Hiatus for a few...

Posts will be sporadic for the next couple of weeks, and when they do appear, might tend to be off topic. Please send your tips, reports, etc here and we will the pertinent info into the mix.

Links a go-go

Artopia: it's on June 27th.

Neigborhood planning for Georgetown: "July 28th For Admiral, West Seattle Junction, Morgan Junction, Delridge, Westwood/Highland Park, Georgetown, 6-8 p.m.,Delridge Community Center Gym 4501 Delridge Way SW. More here.

Cargo Container Houses in Gtown: neat concept, one question. WTF is our "design district"?

Glacier Northwest clean-up: if you didin't get the Ecology notice in the mail, go here.

Peter Steinbrueck: gives Nickels the finger on the way out of town, will return to re-institute "Urban Design" cult. Meanwhile, Jean Godden thinks we need more cultural managers, will dis Nick Licata.

Hizzoner will eat lunch in SoDo on June 30th. You can join him if you like.

The first farmer's market in South Park: Saturday, June 20.

Amazon does Georgetown for groceries.

Georgetown Art Center: check out the "Print for Life" exhibit.

Nickelsville Update and links

Just a quick update. From the source:

...A negotiation group met last Thursday, June 12. Present were Nickelodeons, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, Governor’s Aide Ron Judd, Assistant WSDOT Director David Dye, Michael Ramos, head of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Paul Benz of the Lutheran Public Policy Institute of Washington State and Pastor Catherine Foote of University Congregational Church. For the very first time that we met with official representatives of the Mayor of the City of Seattle, the meeting went well. The Governor also wants us to contact other potential property owners. We are sending the Governor a list of 22 landlords that we contacted previously (see our website), noting that we cannot expect any of them to host us until the City quits harassing our hosts and supporters.

• On Wednesday the 13th, Nickelodeons also met with members of the 34th District Democrats Candidate Forum. Some of the campers asked Mayor Nickels himself if he’d join the next day’s negotiations, and got a terse ‘no.’ A number of members expressed support as individuals, even though the 34th District Democrats have not yet endorsed Nickelsville as a group. Senator Keiser, Representative Chase, Representative Cody, Representative Dickerson, Representative
Hasegawa, Representative Nelson, Representative Pedersen and Representative Tomiko Santos wrote a very nice letter to the Governor in our support. Here is a link to that letter.

TO DO’s: Please Continue to Thank the Governor for Negotiating. Urge her to stick with it. Email the Mayor and encourage him to a) Support Nickelsvilles struggle to become a permanent home for up to 1,000 men, women and children and to b) Meet with Us or Drop by for a Visit!

Also, check out this blog for an update on the pea-patch getting started up at the Nickelsville site:

Tuesday, June 9, my new gardening friend Crystal and I paced off a square of ground out at Nickelsville, a homeless encampment planning to become a sustainable eco-village. The 20' by 36' space is going to be an organic garden, built lasagna-style from the ground up.

The first stage will be laying down cardboard and newspaper to smother the grass and weeds, start them decaying into compost, and attract whatever earthworms live in the vicinity. I left a bucket to begin collecting compostables, which will be spread between layers of peat moss, until a bed at least a foot thick is built up by the end of summer. Then we'll spread a final layer of finished compost and topsoil, and be ready to plant fall/winter crops.

Using cardboard, newspaper, and compostable garbage in building the garden will also help the Nickelsville garbage bill!

Next, from Pads Chicago's blog, a lengthy slide show and commentary on the first couple of days of this particular incarnation--check it out right here.

And finally, a post from Monday, via the WSB.

Seattle Drum School Needs Volunteers for SLAB event

SLAB is an all ages venue, sponsored by the Seattle Drum School, which starts on June 27th. Two of the headlining bands will be The Lonely Forest and New Faces. SDS is looking for volunteers:

We are getting so close to finishing the work in the SLAB. Believe it or not there's lots more painting to do in the room. If anybody has a spare 20 minutes. It all helps so much. Thanks so much and looking forward to a great opening show on June 27th!

E-mail 'em here.

Talk of Hizzoner's stimulus money scuttled by pickets in Providence, RI.

Time for another installment of news about important local issues in some other city's newspaper. A couple of weeks ago, it was the Chicago Tribune on a potential landmarks ruling which may have wide impact on preservation efforts in Seattle. Before that, it was a report of a SoDo business getting fined for a chemical spill, after the local news had blamed the Department of Ecology.

This next story is a beauty; Mayor Nickels Emerges as Leader Amid Failed Conference of Mayors' Annual Meeting. This from the Providence, RI paper:

Monday’s closing day of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting had all the sound and fury that one might have expected from the end of a major event that had gone everywhere but according to plan.

It saw the largest and noisiest turnout of picketing firefighters and police officers during the four-day long conference, as nearly 300 union members from throughout the state defied the city order that had restricted them to an area across the street from the Rhode Island Convention Center, and instead marched peacefully around the building’s entrance...

...The U.S. Conference of Mayors, making its first appearance here in its 77-year existence, left in the wake of its meeting lingering questions about Mayor David N. Cicilline’s City Hall, organized labor in Rhode Island and the future of relations between the White House and urban communities.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, the newly installed president of the nonpartisan organization, said mayors are still willing to discuss implementation of President Obama’s economic stimulus plan with federal officials even after the administration pulled out of the conference at the last minute, in view of the threatened union demonstrations....

In short, unions that were livid about poor labor relations policy in Providence managed to scuttle the meeting, and of all people, the Obama folks-- refused to cross the picket lines.

...Federal officials –– from Vice President Joseph Biden to members of Obama’s Cabinet to rank-and-file bureaucrats –– abruptly canceled plans to attend the convention after the Obama administration was made aware of planned union protests just days before the meeting’s start, on Friday.

Mayors took the decision by Mr. Obama, who has been generally regarded as a champion of urban areas, as a slight to their organization, which includes more than 1,000 mayors of cities with populations exceeding 30,000...

Here's a couple of angles. One might optimistically assume that this was done on principle. Maybe. More plausibly, one might take it as Obama trying to keep an image of unity, as his relationship with labor over national health care and the Employee Free Choice Act is strained. But the effect has been to exacerbate Greg Nickels' frustration that Seattle didn't get enough of the federal stimulus money:

But they will not be able to make the June 29 meeting proposed by Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, and they will be looking for something close to what had been hoped for in Providence, he said.

“We want a good solid agenda that will allow us to get into the real substance of the recovery act,” Nickels said.

Nickels said that the mayors will not “linger over” the perceived slight by the White House, but that they will take every opportunity in the future to convey clearly “what worked and what did not” in the implementation of stimulus plan thus far...

...The Obama administration, he said, wrongly relied on old formulas to distribute the first round of stimulus dollars for public infrastructure and transportation.

As a result, federal dollars did not go to where they could have resulted in the greatest amount of economic activity and job creation, a point driven home by many mayors throughout the convention, Nickels said.

“There needs to be investment where there is the biggest bang for the buck,” he said.

If you remember-- the Mayor wanted a load of cash from the city to continue to develop South Lake Union's "Mercer Mess", amidst the current bad economy and impending collapse of commercial real estate. It was granted to him by the city council-- on the condition that the Fed's money via Olympia would also be forthcoming. By the reading of this article, Nickels gave the impression it was a done deal.

But it wasn't and so one can ask: is there a subtext in the Providence RI piece that the conference was a way for Nickels to make an end run around Olympia for federal stimulus money to lobby for his precious pet project in South Lake Union? If so, it looks like he was scuttled by another city's poor relationship with their fire department. And so he didn't bring home the bacon for his friends at Vulcan.

UPDATE: Drago says Nickels is a scab. Hmm.

Fate of 50-year Rosso Nursery in Limbo

Georgetown's Rosso Nursery seems to be plugging along, in spite of a recommendation to spike up their rent made at a meeting of the King County's Government Accountability and Oversight Committee last February. But then again, we are moving into election time.

Rosso occupies 4 acres at the end of Boeing Field--the airport (KCIA) controlled by King County, and aside from creating a buffer between airport noise and the rest of Georgetown, the business is very limited in what they can do with their leased space. In fact, it is in the middle of a controlled activity zone north of the runway, where building heights are severely limited, and is likely the noisiest part of Georgetown. Even during the bubble years, this was not prime real estate. In fact, this was the basis for Julius Rosso moving there 50 years ago, when the parcel was no more then a vacant lot that provided no income to the county, after is was ceded back from the feds after WW2. As a result, the lower rent was simply a trade off for the restrictions placed on the tenant.

But not according to a panel which gave testimony at the Council committee meeting, which included Ian Taylor of King County prosecutors office. He cited an obscure law on the county books that "fair market value" should be charged for properties rented out by the county. Apparently the $38,000 a year in rent for undeveloped land with a small office and a few out buildings doesn't cut it. According to an appraisal conducted by Mike Murray, the rent should be jacked up to nearly $226,000--about a 600% increase, or, $1.50 per square foot. The justification: "air side premium". But before local commercial landlords begin to drool--who are now having to charge under a buck a foot for actual developed warehouse space in the neighborhood, there seems to be a catch. According to documents submitted by the nursery to King County, about the only use for the property would be to park planes if it were vacated, and runway access would be limited to boot. And when Larry Gosset asked in concern for the existence of the business--which would have to shut its doors, Taylor merely repeated what he felt the law indicated.

Tenants who have leases with the county have the right to arbitrate hikes in rent, but such a process is expensive, and is only cost effective for bigger tenants, like Boeing, who did go to arbitration a few years ago; they had their rent raised by only 200% as a result; from $3.6m to $6.2m--bearing in mind that it takes much more infrastructure and amenities to run a factory then it does to grow native sword ferns.

But is it really about money? After one of the nursery owners testified to the county, Robert Burke, KCIA Director, sent a letter to the FAA a week letter, apparently asking what the FAA thought of the county even renting the parcel out at all. Though this had gone on for many years, the FAA apparently didn't take note, and up until this time, no one at Boeing Field objected. According to a spokesperson at Rosso's, the FAA was aware of the deal when it was made decades ago. Burke received a reply on march 31st, which read:

...Ths letter is in response to your letter dated March 6, 2009 requesting guidance on non-aeronautical commercial use of airport property. Specifically you asked for guidance in determining non-aeronautical ground rental and lease rates for a nursery...

...According to your Airport Layout Plan (ALP), all airport property is currently designated as aeronautical use land. In addition, your Exhibit A indicates that the lad was purchased with a combination of Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds and local funds. Unless released from grant obligations, proper purchased with AIP funds must be used for aeronautical use...

Which is interesting, because after the Feds took the land by eminent domain, it was given back to the county in 1944 as surplus, probably for a pittance. The letter continues:

...We realize that there are activities that may be non-aeronautical in nature, but are incidental to the aeronautical use. Such activities may be permitted. However, the situation you describe [emphasis mine] in which Rosso Nursery is being leased out for non-aeronautical use does not meet the definition. If the airport adjusts Rosso Nursers rate to less than FMV and continues to lease the property for non-aeronautical use, the airport would be in clear violation of the aforementioned grant assurances and polices and be subject to complaints from airport users. The recommendation would be for the airport to instill a FMV rate to Rosso Nursery along with a reasonable amount of time to vacate the premises in order to locate another facility to operate their Business not to exceed one yea from notification...

In essence, there is a problem that someone might complain if Rosso's rent was too low, but that doesn't go far enough. They should be charged to the gills and tossed off the property, putting 15 people out of work.

What the crux of the debate seems to be is between "encumbered properties"--something all of us in Georgetown are familiar with, and "air side premium". For the air side premium to be good, it must mean just that--access to the air side. When Larry Gosset of the council asked the panel "what is different now?" then in previous years, the panel did not answer that question either.

In speaking to someone at the nursery, I found out that they are still paying their regular rent for now, and that the county doesn't seem to be making any moves at this point. But that can change. "Give me your number so I can call you and let you know--we need all the help we can get", one of the Rosso sons said.

What is ironic is that if the county does decide to enforce the rent hike, they will likely get zero; there are vacancies already on actual property that is air side accessible, and finding a new tenant that is willing to put themselves in the bight of KCIA after all of this would be a tall order. But if that becomes the case, will Georgetown step up, given the past issues on buffer zones between residential and industrial (in this case Ellis St.) and preserving the small business community in the face of pressure form industry?

We contacted Dow Constantine, both in his capacity as King County council member, and as candidate for Executive. While his legislative assistant employed on the county payroll provided quite a bit of backgorund of the circumstances, we have yet to hear from the campaign side of things.

I hear eggs by the flat are really cheap at Costco

The ultra-right-psychotic nut cases from Westboro Baptist Church will be close by the neighborhood on June 14th. Apparently they have a bone to pick with the Methodists, who are hosting commencement activities for Seattle Pacific University, over on 4th and S. Royal Brougham. The time: 12:45 to 2pm. They also plan on showing up to Garfield High, so I guess children/young adults will not be spared their presence.

Word is that there will be some counter rallies. For those that are new to these guys, well, just check out the link above. You'll catch on in no time.

Friday: Punk Rock vs. Hip Hop

With free BBQ. You can't beat it.

Duwamish Cleanup Gets a Boost in the other Washington

This just showed up from McClatchy Newspapers:

Federal funding to clean up Puget Sound would jump by 150 percent, to $50 million, under a spending bill approved Wednesday by the House interior appropriations subcommittee.

The money would be provided to the Environmental Protection Agency for use on such projects as monitoring the recovery of the Nisqually River estuary and cleaning up toxic waste in the Duwamish River, Elliot Bay and other sites near Bellingham, Anacortes and Olympia. But the EPA's main emphasis is trying to get a handle on controlling storm-water runoff into the Sound, perhaps the single biggest problem.

Update on Nickelsville: WDOT issues tresspass notice

From Nickelsville communications coordinator, Revel Smith, this afternoon:

Washington State Department of Transportation posted an undated trespass notice at the Nickelsville encampment.

Governor Gregoire's Senior Adviser Ron Judd visited Nickelsville and talked with campers.

Wa State Attorney General Rob McKenna said state law does not allow temporary agreements regarding state land.

At this time, Governor Gregoire hasn't decided what is possible or not yet regarding their stay on that site.

Ron Judd is coordinating a meeting between the Mayor's Office, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis and Nickelsville. We don't know whether Mayor Nickels will meet with them directly.

Nickelsville asks that everyone please contact Governor Gregoire at (360)902-4111 or email: govcommoffice@gov.wa.gov, and ask the Governor for negotiations for their stay.

Neighbors lament the moving of Benz Friendz

If you own an old Benz, and plan to come to Georgetown for parts or advice, you'd better keep driving; to Burien. Same is true if you drive an older car in the neighborhood, and you need some advice or a quick fix from a local mechanic--hope you find another. This makes two experienced old time machine wrenchers that we have seen move on over the past year--a few months ago with MSI, and now, Benz Friendz.

A while ago the owner had left for a few weeks, and the word was that a new location would turn up in Burien. A comment on our last post:

Aurora Wrecking said Rob's moving shop to Burien if he can get organized. What a massive loss for Seattle's old Benz and biodiesel owners. He was my mechanic for 9 years and, while far from the ideal run business, he made owning a classic affordable and his mechanics knew their stuff. I could get any part cheaply and almost anything fixed for $60 and some Coors. Today, I took my car to Hellvue and paid $45 for 3 "OEM" bolts and $500 in labor for some trivial work.

And last night, on the neighborhood newsgroup:

At the end of this month, after 27 years of business the Benz Friendz will be relocating out of the Georgetown neighborhood. Though many have seen the business on Flora as a problem for reasons mostly due to parking and appearance I have come to know them as friends. Before moving into the neighborhood in 2006, my wife replaced her Suzuki X90 with a 1980 Mercedes diesel with plans to use biofuel. Normally operating a car like this on our income level would be impossible but when I had car problems the Benz Friendz were there to help with refurbished parts at the right price.

I know many people were tired of the parking situation and to set the record straight, the Benz Friendz were not completely to blame. Often cars would be dropped off without any information or cars that were supposed to be picked up that day would sit for a week while the owner came up with the money, etc.

What some may not know is that if you get a 1960-1985 Mercedes worked on in Seattle, Spokane or Portland and the shop cannot order the part new, they often refer to Benz Friendz. I once sat outside the fence on a Saturday for 45 minutes talking to a guy that drove from Spokane to get a rare part.

I know I am rambling on but I though someone should say something on their behalf. After all, classic 123 and 116 chassis Mercedes owners from all over the Pacific NW know where the Georgetown neighborhood is because of these guys and some people who actually live IN Seattle don't.

Well, I will miss walking down to the Benz Friendz and chatting with the former Phil Smart mechanic, and the other characters. Best of luck to you, Benz Friendz.

I'm one of those folks who has wrenched on old VWs on and off for the past 15 years, and have always appreciated having the "old guys" and gals too---who know the little tricks and shortcuts on doing work arounds when on the road, or modifications in your driveway, while sharing a few stories and a can of beer. So from that perspective I have an appreciation for the old neighborhood mechanic.

What we have on the horizon is another vacant lot, which will not be a center for another small business, or even a public space. And as another small business gets stripped out of Georgetown, this will hurt the other small businesses close by as their employees and their money disappear--and will be one less neighborhood small business that Georgetowners can patronize. Somehow, it seems we're all getting the shaft on this one, in exchange for seeing a few less cars parked on Flora.

There's No Way I'm Voting for This Guy/Gal, Part One: Tom Albro , Port Commissioner candidate

Faith(fate?)ful readers: This begins the series of posts lampooning political candidates for this year's election cycle. While I can't promise to comprehensively lampoon any particular candidate, or make a claim that I will lampoon each with particular evenhandedness, I will promise to be as snark and sarcastic as a blogger can be; without the constraints of an employer, advertisers, or foundation grants, this should prove to be a simple task. So lets get down to it, and you know exactly where to send the hate mail.

Tom Albro. As we look at the PDC website, we see that he's already got some cash, at the tune of about 62k. Of course, 14k of that is out of his own pocket, and over 9k is a loan. So as far as financing goes, if you have cash on hand and some credit, you don't need as many supporters as one might think--especially if most of them are pretty loaded. So far, he's blown half of his cash. Let's take a look at the list.

31k out of the 37k spent has gone to a consultant called The Purple Connection. Now these folks do not show up in the Washington State Corporate Registry, nor the state's licensing division. However, we did find out the location, and cross referenced that, and it turns out--it's the same office as Cathy Allen's Connections Group. Blogging Georgetown has written a shit-ton about these folks, back when they tuned on the slime machine in favor of Jean Godden to defeat the underdog green guy Joe Swzaja. It's worth noting that Cathy Allen herself has donated to Albro's campaign. Must be, coincidence. So I wonder what the deal is with a consulting group that has nothing on file with the state, has no Google hits, and is in the same office as a well seasoned and establishment campaign consultancy?

Is Albro a corporate guy? Let's look at the donor list:

Marine Resources group
Builders United in Legislative Development (UPDATE: a "527" front group for the building industry)
Jon Hemmingway (CEO of Stevedoring Servies of America)
Slade Gorton, attorney
Joe Quintana, developer lobbyist

...and dozens more biz execs on the list you can check yourself. Granted, every politician has a CEO or two on the roster of donors. But what is missing here is: labor, grassroots environmental groups, tribes, neighborhoods located around the port and the river, and last but not least--Sea-Tac airport watchdogs. Think Albro might be thinking of them, if he gets into power?

So what is he actually saying? Well for one, he believes in jobs; unlike those other candidates, who are running on the "more unemployment" ticket. Someone should ask him what the natural unemployment rate for Seattle is these days. Next, he's for "reform" and "accountability". Again, he takes a strong and controversial stance, because there are too many people in the race campaigning on obfuscation and keeping things exactly the way they are. Finally, he wants to "reduce environmental impact". Which environment--maybe the business environment? And which impact? Environmental regulations? I'm just guessing.

So on Thomas Albro: sorry, I'm not feeling it.

"Nickelsville" returns to Duwamish

Last night an e-mail was dropped on us, announcing that Nickelsville was planning to move. It turns out they are assembling their tents, makeshift kitchen, latrine, and supplies on Washington State DOT property just south of Highland Park Way SW on 2nd Ave SW--just east of their original location. The lot is vacant and dry, but short of amenities that most folks enjoy.

Here's what they sent out today:

Nickelsville moved overnight and peacefully arrived at their new
location in South Seattle near 2nd Avenue SW and Highland Park Way SW.

This is approximate to the original location where we set-up the first
Nickelsville in September of 2008.

Nickelodeons need your support! This is State land. Ask the State to
negotiate, not to arrest the Nickelodeons. Please contact Governor
Christine Gregoire and State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond
immediately and voice your support for the Nickelodeons.

Governor Christine Gregoire 360-902-4111 or email at www.governor.wa.gov
Paula J. Hammond, Director Washington State Department of
Transportation 360-705-7000 or email at hammonp@wsdot.wa.gov


I stopped by and checked in this morning and in speaking with a volunteer from the local chapter of Veterans for Peace--the non-profit group that is helping them out, and yes-- can take tax-deductible donations on behalf of Nickelsville; I was able to procure a list of immediate needs that folks in the community can drop by:

Food
Bottled water
Bathroom Supplies
Hand Sanitizer
Building Materials (wood)

What's interesting this time around is that we are coming around to an election for Seattle's mayor. Though I am told that Nickelsville representatives have tried to meet with Greg Nickels four times, he continues to rebuff their requests. Conversely, since so many of his opponents are campaigning on the "greg sucks" line, perhaps one of them will step up and do the right thing. We'll see if the city is more flexible. In the meantime the hopes are that the governor Gregoire's office with be accommodating.

If you are a facebook geek, here's their page. Time to go to Costco.

UPDATE: The folks at WSB, as expected, are on it.

Georgetown Music Fest sneak preview tonight and Saturday

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned the cancellation of the Georgetown Music Fest, and the lineup has been merged with the events at the Artopia on June 27th. However, there will be a preview of some of the bands performing at Artopia this weekend. So goes the announcement:

Come check out two bitchen lineups this weekend as we get amped for the upcoming festival June 27th.

Friday 6/5 is locals night featuring: Danielle, the Ruby Doe, Elba Saturday 6/6 features experimentation and dreamy pop: Squid and Ink Collective, Jeepster, Mr. Gnome.

Both shows only $5 each at Jules Mae Saloon. Doors at 8PM, Music at 9PM

We get props in Chicago

The NBC affiate news site in Chicago did a follow-up on the response to the upcoming Landmarks ruling (see below) , quoting various sources around the country who weighed in on the topic. Blogging Georgetown was amongst them:

..."The case has jolted historic preservationists around the country, and for good reason," Blair Kamin wrote this week at Cityscapes. "The seven standards by which Chicago evaluates potential landmarks - evidence of important architecture, connection with a historic event, and so on - differ little from the criteria used by other American cities."...

..."Already, property rights advocates are using the case as ammunition to shoot down landmark laws they believe to be overly vague," Kamin notes. "In April, for example, two Seattle property owners cited the Chicago case as they fought to overturn a city landmarks board ruling denying their request to erect three single-family homes on the sloping front lawn of a protected, turn-of-the-century home."

The other side of the debate, as expressed in part by Blogging Georgetown, a Seattle area Web site that has followed the case Kamin mentions, is this: "Because as far as property rights goes, it is okay for individual property owners to destroy amenities that add value to other people's properties."

Read the rest here.

UPDATE: More coverage on the local case mentioned above, here (h/t WSB.)