Nickels Newsletter - September 2005

Dear Friends,

For almost three weeks now, we've been watching and reading about the terrible devastation in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast. The phone in my office has been ringing consistently, with calls from citizens and employees wanting desperately to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Making a difference for those in need

We are working on ways to do that. On Thursday, Sept. 15, we will have a Day of Giving. There will be giving stations throughout the city, at locations including all of our community centers, Pacific Place, University Village, Wells Fargo Branch at 4900 Rainier Ave. S., Kingfish Cafe at 602 19th Ave. E. and more. Visit our Day of Giving Web page for a complete list of giving stations. We will collect only cash and checks at these tables. As evacuees move around the country and get settled in their temporary homes, cash allows for the greatest flexibility in meeting the needs of those displaced by the hurricane. Those needs vary from place to place and include water, food, clothes, and medical supplies and care.

Please come by and donate to one of the four charities we've selected:

Habitat For Humanity

Second Harvest

Northwest Medical Teams

Red Cross

We are also organizing City employees to bring their skills to help clean and rebuild the affected areas. We're coordinating those efforts with state and federal officials to make sure that the help we send is the help they need. Already, some of our Seattle firefighters and police officers have gone down as part of a federal search and rescue team.

Be prepared

This is also a reminder to prepare your own household. We live in earthquake country. Earthquakes could happen at any time, and have the capacity to be just as dangerous as a hurricane. However, the risks and the responses are different. The main difference is that in an earthquake, everyone should take cover where they are. The pros call it "shelter in place" and it means that you need to have 72-hours worth of food, water and medicine in your home. Earthquakes can do tremendous damage to roads, so we can't take outside help for granted.

This is another reason why you should join, or create your neighborhood SDART (Seattle Disaster Aid and Response Teams). Working through Block Watches and other groups, the primary goal is to enable neighborhoods to take care of their own needs for the first few days following a major emergency when 9-1-1 emergency responders -- police, fire, and medical personnel -- may be stretched thin.

To learn more about how to get prepared and how Seattle is working to be the best prepared city in America for earthquakes and other disasters, visit our Emergency Management homepage:

http://www.seattle.gov/ emergency_mgt/.

We'll continue to work to make Seattle a city of strong families, healthy communities, and safe neighborhoods. There are great things going on in neighborhoods across Seattle that will help us reach those goals.

Sincerely,


GREG NICKELS
Mayor of Seattle

Seattle working to help Katrina victims

In response to the terrible devastation across the Gulf Coast, I have been working with our emergency personnel and other mayors in the state to help the affected areas get back on their feet. New Orleans, a city only slightly smaller than Seattle, is struggling to aid its people. Every town on the Mississippi coast was shredded, along their waterfronts and for miles inland. Mobile and the Alabama coast were hit with flooding and wind destruction.

Eleven of our Seattle firefighters, one police officer and one rescue dog were part of FEMA’s Puget Sound Urban Search and Rescue Task Force sent to Mississippi. We are teaming up with our churches, nonprofits, schools, businesses, universities and others, so Seattle can be a strong, effective agent for change. Rebuilding the cities, towns and neighborhoods of the Gulf Coast will take years, and we want to make sure that the help we give makes a difference in people’s lives.
Read the release and find out how you can help

Budget speech coming up Sept. 26

I will deliver my proposed 2006 budget to the City Council at 2 p.m. on Sept. 26, in Council Chambers. You may view it in-person, live on the Seattle Channel or via the Internet.

Soundway open space preserved

We’re often faced with difficult choices, especially at budget time, but this is one instance where we can have the best of two worlds. Thanks to an improving local economy and a grant from the state, we will be able to preserve the Soundway property in West Seattle as open space, and help support three worthwhile community projects: Asian Counseling and Referral Service, the Colman School -- African American Heritage Museum and the Wing Luke Museum. In our 2006 endorsed budget, we had included the sale of the Soundway property to help support these three community projects. New funding sources for these projects will be specified in my upcoming budget proposal.
Read the news release

Protecting trees in Seattle

Trees are fundamental to the quality of our lives in the city. They clean our air and water, cool our streets and homes, reduce noise in our neighborhoods and enhance beauty and nature in our city, but occasionally we must remove trees for safety or other reasons. To ensure that Seattle remains a truly “green city,” I have issued an Executive Order directing City departments to replace every tree removed from City property with two new trees. In my proposed 2006 budget I have included an additional $170,000 for tree plantings.
Read the news release

Breaking ground for Pinehurst natural drainage project

Natural drainage is a key component of our Restore Our Waters strategy to protect our valuable waterways. We took another step forward when we broke ground for the Pinehurst Green Grid project which includes our newest natural drainage program. The Pinehurst project slows the flow of storm water to reduce flooding and improve water quality, and it provides new sidewalks, calmer traffic and enhanced landscaping for the community. This is the third pilot project in our award-winning natural drainage program.
Read the news release

Converting garbage trucks to cut pollution

We don’t usually associate the word “clean” with garbage trucks, but we are converting our solid waste fleet – garbage and recycling trucks – so they will make a difference in keeping our air clean. During the next six months, the 180 diesel trucks in the fleet will have their exhaust systems upgraded to reduce toxic tailpipe emissions, and they will be converted to use biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur fuel. This is just the latest in a series of steps we’re taking to curb global warming and improve air quality. We have already made similar modifications to the City’s trucks and cars.
Read the news release

Sept. 23 deadline for Restore Our Waters grants

As part of my citywide Restore Our Waters strategy, we now have a $300,000 grant program to invite community organizations to partner with us to improve our waterways for fish and plants. Applications are being accepted until Sept. 23, 2005. With this program we can support the work of community organizations by matching cash, volunteer labor and other donations, including land, supplies, equipment or professional services. Seattle is defined by its beautiful waterways and this program encourages people to get involved in ensuring that our native fish and plants can thrive for generations to come.
For details, read the news release

Laying first rails for Central Link

Aug. 18 was a historic day for the future of transportation in our region. We installed the first rail for the Central Link light rail system. The first rail runs through SODO between South Holgate and South Lander Streets. The voters of this region made an investment in light rail, and Sound Transit is making it happen.