Author: Katherine Mackinnon

Tuesday: RBCA Board Meeting – Al Fresco!

All neighbors are welcome to join us tomorrow, Tuesday, for our monthly RBCA Board Meeting. Although we typically meet indoors at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center, it’s going to be a beautiful evening so bring a chair or blanket and meet us outside behind the playground.

It’s also the second (but not last) time the Board will be discussing getting down on paper an RBCA vision, so it’s a great chance to hear from Board members on their thinking about the future of our neighborhood.

And, if you want to learn how to contribute to the memorial walk for Andres Hulsander, biker killed on 65th by a DUI driver on June 27th, we’ll be sharing that information as well.

Here is tomorrow’s complete agenda:

AGENDA

7:00 Welcome & Introductions

7:05 Introduction: Lauren McGuire, School Board candidate

7:10 Board Reports             

  • Secretary’s Report: June Minutes 
  • Treasurer’s Report 
  • Land Use Committee Report 
  • Transportation Committee Report 

7:45 The Future of Our Community: RBCA Vision

7:55 Letter re: Proposed Changes to Metro Services

8:10 Seattle Parks Supplemental Use Guidelines & Ravenna Park 

8:20 Memorial Walk for Andres Hulslander          

8:25 Reports from Associated Community Groups

 

All are welcome!

Your Input Needed: Community Center Strategic Plan

This Saturday, June 20th 10am-noon at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion (305 Harrison Street) the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will host a mini-summit to guide their citywide Community Center Strategic Plan. The agenda will be a short presentation followed by small break-out discussion groups.

Kids in a tube
We love playing at our local community center!

The endeavor is the beginning of a broader analysis called for in the 2014 Parks Legacy Plan, which lays out two goals for the city’s community centers:

  • Ensure community centers are focal points in our neighborhoods for connecting, building community and offering health and activity programming
  • Ensure community centers are physically emotionally safe and welcoming for all individuals

Seattle has 26 community centers with an operating budget of more than $11million annually. Each center has its own operating hours, activity and service offering, with programs and staffing often operated by the Associated Recreation Council.

The next steps after the June 20th meeting include an internal evaluation of the current staffing and programming followed by a draft plan for the future of facility and program planning. The process is scheduled to complete by the end of 2015. Read more about the process here.

 

 

Here at home in Ravenna Bryant, we’re fortunate to have nearby our own Ravenna Eckstein Community Center. RBCA board member David Ward sits on its Advisory Council. Ravenna Eckstein CC is also one of the busiest in the entire city, and yet we hear comments at the RBCA frequently that it isn’t meeting the needs of many would-be users.

So, whether or not you can attend the mini-summit this weekend, as the city’s planning process unfolds, now is a good time to begin thinking about what would help make Ravenna Eckstein CC a go-to place for you or your family. Here are some questions worth exploring:

  • Does the programming meeting my needs? Is there are variety of activities and programs for all ages, at times that make sense for me? What programs would draw me in to visit the CC more often?
  • Facility use. Would I use the CC for more passive uses such as internet or computer work? (PS – they just launched wireless internet!) Is it comfortable and safe? Do the tennis courts, the play ground, the fields have what I or my family are looking for?
  • Hours of operation. The overall CC hours across the city have declined in the last 5 years. What times of day would be most useful to you and your family and increase the likelihood that you might visit?
  • Is there the right balance between free and for-pay services? Many of the CC’s uses are free, but many programs have a fee in order to remain operable. What suggestions do you have about fees, and are there programs you’d like to see where you would be willing to pay for the fees to operate?
  • What’s the best part of our community center that you simply couldn’t live without?

Send us your thoughts in the comments, or at ravennabryant@gmail.com. Alternatively, you may send them directly to the city by emailing susan.golub@seattle.gov.

 

District 4 Candidate Forum June 17th

There is another opportunity later this month to hear from the five candidates running for office in the new District 4. Hosted at the beloved University Heights Center, you’ll have the opportunity to listen to candidates as well as submit questions to them in writing at the event.

uheights-facade

Your Ravenna-Bryant Community Association is a proud co-sponsor alongside the Northeast District Council, Wedgwood Community Council, Roosevelt Neighborhood Association, University District Community Council, Laurelhurst Community Club, University Park Community Club, and Eastlake Community Council

Here are the details:

Seattle City Council District 4 – Candidates Forum

Wednesday, June 17th

University Heights Center, 5031 University Way NE, Room 209

The Forum will feature Seattle City Council District 4 Candidates including: Jean Godden, Rob Johnson, Michael Maddux, Abel Pacheco & Tony Provine. (Please note since the last forum we posted on, a new candidate, Pacheco, has entered the race and another, Lagos, has dropped out.)

6:00 p.m. Mix and mingle and enjoy snacks

6:30-8:00 p.m. Candidate forum

Funded with support from the Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Matching Fund. Support also provided by the University Heights Center.

Access to the 2nd floor of UHC is by chairlift, please allow extra time if you are someone who may need to use this option. 

For more information, look for updates here or on the NEDC website.  Want to volunteer for set-up or take-down? Contact Gabrielle Gerhard at ggerhard1@gmail.com

June 10th: Ravenna’s Past – Present – Future

Old Ravenna Shot 1950s
20th Ave NE, early 1950s
Ravenna Present (Bryant Heights)
Bryant Heights Project, NE 65th

Next Wednesday, June 10th, North East Seattle Together – a hyperlocal grassroots volunteer organization that provides support, information and community to older residents – will sponsor an evening discussion on the past and future of our beloved Ravenna.

The Ravenna-Bryant Community Association’s own Sarah Swanberg will speak alongside local historian Ann Wendell about Ravenna’s unique history as well as guide a discussion envisioning its future to come. Generously hosted by Third Place Books.

June 10th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Third Place Books (6504 20th Ave NE)

Come to mingle, learn and connect. All are welcome.

This talk is just one in an ongoing series through northeast Seattle neighborhoods presented by NEST. For more on their events and their mission, visit their website.

Interested in learning more about potential land use changes in Ravenna? Read our blog post and mark your calendar for the 35th Avenue NE Rezone meeting, June 24th at 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday: RBCA Monthly Meeting

Your Ravenna-Bryant Community Association will hold its regular monthly meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) evening, 7-9pm at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center. The board will be discussing two critical topics and your input is needed.

First, new board President Inga Manskopf (read a recap of our annual meeting including new board list here) will lead a discussion on the board’s collective vision for the RBCA and our broader Ravenna-Bryant community. Some of the issues to be discussed include: what is our role in how best to gracefully grow our fantastic neighborhoods; what can be done to encourage more member participation; in what ways can we work for safer and more walkable neighborhoods; on which projects in our area should we lead?

Following this, Vice President Jorgen Bader will engage the attendees on a conversation around significant proposed changes to Metro’s bus routes in our area, including new routes to the Husky Stadium light rail station and the dissolution of route #71. For more on this topic, visit Metro’s website here.

Here’s the full draft agenda for tomorrow evening:

7:00  Introductions

7:05  Board Reports

  • Secretary’s Report: Minutes for April and May
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Land Use Committee Report
  • Transportation Committee Report

7:20  The Future of Our Community: RBCA Vision

7:35  Proposed Changes to Metro Services

8:00  NEDC Candidate Forum, June 17, 7pm, University Heights Center

  • Email vote results
  • RBCA Board representation
  • Publicity

8:10  RBCA & Political Speech

8:20  Reports from Associated Community Groups

  • Northeast District Council
  • SCCF
  • CUCAC
  • Ravenna-Eckstein Advisory Council
  • North Precinct Advisory Council

o   New North Precinct Open House June 6: www.seattle.gov/northprecinctstation

o   Precinct Picnic July 11, Ballard Commons

o   National Night Out August 4: www.seattle.gov/police/nightout/

Hope to see you tomorrow. All are welcome!

Open House 5/19: North-South High Capacity Transit

The Seattle Department of Transportation is hosting open houses to solicit feedback on proposed routing for high-capacity transit from Northgate to Downtown. Your input will help inform the results of a year-long study of all the different options for North-South high capacity transit in our area. The corridor SDOT is looking at specifically is Northgate-Maple Leaf-Roosevelt-U District-Eastlake-SLU-Downtown, and includes options for walking, biking, driving transit and freight.

The open house is next Tuesday, May 19th 6-8pm at the UW Tower, Cafeteria North.

High Capacity Open House 5.15

More information at www.seattle.gov/transportation/roosevelthct.htm.

Couldn’t make the RBCA annual meeting? Here’s what you missed.

We had a great turnout on Tuesday evening at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center’s gymnasium, as more than 50 people gathered to talk about community, safety and more in Ravenna Bryant. Below is a summary of the meeting’s highlights for those who could not attend.

Guest Speakers from the Seattle Police Department

Assistant Police Chief Wilske spoke with the audience about his tenure in the department (more than 30 years,) SPD’s new emphasis on micro community policing, and touched on the work underway related to the use of excessive force findings by federal investigators. Wilske then addressed community concerns about whether SPD staffing is sufficient, saying that a third-party consultant is currently evaluating the department’s needs and will have an assessment and recommendations in the near future. He spoke highly of Mr. Greg Russell – Amazon transplant – who is using technology to create efficiencies, greater transparency and improved communications between the police and the public. By way of example, Wilske pointed to forthcoming improvements to the SeaStat website, which will soon offer hyper-local crime statistics to users in real-time.

Wilske moved on to audience questions/comments, captured below:

  • Please increase ticketing and enforcement for cars neglecting to yield to pedestrians along 65th
  • Check that bicycles are stopping at designated signs at Burke Gilman Trail crossings
  • Drivers aren’t slowing sufficiently in school zones
  • Will the city fully fund the Crime Prevent Coordinator team?
  • Praise for May Day squad
  • Please enforce illegal red light running taking place on Sand Point near Magnuson Park
  • Can SPD help evaluate my home for theft/burglary/break-in potential?

Captain Sean O’Donnell, just three weeks into this new position as North Precinct Commander, gave brief welcoming remarks to the crowd.

Next, Lieutenant George Bray from SPD’s 911 call center led an in-depth discussion about the whens, whys, and hows of calling 911. Lt. Bray’s rule of thumb? Call 911 for any reason YOU believe deserves expedited police service.  For all the specifics on how 911 calls are prioritized and handled, check out Board Chair Inga Manskopf’s recent post dedicated to this very topic.

The Seattle Police Department also has a twitter feed for each police ‘beat’ that you can follow to see what crimes have been reported. Follow our beat at @SeattlePD Union3. Please note that the Twitter feeds aren’t manned by personnel, and in the case of an emergency, never report via Twitter; always dial 911.

Business Meeting of the RBCA Board of Directors

The Annual Meeting is also a time when Board elections are held. Outgoing President Tony Provine read the names of all nominated members on the ballot. The new executive board and at-large members were voted in unanimously. Your 2015-2016 RBCA Board Members are:

  • President: Inga Manskopf
  • Vice-President: Jorgen Bader
  • Treasurer: Sarah Swanberg
  • Secretary: David Katz
  • At Large:
    • Barb Edquist
    • Chris Fiori
    • Brett Frosaker
    • Virginia Gunby
    • Katherine Fountain Mackinnon
    • Josephine Pompey
    • Tony Provine
    • Sarah Rathbone
    • David Ward

Congratulations to the Board! And to ensure your voice is represented to the city and elsewhere by your RBCA, please attend our monthly meetings which occur the first Tuesday of each month, 7p.m. at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center. For more on our work plan, please see board member Chris Fiori’s fantastic draft work plan (WorkplanDraft_May 2015), and contact us with more ideas or to become involved!

 

The meeting adjourned shortly before 8:30p.m.

For more coverage of the annual meeting, check out Ravenna Blog’s post on the evening. 

 

Have Your Say: Open House on Proposed Ravenna Protected Bike Lanes

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is proposing a number of investments and additions to current bicycle infrastructure in the Ravenna/Green Lake neighborhoods, including new bike lanes and upgrades from buffered to protected bicycle lanes, and new bicycle signage.

On Tuesday, SDOT will be in the neighborhood hosting an open house with a formal presentation:

Project Open House
April 7, 2015
6 to 7:30 PM
Presentation at 6:30 PM
Ravenna Eckstein Community Center
6535 Ravenna Ave NE

The proposed project would require moving or even removing parking along some parts on Ravenna Boulevard and 12th. It will also install a new protected bicycle lane on 15th adjacent to Cowen Park and links into the broader Bicycle Master Plan. Funding comes from the 2006 Bridging the Gap levy.

And here’s a map of the project area:

Bike Map - Proposed Ravenna Upgrades
Project Area

Can’t make it to the open house but want SDOT to hear your input? Adan Carrillo is the project’s Community Outreach Specialist at Adan.Carrillo@seattle.gov or (206) 684-8105.

Footnote: the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association will meet that evening at 7pm at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center for its monthly board meeting. Feel free to drop in and join us after the SDOT presentation.

March 18th: Meet Your District Candidates Event

The Ravenna-Bryant Community Association is proud to participate as a co-host alongside Hawthorne Hills, View Ride and Laurelhurst Community Councils for the first-ever Seattle District 4 event. Incumbent Councilmember Jean Godden has four official challengers.

To refresh, in 2013 Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved dividing the city into 7 Districts (D1-D7) with one City Council representative each, plus two additional at-large Councilmembers (D8 & D9.) More on the Districts can be found here. The Ravenna and Bryant neighborhoods are in District 4, which encompasses NE Seattle south of 85th, roughly east of Interstate-5, and to the Montlake cut with the addition of Eastlake. Here’s a map:

Your District 4
Your District 4

 

The top-two primary will be this August and the general election the first Tuesday in November, as always, but instead of voting for 9 Councilmembers as we have in the past, D4 members will be registered to vote only for their preferred D4 candidate and the two at-large positions. So educate yourself and attend next week’s event.

The format will be a debate followed by moderated Q&A period. Attendees will be able to submit questions in writing at the beginning of the event, prior to the debate portion. After the debate, moderator Nancy Bolin will call on the people who submitted questions and allow those people to ask their questions of the candidates themselves.

Details on the event:

See Who’s Running for Seattle Council District 4:

Jean Godden

Rob Johnson

Taso Lagos

Michael Maddux

Tony Provine

Wednesday, March 18, 2014 7:30–8:30PM

 Sand Point Community Church’s Perry Hall, 4710 NE 70th Street

Sponsored by

Hawthorne Hills Community Council, View Ridge Community Council, Laurelhurst Community Council, Ravenna-Bryant Community Council

See you there!