Today is Election Day. In the “Vote by Mail” elections we have now, most of us do not head for our local polling place to cast our votes, but mailed ballots must be postmarked today or returned to a ballot drop box by 8:00 pm. (Be aware that if you get your mail to the mailbox after the final pickup of the day—even if it is before 8:00—you won’t get that November 2 postmark.)
If you prefer to drop off your ballot and save postage (no stamp is required if you use a drop box), there is a drop box at the King County Administration Building, 500 Fourth Avenue. Other in-city drop boxes are in Ballard and the University District. See this page for the list of all drop boxes in King County.
There is another nearby option to vote: the Accessible Voting Center at Union Station, 401 South Jackson Street in the International District. The accessible voting center is intended to provide voters with disabilities the opportunity to vote on an accessible voting unit, but is open to all voters. There is also a ballot drop box at the center. If your mail ballot was damaged or lost, you can vote at the center, but you must bring identification. See more about the accessible voting center here.
King County is estimating a total election return of about 720,000 ballots, or 68 percent of registered voters. Election results will be reported on the King County Elections website at 8:15 pm tonight and updated on following days at 4:30 pm.
Don’t forget to keep your eye on the BHB Events page to see what’s coming up on the Hill. We’d like to draw your attention to a few of this week’s events listed there.
Tonight is El Centro de la Raza’s DÃa de los Muertos Opening Ceremony. This year’s theme is “A Tribute to Las Adelitas: Revolutionary Women of Strength and Courage.” Dinner is served at 5:30 pm, and the reception ceremony begins at 6:30. Admission and food are free. The Ofrenda exhibit will continue from November 2 through November 19, open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on Wednesday from noon to 8:00 pm. El Centro is located at 2524 16th Avenue South.
At 6:00 pm tonight, Asa Mercer Middle School is hosting a School Superintendent Coffee Chat, one of a series of chats with Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, open to all parents, grandparents and caregivers of Seattle Public Schools students. Mercer is located at 1600 South Columbian Way.
Splinter Dance Company performed at Beacon Rocks! this summer, an event organized by Beacon Hill Music. Photo by Erika Warner-Court in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Then at 7:00 pm, Beacon Hill Music is holding an organizing meeting. They say “There are a lot of possibilities for music on Beacon Hill, including the brand new Jefferson Park with a beautiful amphitheater just waiting for musicians, possibly a beat walk, possibly almost anything. During the next few months Beacon Hill Music will need to pick what opportunities to pursue and determine the steps to turn those ideas into actual events. We are asking you to join in and make stuff happen on Beacon Hill.” The meeting is at 2900 22nd Avenue South (the green house on the corner of 22nd and Forest). For more information email beaconrocks@gmail.com or call Paul at 206-658-3622.
On Thursday evening at 5:00 pm, there is an Art in International Education fundraising event at Fisher Pavilion, 305 Harrison Street (Seattle Center), for Beacon Hill International School and the four other International Schools in the city. The event will feature silent and live auctions, as well as a dinner prepared by chef Kaspar Donier. Tickets start at $35; for more information, contact Dick Lee at rjlee@seattleschools.org or 206-252-0476.
Also Thursday night is North Beacon Hill Council‘s monthly meeting at the Beacon Hill Library. Watch this blog for the agenda when we have it.
The Beacon Hill Merchants group will meet on Friday morning, November 5, at 10:00 am at Inay’s, 2503 Beacon Avenue South. The group reports:
“At our last meeting we approved our bylaws, and as we approach the end of the year we must complete the work that is being paid for by our city grant. One large part of this is being primarily done by our graphic designer Nityia Przewlocki, as she finishes the logo design we’ll continue with the development of a brochure with a walking map, and then a website as well. Another portion of our grant is going for board development and training, and our board trainer Angela Powell should be attending this meeting. While we do have the minimum of five committed potential board members, having seven (or more!) would put us in a stronger position, so please step forward if you think could bring skills or resources to the table and help the Beacon Hill business community. The bylaws and some of the bios are up on the Google group site here. Anyone can join the Google group right now and we encourage members to do just that.”
Finally, Saturday is the Fifth Annual Green Seattle Day. Three forest restoration sites on the Hill will be hosting work parties that day from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm: Lewis Park, Cheasty Greenspace, and the Maple School Ravine. Register at the greenseattle.org website.
The last few weeks have been good for photographers on Beacon Hill, many of whom have been adding wonderful photos to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Here are some of the amazing Beacon Hill images from October. Your photos are welcome in the pool as well, and we’d especially like to see your views of the newly opened Jefferson Park.
Photo by Bridget Christian.Roasted corn from MacPherson's. Photo by Joel Lee.Raccoons are common visitors to Beacon Hill yards. Photo by Bridget Christian.On October 29, Joel Lee took this photo of the Lander Festival Street in a morning fog.The Chief Sealth Trail extension is now under construction from Beacon Avenue to 15th Avenue South. Photo by kashgroves.Strange Halloween decorations in a Beacon Hill yard. Photo by Melissa Jonas.El Centro de la Raza in the fog. Photo by Joel Lee.
It’s official—we just received this press release from the city:
The new 43-acre Jefferson Park Expansion Project over the Beacon Reservoir complex is open to the public with all construction fencing being removed by the end of Friday, October 29, 2010. Parks opened the new play area and tennis courts to the public in August 2010.
The Pro Parks Levy funded park offers unparalleled view of the Duwamish and city with Olmsted inspired path system flanked with trees that offer a wonderful respite from city life. The extensive hierarchy of pathways through the site offer connections to the neighborhood and surrounding amenities.
Additionally, the park offers a grand lawn flanked by a gathering plaza, large open spaces with skillfully placed groves of trees, rainwater feature designed by The Berger Partnership Landscape Architects in collaboration with artist Elizabeth Conner, a large traditional play area, new tennis court with lights, terraced seating areas with vistas over the park, a comfort station designed by Parks Senior Architect Mohan Khandekar and a natural turf sports meadow over the lid.
Fencing will remain around the sports meadow on the Beacon Reservoir lid to allow the turf to fully develop. Fencing will be removed in summer 2011.
The future Beacon Mountain play area, funded in part by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, will also remain fenced off. Construction on this Phase Two project begins in spring 2011.(emphasis ours—BHB)
Seattle Parks and Recreation worked with the Beacon Hill community, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), and other stakeholders to identify the best park features and priorities for Jefferson Park. A Master Plan for the site was developed in 2002 as a guide. Parks awarded the construction contract to Mid-Mountain Construction, and gave them notice to proceed in June 2009.
We got some emails and tweets yesterday indicating that the fences were coming down, so it’s good to hear the official word that yes, the park is open. Please comment and tell us what you think about the new park.
This iconic Beacon Hill landmark is a "troubled building," unable to find a new tenant despite the best views in town. Photo by Wendi.The Seattle Times (Beacon Hill Blog news partner) reports that the PacMed/Amazon landmark building at the north tip of Beacon Hill is a “troubled property.” No replacement for primary tenant Amazon has yet been found, though the building has been on the market for almost three years.
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The Seattle Public Library is raising fines and fees starting on Monday, November 1. Among the changes:
The daily fine for an overdue book, CD, or DVD will change from 15 cents a day to 25 cents a day.
The daily fine for an overdue interlibrary loan will change from 25 cents a day to $1 a day.
Also, all accounts with a balance of $25 will be sent to a collection agency, including accounts for children and teens.
The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and City Neighborhood Council (CNC) are currently seeking input from community groups throughout Seattle as a way to find out how to support the evolution of the Neighborhood District Council system as a key avenue for civic participation in Seattle.
Please take this survey if you are interested in Seattle neighborhoods, and spread the word to anyone else who may be interested in helping strengthen civic engagement in our city. The survey will be open until November 14.
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We see on Craigslist that Salon Nouveau (2805 Beacon Avenue South) has a job opening for a salon coordinator. More information here.
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A couple of upcoming events to be aware of:
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson will host a Community Coffee Chat for parents, grandparents and caregivers of SPS students on Monday, November 1 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at Asa Mercer Middle School, 1600 South Columbian Way.
El Centro’s Dia de los Muertos Opening Ceremony is Monday, November 1, at 5:30 pm. More information here.
Election Day is Tuesday! Get those ballots in the mail now!
Photo by Anita Hart via Creative Commons.Today is your final opportunity to attend a public hearing to give your opinion about this year’s city budget process.
City Councilmember and Finance and Budget Committee chair Jean Godden will join Council Central Staff Director Ben Noble to answer budget-related phone calls prior to the public hearing. If you would like to ask questions or comment on the budget, please call 206-684-0481 between 4:30 – 5:00 pm.
The hearing itself is at 5:30 pm in the Council Chambers, on the second floor of Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue. It will be broadcast live on Seattle Channel 21, and streamed online here. More information on Seattle’s budget is here.
Among the budget’s effects on Beacon Hill is the proposed closure of the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Service Center, along with the centers in Greenwood, Fremont, Queen Anne, Downtown, and Capitol Hill.
After the hearing, come back to Beacon for the Beacon Arts Social, from 7:30 to 10:00 pm at the Beacon Pub, 3057 Beacon Avenue South. BeaconArts describes it thusly:
Come find like minded souls haunting the streets and dives of Beacon Hill. Mourn the passing of our local pub, perhaps write a postcard to support 4 Culture. Discuss application of artistic principles in unused commercial lots. Develop an arts community on Beacon Hill, come short or long. Drink. Be Merry. Or Scary.
Rocco enjoys the view from Lewis Park. Photo by Valerie Craig in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.Dee Dunbar, from Friends of Lewis Park, writes:
The Lewis Park Reforestation application has been selected for the final draft list of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund. A public hearing will be held October 25 at Miller Community Center (330 19th Avenue East). The Opportunity Fund Oversight Committee will be looking closely at community support for each project before selecting the final 15 proposals to recommend for funding. The hearing starts at 7:00 pm, but, we’re asking everyone to be there at 6:30 to show their support. Please let me know if you can make it… we’re going to be making up some signs for everyone to hold. The idea is for a few people to actually speak and everyone else stand up to show the support for Lewis Park.
If you are unable to attend the hearing, you can send an email showing your support of Lewis Park to Susanne Rockwell — susanne.rockwell@seattle.gov.
The Final Draft List for projects to receive funds from the Opportunity Fund has 15 projects with 3 alternates. The Oversight Committee will be making its final selection based on community support for the project. Friends of Lewis Park has asked for $260,000 to hire contractors to restore the steep slope areas of Lewis Park (volunteers cannot work in this area). Combined with the ongoing volunteer work, these funds will enable the restoration of all 5.1 acres of the park and provide North Beacon Hill with a safer, more livable neighborhood. As a Natural Area, Lewis Park will be transformed into an Urban Forest for generations to enjoy.
Today’s loser: Residents of Southeast Seattle who might, had Sound Transit not decided to build an expensive (and over-budget) station through Beacon Hill, have had two more light-rail stations in their part of the city.
Barnett’s analysis appears to be in error, however. She claims that:
…The distance between stations on the south end of the line is much longer than in the central, north, and (planned) east portions of the line: Nearly two-and-a-half miles from station to station, compared to just over 1.5 miles for the north section and just over a mile for the central portion.
However, the 2009 Seattle Transit Blog article in which she has found this statistic is not referring to Southeast Seattle when it describes “South Link.” The existing light rail line, from Westlake south to Sea-Tac, is known as “Central Link,” and is listed on the STB article with an average station distance of about 1.2 miles. “South Link,” on the other hand, is used in the STB post to refer to the extension of the line from Sea-Tac to Tacoma (or Redondo/Star Lake — it’s unclear which version of the proposed line is being referred to here). The distance between the Rainier Valley stations actually averages (very roughly) 1.25 miles.
Also mentioned in the Publicola article is a statistic from the February 2010 Metro/Sound Transit rider survey (also discussed on Seattle Transit Blog), showing low ridership numbers at Beacon Hill station, with only two percent of riders boarding at Beacon Hill. To put the number in context, this total was just above SODO and Stadium stations (one percent or fewer), and just below Mount Baker, Othello, and Columbia City (each of which accounted for three percent of daily boardings). SeaTac/Airport (30%) and Westlake (23%), unsurprisingly, accounted for the highest number of boardings.
More recent numbers released by Sound Transit last month (February – June station activity based on actual boarding data instead of survey responses as was the February survey) found here and here show Beacon Hill Station with more boardings than Columbia City, Othello, Rainier Beach, SODO and Stadium, and more deboardings than all of the above plus Mount Baker, and only a few short of Pioneer Square.
Photo by Anssi Koskinen via Creative Commons.We forgot to celebrate the Beacon Hill Blog’s second birthday on Sunday. The first post on the blog was on October 10, 2008. In our first month we posted about pancakes, dead electronics, presidential debates, and some topics that are still seen today: light rail and garden thefts. Our first crime report was about a shooting at 16th and Spokane in which a 17 year old was shot in the leg after he and his girlfriend “exchanged words.â€
We also posted about some since-departed local businesses (Buggy, Grown Folks Coffee) and some that are still around (Hello Bicycle, and Beacon Pub—though the latter is leaving soon).
Our first Beacon Bits post was on October 17, 2008, and featured Spokane Street construction, cheap coffee in Sodo, and local bus route changes.
