Tonight’s broadband community forum we posted about a couple of days ago has been cancelled. We’re told it will be rescheduled as soon as possible, and when we know the new date, we’ll post it here on the blog.
Category Archives: Meetings
Library hosting “citywide conversation” at Beacon Hill branch
The Citywide Conversations are part of a year-long process to develop a strategic plan to guide the Library’s growth and services through 2015.
For more information, visit the Library’s Strategic Planning page.
Beacon Hill Democrats to caucus this Sunday
Democrats in Beacon Hill’s legislative districts are holding caucuses this Sunday, March 14, at 1:00 pm. All Democrats in each district are welcome to attend the caucus to meet their neighbors, provide input on the party’s direction, hear speeches from candidates and elected officials, and elect delegates and alternates for the county and state conventions.
To vote at the caucus, you must be registered to vote in the district, and sign a pledge that you are a Democrat.
The 11th Legislative District Democratic Party Caucus will be held at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 Hall, 9125 15th Place South in South Park. Doors open at 12:00 noon. More information at the 11th District Dems website.
The 37th Legislative District Democratic Party Caucus will be held at South Shore School K-8, 4800 South Henderson Street in Rainier Beach (about four blocks west of Rainier Beach Station). More information at the 37th District Dems website.
The Republican legislative district caucuses are later: the 11th District caucus will be in Renton on March 27, and the 37th District caucus has not yet been announced. See this PDF for more information.
Breakfast, groceries, and bowling among upcoming events
For more details on each item, follow the links.
THURSDAY 3/4 (today):
- North Beacon Hill Council meeting, 7:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library (2821 Beacon Avenue South), with folks from the Findlay Street Church in attendance to talk about the development at 14th and Bayview, proposed City of Seattle development guidelines with the Department of Planning and Development, Parks Opportunity Fund info, 12th Avenue/City Light meeting details, Beacon Arts Council and Merchants Association info, and more.
FRIDAY 3/5:
- City Year Breakfast Of Champions, 7:30 to 9am. Meet current members and staff, learn how to join, and have breakfast!
- Green Eggs and Ham, a movie, and crafts for kids at 6pm at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Ave S.
SATURDAY 3/6:
- Blaine Memorial sukiyaki dinner, 4 to 7pm (or 2 to 7pm for take-out), at 3001 24th Ave S.
- Container veggie gardening classes from Seattle Tilth from 1-2pm at Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Ave S. Classes are $60, require advance registration, and run each Saturday from 3/6 through 3/27.
MONDAY 3/8:
- Technology Matching Fund grant applications due by 5pm. Last chance this spring to apply for matching grants of volunteer labor, materials, professional services, or cash through the TMF program.
- The Mayor’s Youth and Family Initiative community meeting, 7:00 pm at Van Asselt, 8311 Beacon Ave S, with former mayor Norm Rice, Estela Ortega of El Centro, and deputy mayor Bob Watt.
THURSDAY 3/11:
- Parks board meeting, 7:00 pm at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Ave S, focusing on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy and a Planning and Development Division update.
SATURDAY 3/27:
- Solid Ground Bowl-a-thon at West Seattle Bowl, 4505 39th Ave SW, benefiting Beacon Avenue and El Centro de la Raza food banks.
- Sodo Grocery Outlet grand opening with prizes and events from 8am to 6pm at 1702 4th Ave S. (There’s also a ribbon cutting ceremony — with refreshments! — the day before at 11:30am.)
THROUGH 3/31:
Process, participation, and progress: a neighborhood planning primer
What is a Neighborhood Council? Â Why should I get involved?
North Beacon Hill is fortunate to have an engaged neighborhood council and to be part of a dynamic, functional district council. The North Beacon Hill Council describes their role as follows:
“NBHC is one of the the major community groups that represents North Beacon Hill to city, county and state agencies. It is the major political body of the neighborhood that works to improve the living conditions of our neighborhood… We work to empower our neighbors to implement the improvements to the neighborhood that they envision, we work to inform our neighbors of issues that will affect our standard of living, and we work to create a sense of community for our neighborhood.”
If you can make it to one meeting, you’re a voting member of the North Beacon Hill Council.  Attend a meeting to familiarize yourself with the issues and people involved.  If you can’t make it regularly, stay connected and attend when you’re able or when an issue motivates you.  It’s even possible to vote by proxy.  We have the Beacon Hill Blog, the BAN mailing list, and the North Beacon Hill Council website as resources.   Get involved!
Who represents neighborhoods?
There are important connections between neighborhood councils, district councils, and City Council.  Seattle elects City Council members “at large‗all council members represent all residents. To ensure that residents of all neighborhoods have representation on the community level, Seattle has neighborhood councils—groups that meet in the community and are composed of residents, business owners, and other interested parties.  Residents and members of the councils elect board members.  Council Boards interact with the City and other levels of government, representing the community. The neighborhood councils also elect representatives to a district council. Seattle has 13 district councils. North and South Beacon Hill are part of the Greater Duwamish District Council. District Council representatives participate in the City Neighborhood Council.
The North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Council and the Greater Duwamish District Council are a key way for our community to engage with City Council members, the Mayor’s office, and other elected officials. They also advocate for our community to receive funds for sidewalks, crosswalks, greater police engagement, and more.
NBHC meets the first Thursday of every month at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South. The next meeting is March 4 at 7:00 pm.
What are neighborhood plans? Who develops them?
There has been active debate recently around the three identical appeals filed to oppose Neighborhood Plan Updates in North Beacon Hill, North Rainier (a.k.a. Mount Baker Station), and Othello. The appeals themselves are intended to address concerns about the environmental impact of development in the area. The appellants and their supporters are also concerned about the process the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) used to create the updates. This is a separate, but very important issue.
Continue reading Process, participation, and progress: a neighborhood planning primer
Connecting: Learn from Lafayette, expand fiber, spur Broadstripe
* * *
Reclaim the Media, the Northwest Media Action Grassroots Network, and the Hidmo Community Empowerment Project are cohosting a community meeting on fiber broadband on Wednesday, March 3rd, from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Garfield Community Center, 2323 East Cherry Street.
Speakers will include: Malkia Cyril from Oakland’s Center for Media Justice, Tony Perez from the City of Seattle Department of Information Technology, local business owner Andre Helmstetter, Scott Durham from Central District News and David Irons of Broadstripe.
* * *
$84 million grant to expand Internet in Washington “The expansion will add 57 libraries, 22 government facilities, 38 medical centers, two tribal service centers and four community colleges.” — Seattle P-I
* * *
Upgrade Technology for Underserved Neighbors (UTUN), a Southeast and Central Seattle neighbor group, has formed to advance internet access in our part of the city. They’ve met often with the City of Seattle and Broadstripe to work out a plan to improving service to residents in Beacon Hill, Judkins Park, Leschi, and the Central District.
Expect an online survey coming soon and a Community Forum with Broadstripe and the City of Seattle representatives Thursday, March 25th at 5:30 at the Central Area Senior Center
(500 30th Ave S) where they will be presenting an update to neighbors about their latest improvements.
For more information and to keep up-to-date with UTUN activities, contact Tracy Bier via atbier@msn.com or 206-227-2369. Previously.
Artists, merchants and neighbors meeting to improve the Hill
Several meetings are coming up in the next week for groups of neighbors with big plans for Beacon Hill. Robert Hinrix writes:
Calling all Beacon Hill Artists!
We’re investigating starting an Arts Council for our neighborhood. While there are some artists groups up here on the hill, there is none willing to tackle the issues of how to schedule and promote the Lander Festival Street. We also want to promote other arts-related events up here on Beacon Hill—how about a craft market, or an outdoor cinema? And we want to create a forum for artists and musicians to share information: about grants, shows, projects, and ideas. Our first meeting will be next Monday, March 1, 6:30 at the Beacon Hill Library (2821 Beacon Avenue South). If more discussion is needed after the library closes, we’ll have to retire to our friendly neighborhood pub!
Let me know if you’d like to be included in future events but can’t make the meeting.
Robert also mentioned in a comment on this blog yesterday:
One thing we’re trying to do up here is start a Beacon Merchants Association. This would replace the Chamber of Commerce which is essentially defunct. Better communication among existing businesses could help them and the greater community. We’re just in the process of forming, having had one preliminary meeting. Our next meeting will be this Friday at noon at Baja Bistro (2414 Beacon Avenue South). Our intent is to capture home businesses as well, so if you’re a business owner drop by to get more info and contribute your ideas. Anyone wanting to be added to the list can contact me directly.
You can reach Robert at roberthinrix@gmail.com.
The North Beacon Hill Council’s March meeting will include a presentation from Findlay Church regarding the development at 14th and Bayview. Another presentation will be given by the Department of Planning and Development regarding proposed new development guidelines for the City of Seattle.
The NBHC meeting is on Thursday, March 4, 7:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library. It is open to all who wish to attend. Here’s the agenda:
- 7:00 pm: Welcomes and introductions
- 7:05 pm: Presentation by Findlay Street Church on proposed construction of church and market rate housing on 14th Avenue South
- 7:20 pm: Questions and answers
- 7:35 pm: Presentation by the Department of Planning and Development on proposed city development guidelines
- 7:40 pm: Questions and answers
- 8:05 pm: Update on Public Safety: South Precinct Seattle Police Department
- 8:15 pm: Community concerns, announcements
Upcoming events: Camp, music, Duwamish, art, etc.
Saturday, February 20th, 2 to 4pm: Camp Long at Jose Rizal Park
Monday, February 22nd, 7pm: Beacon Hill Music organizational meeting. From Paul Ray:
Jessie at ROCKiT space has again generously offered to host this meeting about organizing a Beacon Hill music series at ROCKiT Space (3315 Beacon Ave S., Seattle), on Monday Feb. 22nd at 7pm.
Things are starting to move along in our efforts to try and organize a series of 4 music events over the summer of 2010, performed at the Festival Street next to the Beacon Hill Link Rail station. This series would feature musicians who live, work or attend school on Beacon Hill or groups that contain members that fit that criteria.
Our permits were approved for 4 events, spread out over 4 Sunday afternoons, June 13th, July 11th, August 8th, August 29th, YEAH!
With the dates approved we are at the stage to start taking the steps to make this happen. The next hurdles are paying for the permits and the event insurance (and determining exactly how much the insurance will cost) and getting electricity to the site. But with the dates approved we are ready to start organizing the production of the events, including musician selection, communications and publicity, community outreach, and making plans for the staging on event days, etc. One of our goals at this meeting is to assign some actual tasks to some actual volunteers.
Anyone interested in this project is encouraged to attend.
Wednesday, February 24th, 10am to 4pm: Hanford Steps clean-up. From Jorji Knickrehm:
It’s been a long time since we worked together on the Hanford Steps! Let’s put a little work in, to make sure it looks good and is safe this spring. The weather is lovely and we’ve scheduled a work party. It’s during the week because the Larson Casteel Landscape company has graciously agreed to help us dig out blackberry, and they need to set the schedule (they owed us a little more time from our last grant). We’d love all of you to join in if you’re home from work and have an extra shovel.
The plants we put in last year are doing well for the most part, but blackberry and morning glory are trying to take over again. We need to dig out these invasive weeds while they’re young and weak. The more we dig them out, the weaker they will return. Weeding will be the main task of the work party.
Clean-up is weather-permitting. Jorji is bringing treats! You bring a shovel and/or pick, gloves, a treat for sharing if you can.
Wednesday, February 24th, 5pm: Airplane noise workshop, from Marco Milanese, Community Relations Manager at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (206) 787-7734:
Part 150 Noise Study Public Workshop Set for February 24th in Des Moines
The first in a series of public workshops for Sea-Tac Airport’s Part 150 Noise Study is scheduled for February 24th at Mount Rainier High School (22450 19th Ave. S.) in Des Moines. Doors open at 5 PM, with the program beginning at 5:15 PM. The Part 150 Study will look at ways to reduce aircraft noise impacts on communities. Throughout the study, the public is invited to participate in the solution and recommendation process through active engagement in a series of topical workshops.
The February 24th workshop will include a brief presentation followed by facilitator-led, small-group working sessions designed to gather the public’s input on refining the scope for the Part 150 Study. So, please review the meeting agenda and come prepared with ideas.
February 24th, 6:30 to 8pm: Via Steve Louie, the Greater Duwamish council meeting at Georgetown City Hall. Agenda:
6:30 to 6:40pm — Introductions, Judith Edwards, GDDC -Chair
6:40 to 6:50pm — Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
6:50 pm-7:00 pm — Councilmember Mike O’Brien, Parks, Seattle Center, and Waterfront Planning, Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods
7 to 7:30pm — Q&A
7:30 to 7:45pm — Neighborhood Projects Fund, Judith/Steve
7:45 to 8pm —AnnouncementsPark Safety/Rangers, Brock Milliern
Open
Updated 2/23 with revised agenda from Steve Louie.
Saturday, February 27th, 9am to 4pm: Credit Smart and First-Time Home Buyers seminar at El Centro
Saturday, February 27th, 6 to 10pm: Nepo (A humorous approach to the serious art of living)
Rep. Hasegawa hosts telephone town hall tonight
If you want in on the call but you don’t want to find out if you’re one of the randomly selected participants, you can also call in by dialing 877-229-8493 and entering PIN code 15515.
Following the phone-hall, Rep. Hasegawa will also be hosting an in-person town hall meeting on Saturday the 20th at South Seattle Community College’s Georgetown Campus, Building C, Room 208 at 11am.
Rep. Hasegawa is looking for suggestions on how to make the 11th district and the rest of the state a better place to work and raise a family and, in these last three weeks or so of the current legislative session, help in deciding how to tackle the state’s budget deficit.
Thanks to Joel Lee and Heather Dwyer for sending this in.
Opinion: “Post Alley” or empty lot?
That plan is being challenged. Â A community member has filed a petition with the City of Seattle Hearing Examiner (see the earlier news post in the BHB) calling the update process into question and requesting that the DNS (Determination of Nonsignificance) be vacated. Concerns listed in the petition include construction noise, increased traffic, lack of specific guarantees regarding service improvements, and overall disregard for community opinion and the existing neighborhood plan.
Simply put, it’s a request for DPD to be required to throw away over a year’s worth of community input and other work on this project—essentially starting the entire process over.
“Increased density is a worthy goal… We need housing, employment, and services for our future neighbors.”
Neighborhood, City and transit groups have worked hard to update the North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan in a way that respects the core values of our community and includes the reality of introducing mass transit into the neighborhood. Â Two critical considerations for an urban neighborhood served by mass transit include increased residential density accompanied by increased employment, service, and other business development.
Increased density is a worthy goal for our neighborhood: people should live and work near transit. We need housing, employment, and services for our future neighbors. Â This doesn’t have to/shouldn’t mean increased vehicle traffic—the entire point is that new residents will be using light rail.
If the North Beacon Hill Urban Village is ever to develop, we must move forward as a community. Â Change can be challenging, but it’s also an opportunity to improve.
Get involved.  Learn more about this issue and take action to make Beacon Hill the place you want it to be.  Please attend the North Beacon Hill Council meeting on Thursday, February 4 at 7:00 pm.  Meetings are held at the Beacon Hill Public Library. The full agenda is here and also here.
(Melissa is a columnist for the Beacon Hill Blog and recently wrote about the Neighborhood Plan Update in her column “Walking with Tica.”)