Leschi
The Leschi Community Council is joining the Madrona and Mount Baker community councils to present a candidate forum on Oct. 22 at the Mount Baker Community Club (2811 Mount Rainier Drive S.).
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a meet-and-greet with candidates, followed by a discussion on gun and pre-K initiatives and candidates’ positions, from 7 to 9 p.m.
At press time, the following candidates are scheduled to attend:
•Seattle Municipal Judge Position 7: Damon Shadid and Fred Bonner
•State Representative: Sharon Tomiko Santos and Daniel Bretzke
•State Senate: Pramila Jayapal and Louis Watanabe
•U.S. Congress: Adam Smith
Madison Park
Over this last month we have seen a dramatic change in the skyline to the north of Madison Park as the state Route 520 bridge structure has grown, and we will now see this “viaduct-on-the-lake” slowly creep westward toward Montlake, roofing over the south part of Union Bay and its wetlands.
As a first step in construction in the Madison Park neighborhood, the Washington State Department of Transportation fenced off the small parking lot on Lake Washington Boulevard on Sept. 17; some folks didn’t take kindly to that, and by Saturday, the yellow tape across the entrance had been removed. The parking lot and adjacent area will be used for many years to come for construction staging.
Speaking of folks not enjoying having their access restricted, the temporary traffic barriers put in place this month at the north end of Dorffel Drive — as an experiment supported by your Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) to test whether some cut-through traffic could be eventually diverted — have been taken down at least twice.
On a more enjoyable note, the Madison Park Business Association, in conjunction with MPCC, put on yet another very successful Artwalk opening on Sept. 12. The weather was great, the new trees that MPCC installed were in full bloom and the wine and hors d’oeuvres supplied by about 30 of our businesses — to support the 38 or so artists represented — were consumed with great enthusiasm. Attendance was a little shy of last year’s event but was still close to 700 of us.
Thanks to Indie-Flix, people lined up to have their photos taken, and about 550 folks will be able to retrieve their “almost-selfies” online.
The evening of Sept. 17 at Park Shore Retirement Community gave us another in our continuing “Extraordinary Neighbors” series of talks — we are, indeed, lucky to have so many interesting people living in our little neck of the woods to draw upon. Our latest speaker was University of Washington professor Naomi Sokoloff, who entertained us with some poetry reading, plus expounded on “Seattle Stories: the City in Literature.”
On Sept. 21, the first of hopefully a citywide network of neighborhood greenways was formally opened in Madison Park. MPCC initiated this project on 37th Avenue East originally because of a lack of sidewalk on the northwest corner of 37th and East Madison Street, which the council felt, in some way, contributed to a serious accident whereby a child on a bicycle, on his way to McGilvra Elementary School, ran into a car. This was in no way the driver’s fault, but a shortcoming in intersection configuration. We finally got the city to extend the sidewalk and make it into a corner bulb.
Subsequently, working with the neighbors, we managed to have three speed bumps constructed on 37th as part of the federal Safe Routes to Schools program. Traffic has slowed along the street, and it has now become much more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly.
The “grand opening,” nicely choreographed by Bob Edmiston of the MPCC board, included a short speech by Tom Rasmussen, chair of the Seattle City Council’s Transportation Committee.
Upcoming, we will host a mini-debate on competing Initiatives 591 and 594 on gun control as part of our regular monthly MPCC board meeting in the Madison Park Bathhouse (1900 43rd Ave. E.) on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. We don’t often venture into political issues because of our nonprofit status and the tendency of politics to be a divisive rather than neighborhood-building endeavor — please let us know what you think.
Later in the month, on Oct. 25 at 10 a.m., starting at Park Shore (1630 43rd Ave. E.), we will sponsor the third in our series of local tree walks, led by a professional arborist. These are well attended and very informative; everyone is welcome.
— Maurice Cooper, president
mpccprez@gmail.com
Madrona
At an informal get-together, members of the Madrona Community Council (MCC) discussed the possibility of reviving the Madrona Garden Tour; this seems to be a good idea, without, as yet, a volunteer to lead it. Board members discussed revenue and reserve issues and agreed to separate the job of treasurer from advertising manager for the newsletter. Casey Losh will continue with the latter; Paul Gomez is stepping up to assume treasurer responsibilities.
There was general consensus that the wine tasting fundraiser for Nov. 15 would be held at Glassbaby as in past years, with few changes to format or timing.
Stacey Kryman reported on the MCC concerts organized for Madrona Playfield on Aug. 14 and 28. This is a first-time activity for the current MCC, but there is general agreement that outdoor summer concerts are attractive to many and can be held early enough on a summer evening to include picnics and children.
The Madrona Neighborhood Garage Sale 2014, led by MCC member Rob Ward, took place on June 28. Twenty-five neighbors registered their garage sale events on the MCC website and were listed on the map. Contrary to past years, when rain appeared on Garage Sale day, this year, the sky was merely overcast.
Many thanks to Rob for his work and for the volunteers who put up signs, created and distributed the printed map, and otherwise helped make the Garage Sale a memorable event.
Funds raised during the event support Madrona neighborhood activities, such as the Halloween Party, the Mayfair Block Party and the Madrona News.
— Reprinted from Madrona Community Council’s Madrona News