Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw and Tom Rasmussen received a less-than-warm reception in Green Lake last night (Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010).
Bagshaw and Rasmussen were visitors at a Green Lake Community Council meeting. They came to the meeting to discuss City Council’s efforts to scale back Mayor McGinn‘s proposed cuts to the Green Lake Community Center.
You can read about the mayor’s proposed budget here and about City Council’s work to add drop-in hours and programming space to the budget here.
Green Lake residents gather to hear from Councilmembers Bagshaw and Rasmussen
While Councilmember Bagshaw’s presentation about City Council’s efforts began with an upbeat tone, the feeling in the room quickly turned sour as one Green Lake resident, Ann-Marie Stillion, expressed frustration. “What I don’t hear in your talk is the people,” she said. “All I hear is double-speak.”
Ann-Marie Stillion, far right, reacts to Councilmember Bagshaw's presentation
Another resident, who did not identify herself, questioned the role of the Associated Recreation Council (ARC). “Unlike the Parks Department, which is public, ARC is not accountable to the citizens of Seattle,” she said. She also expressed that she was disheartened that some space at the community center is still slated for conversion to offices. “I guess I should be cheering that two rooms have been saved,” she said, “but it still makes no sense when there is surplus space elsewhere. It’s just a disconnect.”
The topic of office space came up several times. “I’ve lived in Seattle for 32 years,” one man said. “On several occasions, I’ve seen temporary buildings used for classrooms. If these were good enough for our children, why aren’t they good enough for office staff?”
Councilmember Bagshaw explained that the Parks Department would have to pay rent on any facility that does not belong to them. Even space owned by other city departments would not be rent-free, she said. Green Lake Community Council Chair Michael Cornell called this practice “ridiculous,” and Friends of Green Lake President Gayle Garman suggested that it be looked at as a policy issue by City Council.
Garman also pointed out that the Green Lake Community Center received the lowest rating in a 2008 Community Centers Condition Assessment Screening performed by the Parks Department. “There is lead and asbestos in the building,” Garman said. “It might be more expensive than the department is anticipating to do conversion work.”
Lifetime Green Lake resident Ellen Hewitt said that she is impressed with the efforts of City Council. However, she is disappointed that Green Lake, already a destination place, has to devote any of its community center to office staff that perform city-wide functions. “The community center was built to serve the community,” she said. “Even during the Great Depression, no one considered taking it away.”
A man in attendance who did not identify himself called the Parks Department “untrustworthy” and suggested that the department be held contractually to their recent assurances that the conversion of community center space will be temporary.
Councilmember Bagshaw said that she heard the concerns and that she would pass them along to Seattle Parks and Recreation Acting Superintendent Christopher Williams. “Please stand in our shoes,” she asked, as she explained that the Parks Department has suffered huge budget cuts at a time when voters have not supported taxation. “Had we not intervened,” Bagshaw said, “there would have been more and more reductions at every community center.”
Bagshaw credited Councilmember Rasmussen as being instrumental in City Council’s success in mitigating the effects of the mayor’s proposed budget on community centers. “He is my hero,” she said, “because he said ‘we are just not going to [cut community centers]‘.”
Rasmussen then spoke. Referencing his October visit to Green Lake, which you can read about here, he said that he had heard “loud and clear” that the public did not want to see community center space converted into offices.
He understands the frustration and confusion about why the offices couldn’t be located elsewhere, he said, “but we’re not real estate agents. It’s not our job to find another location.”
Councilmember Rasmussen speaks
Rasmussen also discussed the Green Lake Bathhouse, home to the Seattle Public Theater. His announcement that there is $456,000 in the 2011-12 budget for renovating the bathhouse was received well.
Responding to queries about the rent-free use of Parks Department facilities by ARC and the Parks Foundation, Rasmussen explained that if they were made to pay rent, that money would be diverted from the programs and park and facility improvements that they fund.
Rasmussen announced that City Council will be voting on the proposal to add drop-in hours to community centers on Friday. He asked for contact information from those in attendance so that he could follow-up with more information as it became available.
As the presentation concluded, Ann-Marie Stillion spoke up again. “For those of us who are unhappy,” she asked, “what can we do from here?” Councilmember Bagshaw advised those with feedback to contact Superintendent Williams directly (contact information can be found here). She also announced that City Council planned to create an advisory group on the topic of community centers.
Were you in attendance at last night’s meeting? Do you have thoughts that you would like to share? Please add them as a comment to this post.
I was not at last night’s meeting, but I feel frustrated that there aren’t citizen engagement processes in place where people can come to terms with difficult decisions and have empowered input in a way that addresses ALL the issues from a big picture perspective, not just from individual small views. It’s hard to say “who” is right here, but surely all perspectives are not attempting to find common ground. I think the flaw is in the group process design more than the individuals involved in this process. There are better processes available where people are more likely to feel empowered and heard, rather than frustrated and discouraged. My guess is that most everyone there felt the latter. I hope we start to employ better civic engagement models that make nearly everyone feel like winners, rather than losers.
I appreciate the council’s work in trying to scale back the mayor’s budget cuts, and I appreciate the interest in Green Lake taken by Councilmembers Bagshaw and Rasmussen. However, the facts remain: Green Lake is the most frequented park in the city; Green Lake receives more visits per month than any other city park. No, Seattle is not NYC or Boston, but if considered on a relative scale, Green Lake IS our Central Park, Green Lake IS our Boston Common. Green Lake is an urban gem that deserves to be preserved–cutting community center hours, reducing community center space to accomodate offices says that our public spaces–our most popular public space–are not important enough to preserve during times of great budget crises.
I feel just the opposite: in times of great budget crises, in times of great community stress, the best thing in the world is to preserve public spaces, and public buildings. Asbestos be damned! Green Lake Community Center, and Green Lake itself, is not only about the surrounding community. It is about our CITY. Green Lake IS the busiest park in the city, and Green Lake is about all of us. The Community Center capacity should not be reduced; Green Lake services should not be cut back. That would be a blow our city does not need.
What’s stopping the hundreds of square feet sitting vacant from force reductions and recession, sometimes using up precious dollars to heat and light, from being used instead of our community space?
Everyone knows that there is tons of office space right now because of the economy, so please Parks department officials, end the conceit that you “need” to spend tens of thousands of dollars, displace seniors, teens and children to build out another office–in our center.
This morning when my class met, one member suggested, as cynically as this sounds, that perhaps the Parks employees who will most certainly be moved there, are trading one beautiful lake view for another from Lake Union to Green Lake. They get a beautiful lake to walk around before work, access to Starbucks, a nice commute. And the community gets sacrificed.
I, for one, hope we can take these high priced boots off our necks going forward.
It was shocking to learn at this meeting that the decision to reduce Green Lake Community Center usage for the community was a last minute decision.
Despite the thin veil of words about “working hard,” in fact, little has been done to save the community center in the budget. BECAUSE it was so last minute. The planned elimination of the Armory had long been in the works. Poor or no planning appears to be the cause, not loss of space, it was observed by many in the room that night.
In times of crisis we need more in the way of community, not less. Green Lake does that.
Readers contact the City Council asap–they need your emails by Nov. 21. They need to take Green Lake off the chopping block, help us stop the charade from staff and tend to business, not abusing citizens so thoughtlessly.
(Thanks Amy for your fine piece on a very contentious and dispiriting meeting. It was truly sad to hear how little the leadership in the Parks department has considered the real people of the community of Seattle and Green Lake.)
I was disappointed after waiting for the Police update, and it was cancelled! Something that important should go first?
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