Seattle Press on Line - From Mayor Greg Nickels

From Mayor Greg Nickels

May 06, 2003 --

DEAR NEIGHBOR:

I am writing to let you know about the progress the City is making implementing your neighborhood plans throughout Seattle.

Three neighborhoods have been getting a lot of attention lately; South Lake Union, Northgate, and the University District. The plans for these neighborhoods focus on improvements in transportation, housing, and job growth. I agree with these priorities and have sent the City Council proposals to spur development and allow us to fulfill the vision these neighborhoods have worked so hard to achieve. For example, in South Lake Union, we will deliver on that neighborhood’s plan, and accommodate a projected 20,000 new high-wage jobs.

But the City’s work doesn’t just focus on these three neighborhoods. We are working harder than ever to implement our city’s 38 neighborhood plans. Despite limited funding, which has forced us to tighten our belts in all City departments, this year we will invest approximately $55 million of City funding to implement the neighborhood plans. These funds are used on a variety of projects both large and small that were identified by neighborhoods. These projects include:

• The Ballard and Lake City Civic Centers

• Construction of a new police precinct in West Seattle

• Covering the reservoirs at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill and at Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill to create new open space

• Sidewalk and trail construction

Hundreds of smaller projects in neighborhoods throughout the city supported by City funds and matching resources from the community

Thanks to the hard work of community members like you, we are moving forward on Seattle’s neighborhood plans. Neighborhood plans are the blueprint for the future of our community. I look forward to working with you and together, we will get the job done.

Sincerely,

Greg Nickels

Mayor of Seattle

Reader Comments

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Charlie Mas	Aug 04, 2003	Beacon Hill	Financial Advisor
Mayor Nickels would like to take credit for a few items off neighborhood to-do lists, but he doesn't deserve the credit. The money for many of these projects came from levies passed by Seattle voters. The community centers are paid for by a levy that spent half of its money on the Opera House remodel. The reservoir lids are paid for by the Pro-Parks levy. I'm surprised he didn't take credit for new library construction paid for by the library construction levy. He talks about $55 million for neighborhood plans as if it were a lot of money. How much levy money does that $55 million include? How much money for downtown projects (Central Library, Opera House, Seattle Center) does that include? How much money for boondoggle projects (light rail, South Lake Union streetcar) is included in that amount? And how much of it is discretionary spending by the City to fulfill neighborhood plans developed by volunteer citizens within the neighborhoods? The mayor is trying to excuse his attempts to subvert the neighborhood planning process in three high profile cases - the only ones he has interjected himself into - by pointing to a few unrelated projects moving forward while sidestepping his administration's failure to move forward on every other neighborhood plan. Who does he think he's kidding with these weak and disingenuous deceptions? Lies like this just make me mad. If he wants to change a few neighborhood plans to favor big players and ignore the rest then he should just do it and be honest about it. He should be grown up and secure enough to speak the truth instead of telling lies and half truths. If he really believed that neighborhood plans were the blueprint for the future of our community then he would be working to fulfill them instead of working to subvert them. he wouldn't be taking credit for leadership and sacrifice provided by the citizens.


Pat	Jul 08, 2004	Seattle
The mayor can't take all of the blame. We in the community need to do our part to bring about the changes memorialized in each of our neighborhood plans. There was a community meeting this week hosed by group wanting to build a multi-family builidng on a surface parking lot site in the U District. This project is the poster-child of what the UCUC Plan calls for: Housing, pedestrian friendly, limited/viable commerical space, use of FlexCars, etc. What did we the citizens do? We shot holes in the concept and the people presenting it. We said we want it to stay a surface parking lot. We wanted it to be a needle exchange. We don't want any more retail. Is it any wonder the U District continues to wallow while Wallingford, Fremont, and Ballard prosper? We have put the uber-opponents in charge of the process. Where are the regular citizens? Where are the pro-housing advocates? Where are the people who wrote the neighborhood plan? We need support those who are trying to help us achieve our neighborhood plan objective, not shoot them down then kick them.