Attendance
total: 60-70 Dina Johnson: Temporary Chair
Ken Knoke: Secretary Betsy Harris: Treasurer
HOT TOPIC: PROPOSED NEW JAIL SITE
Two representatives from the city came to discuss the new proposed City jail sites, two of which are around Highland Park.
The
first site is at the bottom of Highland Park Way and the second site
is on Myers Way. Both will have an impact on the Highland Park neighborhood.
The other two possible sites are Interbay (the foot of Magnolia) and on Aurora Ave across from the Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, near the Haller Lake Community.
The representatives (left) were Doug Cary, City Dept. of Finance Director and a also member of the Public Safety Team, and Cynthia Scheiderer, Public Affairs Outreach.
We
were told that the city needs a new jail to house the misdemeanors that
the city has to deal with. In the past and by state law, King County
has taken on the burden of housing inmates with the City paying King
County to take care of the inmates. King County is saying that they
will not have enough room to continue to do this by the year 2015. The
city is now burdened with trying to come up with a solution, and the
solution is to build a jail. This is "the least favorite issue"
before the Mayor this year, they said.
The City determined that they would need a 7-acre site in which to build
the jail and identified 35 sites around the city that were possibilities.
They eliminated all but 4 sites, using a criteria that they were not
able to disclose to us. They did disclose that proximity to schools
were not a part of the decision making process when deciding what the
final sites would be.
Many questions and objections were raised. Here are some of them:
Why two sites in the same neighborhood?
Why can't the city find a site downtown? (Sodo district was mentioned)
Why doesn't the King County jail expand to meet the expected demand?
Why do they need a 7-acre site? (We were told it was more economical to sprawl out than to build a high rise.)
If the Mayor and the city don't want to get into the jail business, why can't a better solution be thought of?
Why was there no public input? Why did they wait so long to get public input?
Why are the meeting minutes (from the committee who made the final site decisions) not made available to the public?
It seems as if they want to keep this quiet; one would need to be tuned into last- minute meetings that are being held in the neighborhood to have input.
Why has there not been more public awareness about this issue?
What are examples of the "misdemeanor" crimes for which the jail detainees have been charged? (Domestic disputes, prostitution, public intoxication, etc.)
One resident loudly announced: We will stop you! That was startling, yet no one was heard to disagree.
Carolyn Stauffer announced that she had written a detailed letter to City officials and departments, protesting the Highland Park jail proposals.
Several residents announced willingness to print and distribute fliers announcing opposition to the proposal. Several others volunteered to design such a flyer.
After the city reps departed, we decided to hold a SPECIAL MEETING in 2 weeks to address the jail issue: Monday, June 2nd. See the City Jail Proposal Community Response page for information and ongoing organizing efforts.
A writer from the West Seattle Blog introduced herself - (applause) - and announced that she would post a report and keep up with the issue.
Please speak to everyone you come in contact with about this important issue. If you're on a walk in the neighborhood and come across a stranger, ask them if they know about the jail. It's amazing how many people don't know what's going on in their own backyard.
OTHER COMMUNITY EVENTS
Community Safety Meeting will be held Thursday, May 22nd from 6-8pm at St. James Place. 9421 18th Ave SW. Report crime and nuisance issues in your neighborhood, share community announcements and community projects, obtain first hand police reports from SPD and KC Sheriffs officers. Dinner provided. For more information contact Karen Greene, Drug Free Communities Coordinator at 767 0760 or Karen@sngi.org
NEW HPAC SIGNS: Printing new signs to be placed in the neighborhood announcing the meetings was also brought up. It was decided this was a good idea to revisit, as it was dropped when the group was determining where to meet. Now that we have a firm meeting place, we can follow through with it.
| We are still looking for someone to lead our group. Blair Johnson has done a tremendous job and will sorely be missed. Dina has been gracious enough to host our meetings and keep them going. |
Ken writes: "On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone
who reads and responds. It's nice to know the information is getting
out to people."
"By
the way, if you know someone who's thinking about Real Estate and could
use my services, please give me a call with their name and number. I'll
be happy to follow up with them."
Contact Ken Kenoke, Realtor