Here’s a random assortment of neighborhood and citywide news.
The state legislature’s recent budget agreement includes $750,000 to upgrade the Phinney Neighborhood Center’s accessibility.
A new app in North Seattle provides people with help doing household and yard chores. Neighborly lets you book someone to clean your bathroom, weed your yard, grocery shop, run errands like picking up your dry cleaning or dropping off shoes to be repaired, clean up after a party, even take your dog for a walk or scoop up dog waste from your yard. Each task lists the price or number of credits.
You could be eligible for a rain garden rebate through RainWise, a joint program of the City of Seattle and King County.
The average rebate for the installation of an approved rain garden or cistern is $4,500. Collectively, more than 600 RainWise projects are reducing 9 million gallons of runoff annually. These functional systems also add curbside appeal to homes.
The RainWise Program offers rebates for up to 100 percent of a professionally installed rain garden or cistern on private property. Residents can visit the RainWise Program website online to learn about their eligibility for rebates as well as the program’s environmental benefits.
Candidate ratings are now being released by a number of organizations, including the non-partisan Municipal League of King County, which ranked more than 80 candidates. Ratings are an evaluation, not an endorsement, and come after candidate questionnaires, studying the public record, speaking with references, and in-person interviews with candidates.
Students of color are invited to free public education workshops by the Minority Education Incentive Program. Workshops will be held at Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church, 9656 Waters Ave S. The July 18 workshop, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is for students K-8. The July 25 workshop, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., is for students in grades 9-12.
The workshops will be run by group leaders from a variety of backgrounds and professional fields. The group leaders will talk with students about how they took control of their education to aid them in achieving their life goals. They will then work with students on “mapping out” what steps students will need to take to achieve their goals.
The goal of the workshops are to empower students, regardless of their age, to take control of their education by developing a better understanding of what they will be able to achieve with a good education.
For more information, or to participate, contact Rose Sanders at [email protected] or call 206-595-1185.
The King County Assessor’s office recently launched LocalScape, a new property data portal that integrates property data with other data such as neighborhood values, sales, permit, Census, and education information.
Seattle Department of Transportation’s Car Tab Rebate Program launched in June. It provides income-qualified vehicle owners with a car registered in Seattle a $20 rebate on their car-tab fees. The program is available to Seattle households at or below 45 percent of the median Seattle household income.
Seattle Department of Planning and Development has released a Draft City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan, titled “Seattle 2035.” The public can comment on the plan through September.
The Draft Plan identifies proposed goals and policies to help achieve our vision for Seattle’s future. Seattle is expected to grow by 120,000 residents and 115,000 jobs in the coming twenty years. The Draft Plan also includes a new Future Land Use Map, showing a pattern of growth that supports the City’s vision.
The City of Seattle is seeking public feedback on proposed goals and policies as we continue to evaluate strategies to build a safe, vibrant, affordable, interconnected, and innovative city for all. City staff has already received hundreds of public comments on the DEIS and on the overall direction of the Plan document.
Here’s how to join the discussion about Seattle’s future and provide comments:
1. Check out 2035.seattle.gov to learn more about what’s in the Draft Plan and to read the executive summary
2. Join the Seattle 2035 Online Community Conversation at seattle2035.consider.it and discuss the potential pros and cons of proposed policies with other Seattleites
3. Attend our Draft Plan Public Event on September 15 – Stay tuned for more details
4. Follow Seattle 2035 on Facebook and Twitter
5. Send comments by the end of September:
- Email: Send comments to [email protected]
- Mail: Send comments to the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development, Attn: Seattle 2035, 700 5th Avenue, Suite 2000, PO Box 34019, Seattle WA 98124-4019.
- In Person: Attend our Draft Plan Public Event on September 15. Stay tuned for more details!
Feedback received on the Draft Comprehensive Plan will help inform the Mayor’s Recommended Plan which will be released in late 2015.
In crime news: Eric and Stacey say they saw an unknown man peering into their house from their neighbor’s garage on North 77th Street near 1st Avenue NW late last Monday night. The man was young, blond, wearing a baseball hat backward and carrying a backpack. He took off when they spotted him.
