This was exclusively sent to the CDA from our partners at the Evergreen Pool:

Opening Monday, April 19^th!

We’ve been scrubbing, painting and gardening - we’ve got your pool in shape and ready to go!  All we’re missing is you!

We’ll be open next week for lessons and lap swims - come in or check our still-under-construction website www.evergreenpool.org for details.  Lessons are generally from from 9:00 to 12:00 and 4:00 to 6:00; vertical exercise / water aerobics from 7:00 to 9:00; and lap swims almost all day - let us know what you need, as accommodations can be made while we’re building our schedule.

Remember our Grand Opening with free public swim on May 1^st, and our free public swim for all of those participating in the White Center Spring Clean on May 15^th.

Drop by when you can - we hope you’ll love what we’ve done with the place.

We visited Mysty Beal at the pool today and we’re excited about the re-opening of the pool on Saturday, May 1. Community members (and their kids!) are scrubbing, sweeping and pressure washing the facility, which hopes to attract a lot more members of the community. Culturally competent programs, lessons, even an opportunity to rent out the pool in the future all sounds promising. As a friendly reminder, you can swim for free for two hours after our White Center Spring Clean event on Saturday, May 15. Read what WhiteWater Aquatics Management sent to the CDA by clicking here. Check out the photos we took this afternoon:

The pool will shed its security fence soon!

The supportive "tree" column design was made in the early 1970s. It still looks hip today.

The pool itself is generally shallow (3-4 feet), but there is a deep end in the corner of the pool that measures 10 feet. There are a total of 8 lanes for lap swimming.

The water boiler was inspected just this morning and is looking pretty good. You probably wouldn't want to jump in it, though!

Logos courtesy of their respective organizations to use on the White Center CDA website.

After spending most of your morning and early afternoon at Spring Clean, visit the Evergreen Community Aquatic Center and swim for 2 free hours! Here’s the announcement from our community partner, WhiteWater Aquatics Management:

Drop by the Pool after your hard day’s work!

Join us for a Free Public Swim!

WhiteWater Aquatics Management is pleased to invite you to the re-opened Evergreen Community Aquatic Center after the White Center Spring Clean on May 15^th.  We can’t wait to have you play around in the pool after all the work you’ve done!  Bring the kids to play - we’ll have the pool toys available, and Life Guards and Water Safety Instructors on deck to keep an eye on them.  Check out our new swim programs, jump in the pool, or just cool off on the patio with your friends.  We’ll be glad to meet you again.

Saturday, May 15^th

3:00 to 5:00

“See you…at the Pool!”

From Shelli at WCFTA:

Hello!  Be in White Center on March 20th for the March Third Saturday Art Walk!!  The Art Walk starts at 6 PM and ends at 9 PM.  Here is the lineup.  Remember, we are a volunteer organization.  We can use you!! Many hands…you know the rest. We will be posting a list of volunteer opportunities soon.  We are an organization for all artists, all mediums, and for the whole community.  Spread the word. 

Proletariat Pizza: Lonjina Verdugo: I am inspired by my children. I created my first collage for my daughter when I couldn’t find that special and unique piece when decorating her room. Art for my children quickly led to gifts for friends and family and then special requests. As an artist and designer, I am attracted to the texture, weight and design of paper. In my collages, I am taking another artists work (the paper) and ripping, tearing, cutting and creating whimsy, spontaneity, humor, fantasy and delight. I’ve always been drawn to color and shapes, whether in decorating my home or graphic design for my clients. The pieces hanging at Proletariat Pizza are a representative of my own aesthetic of texture, contrasting colors, and abstract designs.
www.lonjina.com

Salvadorean Bakery: Julio Castro: Beautiful photography from San Salvador.

Cafe Rozella: Rasta Rich: Jewelry.

Big Al Brewing: Raina Anderson: Photography from Raina’s personal collection.

New Start High Photography: These students have vision.  Support these burgeoning artists.

Full Tilt Ice Cream: Julie Luke: Rockin’ outsider beauty. Acrylic.

Megan Jane Pickerel: Haunting and lovely acrylics.

DZul Tattoo: Airbrush and Tattoo Art, Custom clothes.  Hometown heroes.

DubSea Coffee: ASARO ” The Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca ” Photographical documentation by Courtney Anderson, with musical ambiance courtesy of DJ Michael J. Olsen.

On the street! 16th Ave SW across from Full Tilt at 6:30:  Evergreen Dance Crew: Fusion!!!

Art to the People!!!
Shelli

As of Friday, April 16, 2010, over 500 volunteers have signed up. We’re looking forward to a people-powered event at which last year, we painted one block-long mural previously plagued with graffiti, cleaned and painted art on 21 trash cans for the business district, removed invasive plant species at six parks, and hauled away two tons of garbage. Volunteers covered 70 neighborhood blocks, picking up litter and completing 19 individual beautification projects developed by local residents and groups.

This year, besides a complementary BBQ/burger lunch at the KCHA’s Greenbridge Plaza, you and your family will be treated to a host of family-oriented events:

1. Entertainment by the Suns and Stars Dance Troupe & Drumline Company.
2. Learn how to make spring rolls with Chef Nicki Nguyen (Banh 88 Restaurant) and buy ingredients from WC’s produce markets!
3. Participate in “pancake flipping race” - an old-time tradition in White Center: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=8616
4. Swim for free at the Evergreen Swimming Pool from 3pm-5pm.
5. Buy delicious ice cream at discount from Full Tilt Ice Cream’s bicycles
6. 10% discount at DubSea coffee for volunteers
7. We will award the Clean & Safe award to a dedicated White Center resident/business/etc.

Registration for this event is now closed. For questions, please contact Nhan Nguyen, Neighborhood Revitalization Program Manager at (206) 694-1082 or at whitecenterspringclean@gmail.com.

Click on “Read the rest of this entry” below for more information about the White Center Spring Clean!

Read the rest of this entry »

Blog editor’s note: The following letter was written in response to an opinion piece in the January edition of Shorewood on the Sound Community Club’s newsletter. A copy of this piece was stapled to the White Center Chamber of Commerce’s agenda for their Tuesday, March 9 meeting. You can also read the original piece above.

March 9, 2010

Shorewood on the Sound Community Club

Kevin DeLashmutt, Editor

Michael Armstrong, President

Delivered via email to: kevinde@msn.com

RE: January 2010 Shorewood News edition

Dear Mr. DeLashmutt and Mr. Armstrong:

My organization received a copy of your latest Shorewood News edition at the March 9th, 2010 White Center Chamber of Commerce meeting and were quite disturbed by one of the articles titled “Dog-doo doings….Ewww.”

We are an organization formed by local residents to promote a vibrant neighborhood and high quality of life for White Center residents. We value treating everyone with dignity and acting with cultural competency by respecting the values, history and culture of our diverse communities. We also overwhelmingly believe in our community’s strengths and operate with an open partnership approach to our work.

This is why we were offended by your remark stating that “At our next community club meeting we will be discussing penalties for anyone caught not cleaning after their pets. Something equally if not more egregious, like maybe catapulting flaming bags of poo through their windows, or sending their beloved pets to White Center to be recycled (eaten).”

We do not find this remark funny- we find it offensive, as this stereotype is obviously applied to the communities of color in our diverse White Center. It is also abusive to our goal to market and promote our wonderful, hard-working, and largely immigrant owned small businesses and restaurants.

We appreciate community residents like yourselves getting together to improve your neighborhood. We’d implore you to please do so without dragging down a neighbor, especially one like White Center that has done so much to counter such negativity over the last few years.

Additionally, we’d welcome the opportunity for further conversation with your group as part of a larger North Highline community. Please contact me at aileen@wccda.org or 206-694-1802 x164. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Aileen Balahadia

White Center CDA Executive Director

Karen Veloria

White Center CDA Board President & Blvd. Park resident

Heather Downey

White Center CDA Board Vice President & Shorewood resident

Got Green, a program of the White Center CDA, is hosting its first open house on Wednesday, March 17!

Expect food, entertainment, multimedia presentations and the chance to network with Got Green and their community partners on how to support Green jobs, Green initiatives, youth, low-income communities of color and more.

Child care is available - this event is open and free to the public.

Please see flyer above for more information.

Photo courtesy of King County Parks blog.

From King County Parks regarding the new playground at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center:

“The new playground at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center is now officially OPEN! Featuring some very groovy Scandinavian-designed equipment for kids aged 2-5 and 5-12, there are slides, swings, and lots of spinny things. And of course, safety surfacing so you don’t get hurt when you fall down and go boom.”

Thanks to Darlene Sellers from the Teen Program for giving the White Center CDA a heads up about this!

Funding is available for facade improvements in Downtown White Center!

The program aims to:
Beautify Downtown White Center
Strengthen our local businesses
Increase public safety
Build pride in our community

The White Center Façade Grant program is designed to improve the appearance of the business district by encouraging property and/or business owners to make physical improvements in their storefronts. The White Center CDA will offer a grant to help offset the costs of the improvements. In some cases, the grant may pay for the majority of the work. This program will take place from February 2010 - July 2010. The program is administered by the White Center CDA.

Program Goals
• Stimulate economic activity and increase business viability through good design visible to customers, neighboring merchants and residents.
• Renew or improve the exterior of businesses in a manner that recaptures the integrity of the buildings’ design and character.
• Enhance the shoppers’ experience of the commercial district.
• Improve neighborhood safety.
• Encourage investment in the neighborhood.

Eligible projects include:
Non structural building improvements such as new signs, new awnings, painting, replacement of doors and windows, new lighting or lighting improvements, removal of bars on storefront windows.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE APPLICATION BY CLICKING HERE.

Please help us spread the word!

Why White Center and Seattle need each other

City council majorities have long opposed annexations. Some residents of nearby communities will tell you, sometimes bluntly, they dislike the idea of joining the city. But there are good reasons to hope the diverse neighborhood of White Center joins the city.

By Jordan Royer

It’s hard to find people working for the City of Seattle who have not been involved in the annexation question at one time or another. My first foray came on a summer night in 2000. I had just been hired by the city after working for Sen. Barbara Boxer for six years in San Francisco. We were trying to explain to the community of unincorporated South Park - the so-called sliver by the river - the benefits of joining Seattle.

As we set up our tables and started the meeting at the South Park Community Center, built and paid for by the citizens of Seattle, an older gentleman approached me and looked at my nametag. He squinted and said, “Royer, huh. You any relation to Charley?” I told him, “Yes, he’s my dad.”

Then he told me that when my dad tried to annex the area 20 years ago they told him to go to hell. And then he proceeded to tell me to go to hell.

This illustrates the difficulties ever since as all jurisdictions have struggled to implement the state Growth Management Act and get King County out of the business of providing local government services. My old friend can relax because the sliver by the river will not be annexed anytime soon due to the dilapidated South Park Bridge, which is owned by King County. Seattle will not soon take on that liability. But why is it so hard to annex even when it makes so much sense, as is the case with nearby White Center?

Not only is there deep distrust of Seattle in surrounding communities, there are also funding and infrastructure issues that are not easily resolved. There has been historically a solid majority on the Seattle City Council against annexation. That coupled with beliefs that Seattle will raise the cost of living and bring about gentrification have made annexation incredibly slow and difficult.

And there is another reason: In 2006, the state legislature passed annexation legislation that would allow jurisdictions to retain extra sales tax revenues when annexing smaller jurisdictions. However, there was a catch. The incentive to annex did not apply to jurisdictions of over 400,000 persons. Yes, that’s you, Seattle!

The city lobbied the legislature in 2007 and 2008 in order to be able to annex these smaller areas and help King County’s ailing budget. Finally, in a bout of sanity, the legislature approved a bill that would allow Seattle to recoup costs by diverting a share of the state’s sales tax to the city. Rep. Ross Hunter was the hero as he was able to amend SB 5321 on the House side that would basically fund $5 million per year over a 10-year period so Seattle could provide municipal services to White Center.

Hunter knew that King County cannot continue to provide urban-level local services to unincorporated areas and that North Highline (White Center) logically belonged in Seattle. While White Center and the Seattle neighborhood of South Delridge are split by Southwest Roxbury Street, it is really one neighborhood. Neighbors and commerce do not recognize arbitrary political boundaries. I worked on public safety issues in the area, and we were always challenged by that arbitrary boundary. While Seattle Police Department officers were able to patrol with King County sheriff’s deputies, crucial community building and crime prevention strategies were complicated by the Roxbury divide. We have a chance to change that, improve public safety, and help neighbors work together to strengthen the whole community.

As early as its March 8 meeting, the city council could consider whether to move ahead with the annexation of White Center. Annexation is being viewed as something that might go on the November ballot for a vote by the people of White Center. The council should vote yes, and then visit White Center early and often to talk to people and hear their concerns and aspirations for their community.

White Center is a unique neighborhood with the kind of economic and cultural diversity we value in Seattle. We would be lucky to have them join our city of diverse neighborhoods.

Jordan Royer currently works for the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents marine terminal operators and container vessels that serve the West Coast. He previously worked on public safety issues in the Paul Schell and Greg Nickels mayoral administrations. He was a candidate for Seattle City Council in 2009. Reach him by writing editor@crosscut.com.

Source: Crosscut.com