THORNTON CREEK/NORTHGATE LEGISLATION

On Monday, August 2, the City Council unanimously approved three ordinances that move forward a daylighted Thornton Creek as part of a new mixed-use development on the South Parking Lot of Northgate Mall. The ordinances implement the agreement reached among the Council, Mayor, community and developers last December by acquiring 2.9 acres for public open space and authorizing the use of this space for creek daylighting combined with a natural drainage strategy to benefit more than 600 acres of area property. The third ordinance exchanges land with Lorig Associates so that the City property follows the creek corridor in the middle of the Lorig project. The Lorig development expected to have several hundred residences, including affordable units, and commercial space, and to begin construction next year.

These bills are major steps towards resolving the six years of controversy - mixed with hard work and progress - around Northgate development. Councilmembers have patiently worked with the community to seek to realize the dream of a daylighted creek. The Council also approved funding for a library, community center, park, and community garden. These projects implement the vision of the Northgate Area Comprehensive Plan, to convert the auto-dominated center of Northgate to a pedestrian-friendly town center with Fifth Avenue as its Main Street. The December agreement added a Coordinated Transportation Investment Plan.

This legislation reflects the cooperation of the Executive and Council and the hard work of business leaders, City staff, and the volunteers on the City's Planning Commission. However, the real heroes are the community members who believed in the vision and persistently advocated for it. There is also a lesson about working with nature, rather than against it. Thornton Creek has persistently flooded many downstream properties - it appears to have been determined to surface. The new project takes advantage of the natural landscape to integrate surfacing the creek with major drainage and water quality benefits. Nature really does bat last, and it's better to be on her team than opposing it.

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STREETCAR ORDINANCE APPROVED

On Monday, August 16, the Council unanimously approved Council Bill 114981, which released federal grant funds to proceed with design and preliminary engineering, as well as funds to explore the extension of the current streetcar through the Chinatown/International District and up South Jackson Street. The legislation did not make a final determination on whether to proceed with either of these projects.

This ordinance is carefully crafted to encourage possible streetcar development while protecting taxpayers. The legislation as approved was substantially the same as the original bill I introduced several weeks ago. Amendments added in Committee provided some opportunities for creative approaches to funding elements of a streetcar, but did not change the basic premises.

After careful consideration, the Council concluded that the South Lake Union streetcar could be a positive transportation element, but would not be a high priority for City funds. The legislation therefore limited the City's financial participation, but endorsed proceeding with the streetcar if it could be accomplished without taking funds from other priorities.

The Council's caution was based partly on the fact that the City is expressly prohibited under state law from operating transit systems. In addition, the study submitted by the Executive and the analysis by Council staff indicated that:

1. The streetcar is of limited value as a transit system, carrying only 30 riders per hour initially at considerably higher cost than a bus on the same route.
2. Streetcars in general have not played a major role in stimulating economic development, and work better when there are established destinations at both ends and significant residential communities along the route. South Lake Union is already experiencing significant economic growth.
3. These are difficult financial times for the City, and it is important to focus scarce resources in highly cost effective areas. Many neighborhoods have important transportation projects, and the Council must serve as steward for the entire city.
4. Streetcars are most useful as part of a connected network that can serve multiple destinations while minimizing transfers.

However, balancing these cautions were some good reasons to consider moving ahead:

1. Streetcars can be a good transit connection, especially if a network can be developed, and, like most fixed rail, can attract new riders.
2. The South Lake Union Streetcar will be a helpful amenity, and will support the development there.
3. There is strong support from a number of business and property owners in the neighborhood, who are willing to participate in funding the line.
4. The South Lake Union Streetcar appears to be popular with state and federal funders, and the Mayor's Office has identified a number of grants for the project, including the $3 million in federal funding that will be used for the preliminary design and engineering.

Reflecting these two perspectives, the legislation included the following components:

1. The City will conduct a Special Benefits Study to determine the distribution of benefits from a streetcar to property owners in South Lake Union, which can be the basis for assessments to property owners for the construction cost.
2. The City will not financially contribute to the design, engineering, construction or other capital costs.
3. City General Fund dollars will not be used to fund operations and maintenance, except developer fees or other sources that are specifically devised to pay for the streetcar and are consistent with City policy.
4. New Metro service hours can be used to fund operations only to the extent that they are a cost-effective use. Existing service hours may not be redeployed.
5. In order to foster a streetcar network, funds were allocated to begin review of two possible extensions.

The Council balanced our concerns about limited local government funds with these opportunities and possibilities, and came up with what one observer called a 'Solomonic decision' to move forward, but with clear limitations on City involvement.

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GET ENGAGED PROGRAM MADE PERMANENT

On Monday, August 16, the Council unanimously approved legislation making the 'Get Engaged' program permanent. This cooperative program between the City and the YMCA places young people on City Boards and Commissions. The YMCA recruits the participants and provides training and support, while the City offers special one-year positions on the Boards and Commissions and partially funds the YMCA support work.

I sponsored this very successful program as a pilot two years ago. Participants have learned about city government, made policy contributions, and in many cases have applied for regular positions on the Boards and Commissions they have served on. I am pleased that the Mayor recommended making the program permanent. We will only have a healthy democracy by finding many ways to ensure the involvement and commitment of young people to the democratic process.

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BICYCLE CHARETTES

Seattle has some great bicycle facilities, and a formal commitment to bicycling as part of our Comprehensive Plan and our Transportation Strategic Plan. However, there are gaps in the network of bicycle paths and lanes, and opportunities to make bicycling safer and more convenient, sometimes at minimal cost. My office, in cooperation with bicycling organizations and Transportation Department staff, is sponsoring design charettes on September 14 and October 12, to engage the bicycling community in identifying priorities for actions.

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MONORAIL RECALL INITIATIVE

'Monorail Recall' is sponsoring an initiative that would prevent the use of the City's rights-of-way for new monorail facilities. The effect of the initiative would be to make it impossible to construct the Ballard to West Seattle Green Line. The organization collected some 34,000 signatures, and has been certified for the November ballot by King County Elections.

Ironically, the Seattle Monorail Project has gone to court to prevent this vote, transforming itself from David to Goliath. Their fear of the voters was signaled when monorail proponents wrote legislation authorizing the Seattle Monorail Project that required only 1% of the registered voters to sign a petition to put the measure on the ballot - but 15 times that number to put a recall on the ballot. Interestingly, despite the criticism of the City Council by monorail proponents, the Council never challenged either of the monorail initiatives, even though they clearly violated court rulings on proper subjects for an initiative (for example, Initiative 53 mandated the appropriation of $6 million - courts have always ruled that you cannot appropriate funds by initiative).

While I have not taken a position on this initiative, it is the clear duty of the City Council to forward it to King County for the November ballot. We have only three choices: to adopt the initiative, to send it to the ballot, or to propose an alternative to join it on the ballot. For that reason, I voted to send it on to the ballot, but a majority of the Council has yet to do so, largely because a judge has ruled that the initiative is not legally appropriate.

An Appeals Court has agreed to an expedited hearing on this ruling, to be held on September 8. If the lower court is reversed (and a number of legal experts believe that it was a deeply flawed opinion), then citizens can expect to vote on the monorail again this November.

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QUOTE
"The ideal pattern for American local government is the town meeting, in which all important decisions are made in public and every citizen has a voice."

--Jonathan Barnett

DEEP THOUGHT:
"In the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver."

--Martin Luther

Citizen participation and engagement are critical for maintaining democracy -- fostering it is a key task of elected officials. It's my hope that this newsletter will inform you about issues, inspire you to get involved, and that together we can make things work better in this great city. Please send me your feedback, so we can keep things lively, interesting, and useful. And please forward it along to friends who might be interested. You can get more information or send me feedback through the City Council website at http://cityofseattle.net/council/

Richard Conlin
Your Seattle City Councilmember

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