls.

This year we’ll also celebrate the recent Birthday of our sisterish organization, the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition, a salon discussion group that has met each and every second Saturday for 28 years to meet and greet local notables, usually from Seattle, often King County, and occasionally Olympia and other outliers. SNC guest speakers compete for an agenda spot because they know that they’ll be talking with unusually well-informed and well-intentioned citizens who have a common goal of making Seattle a better place to live, and led by the ineffable and unflappable Kent Kammerer, have used their institutional memory and collective wisdom to accomplish significant ends.

Wear flip-flops or sandals so you can dip your toes in the warm pool, or even go for a swim if you’re inclined.  Everyone is welcome, including those kids who can take adults seriously around pools.

Please bring a salad, main dish, appetizer or fruit plate to share.  Wine, beer and soft drinks are provided.

If you wish to be able to more completely comprehend some of the issues under discussion it’s recommended that you read at least one book by New Urbanite pioneer Jane Jacobs, and watch at least one complete season of The Wire.

Directions:  There are dozens of ways to get to the potluck.

HERE’S A MAP   or here are two options:

From the south:  Go northbound on I-5.  Take the SR 520 exit that goes to the Bellevue and the University District.  Be sure to exit at Montlake.  At the end of the exit, turn left.  Then drive along Montlake Boulevard past Husky Stadium.  The road curves around and then passes University Village.  See other directions below.

From the north:  Go southbound on I-5.  Take the NE 50th exit (as the NE 45th Street Viaduct is closed).  Go down NE 50th until about 19th and then winding around to eventually get down to the back side of University Village.  You’ll eventually get to Five Corners (the intersection of NE 45th, Blakely, Mary Gates, etc.).

From Five Corners (the intersection of Blakeley, Mary Gates, NE 45th, 35th, etc.):  This is where there is a Tully's on one corner, Baskin Robbins on another, UW student housing on another and a field on another). I live a little over half a mile from the corner of Mary Gates as follows:

Take the Mary Gates entrance into Laurelhurst (at Five Corners) and take the next three RIGHT turns onto every city street you come to, except the last one. What you'll be doing is going in a semicircle around the lake’s Union Bay, as follows:

·         Go along Mary Gates, past the Center for Urban Horticulture and turn RIGHT onto Surber (you'll see a pedestrian refuge island here and the Battelle property on your left);

·         Go to the end of Surber and turn RIGHT at the T onto 42nd and go a couple of blocks;

·         At the lopsided Y, turn RIGHT onto 43rd and go half a block;

·         Turn LEFT onto NE 35th; you'll see a vacant lot on your right and the lake;

·         Go up the steep one-block hill and I live in the house at the top of the one-block hill behind the high hedge on the right hand side.  Parking is scarce so you might have to park a ways away, but it’s well worth it. 

Jeannie Hale

Keep up-to-date on the Federation website, seattlefederation.blogspot.com

Good and not-quite-so-good news

First the not-quite-so-good:

Due to a confluence of unforeseen and unwelcome events the June 23, 2011 Federation meeting has been regretfully cancelled, the first such cancellation in memory, and perhaps in our almost 63 years of existence.

More not-quite-so-good:

NOAA Pacific Marine Headquarters, our meeting place for the past decade, has been closed, its functions and personnel relocated to Newport, Oregon. The building has been stripped of its contents, the doors locked, and the keys turned over to the leaseholder who owns the facility and the underlying property. We regretfully bid goodbye to by far the best and most comfortable meeting facility we ever had. The building was fully ADA compliant, with ample parking. 

Now the good:

Next month we plan to celebrate our 63^rd Anniversary at our Annual Summer Party to be once again held at the home of President Jeannie Hale.

Stay tuned for details.

More good:

Dianne Snell, our super-efficient secretary, has arranged for our wonderful new meeting place, which takes us back to our roots when we were incorporated as Washington State Domestic Corporation No. 110226, the Jackson Street Community Council, on July 1^st, 1948.

It could hardly be more central, it’s in the Central Area, and in fact it is the Central Area Senior Center, once a nursing home, now repurposed into a luxurious, modern, well equipped meeting facility in Leschi, just one block west of and one block south of Jackson, above Frink Park, perched atop Leschi Ridge, with a panoramic view of the traffic (beautiful from a distance) I-90 traffic flowing across Lake Washington below with Mount Rainier looming in the distance.

Like the NOAA Headquarters, it’s fully ADA compliant, and has ample parking on two adjacent lots.

It’s located at 500 30th Avenue South and is easy to drive to if one avoids I-5, easy to do, at least from the north end. 

Here’s a map.

Still more good:

Our new meeting place is not controlled by the Federal government, so is not subject to the requirements of the Homeland Security Act. There are no guards, nor an entry requirement that you show picture ID to anyone.

Come right in, sit right down, and let your good ideas flow!

Yearly dues for member groups are $50. SCCF welcomes new member groups, and encourages renewal by groups whose membership in SCCF may have lapsed. Individual donations are also welcome and tax deductible, and go very far, as SCCF is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization. Please mail your check to SCCF, 2370 Yale Avenue East, Seattle, WA 98102-3310. For questions, contact treasurer Chris Leman, (206) 322-5463, cleman@oo.net.

Keep up-to-date on our website, seattlefederation.blogspot.com

ACTION ALERT FOR THURSDAY MORNING 10:30AM - Magnuson Park BUILDING 11--Pass It On!

Subject: ACTION ALERT FOR THURSDAY MORNING 10:30AM BUILDING 11--Pass It On!

• WHAT’S HAPPENING:  Building 11 in Magnuson Park´s North Shore Recreation Area (the home of Sail Sand Point and Hobie CAT) is under attack.  On June 20th Seattle Parks & Recreation will hand over the keys to a private developer so he can put in a full service Virginia Mason Internal Medical Clinic & Pharmacy, and a high-end enrollee-only daycare.  Traditional arts, cultural and recreational uses will be restricted to less than a quarter of the building, with water-related recreation reduced to barely 10% of the rentable space.

Increased parking and automobile traffic for the medical clinic and daycare--an additional 500-plus trips per day--will limit access to the hand-launched boat area, as will the additional 13,000SF (equal to two city lots) of outdoor space the developer wants for his commercial purposes--and he´s not even proposing to pay for this.

• THIS THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 16TH, 10:30AM.  PLAN TO ATTEND THE PUBLICHEARING ON BUILDING 11'S PROPOSED LEASE AMENDMENT.  Meeting in the City Council Chambers in City Hall.

Bring a sign or two, a friend or two, and plan to make public comment that you do NOT want the North Shore Recreation Area commercialized for a medical center and an expensive daycare.

Thank you for your support of a true parks vision for Magnuson Park and for working to insure that water recreation remains the main focus of the North Shore Recreation Area.

•WRITE TO CITY COUNCIL TODAY.  Write City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw and her Parks Committee members Tom Rasmussen, Bruce Harrell, and Jean Godden today to say you don´t want a medical center at Magnuson Park.  Ask them to restore the North Shore Recreation Area vision of a center for non-motorized boat recreation.  Tell them to vote NO on the upcoming Building 11 Investors LLC lease amendment. 
While you’re at it, write ALL the Councilmembers.   The Parks Committee consists of:

Sally.Bagshaw@seattle.gov, Tom.Rasmussen@seattle.gov, Bruce.Harrell@seattle.govJean.Godden@seattle.gov.  The other five are:  Nick.Licata@seattle.gov,Tim.Burgess@seattle.gov, Sally.Clark@seattle.gov, Richard.Conlin@seattle.gov, andMike.OBrien@seattle.gov.

For updated information check http://building11.org under IMPORTANT DATES.

City Neighborhood Council's budget committee meets this Tuesday, May 31, 5-6 p.m. in room 370 of City Hall.

Come help discuss CNC's annual budget letter and the possible consolidation of DON with four other agencies.

 The City Neighborhood Council's Budget Committee invites you to its meeting this Tuesday, May 31, 5-6 p.m. in room 370 of City Hall (601 Fifth Avenue, third floor).  We will discuss the draft budget letter to the Mayor and City Council that the CNC, as it has yearly, will adopt at its June 27 meeting.  Attached is the draft that was sent out along with the agenda for the May 23 CNC meeting.  There is still time for the district councils and the CNC budget committee to suggest revisions.

In particular, we will discuss on Tuesday the McGinn administration’s consideration of partial or full consolidation of the Department of Neighborhoods with four other agencies (Office of Economic Development, Office of Housing, Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Office of Sustainability and Environment).  This possibility poses both risks and opportunities for the mission we have associated with DoN for the past two decades, and we welcome your thoughts.  Following is how this topic is addressed in the attached draft CNC letter:

CNC is cautiously receptive to proposals to consolidate the Department of Neighborhoods with some other offices, but only if doing so strengthens the core DoN functions discussed above.  We are intrigued by a possible merger of DoN with the Office of Economic Development and the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, which together could become a new Department of Neighborhoods, Economic Development, and Arts and Cultural Affairs.  However we suggest that it would be a better fit to move the Office of Housing to the Department of Health and Human Services and to move the Office of Sustainability and the Environment to the Department of Planning and Development. 

Background about the neighborhood budget process.  City Council resolution 28115 that charters CNC and the district councils as official advisory bodies, states that "The responsibility of the City Neighborhood Council shall include review and recommendations regarding City budget issues, including the general fund, capital and block grant budgets, and the Neighborhood Matching Fund."  The resolution also states that "The City Council shall consider the recommendations of the City Neighborhood Council and the comments of neighborhood organizations and District Councils in its review and actions on the City budget." 

The CNC Budget Committee seeks to involve the district councils and other volunteers in budget discussions.  Past CNC letters on the budget to the Mayor and City Council (and other background on CNC and the district councils) can be found at http://seattle.gov/neighborhoodcouncil.  For questions or to comment, please contact CNC Budget Committee chair Chris Leman, cleman@oo.net (206) 322-5463.

FEDERATION MEETS THURSDAY, MAY 26 2011, 7:00 P.M. -- Will the Changes in Design Guidelines Affect Your Neighborhood?

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION

Regular Meeting

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency), Pacific Marine Center on Lake Union

1801 Fairview Avenue East

http://seattlefederation.blogspot.com/

Thursday, May 26, 2011

AGENDA

Will the Changes in Design Guidelines Affect Your Neighborhood?

 featuring Cheryl Sizov, Department of Planning and Development

Design guidelines are the primary tool used by Design Review Boards in the review of proposed projects. Guidelines define the qualities of architecture, urban design, and public space that make for successful projects and communities.  The guidelines help to reinforce existing character and protect the qualities that the neighborhood values most in the face of change.  Will this continue with the recent changes in Design Guidelines?   The changes were prompted in part by changing conditions in neighborhoods, emerging issues in design and development, and new best practices in the field of design review.

Issues and the Absence of Process in Siting Social Service Facilities

featuring Kwame Amoateng and Ann McNally, Jackson Place Alliance for Equity

How should a community respond when the city decides to put a “crisis solutions center,” a facility to house individuals picked up by the police for certain offenses deemed to be mentally unstable or under the influence of drugs, across the street from residential homes and near a community center that serves young children?  Learn about the experience of the Jackson Place Alliance for Equity. 

The May 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 at jeannieh@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

7:15                 Changes in Design Guidelines:  Cheryl Sizov, Department of Planning and Development

8:00                 Issues and the Absence of Process in Siting Social Service Facilities:  Kwame Amoateng and Ann McNally, Jackson Place Alliance for Equity

8:40                 Round Robin

9:00                 Adjourn

NOAA is a federal facility on high security alert, so attendees must enter by the security gate and may need to present photo ID. If you haven't attended a recent Federation meeting, please send your name, contact information, and address to rickbarrett@gmail.com  to be added to the entry list. No e-mail? Call 206-365-1267. The building is ADA compliant, with ample parking in front.

Founded and incorporated on July 1, 1948, as the Jackson Street Community Council, the Seattle Community Council Federation is one of the nation's oldest and most active coalitions of neighborhood groups. Since then our 501(C)3 Articles of Incorporation have been updated to now cover the entire City and include all Seattle neighborhoods.

Disturbing Disclosures Re Magnuson Park Building 11 Lease Agreement -- Immediate Citizen Input Needed

Note: Gail Chiarello is a long-time neighborhood leader involved with Magnuson Park. 

This message is cross-posted to the SeattlePOSA (Parks and Open Spaces) listserve as well as being posted on this blog. 

[Re: Magnuson Park Building 11 Lease Agreement]

Sally.Bagshaw@seattle.gov,

Tom.Rasmussen@seattle.gov,

Bruce.Harrell@seattle.gov
cc	Jean.Godden@seattle.gov, Mike.O'Brien@seattle.gov, Nick.Licata@seattle.gov, Sally.Clark@seattle.gov, Tim.Burgess@seattle.gov, Richard.Conlin@seattle.gov, Christopher.Williams@seattle.gov, Mike.McGinn@seattle.gov

Good Morning Sally,

I was troubled to hear Bruce Harrell state you told him I support the Building 11 Lease Amendment handed down yesterday by the Mayor. 

That is absolutely not true. My concerns remain as they have all along:

1.  This is a half-century lease.

2.  The historic vision for the North Shore Recreation Area was non-motorized small watercraft activities.

3.  The proposed amendment reduces these activities to less than 5% of the building.

4.  There is less than 20% of the building set aside for arts, culture and recreation--the classic activities of a park.

5.  The building will be 80% high-end commercial.

6.  VMMC is a prohibited use under the Shoreline Master Program.

7.  The LLC cannot be trusted.  It gains traction through misrepresentation & threats of lawsuits.

8.  There is every evidence of favoritism, special backdoor channels, misuse by a Sail Sand Point Board member of his Board position, all to the benefit of the LLC.

9.  The lease assignment clauses are so murky & complex that the City effectively loses its rights over the building in perpetuity.

10.  The City loses revenue from this building in perpetuity.

I am totally uneasy with the precedent the proposed lease amendment sets in placing a medical facility in a public park--and those who point to the UW pediatric dental clinic fail to mention, that clinic is placed on UW property within the park!  As we see with Children's, large medical centers are omnivorous in their willingness to consume the surrounding landscape.

From e-mail evidence obtained through public disclosure, you appear to have had a warm and cordial relationship with the LLC for many months, offering to help them with their problems with Virginia Mason, suggesting "beer summits" you were willing to attend to help smooth their way, stating that you have heard nothing but wonderful things about their junior partner, and so forth. 

This gives me some pause.  We have not had the benefit of all this schmooziness.  We approached your office for weeks, with e-mails, phone calls, and requests for meetings, and were unable to get your attention until we showed up at your Coffee with the Two Sallys at the Pinehurst Safeway.

We are NOT on the same page when it comes to the Building 11 LLC lease amendment and we will seek the Council votes to defeat it.  I do not expect you to join us, but it is time City Council restored some citizen trust and just said NO.

Sustaining Seattle’s Parks and Civil Engagement—A New Approach featuring Becca Aue and Thatcher Bailey, Seattle Parks Foundation and Dan Catchpole, Journalist

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION

Regular Meeting

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency), Pacific Marine Center on Lake Union

1801 Fairview Avenue East

http://seattlefederation.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 28, 2011

AGENDA

Sustaining Seattle’s Parks and Civil Engagement—A New Approach

featuring Becca Aue and Thatcher Bailey, Seattle Parks Foundation

and Dan Catchpole, Journalist

There is a need for dialogue on a wide range of important issues confronting our city, and hopefully, consensus.  The April meeting will feature a discussion on parks funding issues and a proposed approach to civic engagement on issues in general that are divisive. 

Becca Aue, Program Director, and Thatcher Bailey, Executive Director, Seattle Parks Foundation, will brief the group on the report, Sustaining Seattle’s Parks: A Study of Alternative Strategies to Support Operations and Maintenance of a Great Urban Parks System, and will respond to questions.   Finding the right mix of solutions for our parks relies on a broad community dialogue.  For more information about the Parks Foundation, go to www.seattleparksfoundation.org.   

Seattle’s parks lack a consistent, sustainable source of funds to pay for operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, and repair.  There is currently a $25 million shortfall in the annual cost of operating and maintaining the existing parks system and a $200 million backlog of major maintenance projects.  The recent report prepared for the Seattle Parks Foundation and its partners outlines a range of potential solutions based upon a nationwide review of best practices.
Dan Catchpole, journalist, will discuss his proposal for bringing diverse groups together to reach consensus.

The April 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 at jeannieh@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

7:15 Sustaining Seattle’s Parks:  Becca Aue and Thatcher Bailey, Seattle Parks Foundation

8:15 Engage Seattle—Civic Engagement for Seattle’s Next 50 Years:  Dan Catchpole

8:40 Round Robin

9:00 Adjourn

NOAA is a federal facility on high security alert, so attendees must enter by the security gate and may need to present photo ID. If you haven't attended a recent Federation meeting, please send your name, contact information, and address to rickbarrett@gmail.com  to be added to the entry list. No e-mail? Call 206-365-1267. The building is ADA compliant, with ample parking in front.