As many of you know already, there has been ongoing discussions with the city regarding the future of Green Lake Community Center. Seattle Parks and Recreation has proposed tearing down and rebuilding the community center and has suggested they would need to partner with a private organization to pay the cost. The first city council budget planning meeting for 2018 is this Thursday. I'm requesting all available players attend and advocate for our community center. The attached letter was created by a group of volunteers working to galvanizing support for all our community centers:

Kim Goldov (GLTTC Volunteer)

 

 

Sixth District Councilmember Mike O’Brien says now is the time to persuade the Seattle City Council to invest public money in planning and design in 2018 to tear down and rebuild Lake City and Green Lake Community Centers and Evans Pool starting in 2020. Mike O’Brien has urged us to attend three Seattle City Council public budget hearings in the next six weeks to support his proposal for additional funding to replace community centers and pools with public funds. The next Seattle Parks and Recreation funding cycle starts in 2020. Since funding runs in six-year cycles, the planning for 2020 must start now. In bureaucratic time, two years is practically tomorrow.

                                                                                                                                             

Please attend as many of these hearings as you can. All three hearings will be held at

City Hall, 600 4^th Ave, in downtown Seattle:

5:30 p.m., Thurs. Oct. 5, Council will take public testimony on the budget

5:30 p.m.,  Wed, Nov. 1, City Council take public testimony on the budget

1 p.m., Mon, Nov. 13, Metropolitan Park District Board of Governors (City Council) will deal with the 2018 Park District budget.

 

We want to make a splash at these hearings (pun intended!) We suggest that swimmers wear swimsuits under jeans, bring beach towels, swim caps and goggles; table tennis people, bring your paddles, basketball, baseball, soccer players, bring your sports equipment. Also make and bring banners, placards and other visual aids supporting our cause.

 

If you can't attend these City Council budget hearings, please e-mail the City Council to urge them to allocate public funding for replacement, not privatization, of our public facilities. The City Council addresses are as follows:

 

mike.obrien@PROTECTED, lisa.herbold@PROTECTED, sally.bagshaw@PROTECTED, bruce.harrell@PROTECTED, lorena.gonzalez@PROTECTED, debora.juarez@PROTECTED, kshama.sawant@PROTECTED, rob.johnson@PROTECTED

 

Thanks to your support, we’ve already achieved significant victories. Seattle Parks and Recreation has agreed to make the major repairs to Evans Pool and Green Lake Community Center funded in the 2008 Levy!

 

What we want to tell the City Council:

 

1.      We strongly oppose turning our public facilities over to private partners like the YMCA to construct and operate. Private operation of our pools and community centers will lead to the loss of activities these centers now provide to the entire community:encounters with people of all races, ethnic backgrounds, sexes, incomes, ages and abilities to learn and enjoy healthy habits together in a safe place. Sharing activities with people who are different increases tolerance and acceptance of the other. Private Partner operation will lead to a lack of accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, and affordability. 51% of taxpayers in Seattle have an adjusted gross income of less than $51,000 a year and 25% of taxpayers in Seattle have an AGI of less than $25,000 a year. They cannot afford membership fees and monthly dues. Background checks for criminal records will disproportionately exclude people of color, undocumented immigrants and the homeless.

 

2.      We demand that the City of Seattle honor the promises they’ve made for more than 10 years to replace or remodel our public park facilities. As a first step, we urge the Council to allocate public funding to plan and design replacement of Lake City and Green Lake Community Centers and Evans Pool in 2018, with construction to occur during the next funding cycle in 2020-2026. With adequate funding and good planning, this will allow Seattle Parks to be ready to break ground on new facilities.

 

3.      We further demand that the City also include funding in the 2018 budget for planning and design work to maintain the other park facilities, and amend the budget to add funds for Parks planning and staff for the centers, and include: Lake City, Hiawatha, Queen Anne, Loyal Heights, South Park, Jefferson Park, Magnolia, Green Lake & Evans Pool and Magnuson, and in the 2020-2026 funding cycle. Also, amend the 2018 budget to add funds for Parks planning and staff for the community centers.

 

4.      We demand that the city keep the Metropolitan Park District tax rate at 27.5 cents per thousand.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Thanks,

 

Susan Helf, Elizabeth Riggs and Carl Wester

Save Evans Pool and Green Lake Community Center