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Good Tidings to You
Here is wishing you
Peppers and spice and all things nice
Happy Holidays!
Jean Godden
Seattle City Councilmember
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Lessons from the Windstorm
Experts are calling the December 13-14 storm a 100-year event. Undeniably it was one of the most powerful and destructive rain and wind storms within living memory, surpassing even the Inaugural Day Storm of 1993.
In response, Seattle City Light crews worked long hours (17 hours on/ 7 hours off) to restore power to customers. After the storm, 175,000 customers were without power. That's more than half the city's customers.
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Within five days that number stood at 15,000. Restoration of the remainder, unfortunately, was slower and more arduous. Final storm outage was repaired December 23 - nine days later.
Many, if not most, of the utility's rank and file stepped up to the task. The call center expanded to 44 operators with calls about outages given priority response. As of December 18, most outage calls were being answered in less than 3 minutes; calls concerning other matters (accounts and billing) waited up to 25 minutes. In the most heavily impacted areas, City Light employees went door-to-door, handing out flyers with information about how to keep safe during the outage.
I toured the Call Center that day and discovered most operators had been working without a break throughout the weekend. I heard one woman ask her supervisor if it was okay to go home for a few hours before returning for a midnight shift. Employees were hearing dozens of stories - people whose homes were damaged, people who didn't want to leave pets to go to a shelter, people who were being patient and people who had no patience. One caller told an operator he'd just bought an $800,000 house and he'd assumed it "came with electricity."
One night I visited emergency shelters at Delridge and Southwest Community Centers. Staff at the shelters were preparing warm meals and were caring for several families and some frail elderly. Another night, I dropped in at Bitter Lake Community Center, where Seattle Parks Department staffers were offering van rides to the shelter. At the Rainier Center, those taking shelter had a surprise visit from Santa Claus, who was there attending a previously scheduled party.
In short, many city employees performed exceptional work under difficult circumstances. But, admittedly, there also were foul-ups. There was miscommunication; and there were many things that could have - should have - been handled better. In the days following the storm, I wrote Council President Licata asking for a thorough review. On December 22, the full council met for a three hour briefing with city department heads.
Council questioning revealed a host of problems. Overall planning for such essentials as designated shelters appeared uncoordinated at first. It was difficult to identify shelters that could supply heat, light and round-the-clock staffing. The city's Emergency Operations Center operated on Friday, but it shut down after the winds died down, leaving departments to respond independently.
No doubt communications channels with the public need enhancement. Radio, TV and newspapers covered the story, but could have been more helpful with advice on where to reach help. Block watches, being developed for emergency preparedness, need to be strengthened, especially when it comes to concern for older householders.
On January 3, Councilmember Richard Conlin and I co-chaired a public hearing that solicited citizen comment on response to the storm. Around 50 people attended the hearing. Majority of those providing commentary were Seattle City Light workers who were highly critical of the utility's response. It was characterized as too uncoordinated.
Citizen criticism focused mainly on a lack of definitive information on when power would be restored. Customers felt they were hearing contradictory answers to their questions and a failure of leadership from the top. Most frequent complaint: "After a week, the call center told me that they didn't know my power was out." Others said, "I didn't see a City Light truck for days and, when I did, the crew was pulled off the job before they finished. And we didn't see them for days."
In the aftermath, the council will be seeking answers to these criticisms and check into specific complaints. The city's primary role is to keep citizens safe and to keep the city functioning. This is most crucial during emergencies and natural disasters. We must continue to ask the difficult questions, we must continue to seek answers and to come up with better ways of dealing with crisis in the future.
As always, I am open to hearing your thoughts on this matter. If you have comments to make, please feel free to contact my office (206-684-8807), send letters or email (jean.godden@seattle.gov). Together we can learn the lessons of the storm.
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Balancing Our City's Critical Services within a Sustainable Budget
In the dwindling days between September and November, the Seattle City Council rolls up its collective sleeves, sharpens its collegial wisdom and digs into the city's budget. Many believe - rightly - that deciding where and how the city will spend precious tax dollars is the most important work the council does.
Thanks to a healthier economy, this year's budget balancing exercise has been easier than in recent years.
Three years ago, when I joined the council, economic times were tough and councilmembers were forced to make drastic cuts. At times, it felt as if we were carving past muscle and digging into the bone. Nevertheless, the goal was always to protect core services and, where possible, support programs that improve our quality of life.
This year, the city has a little more to spend. But prudence demands that the council proceed with care. Uncertain times lie ahead. Because of action taken in the State Legislature a few years ago, the city will lose a large share - somewhere between $20 and $30 million - of its Business & Occupation tax receipts in 2008.
It would be foolish and imprudent to hire and train city workers in 2007 and have to lay them off in 2008. My goal for this budget season was to reflect the council's commitment to sustain and protect the city's core services while enhancing programs and projects that improve our quality of life.
Our recently minted budget reflects the City's core values. The following information represents totals for both 2007-2008 biennial budgets:
- $635,000 in 2007 and more than $2 million in 2008 to hire of 31 new patrol officers and a half-time assistant city attorney to serve as a Precinct Liaison to address public safety and neighborhood livability problems with community-oriented solutions;
- $58,000 in 2007 and $73,000 in 2008 for funding Reinvesting in Youth projects to provide one-on-one help for troubled you who are in danger of dropping out of high school and need support to fulfill graduation requirements;
- $50,000 in 2007 and 2008 for funding King County Project Access to provide a link to needed specialty health care and donated ancillary in- and out- patient hospital services for low-income uninsured patients;
- $225,000 in 2007 and 2008 for funding tutoring services for at-risk youth living in public housing;
- $150,000 in 2007 and 2008 for funding Seattle Youth Employment Program, which helps at-risk youth graduate from high school while providing them with the skills they need to find and maintain employment;
- $25,000 in 2007 and 2008 for funding Bikestation Seattle, which provides safe bicycle storage and repair services for bicycle commuters in the downtown area;
- $250,000 for funding to contract with the Seattle Nisei Veterans Center and $300,00 to contract with Chief Seattle Club for services to the City and to the public;
- $124,000 in 2007 and $75,000 in 2008 to expand program services provided by TechNet to increase positive youth development and academic success for disadvantaged youth;
- $202,000 in 2007 and $207,000 in 2008 to fund the restoration of three nights of Late Night Recreation for programs at High Point Community Center, Southwest Community Center and Rainier Beach Community Center, which provide a secure environment for youth to engaged in supervised recreation activities;
- $135,000 in 2007 and $270,000 in 2008 for funding to the Department of Human Services in the Division of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program for legal assistance and advocacy service;
- Funding for a new annual Healthy Aging Award program to recognize mature adults who represent healthy aging and to create a Healthy Again Fair;
- $55,000 in 2007 and $57,000 in 2008 for funding the Meals Partnership Coalition;
- $100,000 in 2007 and 2008 to fund Senior Services Senior Centers, which assist in the support of programs and services for low-income seniors including meals, transportation, health screening and exercise;
- $135,000 in 2007 and 2008 to fund SOAR, a merger of the City's Project Lift-Off and United Way's Children's Initiative to implement and monitor the SOAR action agendas on Early Childhood and School-Readiness and School-Age Children and Youth;
- $50,000 in 2007 and 2008 to fund the Fremont Public Association Housing and Mortgage Counseling Program, which provides housing and mortgage counseling services so vulnerable, low-income families and individuals can maintain housing despite financial problems that would otherwise force them to become homeless;
- $150,000 in 2007 to enable the City to contract with 4Culture for development of a Seattle Heritage Shipyard; and
- Nearly $200,000 in 2007 for the Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch Program to develop market gardens at 51st Avenue South and Leo, replace the High Point P-Patch and acquire a new P-Patch a 25th Avenue East and East Spring Street.
While this short list is by no means an exhaustive measure of the council's final budget package, it represents some of the positive changes the made to the mayor's budget proposal.
I am thankful for your participation during this budget process. The Seattle City Council was able to protect what's most important to us all: health, human and social services and public safety. We will also strive for a budget that is sustainable and socially and fiscally responsible.
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But What Wonderful Times We Live In!
I have a friend who calls the special library number for stories when her small son needs distraction. Did you know you can listen to a story over the telephone? When I was a journalist, I often called the library information line to check facts. Recently our City Librarian Deborah Jacobs brought two members of her staff to my office at City Hall, and they gave us an introduction to the "librarian in your computer."
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, all you need is a library card to get online assistance with any imaginable question or topic. Visit http://www.spl.org; select "Ask a Librarian" from the right side of the page, and choose "Chat with a Librarian." Someone is always available to answer your question or guide you to reliable Web sites or databases that go far beyond what you can find on Google. We emailed a librarian who was in Iowa and she answered our question in minutes. (She was surprised to receive thanks for her reply from the Seattle librarian and a city councilmember.) Our library shares resources with other libraries around the country to provide this service.
The library offers access to more than 60 subscription databases that are free to you as a library cardholder. Databases include 10,000 magazine and newspaper titles from around the globe, phonebooks and directories, health-related resources, consumer information, and so much more. Visithttp://www.spl.org and select "Databases and Web Sites" at the top of the page.
For the student in your family, there is homework help in math, social studies and English. Visit http://www.spl.org and select "Homework Help" from the Teen or Children's start page. Help is available 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Spanish-speaking tutors are available 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. They say it is possible to see the math tutor solve a problem on your own computer screen-you watch as the tutor writes on a cyber chalkboard.
If you've always loved the library as I have, this will only make you love it more. If you haven't made use of your 24/7 library, try it now. These are great times we live in!
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Honoring OAR Northwest
Jean and fellow councilmember Sally Clark congratulate Brad Vickers, Jordan Hanssen, Dylan Le Valley (not photographed) and Greg Spooner members of OAR Northwest for winning the Shepherd Ocean Fours Rowing Race 2006 from the United States to the United Kingdom on August 18, 2006. The Council presented the team with a proclamation celebrating their "courage and endurance" for being the first crew ever to row unassisted from mainland United States to mainland United Kingdom.
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Real Rate Relief is Here
There's great news for Seattle City Light customers: What went up five years ago is coming down.
Lower electric rates are in sight. Starting January 1, 2007, customers will see an average 8.4 percent drop in their City Light bills.
Most of us in this city remember the difficult times during the 2001 Western energy crisis. With power rates, being manipulated by Enron, soaring and limited resources, Seattle City Light was forced to borrow millions in order to buy power and meet customers' needs. During the crisis, the city went to ratepayers on four separate occasions to ask for help and got it.
Since those difficult days, the city's beloved utility has come a long way. Today Seattle City Light has paid off its short-term debt and has made giant strides on paying off long-term debt.
Seattle City Light is now on solid financial footing and its future looks mega-watt bright.
This success story is largely due to the efforts of the community to come together and work for the betterment of Seattle City Light. Mayor Greg Nickels, City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco, city councilmembers and community leaders all played a part in returning the utility to sound fiscal health.
It didn't happen overnight. It involved lengthy discussions and examination of alternative financial strategies. What emerged were a set of prudent financial policies. These policies created a $25 million safety net and set goals for reducing the debt-to-equity ratio to 60 percent by 2010 - a goal that City Light is well on its way to achieving.
Today the city faces another challenge, but a welcome one.
Good times have returned and, in these better times, the utility's ratepayers deserve some real rate relief. The question now is: How do we achieve this without jeopardizing the safety net that we have so carefully built?
Finding this delicate balance - the sweet spot between rate relief and prudent policies - wasn't easy. But I believe the city is moving in the right direction.
Since hearing the mayor's recommendations on rate reductions on July 26, 2006, the Energy & Technology Committee has been studying the dimensions of the rate case and listening to community leaders. Committee members are working to develop a rate structure that will do three essential things: (1) meet Seattle City Light's needs; (2) keep paying down debt, and (3) offer tangible savings to ratepayers over the next two years.
How to accomplish this high-wire task?
The balancing act calls for careful attention to the utility's budget requests, adjusting where necessary to ensure a healthy operation but not overestimating the utility's ability to complete capital projects. City Light's capital expenditures represent a large portion of their overall budget and increases can drive electrical rates higher. City Light has been able to complete only between 80 and 85 percent of budgeted capital projects in recent years. Faced at the present time with a personnel shortfall, it seems likely that, once again, it will be difficult - if not impossible - to complete an overly ambitious program of capital projects.
Attention also is being paid to the utility's operations and maintenance (O&M) budget. The O&M budget has room for adjustments, particularly a large - 105 percent increase - in the amount budgeted for outside consultants. While it is desirable to periodically use consultants to supplement the work of City Light employees, the amount of increase - in just one year, seems excessive.
It's important for ratepayers and citizens to appreciate the strength of City Light's recovery from the depths of the Western Energy Crisis. From having to go hat in hand to customers, asking for rate increases, City Light has turned the corner and has healthy financial reserves, carefully crafted plans and alternatives for the future and significantly less debt. The utility is celebrating its second green-house gas neutral year and has more than 2,000 customers enrolled in its Green Up program, purchasing new renewable resources.
All that's worth cheering.
Relatively small budget adjustments will result in ratepayers receiving the rate relief they deserve and were promised when rates were steeply increased in 2001. Residential rate payers in the City of Seattle will see their light bills lowered by nearly six percent. Seattle business customers and suburban rate payers will also be receiving rate cuts. It's immensely satisfying to be able to offer real rate relief.
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Senior Source
Safe Crossings
By Jean Godden
When Sig Anderson retired, he sat around home, languishing and rudderless after years of laboring in the work-a-day world. Six months passed before his wife June finally said to him: "Sig, you'd better settle on something."
Anderson thought it over. Then he took her advice. He donned a uniform - the first he'd worn since his 10-year tour of duty in the Marine Corps. He picked up a flag and stationed himself at Northeast 125th Street and 15th Avenue Northeast, one of the city's busier intersections.
Anderson found his late life career as a Seattle Schools crossing guard. It's the latest of half a dozen jobs he's filled successfully over the years, everything from military service to refrigerator sales.
This fall, the white-maned Anderson, ramrod straight at 78, started his 15th year as a crossing guard. He continues to help children arrive safely at three different local schools: St. Matthews, Olympic Hills and Pinehurst Elementary.
But Anderson doesn't leave the job when his shift is over. He has taken on the role of spokesman for the guards. Anderson is an articulate advocate, not afraid to spar with elected officials and budget-writers.
Aware that the city's Family & Education Levy ends support for crossing guards with his present school year, Anderson lobbied council members. His goal was to keep the program alive into 2008 and beyond. One technique he used was to outline the history of the program, which started Jan. 1, 1948 with 150 guards. By the time Anderson joined the corps in 1991, it was down to 105 guards. Today there are only 56 guards taking up the slack.
Anderson said that, at one time, guards were paid for four hours a day, divided into two-hour shifts. Today they are paid for only two and a half hours. The salary is $11.74 an hour, one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon with half an hour travel time.
"Many of the guards are retirees," Anderson explained. "You need to pay them enough so they can survive."
An alternative suggested by those who wanted to end the program would be to have the crossing guard jobs taken over by volunteers.
What would be wrong with parents helping get children to school? At first blush, it sounded like an excellent idea. But Anderson scoffed at the suggestion. He said, "Volunteers are OK. But are they going to get up 185 days a year and get out there, rain or shine? I don't think so."
Anderson puzzled over the animosity of some officials to the program. Seattle School Board members, trying to piece together survival plans for the schools, refused to consider taking on more expense. The Seattle Police Department also declined. Crossing guards are a program everyone can love, but no one wants to finance.
Anderson likes to tell a story, an unrelated one, about how he and his wife June were vacationing in Montana last summer. They were speeding along the highway, expecting to reach Missoula by nightfall. In the meantime, they were watching fishermen on the river, casting gossamer lines in the afternoon sun. The next thing Anderson knew, the road had become wet and slippery, the result of a sudden squall.
He rounded a bend and the car started to skid sideways on the slick pavement. Anderson tried desperately to regain control. But he and his wife June were suddenly airborne, hurtling off the road toward the steep embankment above the winding river far below.
The vehicle rocketed several hundred feet down the bank. Then, miraculously, the car caught on a tree branch, balancing there above an almost vertical drop-off. Anderson let out his breath and took inventory. A few scrapes, but no broken bones. He couldn't exit his door, but he was able to help June open the passenger door. And, slowly and gingerly, he was able to crawl up the embankment and summon help.
Thanks to prompt response from Montana authorities who summoned a tow truck, the car was soon back on the level, bashed on one side, but operable. They drove into Missoula eight hours behind schedule, alive and well and reasonably unshaken.
Anderson speaks of the experience in awesome tones. He's convinced that he and his wife had narrowly escaped death. They'd even avoided injury. As Anderson himself says, "I knew there was something I'd been spared to do."
That "something" may have been the Crossing Guard program. Anderson succeeded in convincing councilmembers to extend the program through 2008.
Senior Source Archives
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Seattle University Embraces Green Power
Jean recently met with Tristen Gardner, Seattle University student and founder of The Green Energy Coalition. At a ceremony last fall, Jean recognized Seattle University for leading in conservation and sustainability efforts.
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