Monday 5/12/14 presentation about virtual village for elders

Denise Klein will be at the East District Council meeting (6PM Monday May 12th at Capitol Hill library) to discuss this intriguing new venture.

Links from the poster (below):

• http://www.nestseattle.org
• http://www.vtvnetwork.org
• http://www.phinneycenter.org/village/index.html

Chance to testify about proposed Metro bus cuts

King County Council seeks public testimony on Metro cuts

Metro and county leaders have been working for more than five years to reduce costs and achieve stable funding to preserve transit service. However, given our current finances, we have no choice but to reduce service levels to balance our budget. County Executive Dow Constantine recently sent the County Council a proposal to delete 72 bus routes and reduce or revise another 84 routes. (Learn more)

This proposal is now being reviewed by the Council, whose Transportation, Economy and Environment (TrEE) Committee will host three public hearings beginning next week:

Tuesday, May 13 @ 5:30pm – Union Station (Ruth Fisher Boardroom) 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle
Thursday, May 15 @ 5:30pm – Bellevue City Hall (City Council Chambers) 450 110th Ave. NE., Bellevue
Tuesday, May 20 @ 5:30pm – Renton Pavilion Event Center 233 Burnett Ave. S., Renton.

In addition to hearing public testimony at these events, the Council is accepting online testimony via a web form from residents who can’t come to a hearing. 

• Here's information about the funding shortfall
• Here's the web form for comments
• Changes to #8 : eliminate the part of route from Group Health to the CD
• Changes to #11: end service earlier
• Changes to #12: eliminate service on 19th Ave E., and on Madison east of 15th.
• Routes 10, 43 and 48 are unchanged. Route 48X is eliminated

Community Budget Workshops: one at Garfield CC on Weds May 7th

I  am writing as Chair of the City Council Budget Committee to invite you to Community Budget Workshops to help the City Council develop priorities for the 2015-6 budget. The Council will hold four meetings from May 6 to May 14, as listed below. All meetings are from 6 to 8 p.m.

Holding the meetings during the Spring will allow Councilmembers to take the information and encourage the Mayor to include it in the budget he proposes to the City Council in September.

Each meeting will have a dual focus. First, we’ll focus on the budgets of specific departments as listed below.  In addition, you’ll also be able to tell Councilmembers whether your neighborhood has specific needs and priorities. City government will transition to having seven district Councilmembers in 2016, as seen in the recently completed official districts map.

After brief presentations of each department’s budget, constituents will have the opportunity to participate in small group discussions with Councilmembers, and to list their priorities for the featured departments. The summaries of those priorities will be reported to those attending the Community Budget Workshops. Each meeting will have three Councilmembers in attendance.

If you have any questions, please contact my aide Newell Aldrich at newell.aldrich@seattle.gov. Please forward this to anyone who might be interested in attending.

DATE/TIME: Tues., May 6, 6p – 8p

DEPARTMENTS: Human Services/Housing/Economic Development

LOCATION: Rainier Community Center, 4600 38th Ave. S, Multipurpose Room (Columbia City)

DATE/TIME: Wed., May 7, 6p – 8p

DEPARTMENTS: Transportation/Land Use

LOCATION: Garfield Community Center, 23rd and Cherry, Multipurpose Room (Central District)

DATE/TIME: Thurs., May 8, 6p – 8p

DEPARTMENTS: Parks/Neighborhoods/Libraries/Arts

LOCATION: University Heights Community Center, 5031 University Way NE, Room 209 (University District)

DATE/TIME: Wed., May 14, 6p – 8p

DEPARTMENTS: Public Safety/Civil Rights

LOCATION: Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, Room 111 (Delridge)

Sincerely,

Nick Licata, Chair

Seattle City Council Budget Committee

Neighborhood Budget Priorities Conference, Sunday May 4th

(Screenshot below: here's the original)

OOPS Calendar broken. Here's a FLYER

Seattle cable monopoly (Comcast)

Seattle is going to renew its cable franchise (monopoly agreements) shortly.  They’re asking for feedback. 

http://www.seattle.gov/cable/franchiserenewal.htm

 

They want our input:

• On-line survey  Take this on-line survey to help us gather information for the Comcast renewal process.  
• Comcast Renewal Comments  Complete this comment form to send us your renewal-related ideas and input.
• Send us an email at cableoffice@seattle.gov
• Call our 24-hour Cable Line at (206) 684-8498

 

There will be a public meeting at the Miller Community Center on Tuesday May 13, 2014 ~ 6:30-8:00 pm 

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Reasons I think this is an important issue:

Broadband access is really sub-par in Seattle and the U.S. in general. In fact, the U.S. is near the lowest in broadband access among developed nations, yet has some of the highest broadband profits. This is because it is not a free market. Broadband is essentially monopoly, cell phones a duopoly. Comcast controls most of the market in both, and has little incentive to provide better access.

One of the first things that Murray did on taking office was to cancel the Gigabit fiber initiative that was I thought was a reall unsung victory of McGinn's. This would have increased internet speeds by a factor of 10 to 100, improved access, all without increasing costs overall. Not coincidentally, Comcast donated heavily to Murray's campaign.

This isn't an issue for most of us who can afford access and don't need high speeds. It's an issue for (a) equity: allowing more people to have reliable access to internet, including those who can't afford Comcast, and (b) ensuring our competitiveness in the technology market.

20th and John in 1955

Your thoughts on Seattle's future, by April 21st, please

Below is how to submit comments. Here is a web page with all the information and here are the display boards that were at the meeting.

Commenting Deadline and Final Open Houses The official commenting period for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Scoping process ends on April 21, 2014. We want to hear your thoughts on the three planning alternatives, whether we are looking at the right options, and how you want to see Seattle grow. You can send in your comments to 2035@seattle.gov, download our self addressed form, comment on thealternatives web page, or send a good old fashioned letter to:  City of Seattle Department of Planning & Development Attn: Gordon Clowers 700 5th Ave, Suite 1900 PO Box 34019 Seattle, WA 98124   Want more information? Come to one of our final open houses this week, Monday at Miller Community Centerfrom 6-8 PM and Tuesday at Rainier Community Centerfrom 6-8 PM. We will give a brief overview of the process and answer any questions you may have.