Friends,
Spring has (finally) sprung!

What a welcome respite after a long winter which included some of the worst weather we've seen in years:  high winds, rain, ice and the disastrous Hanukkah Eve storm.

I have taken advantage of the better weather and longer days to spend more time in communities; talk to friends and neighbors; volunteer at the Friends of the Library Book Sale; attend the grand opening at the Seattle Art Museum and the kickoff event for the year-long centennial celebration for the Pike Place Market; and read the latest Seattle Read's book, "The Namesake."

At Council, committees have been busier than usual. The Energy and Technology Committee that I chair has been engaged in appointing the Seattle Light Advisory Committee and re-establishing a Rates Advisory Committee.  Among the issues currently before the committee are reports on Channel 21's Art Zone Program and on City Light's Conservation Program. Finally, we continue to hold our ongoing Joint Committee Meetings on the Winter Storm Response, the next one taking place on June 14th in Council Chambers.

Please take a moment to read my newsletter to learn more about what issues I am working on and events in the city I have attended.

I look forward to the summer months ahead and continuing to work with my fellow councilmembers on issues important to the residents of Seattle. 

My regards,

Jean Godden

Recently, the Seattle City Council had its first look at an eye-opening, pull-no-punches review of how Seattle City Light responded to the Hanukkah eve windstorm. There was some good news to report, but there was enough bad news to leave council members feeling as if they'd been buffeted by a second windstorm.

The review, prepared by Davies Consulting and still in draft form, revealed some elephant-sized gaps in preparedness. There are a number of fronts on which Seattle City Light could have been better prepared including:

• Preparing restoration plans for all types of emergencies from windstorms to earthquakes.
• Coordinating better with other emergency responders. The city's emergency command center shut down too soon, leaving city departments to work on their own.
• Pre-arranging for help with private contractors. For example City Light has a contract for tree trimming that enabled the contractor to step in and assist immediately after the storm.
• Putting line workers up in hotel rooms when a major emergency is forecast. Utilities call this "pre-positioning" of crews.
• Cross-training employees so that everyone can pitch in during an emergency.
• Providing better information to customers on when power will be restored.

The list of needs is a dizzying one. What will be required in coming months is a plan identifying the most critical needs and the timeline for getting the utility up to speed to handle the next emergency.

To its credit Seattle City Light isn't waiting for the final report before implementing some recommendations. Already in place are updated mutual assistance agreements. City Light has had agreements in past years, but when the storm hit, it was found that the agreements had lapsed. It's the macro version of misplacing your umbrella when the sun's shining and then not being able to find it when the autumn rains return. Only in this case, the downside was far greater than a good drenching.

Another sign that preparedness is now on the front burner is completion of a mock emergency drill. A table-top drill had been scheduled at Seattle City Light during the weekend of the Dec. 14 storm. Ironically, the drill had to be canceled when the storm hit.

While the Davies Report makes it clear that City Light's response, at least in the early stages, fell short of best practices, it also spotlights areas where City Light shone. Compared with other utilities faced with the same amount of storm damage, City Light managed to complete restoration within the expected number of days, meeting the nationwide average.

That seems to indicate that City Light line workers, although understaffed, worked more efficiently and smarter.

Also on the credit side of the ledger, City Light workers suffered fewer injuries, compared with utilities in similar emergencies. In fact, there was only one employee injury reported at City Light.

The review to date has been thorough, comprehensive and candid, if not the easiest pill to swallow. For the report's thoroughness, City Light deserves our thanks.

The council now awaits the final report, due later this month, and recommendations on how to fix outstanding lapses. At that point, we're all going to have to roll up our sleeves and start work. The storm is over. Restoration is over. Now let the heavy lifting begin.

Recently, Seattle City Council members announced they are looking for seven citizens to serve on the Seattle City Light Rates Advisory Committee, which will advise the Council, Mayor and City Light Superintendent on Seattle City Light rates. The committee will examine the utility's rate-setting policies, practices and proposed rate increases or decreases before making recommendations to the Mayor and Council.

"Citizen review of our public power electrical rates is a long standing tradition bringing transparency and community participation into the mix," said Councilmember Jean Godden who works to oversee Seattle City Light as chair of the Energy and Technology Committee. "The Rates Advisory Committee is an important avenue for involving our citizen owners in advising the utility and the council. It must be preserved."

Earlier this year the Council re-established the Rates Advisory Committee, which previously functioned since 1978. The Council is now seeking candidates with an interest in City Light to join the committee. Candidates should be available to attend monthly meetings and briefings on technical and financial issues relating to the electric industry. When re-established, the Rates Advisory Committee will include fifteen members with eight appointed by the Mayor and seven by the City Council. Those appointed by the council will serve as at-large members with at least one member representing residential ratepayers and one representing suburban cities served by City Light.

Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to: Jean Godden, Seattle City Council, P.O. Box 34025, Seattle, WA 98124-4205, or via email to: jean.godden@seattle.gov. Nominations and applications should be received by Friday, May 25, 2007. Click here to view the enabling legislation, Ordinance 122335.

Real Seattleites know what friends mean when they say, "Meet me at the Pig." What they're saying is they'll meet you at the bend in the Pike Place Market, the nation's oldest continually operating farmers' market and one of the city's true treasures.

The Pike Place Market is holding a year-long celebration to commemorate 100 years as a direct link between farmers and their customers. And how appropriate. It's going to take a full year to properly mark the milestone, for the Market is not only a great place to buy fruits and vegetables from the producer, but it also functions as the soul of the city.

After all, where in Seattle can you daily hear up to 37 languages spoken?  Where can you sample ethnic dishes ranging from spicy Bolivian Sopa de Camarones (shrimp soup) to cone-shaped Greek gyros, or purchase elephant garlic and chanterelle mushrooms? You can also inspect geoducks, the giant clams that spill from their shells, shocking visitors with their priapic appearance.

You can hear street musicians add to the market's ambient sounds while watching fish "fly" from the hands of one fishmonger to another. You can watch the passing parade, the tourists in short pants and long-lensed cameras, the locals who carry canvas shopping bags filled with fresh-baked bread and farm-fresh greens, the street folk who cadge the occasional coin while wishing you "a good day."

The Market is where the action never stops. It's a movable feast, a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds.

To celebrate this historic venue there's a slate of events planned to take place at the Market. To mention a few:

Pigs on Parade Kickoff, June 2;
Market Foundation Street Festival, June 2-3;
Berry Bash, July 22;  and
Sunset Supper, Aug. 10.

The week of Aug.10-16 has been designated Centennial Week Celebration, with Aug. 17 scheduled for the Pike Place Market's 100th Birthday Party.

So much has happened at Pike Place over that 100-year history. But this year it's only right to appreciate the Market's origins as the farmers' and consumers' rebellion against commission houses that offered low prices to the farmers and charged inflated prices to the consumers.

Said one farmer interviewed after that historic first day of selling directly to the customers:

"The next time I come to this place I'm going to get police protection … I got rid of everything all right, but I didn't really sell a turnip. You see, those society women stormed my wagon, crawled over the wheels and crowded me off to a respectable distance. When I got back, the wagon was swept as clean as a good housewife's parlor and there in a bushel basket was a quart of silver. It gave me a good price for my vegetables."

Meet you at the Pig.

Variety, they say, is the spice of life. If that's true, councilmembers must be well seasoned. In the course of a day, a councilmember's activities can range from sedentary (sitting through briefings) to highly active (kayaking on the Duwamish to view superfund clean-up sites).

Take a recent visit to the Bitter Lake neighborhood. Community members have been inviting councilmembers to take walking tours along Linden Avenue North from North 130th to North 145th Streets.

Several years ago, the neighborhood accepted designation as "Bitter Lake Village," a neighborhood destined to accept the densities and meet state Growth Management goals. Neighbors believe they'd struck a bargain with the city. In return for accepting greater density, they'd see improvements to sidewalks, drainage, transportation and open space.

Some of those promises have been kept. Other promises, delayed by the city's financial challenges, remain to be fulfilled.

And hence the walk up Linden, a 100-foot wide street that shortly will have about 500 more units of housing. The neighbors aren't as concerned about the density as they are about the increased need for more traffic controls and other safety improvements.

The neighbors' message resonates with councilmembers who, like me, have taken the walking tour. Most striking is the contrast at North 145th where the Seattle city limit meets the city of Shoreline. On the Shoreline side, the right-of-way has been turned into a bike and pedestrian trail, attractively landscaped and lined with condos. On the Seattle side, the view is more, well, Appalachia: cars parked at angles, a dump truck staging site and the backside of Aurora auto dealers' lots.

The neighbors are right. And although the promises were made before some of us were elected, those promises should be honored. Now that the Council is focusing on pedestrian safety, we can do better. I have asked the Pedestrian Safety Committee to look at Linden North. It would make an excellent demonstration project.

Can you tie a knot or paint a window sill? Can you take tape measurements or identify carpentry tools? Councilmember Sally Clark and I showed our expertise (or lack thereof) by competing in a trade craft "Olympics" during the 28th annual Women in Trades Fair, held April 27 at the Seattle Center.

The Fair annually provides a chance for women to learn about opportunities for good-paying jobs in the trades. Training is available in scores of areas, and there are openings in crafts such as carpentry, bricklaying, painting and welding. In the spotlight are jobs in private industry, as well as opportunities with Seattle City Light, Seattle Fire Department and other city departments.

On hand at this year's Women in Trades Fair were 70 recruiters and representatives of the various trades, crafts and occupations.  Theme of the day was "Yes, We Can," taken from Rosie the Riveter, the iconic World War II tradeswoman.

And the trade craft contest winner: was it Councilmember Clark? Or was it yours truly? While I was quickest at tying knots, my colleague's speed and dexterity gave her the victory.  However, I am looking forward to a rematch next year!

With the coming-of-age of the baby-boomers comes a growing population of 50 to 90-somethings looking for programs that will provide an interactive environment to stimulate their minds.

That's where the University of Washington comes in.

Since last fall, the University has offered courses specifically tailored to the senior population through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, made possible by a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation.

This grant and the University's own contribution of facilities and faculty are how OLLI-UW is able to offer a wide variety of courses at such a low cost – a $90 annual membership fee allows unlimited course offerings every quarter – according to Susan Turner, senior director of UW Educational Outreach.

"There are some wonderful programs throughout Seattle for people over 50," Turner said. "What sets us apart is the fact that we are able to utilize the resources of the University, particularly its faculty."

Class sizes vary. One of the largest this semester, Introduction to Murder, had 80 enrolled students, but typically members enjoy a class of around 20 that allows them "to engage in thoughtful discussion," Turner said.

And with no tests or grades, there's no pressure associated with the course material, only learning for learning's sake.

And not only does OLLI-UW offer a variety of courses, but a variety of classmates to interact with. Turner explained that so far the program has a number of members in their late 50s to early 70s with a substantial membership well into their 80s.

Many of the OLLI-UW's members are very active, involved in a number of activities in addition to the courses they take at the University, which is where the program's flexible schedule becomes very helpful, with courses offered once or multiple times a week.

There are two upcoming information sessions for those interested in learning more about the program: Thursday, May 31 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Burke Museum on the UW Seattle campus, or Tuesday, June 5 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Trilogy at Redmond Ridge in Redmond.

Click here for more details about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UW.

One of the most exciting happenings at City Hall is the February launch of Art Zone, 12 hours of arts programming each week on the Seattle Channel. The programming came about following Seattle City Council approval of a cable renewal franchise with Comcast. The cable company provided funding for 10 years of arts programming.

What's happening on Art Zone? Just about everything and anything that contributes to Seattle's rising image in the world of arts and culture. Seattle recently moved up from sixth to fifth among the nation's big-city arts destinations.

An Art Zone Ad Hoc Committee, created by the Council's Energy & Technology Committee to advise the Seattle Channel, conducted interviews, held focus groups and engaged in discussions with community members. The result is programming that seeks to demystify the arts and expand cultural expressions.

Some recent shows include a feature on Langston Hughes' "Teen Musical," a show about storytellers filmed live at the Skylark Café, Deejay John (in the morning) Richards chatting up Seattle bands, performers appearing at the Triple Door downtown and the debut of "Big Night Out" hour at Columbia City Theatre.

Seattle Channel has already received a Northwest Emmy nomination for one Art Zone show: "The Olympic Sculpture Park Preview." Remember to tune in from 8 p.m. to midnight Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays on Channel 21.