Tag Archives: budget cuts

City Services

Neighborhood Service Center closed, changes coming

Cuts to the city’s budget have led to the closure of the Greater Duwamish Neighborhood Service Center, located in the Beacon Hill Library on North Beacon Hill. District Coordinator Steve Louie will be relocated across the bridge to the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center. He sent out the following letter with information about the closure and the resulting changes to the Neighborhood Service Center program:

Happy New Years. As a result of the 2011-2012 Adopted Budget and Department changes, here is an update on my status. I am currently in the process of closing down the Greater Duwamish Neighborhood Service Center on Beacon Hill and will now be based out of the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center. Now that we are down to 10 from 13 District Coordinators we will be serving the City through a team approach. I will be working with 3 other District Coordinators and the 4 of us will be covering the South Division. The Districts we will be covering are SE, Greater Duwamish, Delridge, and Southwest. Below is more information from our Department.

Neighborhood District Coordinator Program Changes and Neighborhood Service Center Closure: Background and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As a result of the 2011‐2012 Adopted Budget, the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) is restructuring services provided by the Neighborhood District Coordinator Program as well as the number of open Neighborhood Service Centers. Following are frequently asked questions and responses. If additional information is needed, please contact Pamela Banks, Neighborhood District Coordinator Program Manager at 206‐233-5044 or Kimberlee Archie, Deputy Director, at 206‐684‐0463.

DON 2011 Budget Impacts:

  • Neighborhood District Coordinators (NDCs) reduced from 13 to 10, effective 1/4/11. The Neighborhood District Coordinator (NDC) interim service plan divides the city into 3 geographic areas, each served by a team of NDCs.
  • Neighborhood Service Centers (NSCs) reduced from 13 to 7, effective 1/4/11. The remaining NSCs are all payment sites where few changes will be experienced for those who visit for information or payment services; however, co‐locators and those who utilized space at nonpayment sites will experience major changes with the closures of the 6 non‐payment sites.

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Meetings

Tonight: Budget hearing followed by BeaconArts social

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.

Life on the Hill

Beacon Hill library hours won’t be reduced after all

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Miles Peppers Dream Ship sails above the Beacon Hill library at sunset. Photo by Wendi.
Miles Pepper's "Dream Ship" sails above the Beacon Hill library at sunset. Photo by Wendi.
The Friends of Seattle Public Library Blog reports good news: yesterday, the City Council voted unanimously to increase support for library services by $860,000 in 2010, which will allow the restoration of some library operating hours and staff positions that would otherwise have been eliminated.

With this increase, the Beacon Hill library branch will keep its current seven days/60 hours per week schedule:

  • Monday – Thursday, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
  • Friday – Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
  • Sunday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Ballard, Broadview, Capitol Hill, Douglass-Truth, Greenwood, Lake City, Northeast, Rainier Beach, Southwest and West Seattle will also keep these hours.

Unfortunately, not all eliminated hours can be restored, and while Beacon Hill’s library hours have been saved, some other neighborhoods will still have the pain of serious cutbacks. The following branches will be reduced to a five days/35 hours per week schedule: Columbia, Delridge, Fremont, Green Lake, High Point, International District/Chinatown, Madrona-Sally Goldmark, Magnolia, Montlake, NewHolly, Northgate, Queen Anne, South Park, University and Wallingford.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: library cuts, transit, and Girl Scouts

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Will we see a sign like this more often at the Beacon Hill library? Photo by Jasoon.
Will we see a sign like this more often at the Beacon Hill library? Photo by Jasoon.
Travis at KOMO reports that the Beacon Hill library branch could see a fairly drastic reduction of hours under the mayor’s 2010 budget proposal, including closing entirely on Fridays and Sundays. The proposal would also include another week-long closure like the one this summer. If you have concerns about this, now is the time to contact your city council representatives.

Also via KOMO, a story about Jay Park, who grew up attending a Beacon Hill church, then gained fame in a Korean boy band, then resigned from his band to return to Seattle, where his fans have been sending supportive gifts and letters — even spending money to hire an airplane to tow a sign to let him know how they feel. Unfortunately, the KOMO blog story seems to have offended fans of the band, who have left 171 comments so far expressing their anger. (Update: and over 1000 more comments on the same article spread among the KOMO sites it appeared on, like the Edmonds KOMO site. Yikes!)

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The Girl Scouts of Western Washington have two information nights coming up in Southeast Seattle for girls and adults interested in learning more about Girl Scouts. The meetings are Monday, October 5, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm at the Beacon Hill library, and Tuesday, October 6, 6:30pm-7:30pm at the Columbia City library. Potential members and volunteers are welcome. No registration is required; if you have questions, contact JoinUs@girlscoutsww.org or call 800-767-6845.

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Martin H. Duke has an editorial in Seattle Transit Blog discussing tonight’s County Council Town Hall meeting at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club and responses to residents’ concerns about Southeast Seattle transit cuts.

He writes,

“There are sins on all sides in Metro debates, but let’s not conflate the addition of a transfer, especially when one route runs every 8 minutes, with a total loss of service.”

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: old mayo, budget cuts, RIP Tuba Man

Autumn leaves on a Beacon Hill staircase. Photo by Matthew Rutledge -- thanks!
Autumn leaves on a Beacon Hill staircase. Photo by Matthew Rutledge -- thanks!