If you went to the Mayor’s Neighborhood Town Hall on Saturday at the Good Shepherd Center, you may have been a little disappointed by the lack of Wallingford-centric issues that were raised during the hour-long Q&A session. Or, maybe you had expected the lack of Wallingford representation, in which case you may not agree with the following assessment. But this was my take:
There were 76 people in attendance during the Mayor’s hour-long Town Hall. People were able to ask a question by choosing a number on a first come, first served basis. Each person had 60 seconds to speak, and the discussion was moderated by Wallingford Community Council’s past president, Eric Fisk. In the span of an hour, only 12 issues could be covered. Of the 12 issues raised by individuals in the room, there were only two that specific to Wallingford. Here’s what the other nine were about:
- 3 people from the Lake Union Live Aboard Association raised the issue of the Master Shoreline Plan, which Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development has updated in September to protect the shoreline and waterways on Lake Union. The three women in attendance appealed to the Mayor to not grandfather in any “vessels” that were basically “floating homes” (not houseboats).
- One person stressed the need for getting a crosswalk installed on N. 34th Street at Troll Avenue, in Fremont.
- Two individuals from Stand Up America, whom, I learned, come to every one of these Town Hall Meetings and ask the Mayor why he won’t put forth legislation so that every single elected official, from the Mayor to Judges, hold Town Hall meetings to answer to the public.
- Two residents from Phinney Ridge live close to the Woodland Park Zoo and are concerned about parking in the neighborhood when the Zoo puts on its 40 day-long “Wild Lights” celebration in December.
- One Wedgwood resident raised the issue of Seattle Public Schools’ proposal to build an additional elementary school on playfields at Thornton Creek.
- Suzie Burke of Fremont used her 60 seconds to reiterate the need for the crosswalk on N. 34th at Troll Way, as well as the need for the Mayor to address the Lake Union Liveaboard Association’s concerns about the Shoreline Master Plan.
Finally, the two issues concerning Wallingford proper were about:
- The encampments at I-5 at 7th Avenue and the public drunkeness along N. 50th St. between I-5 at the 50th Street Market/7-11 close to Sunnyside Avenue. A resident was asking what could be done about individuals who would come on to his property to sit on his swing or use to urinate or defecate in his yard. Many neighbors complained of similar behavior and of stolen items like lawn furniture. The Mayor told him to phone 911. “They need to hear and log the information which they can use to identify the need for intervention.” “I’m not going to say I’ve got a panacea. We will clear out illegal encampments but we need your help to report.”
- Debbi Larson of Seattle Bank (behind Tutta Bella) raised the issue of the corner of Stone Way at N. 44th St. With the current construction of a new building taking place on the west side of Stone Way, there are barricades impeding the safety of the corner and the visibility of pedestrians by motorists. One person in a wheelchair was struck by a Metro Bus and thrown 30 feet into the air at that corner.
Were you at the Mayor’s Town Hall meeting yesterday? Were you disappointed in the lack of Wallingford content, or did you go into the meeting with the expectation since the meeting was open to everyone, issues from everywhere else would be addressed? Did you have a question that you wish you had asked? If so, please post it in the comments section.
I did not go because the last mayors meeting I was asked to attend.. a couple years ago.. to talk about the homeless site at a local church was so packed and so many issues broached, none about my concern, I was disillusioned and will nto go to anohter one. Also, we lost re the Green over-variance height building .. so my own concerns have been over-run.
I wasn’t able to attend but I’m glad someone brought up the challenges along N 50th. Did the Mayor at least mention the Alcohol Impact Area? My experience was that the drunkenness on the Wallingford side of I-5 got a lot worse after the U District Alcohol Impact Area was extended west to Latona.
Comment from the moderator (me): I think the problem was that people spoke in the order they showed up, instead of in random order. Randomized order would stop rewarding the crackpots that show up an hour early to every meeting and then monopolize time. It would also break up the questions so they are not about a single issue (for instance, where a group comes together and gets question cards 4, 5, 6, and 7).
Anyhow, I apologize for how the Q&A went, and I agree it was mostly a waste of time. I wrote to the mayor’s office in the hope that the same mistakes won’t be made at the next town hall.
They’re crackpots??!! And you’re the moderator?!
Welcome to Wallingford.
Steve
@Dennis, the gentleman who spoke was very thorough in his presentation (and I’m glad he got adequate time to speak given that this was toward the tail end of the meeting and the Mayor was rushed to leave). He said the encampment had been in place on I-5 at 7th Ave. for the last 10 years and when he acknowledged that while the police would intermittently show up to do a sweep, they were told they really couldn’t do much to intervene or split up the encampment. He also mentioned the AIA though the Mayor was making more of the point that homelessness and encampments have been on the rise during the recession (citing additional “newer” encampments like Occidental Park and other places downtown).
I spoke with Janet Strong afterwards who also lives in the area most affected by this problem. She told me that she had talked to someone about having a discussion with the distributors of high octane beverages (instead of the store owners, which I know has already come to pass without success). She heard that this has been done before in other areas and that the distributors seem to be much more amenable to banning these beverages in certain areas. I really hope this helps!
@Steve,I don’t think Eric was calling all of the people who spoke “crackpots”. But the two gentlemen who spoke on behalf for “Stand Up America” were pretty disruptive and didn’t seem to want to engage in a community forum. For one thing, they were invited to come up to the room after they spent over a minute complaining that they weren’t allowed to be filmed on camera (they were filmed); and then they spent another several minutes asking the Mayor why he wouldn’t pass legislation to hold each and every public official accountable for hosting Town Hall meetings. Clearly, this monopolized the time that could have been spent discussing issues closer to home.
@Eric, you shouldn’t apologize for how it went down. I, for one, appreciated the fact that you were trying to move things along.
Thanks Margaret!
I was number 20 and did not get to ask the mayor my question at the the townhall meeting. I sent an email message and I hope the Mayor will respond. Although the meeting was not what I had hoped for I did enjoy the colorful characters and listening to the people who brought their neighborhood concerns to the mayor’s attention. When is the next Wallingford townhall meeting? Thank you Eric!
I was disappointed that more general Wallingford community issues did not get raised, partly my fault for not getting a number sooner.
There is much opportunity for volunteers to come together to help Wallingford meet community needs. The Neighborhood Office is closing. Some activities of the Wallingford Chamber will be held at the Wallingford Community Senior Center (WCSC) in the Good Shepherd Building. I am on the board there and we need more help to continue the wide ranging programs of WCSC and expand the group’s efforts to reach out to all ages and provide a model for community support. Feel free to contact [email protected] or me if you want to get involved.
Regarding I-5 encampments, WSDOT is responsible for areas along, under and over the freeway and they seem to have adopted a tolerance policy for encampments all along the Seattle corridor. Sometimes I think the department installed the chain-link fencing at the interchanges so SPD can protect the bums!
Lots of other cities across the U.S. have figured out a way to swap a few rights of the ‘homeless population’ to do whatever the heck they want for my right to feel safe walking around in my neighborhood, but poor Seattle can’t seem to face up to the problem.
Only WSDOT can force the SPD to respond to the I-5 encampments in a meaningful way. I start contacting them every year when the days get shorter and crossing I-5 overpasses on foot feels a lot scarier. Same with METRO and their bus shelters.
I just want to clarify what my statement at the town hall was about. I was actually addressing the concern with the corner at 44th and Stone next to Tutta Bella’s parking lot where the complex is being built.
The comment about the smp only one of the ladies was in favor of not grandfathering vessels. Everyone else was in favor. As to Wallingford issues GWP Marina is in Wallingford and has as much right to speak as anyone else. Just because it is not your issue it is ours.
The folks who spoke about the shoreline master plan were not representing the Lake Union Live Aboard Assn. We live at Gasworks Park Marina, which is in Wallingford. (I notice that the masthead photo is of Gasworks Park). The speakers were not asking that no vessels be ‘grandfathered’ but that the rules enacted by the City be fair and equally applied. Only one of the speakers, who identified herself as not part of the majority opinion, spoke in favor of the new rules, and as far as we can tell, this person is minority of one.
Hi, my name’s Robert Cruickshank and I work in the mayor’s office. I’m also a Wallingford resident, living on Wallingford Ave near Gas Works Park. I wasn’t able to attend the town hall on Saturday, unfortunately, but thank you to everyone who did attend. Thanks also to Margaret for this great review of the event, and to Eric for moderating, I know the mayor appreciated it. He was a Wallingford resident before he moved to his current home in Greenwood.
The mayor has read this post and we discussed it and the town hall at our staff meeting this morning. These are neighborhood town halls, but they’re also open to the general public, and are listed on our public calendar. It’s not uncommon for people interested in bending the mayor’s ear about a particular issue to organize folks to show up at a town hall. The new state-mandated shoreline rulemaking process raises a lot of important issues for people living on the water, including Wallingford residents like Barbara, and I can understand their desire to have their voices heard.
We also want to make sure others in the neighborhood to have their voice heard. Eric’s idea of randomizing the order in which numbers are either assigned or called is an interesting one and we’re considering it for future town halls, though we may also let that be up to the moderator’s discretion. Our goal is to have a fair way for people participate in the time we have for the event.
We heard loud and clear the concerns about the encampment near I-5 and about public drunkenness on N 50th. The mayor has asked staff to investigate and come up with a way to address those issues, and we’ll follow up with the neighborhood (and with this blog) once we have more to share. We’ll also look into the issue that Debbi raised about road safety at 44th and Stone. The idea of a crosswalk at 34th and Troll is interesting and we’ll be looking into that one too, though funding may be an issue. It’s not technically in Wallingford, but it does affect Wallingford residents (I know my wife has seen people darting across the street there on her way to work).
For those of you who didn’t get to ask a question, I hope you’ll write to us if you haven’t already – go to http://www.seattle.gov/mayor or email [email protected] with your question. The mayor sees every letter and approves each response personally, often editing them if he feels it’s needed, so your questions will reach his desk.
I was going to attend but realized I am a terrible speaker so I wrote a letter to the mayor setting forth three thoughts: 1. City and State should ennacted legislation making it legal to use energy of sun to dry clothes. At condo where I live in Wallingford it is against bylaws to hang clothing outside on your own patio. 2. The No 16 bus at 55th and Meridian is too loud when it accelerates from a stop. Such buses need muffler extensions on the roof. 3. The presence of more transmission facilities on top of the building at 55th and Keystone, above grocery, is sort of alarming. I want the city to issue a booklet explaining how much radiofrequency is too much.
@Debbi, Apologies for the typo (both of your name and of the street number. I had meant to type 43rd, since I thought that was the corner you meant, though, either way, I would’ve been wrong!) I’ve corrected it in the post.
My intent for this post was not to diminish the importance of Barbara’s issue regarding the Shoreline Master Plan, but rather to point out that a third of the hour-long Town Hall meeting was spent on that topic. (A quarter, actually, if you count Suzie Burke’s input). I think Eric’s solution of a randomized selection of questions is a good one and I would like to see that happen for the next Town Hall, so that it gives speakers a better chance at having their issues raised.
I understand these Town Hall meetings are open to the public, and that anyone is entitled to have their issues heard; but given that allowance, I think it’s misleading to call these sessions “XX Neighborhood Town Hall Meeting”.
@Robert, I invite the Mayor to hold a Q&A session here, with the readers of Wallyhood, where we would send him questions from Wallingford neighbors and he would have a chance to answer them (and be published here). Drop me a line at [email protected] if he’s amenable to that.
Lets all remember one important thing about town hall meetings. A crackpot is only a crackpot if and only if you do not agree with what they say.
Thanks for clarifying, Margaret. Maybe a sign-up sheet by topics could be developed. One could sign up to speak on a given topic. The time could then be distributed. It is hard to know if any topics got ignored because 4 of us showed up to express our concerns about the shoreline regs. But I agree that in a town hall meeting the purpose is to let as many folks as possible express their points to the mayor.
Dear Margaret, I read your blog about the Mayor’s meeting and was surprised that you do not consider the Lake Union water shore between the University Bridge and Fremont to be part of Wallingford. I am a member of a live aboard community on the Wallingford side of Lake Union. The Shoreline Proposal is a big issue for this Wallingford community as the new document could potentially make many residents homeless.
I also believe that this statement “The three women in attendance appealed to the Mayor to not grandfather in any “vessels” that were basically “floating homes” (not houseboats)” is incorrect. I believe only one speaker had this opinion.
Here’s an article about the proposed Shoreline Master Plan:
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/15/tonight-an-epic-fight-about-lake-union-waterhomes
From that description, it seems that a number of house-barges were built illegally, and now people are concerned that the law against their illegal house-barges will now be enforced.
The Stranger article doesn’t look like a real masterpiece of journalism. From appended comments, it appears that the SMP revisions introduce some new issues by changing criteria. (The comments also add to the confusion by mentioning condemnation, as though barge owners would be entitled to some recompense through a condemnation process – sure doubt that.) Maybe the informed readers here can point us to better information (rather than wage a predictable and useless Wallyhood Discussion over this matter that most of us have nothing to do with.)
I don’t mean to nitpick, but “one person in a wheelchair was struck by a Metro Bus and thrown 30 FEET INTO THE AIR”? Three stories UP? Higher than the Walgreens building at 45th and Stone? Seems a little… hyperbolic.
To Michael H: It is quite possible that illegal house-barges exist. I”m sure homes on shore which fail to meet city codes also exist. But for the rest of us, who live in vessels which are legal under exiting regulations, the proposed ones are still a problem. They target houseboats based solely on their shape, not their environmental impact , and that’s discriminatory. And to Donn, I would say that a number of issues were raised at the town hall that might not affect huge numbers of people. That does not make them less legitimate. If the government is passing discriminatory rules, you could argue that that issue is important to us all.
You misunderstand – I agree that the Lake Union issues may be at home at a Wallingford meeting with the mayor. I’m just saying, right here on wallyhood.org we’re not meeting with the mayor or anyone who matters, it’s just a few regulars with too much time on their hands who may for all we know live in Colorado, so it isn’t useful to debate this matter with us unless you just need practice.
To Robert Cruickshank,
My name is Lisa De Alva and I live on 50th and am sick of the “sodden brotherhood” (which also includes the “sodden sisterhood”) and the attendant negative behaviors. I and several of my other neighbors have been fighting this problem since 2006 when the Alcohol Impact Area was put in place. The knucklehead who decided on the western boundary clearly didn’t visit our neighborhood in person else they would have seen the 7-11 and 50th Street Market just two blocks away where the street drunks now journey to buy their fortified booze after having panhandled at the I-5/50th Street exit. You say the mayor wants to do something about this problem? That’s not the impression we’ve gotten, especially after having jumped through numerous hoops (at the mayor’s office request, btw) only to be told there really is no interest down at City Hall to deal with this matter. If you’re serious about him really wanting to do something, tell him he can start by extending the AIA west to include those two markets. If the drunks don’t have a source to purchase the stuff, they won’t come. And it will alleviate the urinating, defecating, vomiting and sleeping in our yards and steps. They also hopefully won’t be around to beat each other up, intimidate residents on our way home, set fire to our cars (yes, really, and it’s documented), use our landscaping for their storage units and assorted other behaviors not welcome. Someone downtown needs to take some responsibility for this wrong-headed move and come up with a solution. I didn’t bother going to the meeting because it didn’t seem worth the effort. I think I was right, but glad to see some neighbors brought the problem up!
Perhaps interest group circles could form for a very brief time at the start of the meeting. Each topic group could write a list to ensure all comments/questions on its subject of interest are covered. One, or at most two, persons could be chosen to speak for that interest group. Interests could be indicated when signing in for the meeting.
I suggest this because it seems part of the problem was a time limit on the meeting meant some topics were not covered or voices heard. That in itself seems odd to me. Is it a genuine “town hall” if it doesn’t go and go until the town is heard? We are not bound by TV schedules.