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Seattle View
May, 2006 - Issue No. 1 - Issue No.
Dear Friends,
Welcome to my inaugural e-newsletter.
The goal of this newsletter is to share what I have been working on over the past month, both accomplishments and news, as well as progress on long-term issues. As the Chair of the Economic Development and Neighborhoods (ED&N) Committee, I am frequently meeting with great people in our neighborhoods as well as in City Hall. Many, many of you are doing amazing work for the city, and I want to share that with a bigger audience. We all can benefit from learning how others are solving issues that affect our communities.
I have been fortunate to receive a warm welcome. I promise not to wear you out with too many emails. Seattle View will appear in your InBox periodically. I encourage all your feedback on these articles as well as any other issues you might have.
Regards,
Sally J. Clark
Seattle City Council
Chair, Economic Development and Neighborhoods
Content:
- Current Issues: Downtown Zoning Legislation Finalized
- Living Wage Initiatives: A discussion of living wages and Seattle
- Economic Development and Neighborhoods
- Councilmember Clark on her first 100 days on the job
Current Issues
Lessons from Downtown about Livable Neighborhoods
Though the legislation passed unanimously by Council in April was framed as being about "height and density," it was really about what we as a community want regarding the livability of our Downtown neighborhood. Seattle's Downtown plays a major role in defining the character of our city. More Seattleites use Downtown than any other single neighborhood, and it's also the place our visitors explore most.
I am happy we found a way to fund low-income housing with dollars that come from the development of new high-rise residential towers. Developers interested in building taller buildings than normally allowed can now do so by paying into a fund to support low-income housing at an average rate of $18.94 per square foot of "extra" space.
This rate was debated at length. Originally, the mayor had proposed $10 per square foot. An independent consultant, hired by the Council, said that this "bonus fee" could be as high as $20 per square foot. Based on my desire to provide more housing for low-income residents near jobs in Downtown, I supported Councilmember Steinbrueck's final proposal of $18.94. This fee could generate approximately 2,600 units of low-income housing over the next 20 years.
I'm also happy that the legislation provides incentives to developers to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards for constructing sustainable buildings, and requirements that will make sidewalks and building faces friendlier. Unfortunately, we're still missing something. I feel like we have not yet found the best tools to ensure Downtown has a mix of great design, pedestrian safety, open space, social services and successful businesses - livable, diverse neighborhoods. Zoning alone cannot achieve these goals - but it is a step.
In the coming year both South Lake Union and South Downtown likely will see proposals to raise height limits. Through the downtown zoning work I learned a tremendous amount from a lot of you and other experts that will help me in the coming discussion about livability and new development in our neighborhoods.
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Living Wage Initiatives
One of my major interests as chair of the Economic Development & Neighborhood Committee is developing employment opportunities that provide a "living wage". A living wage is the bare-minimum monthly wage necessary to: buy food, pay rent and utilities and tuck away some savings. There are different ways of calculating a "living wage", most of which total something short of what I think someone really needs to make it in Seattle. We must start somewhere, and I am committed to making more opportunities for living wage jobs here in Seattle.
To this end, in each e-newsletter we will highlight an organization pursuing living wage workforce initiatives. However, in this first issue I want to provide some background on this issue.
According to a report from the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, the "livable wage" in Washington in 2004 for a single person, working fulltime, living alone is $10.77 per hour. A single parent with one child needs $16.83. If he or she has two kids the wage needs to go up to $22.35. This is according to Prof. Paul Sommers of Seattle University, who briefed Council's Economic Development and Neighborhoods Committee recently. Many of you reading this are scoffing at the idea that you can get by in Seattle for $10.77 an hour and I scoff with you, but, again, his figures are for Washington as a whole. As for Seattle, my guess is you need substantially more just to get by. Prof. Sommers alerted the committee that Seattle's employers tend to recruit well-educated employees from outside of our region. To me this indicates we have people here earning less than a living wage who could move up the wage ladder if they only had the skills. To link to Prof. Sommers report click here.
How about more background. The Seattle Times recently reported that according to Census Bureau estimates 51.3 percent of all Seattle adults 25 and older hold bachelor's degrees or better. Clearly, Seattle is a city that values education and job training. Unfortunately, too many people are falling through the educational cracks. The information provided by Prof. Sommers and other workforce development experts will help guide the work of the Economic Development & Neighborhoods Committee as we identify ways that the City can play a greater role in making sure that low-income people are getting the training they need to get and keep livable-wage jobs. Stay tuned. To see the Seattle Times article click here.
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Economic Development and Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Project Spotlight
In each e-news we will highlight a neighborhood and its community activities and work.
Chinatown-International District neighborhood tour
My staff and I toured the Chinatown-International District neighborhood with"Uncle Bob" Santos, the unofficial Mayor of the Chinatown/International District, and a pack of neighborhood advocates on April 20. I came away awed by the number of people and agencies doing great work and by the depth of their impact.
Participants included community leaders, employees, community newspapers, Department of Neighborhoods staff, City Council Central Staff, and Council staff representing Councilmembers Conlin, Della, McIver and Clark.
We gathered first at Inter*Im's Nihonmachi Terrace, a new model of success for affordable housing. The project created a new community: families, seniors, the disabled and the very low-income residents. It has 50 units from studios up to four-bedroom units.
After several stops noted below the tour ended with a visit to the new Chinatown-International District library branch, followed by lunch at the new neighboring community center. Both the library and the community center are fantastic new places for residents, including youth, to spend time. At the library the computers and multi-lingual materials are in high demand. Both projects are results of voter-approved spending measures.
Other highlights on the walking tour
Earthquake repair on the historic Bush Hotel.
We watched activity at Hing Hay Park. The neighborhood says it is unusable due to drug dealing and other problems, but some are working on the idea of an evening market that would bring positive activity back to the Hing Hay.
We toured Legacy House, an assisted living facility located at International District Village Square One (developed and managed by the SCIDPDA). Then walked around the corner to visit the Denise Louie Education Center, Asian Counseling & Referral Services (ACRS) and International Health Community Services, located within the ID Village Square One complex. We met with Teresita Batayola, Executive Director, and Janelle Jacobs, Clinic Director, International Community Health Services, for a tour of their facility.
Thanks to everyone who participated on the walking tour!
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Neighborhood Meetings with Seattle City Council
I'm chairing the Economic Development & Neighborhoods Committee this year and we meet the first and third Thursday of every month. The second meeting happens in the evening in a neighborhood location. In March we were in Rainier Valley, April was Delridge, and, if this is May, we must have been in Magnolia.
Come share your opinions about what should be done in your neighborhood.
Upcoming meetings:
June 15th, 2006
Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
Seattle Public Library Lake City branch
12501 - 28th Avenue Northeast
July 20th, 2006
Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
5623 Airport Way South
August 17, 2006
Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
Capitol Hill Branch - Seattle Public Library
425 Harvard Avenue East
September 21, 2006
Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
Ballard Branch - Seattle Public Library
5614 22nd Avenue Northwest
You can find the schedule for the other ED&N Committee meetings click here.
For more information, please contact Edna Shim at (206) 684-8802 or at edna.shim@seattle.gov
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Councilmember Clark's first 100 days on the job
More than 100 days have passed since I was selected to fill the seat vacated by former City Councilmember Jim Compton. The time has flown by. Over the first 100 days I have attended dozens of community groups in order to introduce myself and gather information and opinions. I've jumped into waves of information on issues. I've welcomed scores of activists and government staffers into my office to learn about projects. And, despite being involved in weighty debates over the South Lake Union Streetcar, downtown zoning and livability, environmentally critical areas and the new Comcast franchise agreement, one night everything came together in the rescue of a small dog.
On a Thursday night I was driving down 23rd in the Central Area on my way to meet my partner for dinner. Coming down the northbound lane was a little dog on its own. It had a collar, but clearly no owner present. I'm a sucker for a lost animal, so I turned and followed it east off 23rd. I got out of my car and followed the dog down the alley just east of Homer Harris Park. My new friends Michale and Dana and old friend Liza also followed the dog. She wouldn't let us get close, so we all stood there with the dog boxed in between us. With my trusty cellphone I called the Seattle Animal Shelter. A staff person actually answered (this is 7:30 p.m.) and asked: "Is it a Dachsund?" A Dachsund-Viszla mix named Dotty had bolted from a car near Minor and James in the early afternoon. Somehow Dotty had survived six hours crossing streets from Capitol Hill to the Central District. The Animal Shelter staffer put me in touch with the owners who live on Queen Anne. While the owners drove over, we kept the dog from bolting and made nuisances of ourselves blocking the alley and asking nicely if cars and motorcycles would mind backing back out to the street because we had a "situation." While there I also learned that Michael, Liza and Dana were concerned about the boom in townhouse development in the neighborhood and traffic. Ultimately, the dog's owner arrived and Dotty ran gleefully to him. I breathed a sigh of relief as he clicked the leash on her.
Everything turned out alright because a city staffer at the animal shelter did her job really well and because neighbors with no obvious investment in the wellbeing of this little dog cared enough to spend more than an hour with her - and talking with each other. Our city works because people step up to help, to make things better.
I'm looking forward to seeing the next great examples of this in my next hundred days. Thank you!
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