Nickels Newsletter - February 2005

Dear Friends:

On Feb. 7, I gave my annual State of the City address. It's a great opportunity for me, the Council and all Seattle citizens to take a look at how Seattle is doing, evaluate our achievements and make our plans for the future.

And I am proud to say, Seattle is back!

The past three years have been the most economically difficult in a generation. With local and national economic struggles, we cut the City's budget by $120 million. We made many difficult choices, but by focusing on basic services, we've restored people's faith in City government.

And because we can never stop moving toward the city we want to become, we're also taking on bigger challenges:

• We're going to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel that is safer and will be a lasting contribution to this city.
• We're going to put 25 more police officers on the street.
• We're going to do more to help our children and reduce the achievement gap through the Families & Education Levy.
• We're going to promote smart growth by putting housing, parks and grocery stores near transit, so that it's easier for people to live without cars.
• And we're going to meet the Kyoto Protocol, despite the failure of the federal government to act on the important issue of climate disruption.

I'm proud of where our city is, and where it is going. Thank you for all you do to make Seattle a great place to live.

Sincerely,


GREG NICKELS
Mayor of Seattle

State of the City

In the State of the City address, I talked about our city's accomplishments in my four priority areas: Getting Seattle Moving, Creating Jobs and Opportunity, Keeping our Neighborhoods Safe, and Building Strong Families and Healthy Communities. To read the speech, view the video, read about our accomplishments, visit my website: www.seattle.gov/mayor.

A visit with Gov. Christine Gregoire

On Tuesday, Feb. 15, I was pleased to host a visit from our new governor, Christine Gregoire. While she was here, we visited Bennett House to talk about the troubling problem of homeless veterans. We also gave Gov. Gregoire a tour of the crumbling Alaskan Way Viaduct and showed her our plans to replace the viaduct and the seawall with a tunnel. She agreed the tunnel is a tremendous opportunity for Seattle and the region.
Learn more about the viaduct replacement plan

Committing Seattle to the Kyoto Protocol

On Feb. 16, the Kyoto Protocol went into effect in more than 141 countries. Although our federal government has failed to take up the challenge of climate disruption, I announced Seattle will commit to meeting the goals of the agreement and I extended a challenge to other cities to do the same.

To ensure Seattle meets these goals, I created a Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection that will be chaired by Denis Hayes and Orin Smith, and will include members from a variety of other businesses and organizations. As a group, they will set a plan for the Seattle area to meet or beat the goals of the protocol.

I received great responses from other mayors across the U.S. to make greenhouse gas emissions a top priority at the next U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in June.
Visit the Issues Page

Edsonya Charles sworn in as Municipal Court Judge

It was my pleasure to welcome the friends and family of Edsonya Charles to her swearing-in ceremony to the Seattle Municipal Court. Edsonya was my senior policy advisor and deputy legal advisor until I appointed her to the Court last fall. Edsonya has all the qualities we need in a judge: compassion, intelligence and a sense of fairness. The ceremony was very touching, with family members flying in from across the country. I know she'll be an excellent judge.

Resurfacing streets hits six-year high

In spite of tight budgets, the City accomplished a record amount of street resurfacing in 2004. Some of the more significant projects included resurfacing large stretches of Rainier Avenue South, Fifth Avenue Northeast and the portion of Seneca Street connecting with Interstate 5. Our climate can be rough on roads, so street resurfacing is essential to keeping people and business moving.
Read the news release

Celebrating neighbors

Feb. 12 marked the 11th annual Neighbor Appreciation Day. A unique Seattle holiday, it's celebrated in neighborhoods all over town with block parties, potluck dinners, open houses and work projects. Every year, students design special greeting cards for the occasion. This year's winner was Melissa Carter, a fourth grader at Lafayette Elementary School in West Seattle.
View all of the artwork

Helping the homeless

As part of our continuing efforts to end homelessness in our community, we applied for - and received - almost $19 million in federal McKinney Homeless Assistance funds. That money will support housing programs and support services for homeless people in Seattle and King County. The award is about $2 million more than last year, and about $1.5 million of the new funds will go to a permanent housing development for homeless men and women who are mentally ill. Programs like this one, which integrate services with housing, are critical to ending homelessness. The grant will be matched by an additional $35.3 million from other federal, state and local sources, including United Way and private foundations. The check from HUD included funding for the Federal Emergency Shelter Grant Program, bringing the total to more than $19.5 million.
Read more

Celebrating affordable senior housing

King County Executive Ron Sims and I celebrated the grand opening of Courtland Place with a group of community, private-sector and government partners. Courtland Place provides much needed affordable housing for seniors in the Rainier Valley, and created 200 construction jobs during the project. It's a wonderful example of our work to build community and create jobs in this great neighborhood. Many other changes are coming!
Learn more

Protecting boat owners, marinas and our waterfront

Between 1999 and 2003, at least 36 marina-related fires caused more than $20 million in property loss. Of that $20 million, $18.5 million was the result of just four fires - all of which were in covered moorage.

To better protect boat owners and increase marina fire safety, I sent legislation to the City Council requiring the installation of fire sprinklers, fire standpipes and smoke and heat vents in existing covered boat moorage. In addition to the extensive property damage we've already seen in marina fires, the potential is worse: lives could be lost, and fires could spread to shoreline residences and businesses.
Read the news release