Tim Burgess' City View

Seattle Channel City Inside/Out

Councilmembers Bagshaw and Rasmussen and I joined host Brian Callanan for the March taping of City Inside/Out: Council Edition. You can watch our conversation below as we touch on issues related to education, public safety, transportation and a new sports arena.

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Traffic and Snow Watchers

Check out road clearing/deicing in your neighborhood or citywide. Watch live traffic cameras.

Keeping Downtown Neighborhoods Attractive and Strong

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a quiet little celebration that highlighted the new residents and new jobs that have sprung up and transformed the South Lake Union neighborhood. About a hundred neighborhood activists, representatives of the area's mega-developer Vulcan, business owners, urban planners, and others reflected on the ten-year conversion of a sleepy, somewhat run down area adjacent to downtown into a thriving, upbeat area with thousands of new residents and jobs.

Danny Westneat wrote about South Lake Union's success in last Sunday's Seattle Times, giving appropriate credit to former Mayor Greg Nickels for his vision and persistence in pushing forward the redevelopment of the area.  David Brewster posted an interesting historical perspective at Crosscut.com last Monday.  (Here's a link to the report that both Westneat and Brewster cite that summarizes what's happened in South Lake Union.)

Brewster, in his Crosscut piece, raises an interesting question about how the success of South Lake Union will impact the downtown core of Seattle.  Frankly, we would do well to accept Brewster's commentary as more of a challenge than a question. We dare not become complacent about our downtown, an area of multiple neighborhoods stretching from Lower Queen Anne to the International District and Pioneer Square and from South Lake Union to First Hill and the Central Waterfront.

An attractive and strong city center doesn't flourish on its own.  It takes determined work and a constant focus on things that matter, like the attractiveness of the pedestrian environment, crime and street disorder, quick and efficient transportation options, and strong businesses. (Continue after the jump for a list of key steps to maintaining an attractive and strong downtown . . .)

Why I’m Voting to Let You Increase Your (and my) Vehicle License Fee

I just joined with my colleagues and voted to place a measure on the November general election ballot that, if approved by voters, will increase the annual Vehicle License Fee (VLF) for all vehicles registered in Seattle by $60 for 10 years.  The fee would raise $204 million over the next 10 years for transportation system improvements. (Last year, sitting as the City’s Transportation Benefit District Governing Board, we imposed a $20 VLF and yesterday the King County Council imposed a two-year VLF of $20 to help pay for Metro bus service.)

Why are these extra Seattle VLF revenues needed and what will they be used for?

Vehicle License Fee Survey Results

Last week, I posted a very unscienctific survey about a possible increase in the annual Vehcile License Fee.  A total of 434 people responded and took the survey, 420 actually answered every question, a stunningly high 97%!  Well done, folks.

You can review all of the results by clicking here.  Of course, surveys like this tend to attract the true believers and advocates, a truism for all the online polls you find at news sites and political blogs these days.  But, they're fun and give us the opportunity to share our opinions.  Who knows, we might even influence the course of human events with the next poll we complete. 

Two of my survey questions were particuarly important to me: What do you believe are the most significant problems facing Seattle today? Where should we focus our transportation investments? Here are a couple of charts with the results. (Click on the charts to enlarge them in your browser.)

The City's Transportation Benefit District Governing Board votes at 11 a.m. today whether to give Seattle voters the opportunity to increase the annual VLF.  (The Board is comprised of all nine members of the City Council.)

Should Seattle Increase the Vehicle License Fee? Take the Survey!

The City Council is debating an increase in the annual Vehicle License Fee (VLF) to raise more money for transportation projects to help offset a decline in other transportation revenue.  The current VLF is $20 per year. Voters would have to approve any increase in the fee.

Please share your opinion on this issue by responding to this unscienctific survey.

Click here to take survey

 

Metro Transit Horrors Coming

Metro Transit is getting ready for massive service cuts because of falling revenue from the sales tax. This is one of the negative ripples from the stagnant economy over the past three years.  Don't think it's going to be that bad?  Take a look at this map. It's so bad, I'll just post the map here as well.  (Scroll down to bottom for how you can prevent these service cuts from happening.)

You can learn all the terrible details at this Metro website, including this specific list of route cancellations and service reductions.

The King County Council is considering imposing an annual Vehicle License Fee of $20 in 2012 and 2013 to reduce the amount of service cuts.  Even with the $20 fee, Metro will be required to reduce some service levels, cut other expenses and tap their emergency reserves.  The King County Council has the option to impose the $20 fee themselves with a two-thirds majority vote or send it to the November ballot for voters to decide.  Sending it to the ballot only requires a simple majority of five votes. 

Let your King County Councilmembers know your opinion on this issue.  Here's a list of the members of the County Council.  Click to go to their webpage, then click there to send them an email message.  Tell them to directly impose the temporary, two-year $20 Vehicle License Fee themselves to avoid reductions in Metro service. 

Bob Ferguson, District 1

Larry Gossett, District 2

Kathy Lambert, District 3

Larry Phillips, District 4

Julia Patterson, District 5

Jane Hague, District 6

Pete von Reichbauer, District 7

Joe McDermott, District 8

Reagan Dunn, District 9

 

Nine Parking Scofflaw Boots Applied on First Day

Today was the first day of the City's new parking scofflaw enforcement program.  Vehicles with four or more outstanding parking tickets are subject to "booting," meaning the vehicle is immobilized until the owner pays all outstanding parking fines.  Here's what happened today.

Parking Enforcement Officers booted a total of 9 vehicles today.  The first boot was applied at 2:13 p.m. and the last was applied at 3:49 p.m.  At the lowest end of the range of vehicles booted today, $467 is owed on 4 outstanding tickets.  At the highest end of the range of vehicles booted today, $3,308 is owed on 34 outstanding tickets.

As of 4 p.m. today, one booted motorist had paid the amount owed and self-released the boot. Seventeen minutes elapsed from the time that the boot was applied until the boot was released.

• That vehicle was booted at 3:34 p.m.
• The motorist called the boot vendor at 3:44 p.m. 
• The amount owed, $475 (including the $145 boot fee) was paid at 3:50 p.m. 
• The vehicle was released from the boot at 3:51 p.m.

UK Study Mission: Renewable Energy, Density, Transportation, Economic Growth, Public Education and More

Those Brits!  Focused.  Stiff upper lip.  And, did I say "focused?" 

I recently returned to Seattle after a week-long trip to Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.  I was part of the annual international study mission put together by the Trade Development Alliance and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.  (Don't fret, I paid my own way and didn't use a dime of City money. Highlights of my trip after the jump.)