Questions from Highland Park Action Committee Meeting
by Cynthia Scheiderer from The Keller Group
Questions and points raised by meeting participants:
· Would the jail only be for misdemeanants?
· Once you build it, what keeps you from using it for overflow
for felons?
· Does the city currently have any felons in the city jail?
· Are sex offenses all felonies?
· If a homeless person is released, are they released out the
front door of the jail?
· Will there be social services to direct them to services? There
are 8,000 homeless in King County.
· I worked in Kitsap County Superior Court and we had a problem
there where on release people would knock on doors for bus fare so we
started giving them bus fare so they could leave the area. What is the
City going to do?
· Was the Regional Justice Center built to be expanded by a third?
· Can't we fight back to have King County do this? What does
it take to keep the status quo? The county is set up to do the justice
system.
· Could Seattle buy the downtown jail from King County?
· What's going to happen with the big empty block right across
from City Hall?
· The city park north of here, Riverview, has had homeless people
camping in it. It's already a problem.
· What are the criteria for the final site, and will the jail
have other uses with it, like a heliport?
· Was there public input on the criteria to get down to four
and if not, why not?
· Why are there two of the four sites in our neighborhood?
· Can we get the meeting minutes for when you decided on the
four sites and the criteria?
· There are 7 or 8 schools that are close by. Why did you choose
sites so close to schools?
· Will alternate sentencing programs be sited in this jail, so
people who are doing day reporting will come here too?
· Why have you chosen sites so close to residences and schools?
It looks like there are lots of sites on the map of 35 that are a lot
farther from schools and residences.
· How do you define residential zones?
· You have tidelands and wetlands right on these sites. Where's
the water going to go when you build?
· You're starting late talking to the public.
· How could you not include a criterion of not having it 1000
feet from a PeeWee ball field?
· This is not going to bring an upsurge of nice development like
Kent's Regional Justice Center.
· It's right next to greenbelt where people can go camp and hide.
· It's within a mile of two schools, there are many other schools
and parks and playfields nearby.
· Who were the 50 people you interviewed? Who were included from
our area?
· How can we find out the criteria that eliminated the rest of
the 35 sites?
· We're not going to be pitted against each other. None of the
four sites are acceptable. They're all too close to residential. We're
going to stop this, so the city needs to start looking for other options.
This is just the beginning, we'll go door to door to mobilize. We don't
want it, and none of the other sites want it.
· You need to go back and open up the criteria to public involvement.
· If we go with the Eastside cities, does it mean their misdemeanants
will come to Seattle?
· What will happen at the jail location? Will there be a court
there? Services?
· Does the jail have to be inside City limits?
· What about the mayor's priority to preserve industrial land
for industrial use?
· I just read on the West Seattle Blog that Dow Constantine and
Sharon Nelson are opposing this. We need to support them.
· Is there any way after neighborhood input that the previously
eliminated sites could go back and be revisited?
· What about right next to the transfer station?
· It's pretty insane that you didn't consider residences and
schools to get to the four and that you don't have the criteria with
you for eliminating the rest of the 35.
· We need to add parks and playfields to the list of criteria
in addition to schools and residences.
· Bring a flip chart next time so we can see what you're recording.
· Are you considering liquefaction?
· K on your list of 11, the AG warehouse site, isn't close to
houses and schools. Why not that site?
· Why not the federal parking lot on East Marginal Way, E on
the list of 11? There's a bus route there.
· Will you come back to us with answers to our questions and
the information you didn't have tonight?
· If you're looking at 50 days stay apiece, it's going to be
about 2200 people coming across the 1st Avenue bridge. And the viaduct
is coming down. It's short sighted to put it on this side of the river.
You're adding another 5,000 or 7,000 vehicle trips going over the bridge.
· A jail has to go somewhere and it's unpopular and it brings
crime. It has to be at least a mile from a school or park.
· Put it downtown.
· Just how close does the city feel is too close to schools for
the city to feel it's safe?
· Will people buy a house less than a mile from a jail?
· Are there advantages to having a jail? Like increased police
presence?
· We had choices and we moved to this neighborhood because we
chose it and saw the potential. To have two sites right near by makes
me feel the City is dumping on the neighborhood. Does the City think
about what is going to happen to the potential here?
· I've lived here all my life and we've paid our dues in this
area. It's not okay for any of the four sites, but we've come too far
and worked too hard to bring the neighborhood up for it to all be for
naught.
· I'm not clear why it can't be downtown. It would be secure.
You must be able to find a building you can add floors to. It's okay
if it's more expensive, it would be out of our way and it would give
better access to the courts.
· Do you have the comment site set up as a blog, so we can see
everyone's comments, including from the other sites? Or do we have to
do a PDR? It would help us to see what other people at the other sites
are saying.