Washblog

Well, only one of them, Doug Carey, did the talking. The "Public Affairs Outreach" person observed.

Mr. Cary's presentation was met with suspicion, disapproval and many questions. Before you cast us as classic NIMBYs, hear the details:

The first site is at the bottom of Highland Park Way and the second site is on Myers Way. Both will have an impact on the Highland Park neighborhood.

The other two possible sites are Interbay (the foot of Magnolia) and on north Aurora Ave, near the Haller Lake Community.
Municipal Jail Planning Project Background

We were told that the city NEEDS a new 445-bed jail to house those charged with misdemeanors. In the past and by state law, King County has taken on the burden of housing inmates with the City paying King County to take care of the inmates. King County is saying that they will not have enough room to continue to do this by the year 2015.

The city is now burdened with creating a solution, and the solution is to build a jail. This is "the least favorite issue" before the Mayor this year, Mr. Cary said.

The City determined that they would need a 7-acre site in which to build the jail and identified 35 sites around the city that were possibilities. They eliminated all but 4 sites, using a criteria that they were not able to disclose to us. They did disclose that proximity to schools were not a part of the decision making process when deciding what the final sites would be.

Many questions and objections were raised. Here are some of them:

Why can't the city find a site downtown? (Sodo district was mentioned)

Why do they need a 7-acre site? (We were told it was more economical to sprawl than to build a high rise.)

If the Mayor and the city don't want to get into the jail business, why can't a better solution be thought of?

Why are the meeting minutes (from the committee who made the final site decisions) not made available to the public?

What are examples of the "misdemeanor" crimes for which the jail detainees have been charged? (Domestic disputes, prostitution, public intoxication, etc.)

How many trips to and from the jail could be expected on average, considering most of those charged with misdemeanors are booked and released within a day or two?

One resident loudly announced: WE WILL STOP YOU! That was startling, yet no one was heard to disagree.

Carolyn, a young mother and landscape architect, announced she had written a detailed letter of protest to city officials and many others citing environmental and traffic concerns, as well as community image and real estate values, which have recently been on a steady upswing.

Several residents announced eagerness to design, print and distribute fliers announcing opposition to the proposal.  

A writer from the West Seattle Blog introduced herself - (applause) - and announced that she would post a report & keep on top of the issue. City jail project: Highland Park plans to fight the sites  That provoked a discussion thread in which some residents of other parts of West Seattle sniffed at us NIMBYs and opined that those sites seemed fine to them.

After the city reps departed, we decided to hold a SPECIAL MEETING in 2 weeks to address the jail issue: Monday, June 2nd.

See the City Jail Proposal Community Response page for information and ongoing organizing efforts.

The Seattle Stranger has also inquired about the controversy, and we expect to get some coverage from them.

TV NEWS REPORT
My husband and I were excited when a King5 reporter was scheduled to come over and interview us as part of their report on the topic. Other neighbors were unable to do it because of Memorial weekend travel.

I had never been quoted on TV before! Well - I still haven't.

The 10-minute interview, in which we explained our concerns from several angles and our organizing plans, got cut down to about 6 seconds on the air.

My husband, former Chair of HPAC, who is more informed about Seattle current events, history, and geography than most people I know, came off looking like your average NIMBY. I got cut out completely. And I had chosen a stylish ensemble for the camera: diagonal stripes mixed with an animal print...ahh, never mind.

The following part of the report was from a city rep asserting cheerfully that "a jail could be a good neighbor".

WHAT WE'VE GOT
We've got a Google group.
We've got a big banner.
We've got a Committee and Sub-Committees.
We've got an elected official: Rep Sharon Nelson.
We've got neighboring communities ready to stand with us.  
We've got a spot scheduled to gripe - er, make a presentation at the next 34th District Dems meeting. (Chair Ivan Weiss has been very helpful.)

We're nice people. But tread on us, and, you may incite

Highland Park: Ready to Rumble.