It appears the Seattle City Council may save the Queen Anne Community Center gym. During budget discussions this morning, council staff members presented a plan that would keep the gym open next year. The gym would be available 30 hours a week during drop-in time, and would also be open to the extent that people pay registration fees for basketball lessons and for facility rentals.

Queen Anne Community Center gym

The staff proposal would add back 15 hours of drop-in time to the community center as a whole on top of the 15 hours proposed by the mayor. The City Council must still approve the changes when it votes on the budget later this month.

Mayor McGinn had proposed closing the QA gym next year and turning it into television studio space. That plan fell apart after producers of the television show for children decided to back out in the wake of community opposition.

As it stands right now, the Queen Anne Community Center’s gym is still scheduled to be closed next year even though a deal to turn the gym into a television studio fell through.  But there are more signs the City Council could reverse that part of the mayor’s budget.

City Council members heard more about the proposed cuts to five community centers across Seattle during a meeting yesterday.  Our news partner the Seattle Times reports Council President Richard Conlin expressed concerns about reducing access to the centers.

“I can’t help feeling we’re making a mistake,” Conlin said.

Queen Anne gym

Earlier this month, Councilmember Tim Burgess also voiced support for keeping the QA gym open.

“This is not a City Council idea (to close the gym).  It came from Mayor McGinn,” Burgess told the Queen Anne Community Council.  “You have lots of support not to do this on the Council.”

The Council is expected to adopt a budget before Thanksgiving.  The final public hearing on the budget takes place tonight (10/26) at 5:30pm at City Hall.  Sign in starts at 5pm.

Unless the budget changes, Queen Anne will lose its crime prevention coordinator.  We’ve confirmed that Terrie Johnston (pictured right) and two other coordinators in the city were told they’ll be laid off effective April 1.  As for the remaining four coordinators, no one is sure if they’ll be forced to cut back on their hours or cover larger areas to fill the holes. 

Crime prevention coordinators, civilian employees in the Seattle Police Department, work directly with residents doing everything from setting up block watches to going door to door to warn about recent crimes. They’d been part of the police budget up until last October, when the positions then became paid for with federal grant money that runs out in the spring.

With the help of the nonprofit Common Language Project and communications students at the University of Washington, we take a closer look at what the loss of these coordinators could mean to our neighborhoods.

Continue reading “Crime Prevention Coordinators Face the Budget Axe”.

In the wake of Friday’s announcement that BizKid$ was pulling out of a deal to use the Queen Anne Community Center gym for its production studios, we’ve been trying to find out what the decision means for the gym next year.  The mayor’s budget called for the gym to be closed during 2011 with some extra revenue coming from the BizKid$ deal.  That deal would have added $75,000 in revenue to the city.  But BizKid$ pulled out following community backlash, telling KING 5 they received ”unpleasant” emails from people who didn’t want them taking over the gym.

Today, we learned the City Council has asked the budget office to come up with a new plan to address the $75,000 shortfall within the next week.  But a staffer in Councilman Tim Burgess’ office tells us the mayor’s decision to close the QA gym was unrelated to the decision to bring in more revenue through BizKid$.  Bottom line: the decision by BizKid$ to pull out doesn’t change anything for the gym, other than leaving the parks department with even less revenue.  We’ll continue to keep you posted.

Ever since Mayor McGinn announced his 2011 budget for the city, one of the major arguments in Queen Anne has been over the proposed plans for the gym at the QA community center.

Under the new budget, the Queen Anne gym would be closed in 2011 to make room for BizKid$, a national public television series for children. BizKid$ would use the gym as a production studio until the end of 2011, and possibly longer.

Immediately the community responded with backlash, attending budget meetings and garnering support from City Councilmember Tim Burgess to fight to keep the gym open.

Now that fight has moved to the Seattle City Council website, where hundreds of community members have posted ideas and suggestions regarding alternative solutions to closing the Queen Anne gym, such as looking for another building to use as an income-generator from the BizKid$ program. Can’t make it to a meeting? Tell the City Council what you think here.

The Queen Anne Community Center gym may become part of a larger budget battle apparently brewing between Mayor McGinn and the Seattle City Council.  The fight to stop the gym from closing took a twist Wednesday night when City Councilman Tim Burgess attended a meeting of the Queen Anne Community Council.

“This is not a City Council idea (to close the gym).  It came from Mayor McGinn,” Burgess told the audience.  “You have lots of support not to do this on the Council.”

Gym at Queen Anne Community Center

Frustrated residents and volunteers at the community center voiced their concerns about Mayor McGinn’s proposed plan to close the gym next year and turn it into a production studio for a children’s television program.  That would mean the loss of several activities including youth basketball, toddler gym, Family Fridays, and senior aerobics.  One volunteer said the producers of the television show toured the gym this week and had no idea just how bad the community center’s condition is, including old wiring.

“I said fellas if you think you’re going to put some big t.v. lights in here, you’ve got a surprise coming,” saidvolunteer Pat Barger.  “This is not a done deal and I hope it is never a done deal.”

The community council plans to send a letter to the City Council urging them to keep the gym open and suggesting that Seattle Center be used as a location for the television studios instead.  One community council member summed up the mayor’s plan to close the gym this way.

“It’s anti- Queen Anne.  It’s anti-family.”

The Queen Anne Community Council discusses the mayor’s plan to close the gym.

Councilman Burgess also hinted that the City Council may be prepared to make changes to the mayor’s proposed budget.

“You just need to remember, where are the centers that they’re cutting?  They tend to be, except for Alki, they’re in the north end of the city.  You can see a pattern here of public policy decisions that the mayor has been making that, I’m not going to question his motives, but they are dividing our city.  The way I look at this on the community centers, he’s daring us to restore this money to these community centers” said Burgess.

We have a message in to the mayor’s office to see if he has any comment.

Burgess urged Queen Anne residents to email the City Council, attend the last two public hearings on the budget, and to voice their opinions during regular City Council meetings over the next few weeks.

A proposal to close the gym at the Queen Anne Community Center was met with strong opposition during Wednesday night’s public hearing on the city budget.  Under the mayor’s plan, the gym will be closed in 2011 to make room for BizKid$, a national public television series for children.  BizKid$ will use the gym as a production studio until at least the end of 2011.  Volunteers and supporters of the community center showed up Wednesday in Northgate to tell the City Council they want the gym to stay open.

“Yesterday afternoon the phone was ringing off the hook.  All kinds of parents and coaches wanted information,” said Pat Barger who serves as a volunteer at the community center.

A sign urging the City Council to keep the gym open

The community center gym and McClure’s gym are used by 22 youth basketball teams, and Barger isn’t sure how many of those teams can be relocated.  The gym is also used for several other programs.  Even though the rest of the community center will remain open, Barger fears BizKid$ may eat up other space in the facility.

“It impacts everyone from babies to the elderly.”

The community center will also go from 5 full time staff members to one full time person and two half-time staff members.

Another impact from the proposed budget involves the East Queen Anne wading pool, which will only be open three days a week next summer just as it was this year.

A crowd lines up to speak at Wednesday night’s budget hearing in Northgate

To see more on the mayor’s proposed budget, click here.  

The next public hearing on the budget takes place Wednesday, October 13 at South Seattle Community College at 5:30pm.  The City Council has also set up a  web page where you can submit ideas to balance the budget and vote on other suggestions.

The Seattle City Council has just approved an alley vacation request from the developers of “100 Republican” at the old QFC site on Lower Queen Anne.  The residential/retail project will require a partial alley vacation adjacent to Republican Street.  A new alley will provide access from Warren and connect in the middle of the block to the existing alley.  In exchange for the city giving up part of the alley, the developers will provide several improvements to the site including a public plaza and rain garden.

The developers of the new residential/retail complex called 100 Republican unveiled a list of public benefits today in exchange for the city vacating part of an alley.  The project is going up at the site of the old QFC on Lower Queen Anne next to Seattle Center.

“It’s an important redevelopment on what is now a substantially dead block of Republican,”  John Coney, co-chair of the Uptown Alliance, told the City Council’s Transportation Committee.  “It is going to bring housing onto Warren Avenue North.  We believe that is important because that is another dead block in an urban center.”

The project will require a partial alley vacation (image below) adjacent to Republican Street.  A new alley is being proposed to provide access from Warren and connect in the middle of the block to the existing alley.  SDOT says two property owners on the block support the project, and they are working with a third who has some concerns about how the alley will function.

In exchange for the alley vacation, the developers have proposed a 2000 square foot public plaza on Republican Street and a rain garden on Warren Avenue (both pictured below). They also propose voluntary building setbacks, bike racks, lighting standards, and street banners.  Members of the Transportation Committee voted unanimously to move to project on to the full Council for a final vote.

Plaza on Republican Street

Rain garden on Warren Avenue

The six-story building will house 275 units–studios, 1-2 bedrooms, 10 town homes, and 17,725 square feet of street level retail space. It is expected to be finished in 2012. To read more about the proposed improvements, click here.

Mayor Mike McGinn and the City Council are looking for candidates for the Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB) for terms beginning in January. Members would help shape city technology and city government telecommunications policies.

The City seeks five new members who reflect a broad range of diversity, professional and community experience. Here’s the information they sent us:

The 10-member board advises City officials on issues of community-wide interest relating to telecommunications and technology, including broadband, digital divide issues, open government and community technology applications, online public engagement, and cable television.

Members serve a two-year term, must reside in Seattle and serve without compensation.

Participation in the CTTAB requires attendance at monthly meetings (second Tuesday of each month) and participation in at least one sub-committee that meets monthly. Board members also attend and participate in infrequent relevant public meetings and events.

To be considered, send a letter of interest and a resume outlining your experience by September 28, 2010 to Nicole.Schultz@seattle.gov. In keeping with the City’s “Paper Cuts” program, electronic submissions are preferred, though paper applications will also be accepted.