Due to budget cuts, the Seattle Public Library system has closed down for a week-long furlough beginning today, Monday, August 29 until Sunday, September 4. All branches will also be closed the following day, Monday, September 5, for Labor Day, reopening on Tuesday, September 6.

From the Seattle Public Library:

The week-long closure will help the Library achieve its $3.7 million budget reduction target for 2011. The closure will save approximately $650,000. The closure will mean salary reductions for nearly 640 employees who will not be paid during that week and who are taking cuts in their cost of living adjustments. In addition, the book budget has been reduced, positions have been eliminated and 2010 cuts to branch hours have continued this year. Fifteen branches are only open 35 hours a week.

No materials will be due and no fines will be charged during the one-week closure, and most library services will be unavailable, including book drops, Wi-Fi,  regular programs and events in library meeting rooms, TeleCirc (the library’s telephone circulation service that provides patrons with information on their library account), and text, email or or phone communication with a librarian.

Access to the online catalog will be limited to searching and checking library records, but patrons won’t be able to place holds.

Some online services will remain available, including the calendar of events; the SPL Mobile page; online payment of fines and fees; library podcasts; access to premium online databases, including Britannica Online, ChiltonLibrary.com, Mango Languages, Consumer Reports and Morningstar Investment Research Center; access to downloadable media, such as e-books and audiobooks, songs and movies; and digital collections, such as photos from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Collection, the Northwest Art Collection and The Seattle Historical Photograph Collection; the Seattle City Directory Collection; and the Century 21 Exposition Digital Collection.

If you’ve got some library books due for return, or ones you’d like to check out for a little summer reading, you may want to head over the Queen Anne branch this week before the city’s libraries take a week-long furlough. The Seattle Public Library system will be closed from Monday, August 29 through Sunday, September 4 due to city budget cuts. All branches also will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 5.

From the press release:

The week-long closure will help the Library achieve its $3.7 million budget reduction target for 2011. The closure will save approximately $650,000. The closure will mean salary reductions for nearly 640 employees who will not be paid during that week and who are taking cuts in their cost of living adjustments. In addition, the book budget has been reduced, positions have been eliminated and 2010 cuts to branch hours have continued this year. Fifteen branches are only open 35 hours a week.

No materials will be due and no fines will be charged during the one-week closure.

Most library services will be unavailable during the closure, including book drops (the Central Library’s book drop will close at 8 p.m. August 28); Wi-Fi; regular programs and events in library meeting rooms; TeleCirc (the library’s telephone circulation service that provides patrons with information on their library account); and no texting, emailing or chatting with a librarian.

Access to the online catalog will be limited to searching and checking library records, but patrons won’t be able to place holds.

Some online services will remain available, including the calendar of events; the SPL Mobile page; online payment of fines and fees; library podcasts; access to premium online databases, including Britannica Online, ChiltonLibrary.com, Mango Languages, Consumer Reports and Morningstar Investment Research Center; access to downloadable media, such as e-books and audiobooks, songs and movies; and digital collections, such as photos from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Collection, the Northwest Art Collection and The Seattle Historical Photograph Collection; the Seattle City Directory Collection; and the Century 21 Exposition Digital Collection.

Crisis averted for Queen Anne’s public transit riders. Changes to King County Metro service that could have cut up to 600,000 service hours of bus routes, heavily-affecting quite a few neighborhood routes including the 2, 4, 15 and 45, will not happen.

The Metropolitan King County Council said Friday it will approve a $20 car-tab fee to spare Metro bus service from deep cuts, according to a report by The Seattle Times.

A vote won’t come until Monday, but suburban Republicans Jane Hague and Kathy Lambert — who had been against bypassing voters — said they would supply the decisive votes in exchange for a package of reforms and efficiencies in Metro.

Those changes include: phasing out Metro’s subsidy for the free-ride zone in downtown Seattle, running smaller buses on less popular routes, and providing $24 in bus tickets to people who pay the fees; people who don’t want those tickets can donate the value to a pool of human-service agencies.

Proposed cuts would have seen drastic cuts to Queen Anne-area bus routes. Thankfully, they will remains as-is for the foreseeable future.

You can read the rest of The Seattle Times article here.

Don’t forget tonight’s public meeting on proposed bus service cuts by Metro Transit in the wake of severe budget problems, which we reported on last week.

Metro Transit is asking the King County Council for a temporary $20 annual surcharge on licensed vehicles as a stop-gap measure to maintain bus service. Metro has announced that if the council doesn’t approve the surcharge, it will have to cut up to 600,000 service hours – or 17 percent of current bus routes – in 2012 and 2013.

Due to the dramatic recession-driven drop in sales tax revenues, Metro Transit is facing a $60 million annual deficit between revenues and the cost of providing current levels of transit service. That shortfall would require Metro to shrink service by 600,000 hours of annual bus service over the next two years, or 17 percent of the entire system, which is the equivalent of cutting all weekend transit service or all weekday commuter service.

The State Legislature authorized a tool that is available to King County to help maintain Metro service at its current level: a temporary $20 Congestion Reduction Charge on vehicle licenses for each of the next two years. County Executive Constantine has sent that proposal to the County Council as well as two other pieces of legislation:

• An ordinance approving a Congestion Relief Plan, a prerequisite for Council action on a Congestion Reduction Charge.
• An ordinance cutting 100,000 hours of Metro bus service effective February 2012, the first step in reducing bus service by 600,000 service hours.

These cuts would his Queen Anne riders hard, eliminating routes 2 (north of downtown) 4, 15EX, 18, 26, 28, 45, 81 and 82, and reducing and/or revising a number of others, including routes 1, 2EX, 3, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17 (regular and EX), 18EX, 24, 26EX, 28EX, 30, 31 and 33. Read our previous coverage for more information on how these changes will affect transit in Queen Anne and the greater Seattle area.

Tonight’s meeting is at 6 p.m. at the King County Courthouse, Council Chambers, at 516 Third Ave., Seattle. If you can’t make it tonight, there’s one more meeting at 6 p.m. next Thursday, July 21, at the Burien City Council Chambers, at 400 SW 152nd St., Burien.

If you can’t make it to one of the public hearings, you can submit your comments directly to the King County Council online. Transportation for Washington also has a form letter you can fill out in support of the congestion reduction charge.

Click here for a complete list of all routes (.pdf) and whether the proposal calls for them to be eliminated, reduced or remain unchanged. Click here for a map (.pdf) of all affected routes in Northwest Seattle.

The Seattle Public Library system will be closing down for the week before Labor Day weekend, from Monday, August 29 through Sunday, September 4 due to citywide budget cuts. All libraries will be closed for the Labor Day holiday Monday, September 5. Regular Library operations will resume Tuesday, September 6.

Most Library services will be unavailable during the one-week closure and will have the following impacts:

No materials will be due and no fines will be charged.

The last day to check out Library items before the closure is Sunday, August 28. The Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., will be open until 6 p.m. that day and another 11 branches will be open until 5 p.m. Visit www.spl.org or call 206-386-4636 for more information on Library locations and hours.

No book drops will be open. The Central Library book drops will close at 8 p.m. Sunday, August 28 and will reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday, September 6.

If you’re desperate for library access, the Lake City Neighborhood Service Center and parking garage will remain open. It is co-located with the Lake City Branch, but has a separate entrance. The Ballard Neighborhood Service Center, which is co-located with the Ballard Branch, will stay open as well.

August 29 through September 4 was the week selected for the closure because general Library use at that time is not as high as other times during the year, school is not in session and there are fewer Library programs scheduled.

For more info, visit the Seattle Library site.

Metro Transit is asking the King County Council for a temporary $20 annual surcharge on licensed vehicles for two years as a stop-gap measure to maintain bus service. If the Metropolitan King County Council doesn’t approve the “congestion reduction charge,” Metro says it will have to cut up to 600,000 service hours – or 17 percent of current bus routes – in 2012 and 2013. According to Metro, these cuts would affect the vast majority of bus riders, and could be detrimental to the area’s overall transit service.

“If Metro does not receive additional revenue for the 2012-2013 budget, it must begin cutting service as soon as February 2012. Without more funds, a total of 600,000 hours of transit service would need to be eliminated over the next two years. This is about 17 percent of Metro’s entire system, but it would affect up to 80 percent of bus riders. That means as many as four out of five people will have to walk further, wait longer, make an extra transfer, stand in the aisle, or stand on the curb and see fully loaded buses pass them by. And it will force tens of thousands of people back into cars, worsening congestion for everyone,” Metro wrote in a document entitled “What will happen if the congestion reduction charge is not approved?” Download this document here (.pdf) to view all routes on the chopping block for elimination, reduction and revision.

According to Metro’s proposal these cuts would hit Queen Anne riders even harder than the previous reduction scenario Metro released back in May. Under Metro’s current scenario route 2 north of downtown would be eliminated entirely, as would routes 4, 15EX, 18, 26, 28, 45, 81 and 82. On top of that, a number of other routes in the neighborhood would be reduced and/or revised, including routes 1, 2EX, 3, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17 (regular and EX), 18EX, 24, 26EX, 28EX, 30, 31 and 33. In the above map the routes in red indicate those which would be eliminated, the routes in yellow represent routes that would see service reductions, and the green represents routes where service would be revised for efficiency. You can take a look at the full preliminary Metro cuts and route changes example map for Northwest Seattle/North King County here (.pdf).

The state Legislature already has approved the temporary $20 surcharge, but Transportation for Washington says the bill still needs the support of two more King County Council members to pass.

Metro is urging riders to get involved and weigh in on both the proposed congestion reduction charge, as well as the potential service cuts and changes proposed should the surcharge be rejected. The county has set up three public meetings on the issue, including one at 6 p.m. tonight at the Kirkland City Council Chambers, located at 123 Fifth Ave. The other two meetings will be held at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, July 12, at the King County Courthouse, Council Chambers, located 516 Third Ave. in Seattle, and at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 21, at the Burien City Council Chambers, located at 400 SW 152nd St.

If you can’t make it to one of the public hearings, you can submit your comments directly to the King County Council online. Transportation for Washington also has a form letter you can fill out in support of the congestion reduction charge.

Click here for a complete list of all routes (.pdf) and whether the proposal calls for them to be eliminated, reduced or remain unchanged. Click here for a map (.pdf) of all affected routes in Northwest Seattle.

The June Queen Anne Community Council meeting last Wednesday night was highlighted by a visit from Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct Captain Joe Kessler and Sergeant Paul Gracy – both natives of the Queen Anne/Magnolia area.

The crime rates in Queen Anne remain relatively low, said Kessler.

“Overall Queen Anne is one of the safest areas around,” said Kessler.

Violent crime rates are down only a little from the same time last year, but Kessler said they weren’t that high to begin with. Car prowls and car thefts are down significantly from the same time last year. Burglaries, however, are up slightly.

“Burglaries are one of those tough ones for us,” said Kessler. “Personally, I hate burglaries. Short of a violent crime, I think one of the worst things that can happen to you as a citizen is to have a burglary.”

Burglaries tend to come in bunches and are often perpetrated by the same individuals, so that once a burglar is caught it often brings the number of burglaries down, said Kessler. The SPD has been working with the prosecutor’s office extensively to  target repeat burglars under the Repeat Burglary Initiative.

“We’re concentrating on the prolific guys that need to be in jail for a substantive period of time,” said Kessler.

Concerns over budget cuts and staffing were also discussed. The number of department staff is expected to remain stable despite budget cuts, said Kessler. SPD is firm on not cutting any of their patrol officers, and the current numbers are the highest they’ve ever been, said Kessler. However, increases in overall officers, like they’ve seen in previous years, is likely to stop.

The Crime Prevention Coordinators, who coordinate block watches and other neighborhood actions, may be phased out at the end of this year, said Kessler. It hinges on what the budget looks like for mid-year, but those positions will probably disappear, Kessler said.

“They do an incredible service, and they help the officers out tremendously,” said Kessler. “It’ll be a difficult thing for us to replace that … I don’t know how we will.”

It was encouraged by Kessler and Gracy that residents take advantage of the SPD’s online resources, in particular the SPD Crime Blotter for the West Precinct and the crime statistics on My Neighborhood Map. The King County online sex offender search was also mentioned.

Council Chair Ellen Monrad brought up the issue of the 7-Eleven the sells high-octane alcohol drinks on the hill. Gracy said officers have met with owner to discuss the problem, as well as notify the liquor control board. Stings to try to catch staff selling alcohol to minors have been performed, and they are working on an operation to address homeless buying alcohol for minors, said Gracy.

A few councilmembers discussed the problem of car speeding and drag racing along 10^th Avenue West late at night. Gracy said they would make local patrol officers aware of the situation, and it was recommended that residents petition SDOT for a mobile speed monitor.

After the talk by Kessler and Gracy, the council discussed briefly the elections coming up in September, and Councilmember Nicole Pastarnack volunteered to be chair of the elections committee.

The committee reports followed, including:

On Wednesday Mayor Mike McGinn announced his appointment for a permanent director of the Department of Neighborhoods, Bernie Matsuno, who has been serving as the interim director since February 1.

Most of Matsuno’s career in the public service sector has been within the Department of Neighborhoods. She previously served as interim director under Mayor Greg Nickels in 2006, before Stella Chao was hired, and was also previously the deputy director of the Department of Neighborhoods in 2007, director of the department’s Community Building Division from 2004 to 2006, and participated in the creation of the Department of Neighborhoods and the Neighborhood Matching Fund in 1988.

“Bernie has great experience in the Department of Neighborhoods from its inception,” Mayor McGinn said in a statement released Wednesday. “Her experience will help all city departments engage and partner with the public in improving our communities.”

Matsuno’s salary is going to be $127,950, according to the Mayor’s office, and her appointment is subject to City Council confirmation.

Citywide budget cuts over the last year hit the Department of Neighborhoods, and the community, hard. Back in January these cuts resulted in the closing of the Magnolia and Queen Anne Neighborhood Service Center on Roy, which in addition to providing resources for community members, served as a meeting space for many neighborhood organizations.

After recent budget cuts left community centers facing service and operational cuts, including here in Queen Anne where the neighborhood fought to keep the gym open, the city has been forced to take a second look at cuts planned for community centers citywide.

As a result of much public backlash to the challenging budget cuts, the City Council has asked the Department of Parks and Recreation to rethink how community centers in Seattle are operated. As part of the process, the city is holding a public meeting with the community to discuss ideas for how the centers could be run differently tomorrow, Wednesday, February 2 at the Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Seattle Parks and Recreation operates 26 community centers. The cost to run the centers far exceeds revenue brought in from center programs. Because of the current budget situation, Parks staff are exploring alternatives that would offer continued services for the public while reducing costs, including new methods of management, staffing, fundraising, and partnerships.

At the February 2 meeting, Parks staff will ask attendees to share ideas and concerns relating to community center operations. In the spring, Parks will hold another public meeting to discuss specific options.

The Community Center Advisory Team, which is comprised of community members, representatives from the Board of Park Commissioners, representatives of employee unions, employees, the Associated Recreation Council, and City Council and City Budget Office staff, is also working on a solution to the community centers operations and budget problems. For questions about the public meeting, contact Susan Golub at susan.golub@seattle.gov or at 206-684-7046.

The Queen Anne/Magnolia Neighborhood Service Center, at 160 Roy St, Suite 100, will be permanently closed as of January 1, 2011, due to citywide budget cuts for the 2011-2012 year.

Photos courtesy of the Department of Neighborhoods.

The QA/Magnolia office is one of six neighborhood service centers that are shutting down for good at the end of this year. The others include the Capitol Hill NSC, Downtown NSC, Fremont NSC, Greater Duwamish NSC, and Greenwood NSC. The service centers that will remain open include the Central NSC, University NSC, Ballard NSC, Lake City NSC, Southeast NSC, Delridge NSC, and West Seattle NSC.

Located in each of the city’s 13 districts, these service centers have served as “Little City Halls”, where community members can go to find information about Seattle services and programs, visit their Neighborhood District Coordinator, or connect with other neighborhood-based groups.

The Neighborhood District Coordinator for Queen Anne and Magnolia, Christa Dumpys, will be continuing her work despite the loss of office space. According to a Queen Anne NDC staffer, she is currently in the process of looking for a new office “somewhere in Queen Anne,” so that she may continue to work closely within the community, she said.

The rest of the service center’s staff, however, will not be keeping their positions, and both the Uptown Alliance and Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce, which currently share office space with the QA/Magnolia service center in Lower Queen Anne, will also have to relocate.

We’re waiting for a call back from Christa about how the loss of the service center will affect the Queen Anne community, and will update this story as we hear more.

This is the last week to get things done at the library before budget cuts force the entire library system to shut down until after Labor Day. The Queen Anne Branch and all other branches of the Seattle Public Libraries will close on Monday, August 30th and reopen Tuesday, September 7th.

During the closure most library services will be unavailable:

• No materials will be due and no fines will be accrued.
• The last day to check out Library items before the closure is 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28.
• No book drops will be open. Do not leave books and materials outside Library locations during the closure. The book drop at the Queen Anne Branch will close at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28th and reopen at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7th.
• Limited access to the online catalog. Patrons will be able to search the catalog and check their Library record but will not be able to place holds on items. No staff will be working to process the thousands of books and materials that customers normally put on hold.
• Limited access to the website (www.spl.org). The online calendar, databases, downloadable books and media, digital special collections, podcasts, SPL Mobile app and blogs will be available, but other online information and features will not be available. No staff members will be working to maintain the site or troubleshoot problems.
• No Library computers will be available. You will not be able to reserve a computer for the week the Library system is closed.
• No access to Wi-Fi.
• No book group kits will be sent, received or returned during the one-week closure. Kits will be sent to libraries as usual on the last Wednesday of the month, Aug. 25. Kits not available then will be sent as soon as possible after Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.
• No programs or events in Library meeting rooms.
• No TeleCirc, the Library’s telephone circulation service.
• No Quick Information telephone service.
• No Text a Librarian, e-mail a librarian or chat with a librarian.
• No Mobile Services.
• No parking in Library garages. The Central Library, Capitol Hill Branch and Ballard Branch garages will be closed.

Thousands of people in Seattle celebrated Tuesday’s “Night Out Against Crime,” not realizing it could be the last one.

Earlier this summer we wrote about the Seattle Police Crime Prevention Coordinators possibly losing their jobs next spring due to budget cuts. But the coordinators wouldn’t be the only victims to the cuts. “I think it is important for neighbors to know that the services we provide including block watch, community meetings, security consultations, personal safety and Night Out will be gone,” Diane Horswill, one of the north precinct Crime Prevention Coordinators tells our sister site MapleLeafLife.com.

You can read more about this on Maple Leaf Life.

Two more Parks and Recreation furlough days are coming up this week and next, on Friday, May 28 and Tuesday, June 1, as part of ten unpaid off days City of Seattle employees are taking this year due in an attempt to help fill the budget gap.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has worked hard to schedule furlough days in a way that has the smallest possible impact on customers, and that provides as much coverage as possible. Parks will not take furloughs in July and August – the peak season for park users.

The following facilities and services will be closed on Friday, May 28:

• Grounds maintenance
• Community centers (except child care and late night programs, which will still operate)
• Swimming pools
• Environmental Learning Centers
• Lifelong Recreation (except Food and Fitness programs, which will still operate)
• Business Service Center

The following facilities and services will be closed on Tuesday, June 1:

• Administrative offices (communications, correspondence, Park Board support, web management, public outreach, human resources, finance and administration)
• Planning and Development Division
• Magnuson Park office

All Youth Violence Prevention Initiative sites, also known as Extended Hours Program sites, will furlough today, Wednesday, May 26. In addition, all facilities will be closed on Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day. On both furlough days there will be no trash pick-up, and no bathroom cleaning or maintenance. Park maintenance staff will be on duty on Memorial Day to empty trash cans and clean restrooms.

“We’ve done everything we can to limit the impacts of the furlough on our patrons, customers and visitors; however, the public will experience parks with diminished maintenance on Friday, May 28,” said Christopher Williams, Acting Superintendent. “If park patrons encounter overflowing trash cans, we encourage you to pack out your own trash. We are asking the community to help us keep our parks clean on the few days this year that we are not able to clean them ourselves.”