April 25, 2007 - Sally and pre-school children ages 4 to 5 years old share a comfortable morning water painting and chatting at the Neighborhood House at New Holly in South Seattle. The Neighborhood House is a non profit organization whose mission is to help diverse communities of people with limited resources attains their goals for self-sufficiency, financial independence and community building. The Neighborhood House has been assisting families since 1906.

Current Issues:

Creating a Livable South Downtown

Over the past year the City's Department of Planning and Development has been working with people in and around South Downtown to develop a vision for how the area (including the neighborhoods of Pioneer Square, Chinatown/International District, and the northernmost edges of the Greater Duwamish Manufacturing and Industrial Center) will grow over the next decades. Neighborhood plans exist for each of these areas, but with our housing pressures and changes in industry, change is nibbling (some would say biting) at these great and historic neighborhoods. It's important we're deliberate about those changes so that we retain our history, our cultures, and our industrial jobs.

So far, the planning team has looked at land use; the need for parks in the International District; the desire to retain neighborhood character; the demand for housing; and the pressures to convert some properties from industrial into other uses. City staff continue to hammer away at ideas for preserving character, economic development, and zoning heights that bring along benefits for the community. Residents, non-profit advocates and business people have been involved. However, I've heard frustration from many about not seeing their input reflected in the ongoing work.

Concurrently, a developer has proposed remaking of the current Goodwill site near Dearborn and Rainier. Because the developer is requesting a rezone of the property, the project is classified as quasi-judicial. This means city councilmembers ultimately make a decision on the rezone request and the decision can be based only on what's contained in the public record. I can't speak with constituents about the Dearborn project or read media accounts of what's going on there. I do know that this project has prompted intense concern from surrounding neighbors. Privately-funded development of this scale hasn't been seen in this part of Seattle for a long time.

As most of us well know, changes in one neighborhood can ripple out to other surrounding areas with unintended consequences. Our housing market is hot, but might large amounts of new housing in one neighborhood actually delay the development of new housing in nearby areas? With this question in mind, Councilmember Richard McIver and I have asked the Department of Planning and Development has agreed to expand the economic impacts analysis underway looking at how possible changes in the International District/Chinatown and Little Saigon area might impact development potential and market demand in the Central District, North Rainier Valley and North Beacon Hill. There are a great many development projects slated for these areas. We need to understand how the development of apartment units, condominiums and retail space in one neighborhood might affect the markets in nearby neighborhoods.

I anticipate the study to come to Council later this year. For more information about the Livable South Downtown planning process click here.

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Adult Cabarets

Plenty of constituents tell me I should work on something more important than rules for strip clubs. Generally, they're right! However, we still have one loose-end to tie up - where clubs should be allowed to locate in the city.

For 17 years the City had a moratorium on the siting of new strip clubs. A court overturned the moratorium a couple of years ago as an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. Since then there have been no specific rules in place regarding where strip clubs can open. This is usually a minor problem for most of us - until we think about a strip club maybe opening down the street in our neighborhood.

Last spring the Mayor proposed zoning changes that would have concentrated new strip clubs into the SODO area. This was an interesting proposal, but failed in my eyes because it would have concentrated new clubs all in the South End of Seattle. This was an undue burden on Beacon Hill, Georgetown, South Park and SODO. Late last year Councilmember Steinbrueck proposed alternative legislation. Instead of concentrating new strip clubs in a single "red-light" district in the South End, Steinbrueck's proposal would create buffer zones between adult cabarets and schools, licensed child care center, parks, and other adult cabarets.

The Urban Development & Planning Committee will review Steinbrueck's proposal for a potential vote at its May 23 meeting. The proposed legislation and maps showing likely neighborhood impact areas are available on Councilmember Steinbrueck’s website.

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Jobs for Women - Good and Bad News from the Trades

As regular readers of this newsletter know, I use the Economic Development & Neighborhoods Committee (which I chair) to highlight the importance of living wage jobs in Seattle. In May we drilled down a little further and looked at the challenges women face in the trades and construction. These areas provide great jobs with benefits. At the same time we have plenty of women in Seattle who are under-employed and earning less than what it takes to pay the bills. Susan Crane, Executive Director of Port Jobs, briefed the committee May 3 on a study titled, “Building the Foundation” that looked at how women are doing getting into and keeping construction and trades jobs.

"Building the Foundation" shows that although twice as many females in Washington use apprenticeships than anywhere else in the U. S., still only eight percent of apprentices in Washington are women. More disconcerting is that the number of women completing apprenticeships and entering the workforce is down 33% from the mid-1990s.

As you might guess, part of the reason why more women don't get into construction trade jobs has to do with the culture of these jobs as well as the perception of the culture; that it is a "man's world." That perception is changing, however, according to Nettie Dokes of the City Light Apprenticeship Program. Companies are increasingly recognizing the solution-oriented, team-approach of women to get a job done and working to create a culture that is comfortable to both men and women.

The report recommended several areas where women could use assistance. Women could use help with child-care challenges, mentorship, and (like everyone) learning how to budget life's expenses while working in a cyclical, job-on/job-off industry. It was also suggested that better outreach to educate women on the benefits of construction jobs (good wages and rewarding work) would increase participation.

On a related note, I participated recently in the Washington Women in Trades fair at Seattle Center. Hundreds of women and girls attended the exhibition of dozens of industry booths. As a way to help get the word out about good-paying trade jobs, Councilmember Jean Godden and I competed in the fair's Tool Olympics - a cut-throat competition. Jean was a worthy opponent. I was specifically impressed by her knot-tying skills. Nevertheless, I'm proud to announce that I defeated her by having a lower overall time. The event was great fun as well as educational to all who attended. I'm looking forward to a re-match with Councilmember Godden next year.

Sally proudly holds her Washington Women in Trades shirt she received for participating in the Fair’s Power Tool and Trade Skills Olympics where they showed their expertise (or lack thereof) at basic trade craft skills such as painting straight lines, reading maps and measuring boards.

The Fair is a great opportunity for women of all ages to meet recruiters and tradeswomen such as carpenters, electricians, painters and bricklayers, and learn about wages, training opportunities, and needed skills.

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Neighborhoods & Nightlife - Nearing decision time

Over the past couple of months the Economic Development & Neighborhoods Committee has been reviewing the Mayor's proposal for a new Nightlife Premises License.  This new license required of bars and clubs that serve alcohol after 10 p.m. and have a certain density of people possible inside the club.  The license comes with a list of operating standards.  Violations of the standards can earn a club owner a fine, suspension of the license or revocation of the license. The proposal is couched as a response to a few high profile tragedies associated with clubs and wider spread frustration with the high demand for police services around clubs, noise, and the behavior of patrons around closing time.  The Mayor argues that a new license controlled by the City would allow for quicker intervention before problems turn violent.

People in all of our neighborhoods have a right to safe streets and to a good night's sleep. Likewise, we want and need great nightlife to bolster our economy and maintain our quality of life. Club owners are business people who need certainty about the rules under which they operate. Most clubs and residents around the city coexist just fine.

But then there are the handful of other clubs.

There's the challenge. Do we institute a new layer of regulation on an entire group of businesses? Can we find a way to sharpen the tools we have to deal with troubled businesses and not cast such a wide licensing net?

Advocates from the nightlife industry maintain that a license on all clubs places an unfair burden on the vast majority of clubs that run a good business. They also argue that it is unfair to hold them accountable for the actions of people outside of their premises, as the current proposal would do.

Residents living near clubs claim that many of the problems they experience, including noise, violence and litter, would not occur if the clubs weren’t present. A club’s business plan is predicated on drawing people to an area, serving them alcohol, providing entertainment, and then sending them back out into the neighborhood. So the clubs should work as good neighbors and shoulder a reasonable share of the responsibility for controlling these problems.

We've been at this review for a while and now it's time to come up with solutions.  Over the next few weeks the Economic development & Neighborhoods Committee will consider a package of changes and additions to the mayor’s proposal.  I will propose significantly bolstering the noise code as it pertains to bars and clubs. I’ll also propose requiring club security workers to go through training so they can be better prepared to deal with conflict.  Ultimately, we will decide whether to institute the new license or sharpen the nuisance tools we have now.

My committee will work during the next couple of weeks to develop a legislation package. Then on Monday, June 4, at 5:30 p.m. the Economic Development & Neighborhoods Committee will hold a public hearing to get your feedback on the package. You can check out my website for more information and a copy of the proposed changes to the Mayor’s proposal.

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Neighborhood Plan Implementation - Audits and Workshops

In my previous Point of View e-News I detailed a Neighborhood Plan Implementation audit I requested of the City Auditor. I'm interested in how the plans are faring as they near middle age. We built these plans to last 20 years, but the pace and scale of change in some of our neighborhoods has been more rapid than we could have imagined. I'm also interested in whether neighborhood residents and businesses still remember the plans and use them. How are we doing implementing the plans? How relevant are the plans at middle age?

The audit, due to City Council late this summer, will look at what’s been built (hardscape and programs) thanks to neighborhood plans, but also at attitudes about the neighborhood plans. As part of their work staff in the Office of City Auditor has developed a survey to ask how you feel about the subject. The survey results will be part of the full audit report evaluating the City's efforts to implement neighborhood plans.

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Neighborhood Plans Workshop

There’s been great talk inside City Hall and outside since I brought up questions in March about how our neighborhood plans are faring.  The City Neighborhood Council has picked up the question of how to move forward implementation of the 38 neighborhood plans and is sponsoring a half-day forum. 

What: Neighborhood Plans Workshop – Sharpening Tools for Effective Use, Implementation and Stewardship
When: Saturday, May 19, 9 a.m.-noon
Where: City Hall (615 Fifth Ave.) in the Bertha Knight Landes Room

I am co-sponsoring this forum along with the CNC and look forward to a great morning as we discuss ways neighborhoods can take stock of plan implementation progress, build new community connections between neighbors, and ways to kick start new projects.  I look forward to seeing your there!

For more information, contact CNC Neighborhood Planning Chair Irene Wall at iwall@serv.net or leave a message at (206) 784-8731.

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I  attended a memorial service for former City Councilmember Charlie Chong this weekend. I worked for Tina Podlodowski at the same time Charlie was on Council, so I got to talk with him from time to time and observe. Charlie was a great character and a great public advocate. We usually say someone is a great public servant, but Charlie was more than that. He brought both a plainness and playfulness to his work. That’s not to say he couldn’t be cuttingly serious in his criticism of bureaucracy and the “Downtown knows best” attitude that creeps around like fog. It was his playfulness and his cleverness that allowed Charlie to do and say things others wouldn’t. I recall being in the elevator with Charlie just after Paul Schell had won the race for mayor. Charlie told me that had he won, he would have asked me to serve as what we then called a SPAM, a special assistant to the mayor. I was really honored by this idea because a Chong administration would have been nothing if not exciting. A few people reading this will find the idea amusing because I likely would have been working for Deputy Mayor Matt Fox.

Charlie was a great peoples’ advocate. He is missed.

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