Nickels Newsletter - June 2006

Dear Friends,

Since I took office in 2002, we have faced the longest and deepest recession of our generation, witnessed unspeakable destruction at the hands of both nature and people, welcomed heads of state to our city, and we have gone global with our fight to end greenhouse gas emissions here and in cities throughout our nation.

Now we must focus our attention on something much more basic, but which has a huge impact on the quality of our daily life in Seattle -- transportation. As I promised in my State of the City address, I have proposed a 20-year plan to get Seattle out of a $500 million transportation fix that has grown over the past 35 years. In the past 10 years alone, we have seen a 66 percent decrease in dedicated funding -- from $37.5 million in 1995 to $13.1 million this year -- due to court decisions, citizen initiatives, and the state's archaic funding formula.

A Citizen Advisory Panel, previous citizens panels, and more than 500 people who attended transportation public meetings this spring, offered their comments on transportation priorities. They all told me three things: we need to improve our roadways, sidewalks, and bike paths; we can't ask property owners to bear all of the costs; and we must go beyond basic maintenance. We can no longer afford piecemeal solutions. My 20-year "Bridging the Gap" plan will eliminate the backlog -- it will let us catch up and keep up.

Learn more about the transportation initiative

With summer just a few days away, we look forward to Seattle weather at its best and enjoying the many outdoor activities around town -- our beautiful parks and playgrounds, wonderful festivals, our beaches, the zoo, biking and so much more. I wish you a safe and enjoyable summer.

Sincerely,


GREG NICKELS
Mayor of Seattle

Walking the talk

Solving the problem of global warming begins with each one of us. We all need to make some changes in our lives to make a difference in dealing with climate disruption, including me. We have now officially benched the "beloved and traditional limo" as the mayor’s official transportation. Instead I will now travel around town in a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which gets 31 miles to the gallon, compared to 17 for the limo. It’s a small step to draw attention to a huge problem.
Read the news release

Breaking ground for the African American Museum

It’s been a long time coming, but at last, we broke ground to realize a long-cherished vision. The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle is transforming the historic Colman School in Seattle’s Central District to create the Northwest African American Museum; the first of its kind in the region with year-round exhibits devoted to African American arts, culture and heritage. And we will transform the adjacent lot into a park and propose to name it after Seattle’s own Jimi Hendrix. I’m proud that the City was an early supporter of the museum, with $2.9 million in funding for what will be a magnificent museum serving the community for years to come.

Celebrating completion of the first Link light rail stations

As we celebrate the completion of two Link light rail stations -- Stadium Station on Royal Brougham, and SODO Station about a mile south at Lander Street -- it’s easy to envision the tens of thousands of people who will use Link light rail everyday to get to work, school and play. From the Stadium Station it will be a fast, dependable, 30-minute trip to the airport regardless of weather or traffic on I-5, eight minutes to Westlake Station, and nine minutes to the Rainier Valley. And this is just the beginning; Sound Transit is planning for the next round of regional transportation investments. We are extending light rail north to the University of Washington and planning extensions to Northgate and Bellevue.

"Connections" offers one stop center for homeless adults

We have taken another step toward our goal to end homelessness in Seattle. The recent opening of “Connections” in downtown Seattle marks the first time homeless adults will have access to the broad network of housing and human services they need to end their own homelessness -- all in one location. "Connections" will provide a safe place to go during the day, but more importantly all homeless adults who walk through the door will have a case manager to help them develop custom-tailored action plans to reach their goals. "Connections" is located in The Morrison at 505 Third Avenue and operated by the Downtown Emergency Service Center.
Read the news release

Zoomazium celebrates children’s connection to nature

A special place just opened at our Woodland Park Zoo. Called Zoomazium, it is the most advanced indoor/outdoor nature play space in the region, offering young children a fun, safe and dry place to explore nature and animals. Children who connect with nature demonstrate increased scholastic success, better physical health and a commitment for taking care of the environment. But best of all, Zoomazium is kid-tested and fun. And clearly, the children at the grand opening were more excited about taking a peek than listening to adults giving speeches.

Summer College opens in July

Education is so important but sometimes our children face obstacles to reaching their full potential in our schools. To help struggling high school students meet graduation requirements and expose them to the opportunities of a college education we have formed an innovative new partnership between Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Community Colleges and the City of Seattle. We are offering Summer College to 600 high school students on three community college campuses beginning in July. The five-week program is open to students who did not pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) this year. Summer College will give these students the tools to pass the WASL, open their eyes to the possibility of entering college and give them hope for the future. This is a step toward giving our kids the best public schools in America.
Read the news release

Breaking ground for new sidewalks

An important part of my transportation package is sidewalks and some neighborhoods around Seattle do not have any. With the summer season upon us, we launched a program to build new sidewalks in high-priority locations around town. We just broke ground at the first location on Beacon Hill near Asa Mercer Middle School. This will be followed by locations in Fremont, Queen Anne, Arbor Heights and one more to be determined. Our 2006 budget includes $500,000 for this new program. It’s not enough to construct all of the sidewalks we need, but it’s a start. We’ll have to make some difficult decisions but we will prioritize locations based on safety first. Our goal is to make Seattle the most walkable city in the nation, through my 10-point pedestrian safety program, and by providing safe places to walk.
Read more about pedestrian safety

Clean and Green in the Morgan Neighborhood

Every month I have the pleasure of visiting a different neighborhood in Seattle and joining the neighbors for their Clean and Green event. The best part is seeing all the good things people are doing for their neighborhoods not just on that one day. In the Morgan Neighborhood in West Seattle, exciting things are happening. The City will purchase the former site of the Morgan monorail station and develop it into a park and next year we will lid the Myrtle Street Reservoir. I look forward to working with the neighbors to come up with ideas for its future.