Seattle Forward

Family and Education Levy Information Fairs This Week

There are two public information fairs scheduled this week related to the City's Family and Education Levy.  The current Levy expires at the end of 2011 and the Mayor and City Council are currently planning for a renewal of the Levy on the November 2011 ballot.  You can learn about this planning effort and share your comments and suggestions at these two events.

Tuesday, November 30
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
New Holly Gathering Hall
7054 32nd Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118

Thursday, December 2
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Meadowbrook Community Center, Multipurpose Room
10517 35th Ave NE
Seattle, WA  98125

You can also complete an online survey to share your opinions and perspective. 

Death Penalty Abolition

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has written a powerful essay against the death penalty in the next edition of The New York Review of Books.  The essay was published tonight online and you can read it here.  Stevens' essay is actually a review of Peculiar Institution: America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition by David Garland. 

I admit that I've seen cases over the years where I quietly thought that I'd want to be the executioner.  Wesley Allan Dodd comes to mind.  There have been others, too.  But Stevens, in his essay, eloquently captures the primary reason I oppose the death penalty—our society's inability to justly administer the ultimate exercise of state power.  Read Stevens' argument for yourself.  See if you agree.  

City Budget Highlights

We took our preliminary 2011-2012 budget votes last Friday. Final passage is scheduled for next Monday at 2 p.m. just before our Thanksgiving break.

Here's a quick summary of the key decisions, along with a few observations. If you’d prefer, you can read the press release issued last Friday here.

Budget Overview

The City's total expense budget for 2011 is $3.9 billion! Of that amount, $893 million is the City’s general fund, a reduction of $20 million from the approved 2010 budget. (You can watch and listen to a short historical overview of the budget here.)

Unfortunately, but prudently, our decisions eliminate nearly 300 city employee positions. This was perhaps the hardest part of our discussions because these workers face pretty bleak prospects in trying to find another job. The City will provide out-placing services for these individuals.

The Value of Outcome Based Parking Policies

(This post was first published at Publicola.) 

By Tim Burgess and Mike O’Brien

If you’re like us, when you’re not on your scooter or bike you’re often frustrated trying to find on-street parking when running errands, shopping or dining out, particularly on Capitol Hill or downtown in the late afternoon and evening. Like us, you probably also want to pay as little as possible for parking.  Available and cheap parking would seem to be the answer, but unfortunately in Seattle there is often more demand than there is supply. When it comes to on-street parking, we have to choose between available and cheap.

Historically, Seattle has done what most cities do: focus on providing cheap on-street parking. 

The Raw Truth About Failing Schools

This is both a good news day and a bad news day for Seattle children. 

The Seattle Public Schools issued their first ever school-specific scorecards (like a report card) earlier today.  Get the whole report, including the district-wide scorecard and those for individual schools, here.  Read Seattle Times coverage here.

The good news:  11 elementary schools and one K-8 school received the highest ratings, a five on a one-to-five scale.  They are: Catharine Blaine, Bagley, Coe, Hay, Lafayette, Loyal Heights, McGilvra, North Beach, Schmitz Park, Thornton Creek, View Ridge and Wedgwood.

The bad news: one middle school and 12 elmentary schools scored a one on the rating scale. They are: Aki Kurose, Dearborn Park, Dunlap, Emerson, Gatzert, Hawthorne, Highland Park, Leschi, Madrona K-8, Martin Luther King, Northgate, Roxhill and West Seattle

The school district did the right thing. We will only make progress when we acknowledge what’s not working. I commend school district leadership for telling us the truth about which schools are failing our children.

Everyone in Seattle, including our city government, needs to step up and commit to making sure every child in every school in every neighborhood receives an education that will prepare her or him for college. We can’t turn away from this challenge any longer. Because the district has a new neighborhood school assignment plan that limits school choice, it’s more important than ever that we address this crisis with urgency and creative thinking.

I’m confident we can rally around our teachers and school district leaders to make a difference. The overwhelming passage of the supplemental levy just last week proves that Seattleites care about public education and will pitch in.

Why is this important?  Read this article from today's New York Times if you have any doubt.  Every child deserves a quality education that will allow her to compete in today's changing world.  Education is the key to social mobility, a prepared and high qualilty workforce, long term economic sustainability, safe neighborhoods, and a strong sense of community. 

We've got work to do, folks.  Let's get on with it. 

Honoring Our Peace Officers

The Westin Hotel Grand Ballroom was packed last night as the Seattle Police Foundation hosted the annual SPD awards banquet.  Chief Diaz and Mayor McGinn handed out various awards to police officers, detectives and civilian employees of the police department.  The West Seattle Blog has an excellent summary of the night.  The Seattle Times has a nice profile of Officer Britt Sweeney who was wounded when her partner, Field Training Officer Tim Brenton, was killed.

Local Hero

The City Council honored Kenny Johnson this afternoon. Councilmember Nick Licata presented Johnson with a special proclamation for rescuing 3-year-old Anna Kotowicz from a burning vehicle in Ballard two weeks ago.