Leschi
Join the Leschi Community Council for its second-annual Holiday Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at the Central Area Senior Center (500 30th Ave. S.).
The 2015 Concert features Garfield Orchestra students Alexandria Chuang, Riley Calcagno, Adrian Steele and Sophie Morada performing classical selections.
— Diane Snell, co-president
Madison Park
This time of year is the season for giving thanks. It is, therefore, well worth giving thanks to all the volunteers who currently serve on the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) board and all those who have served in the past.
By the U.S. Postal Service’s latest count, we have 3,298 households in our community — up by nine from three months ago.
The remarkable — maybe the most remarkable — feature of our community is its stability; many families have been in “The Park” for generations, and a large number of families, once they arrive here, never leave. This has had the fortunate effect of resulting in a very high percentage of families having had direct experience on serving on the MPCC board.
MPCC was re-activated in 1974, after a couple of decades of being in abeyance. Since 1974, for the first three decades thereafter, the MPCC bylaws called for a board of 21 members; then about a decade ago, a bylaw change was introduced reducing the minimum board complement to 15, with a maximum of 21. Currently we have 18 members.
Members typically serve for a three-year term; some, of course, do leave the area and the board, and some serve more than one term. But in rough terms, there is, and has been, a steady turnover of about six members per year for some 41-plus years, so around 250 people have been on the board — hence, about 8 percent of the households in our community have had a formal and active part in shaping our neighborhood at one time or another. It is an amazing record of participatory democracy in action!
A hearty season’s thank you again to all these present and past MPCC board members.
As always, the board is dedicated to hearing people’s input and feedback, and we would always love to increase our attendance at meetings and local forums. Community support and involvement are the keys to representative democracy, and the MPCC board takes no action without the board voting on the issue at hand, so we always need folks to help us collect and collate and then disseminate information, messages, agenda items, notification of events, etc. If you are interested in serving on the board or helping on one of its committees, please do not hesitate to contact us. Formal board meetings are, as always, held on the first Monday of the month at the Madison Park Bathhouse (1900 43rd Ave. E.) at 7 p.m., and everyone is, as always, welcome to attend.
In terms of upcoming events, this is your last reminder that the Christmas Ships will arrive at the Madison Park Beach at 4:40 p.m. on Dec. 20. If it is not raining — or not raining too hard — we expect close to 1,000 of us there, so come early, listen to the band in the bathhouse and partake of the free hot chocolate, hot cider and baked treats.
Our Extraordinary Neighbors series of talks take place about every two months in the Parkshore Retirement Community’s (1630 43rd Ave. E.) chapel/meeting room. It is being rebranded to Extraordinary Conversations to expand our horizons, and the next in the series is scheduled for Jan. 11, with the speaker being an immigration rights representative.
We are hoping that the concrete will be poured for the pad, immediately north of and adjacent to the tennis courts for our emergency HUB lockbox, prior to the end of the year, so don’t be surprised to see someone there digging in the mud.
December is usually the month when we see our first snowfall in Madison Park, and our Snow Brigade is once more up and running. There are signs posted in a large number of the businesses with all the details, so if you feel like helping out (particularly if you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle) or you need some help, for example, with shopping, getting to a medical appointment or just picking up a prescription, please call on us.
From the MPCC board, we wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and holiday season.
— Maurice Cooper, president
Madrona
At the November Madrona Community Council (MCC) meeting, Yun Pitre, City of Seattle district coordinator for the Central Area, responded to a previous request about why the Central Area has more than one marijuana store. Pitre announced she will forward details from a Nov. 17 marijuana symposium to MCC vice president Bill Mahoney when she has them.
Marty Liebowitz of Madrona Enterprises attended the meeting to describe his request for a rezone at the corner of East Spring Street and 34th Avenue. Liebowitz also reported that his development on the southwest corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and East Union Street is close to starting, possibly in three to four weeks. It will feature retail on Union and MLK, 41 apartments and a park on Union with lots of birch trees.
MCC vice president of events Stacey Kryman is working on special touches to honor the 40th anniversary of Madrona’s Mayfair. Susan Minogue is applying for the Department of Neighborhoods grant to help with funding. Rob Ward urged people to volunteer early to help at the event in May. Kate Sellers asked for photos of previous events to display at the library.
In response to an earlier request, Bill Mahoney asked the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to assess vehicular speeds on 34th Avenue between Cherry and Howell streets; SDOT reported that traffic did not meet the criteria required for mitigation, which is that 85 percent of cars are traveling at 35 mph or faster.
Because the city didn’t provide details as to where they did the monitoring, time of day and what the actual collected data were, Mahoney has asked to see specific data to assess highs and lows, etc.; he has not yet heard from SDOT. Mitigations such as a sign that flashes car speed, raised crosswalks and signs are possible.
On the same topic, Peter Stewart read for comment a letter he submitted to Madrona News. He opposes as counter-productive such measures as traffic circles and believes that people’s proximity to the street noise rather than actual speeding might be the problem.
MCC board elections took place: The new president is Bill Mahoney. Stacey Kryman intends to stay on as vice president of special events through the 2016 Mayfair event; thereafter, Rob Ward will step forward as vice president to replace her. Staying on in current roles are Paul Gomez as treasurer and
Deirdre McCrary as recording secretary. McCrary would like to find a backup for her role and a possible replacement.
Retiring president Holly Smith was warmly thanked for his four years leading the MCC and offered the following suggestions for new officers:
•Engage people who attend meetings so that they are more involved than just listening but avoid crushing them with new responsibilities.
•Develop a plan for how we use the funds we are gathering.
— Deirdre McCrary, recording secretary (reprinted with permission from Madrona News newsletter