Mayor Hitting the Green Stuff

There was chuckling on the Georgetown mailing list today about a fresh press release from the mayor's office: "Nickels and Conlin Propose Green Fee on Shopping Bags, Ban on Foam."

Many of us were pushing for this action last year when fighting the proposed Georgetown dump. But rumor had it the mayor was not ready to take this stance.

What a difference a year makes! Especially when that year is an election one.

Nickels has been hitting the green stuff extra hard lately, having his office produce 18 environmentalist press releases so far in 2008, versus just 5 during the same period last year.

But personally, my very favorite ridiculous item from the mayor's office this year came via Neighborhoods guy Steve Louie in a recent e-mail to the G-town list:

Hello all, we've been asked by the Mayor's Office to assist with the outreach in getting your responses, which will then be used in developing a Customer Bill of Rights. Please log on to the site below for more information and take a few moments to respond to a few questions. Thanks...and I'm apologizing now if you get this more than once...

http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/issues/BillOfRights/

Steve Louie
Department of Neighborhoods

I actually went and took a look, hoping for a chance to enter some specific requests (like, can we get assigned a tracking number when we submit graffiti complaints to SPU, so we can later find out what the status is, as you can with DPD complaints).

Instead, the only three questions are totally bullshit:

* What does good customer service mean to you?

* What do you think should be part of a customer bill of rights?

* Do you have a customer service experience with the city of Seattle that you would like to share?

I couldn't care less about this "Bill of Rights." The City already knows what it is that they need to fix. They outlined it in this Customer Service Initiative Overview from last fall. Better accessibility, efficiency, and accountability. There--they've got it right there.

I just wish Nickels would start working on fixing the actual problems now, rather than collecting more data on "what good customer service means to us." But then I guess he'd have nothing to promise us for his next term...

"The Original Rainier Brewery"

Sabey's posted the renderings of the Stock House replacement ("the Ice House") on their site and announced a name for the entire complex.

I wasn't crazy about this brand-new old-style building before, but seeing it next to the words "The Original Rainier Brewery" pretty much makes me want to puke my pants.



Sabey VP Jim Harmon points out: "Since original can mean first or historic, or it can mean unique or different, it seems like this is a fine name for the property."

On the other hand, one could argue that since Sabey demolished a building that was historic and unique and is replacing it with something that is neither, that maybe it's not so fine a name.

But, as with the entire project, it is what it is.

A Post That Deserves a Photo (Sorry)

From a reader e-mail:

If you were on the hill Saturday around 6 PM, you may have noticed the brilliant flash of lightning followed immediately by a thunder clap. The apparent strike point was a tree just west of Lawn Bowling Clubhouse at Jefferson Park. The tree had a significant portion shattered and blown out the south side.

One of the VA doctors happened along as I was looking at the tree yesterday. He said a nurse saw the strike from the hospital.

I found it facinating. Results may vary.

Seattle School Board Backing Off on Southeast Promises

Story in the Times today about how members of the Seattle School Board are already talking about reneging on their promises to Southeast Seattle schools.

Some members of the board are rethinking the Southeast Initiative, the district's much-lauded effort to improve three underperforming South End schools: Aki Kurose Middle School and Rainier Beach and Cleveland high schools.

The School Board launched the initiative last year with $250,000 and a three-year plan to draw back neighborhood students to the schools. But as the district staff has continued to propose arts programs, more rigorous classes, additional class periods, teacher bonuses and other extras for Southeast Initiative schools, several board members have wondered aloud whether it's getting too expensive. And some have expressed frustration that the superintendent has not yet identified specific goals for the schools.

There's no budget yet, but district officials have estimated the Southeast Initiative could cost $3 million to $4 million each year.

At a board meeting earlier this month, member Michael DeBell called the situation "problematic."

Board member Peter Maier questioned whether the effort would be sustainable.

"Let's assume this works," he said. "Then the question arises, are we committed to many years of these kinds of resources?"

In an interview Friday, board member Harium Martin-Morris said he is open to backing off the Southeast Initiative if necessary — even reneging on commitments already publicized in the district's enrollment guide.

"I must confess, I have some reservations," he said. "I have to look at that and say, 'Gee, that's a lot of money, and can I use that money in a better way to still help those schools, but help even more [schools]?'"

OK, so the school board is totally willing to just let South Seattle schools fail without providing them with the extra help they need. Where are these people from? I'm guessing they come from north of the ship canal. Pathetic.

And how is it even legal for the district to let the north-end schools put on two plays and a musical every year, while Rainier Beach has to resort to illegal downloads if they want to try to put on a single performance? What is the official justification for all this inequality in services?

After 50 Years of Toxic Dumping in Georgetown, GE Agrees to Do a Study

From yesterday's Seattle Times:

GE to consider cleanup options

The General Electric Co. has agreed to study cleanup options for contaminated soil, groundwater and indoor air at the Georgetown building the company used for decades to build and service aircraft parts.

Solvents leaked and were spilled in the building at 220 S. Dawson St., which GE used between 1949 and 1996, according to the state Department of Ecology.

Until it can get a cleanup under way, the company is running a system of sump pumps and fans to capture and vent pollutants.

Documents connected with the cleanup are available at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/hwtr/foia/index.html, at the New Holly Library at 7058 32nd Ave. S., or by appointment at the Ecology Department's regional office at 3190 160th Ave. S.E. in Bellevue. Call 425-649-7190 for scheduling.

The public may comment by April 25 to Dean Yasuda at the Ecology Department: 425-649-7264 or dyas461@ecy.wa.gov, or by mail.

Clean and Green Event on Beacon Hill Draws 130

Craig Thompson's Beacon Lights blog has a photo of some of the 130 volunteers who worked to clean up the Jose Rizal Park area back on March 15. Thanks to every single one of you!

I swear to God, someday I will help out at one of these Beacon cleanup events. But ever since we moved here and inherited a jungle from the previous owner, I've felt that I want to finish cleaning up my own yard first before helping out with public spaces.

A picture of the jungle before we started cleaning it up (that much-abused willow tree was about to fall over and possibly kill someone):



And after we started working to tame it:



It's coming along. But the ivy continues to be a formidable opponent, especially along the neighbor's chain-link fence.

Introducing the Ice House

Today Sabey unveiled its plans for the building that will replace the demolished Stock House in the Rainier Cold Storage Complex in Georgetown. It will house six shops/restaurants, and they're now looking for tenants to fill those spaces.



Sabey and Johnson Architects seemed to have taken the community's comments to heart -- they came up with a building with the bricks and arches that everyone was asking for. And, honestly, on its own, I think it's kind of cute. (And I'd dance a jig in the street if this was replacing one of the godawful buildings up here at Beacon and Columbian.)





But I still worry what it will look like next to the real deal. You don't get any sense of that from the two photos above, or this crude rendering of all the buildings lined up on the street together. (This drawing includes an old section of wall that may or may not be saved, while the drawings above do not. If they have to keep the wall, they will construct a new building behind it.)



The bricks, very similar but not quite the same. The arches, very similar but not quite the same. I'm not loving it. But I think the neighbors will be relieved that nothing crazy will be going up there. And that's good.

Update: Here's the P-I story about this.