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

Billy was featured in the White Center CDA's Neighborhood Action Plan, which you can download at the "Neighborhood Plan" tab on our website. Image above is copyright of White Center CDA and cannot be used to repost.

Samway Supermarket was among some of the businesses highlighted in this wonderful piece written by Hugo Kugiya for the Seattle Times. They even quoted Billy (pictured above) in the article:

“…Billy, works most days. He was born and raised in Louisiana, and speaks with a bayou drawl. He has learned friendly phrases in a half-dozen languages so he can properly address his customers.

‘I can speak a little,’ Billy Yim says. ‘Just enough to make them smile.’”

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.

Attention youth and students! This year’s Youth Summit planning is underway, so if you’d like to get involved and/or if you’re looking for service learning hours, please contact estevan@youthmediaseattle.org. Youth Media Institute and other youth organizations at Youngstown have been longtime partners and supporters of White Center CDA. Last year, the youth summit was held in White Center, and this year it will include all of our South Seattle communities, so expect a larger event and even more fun!

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!

This was sent to us from Darlene Sellers, White Center Teen Program Recreation Coordinator at King County Parks:

“Thank you all for your continued support of the White Center Teen Program Aztec Soccer Team! The program is continuing to grow with over thirty committed players and two competitive teams. We are pleased to share that the younger team is playing in the U15 championship game this Saturday at 1:00 at Starfire sports complex (Interurban Ave S & Fort Dent Way, Tukwila). If by chance you happen to be in the Tukwila neighborhood this weekend - we’d love to see you there. The game runs for a total of 45 minutes and will be played indoors on field 2. Admission is free but Starfire will most likely be collecting $5 for parking. Thanks again for your support and please have a great weekend”

Go Aztecs! If you missed the video documentary on the team, click here to watch it.

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