Help revive the Capitol Hill Community Council

When both the P-I and KING-TV contacted me last week for comment on the New Year's Eve murder on 15th, I realized that the Capitol Hill Community Council was truly dead.

I'd like your help in reviving it, to provide a voice for Capitol Hill and as a way for residents on the Hill to interact with the City in as unified a way as we (herd of cats that we are) care to.

The Capitol Hill Community Council was (according to their, no longer updated, website) founded in 1968, and has worked on assorted public interest issues that would have been beyond the scope of individual neighbors or more local neighborhood groups (like Miller Park). Their website lists some ( eg the # 8 bus !) but was never updated to note a couple of their last successes:

• They successfully intervened in the dispute between the Walgreens Pharmacy on 15th and its neighbors to lessen the impact of the original "cookie cutter" design on the neighborhood. Don't see the free-standing readerboard in the parking lot, do you?
• They helped rally opposition to another free-standing cookie cutter Walgreens at Broadway & Pine, and convinced the developers to work with Capitol Hill Housing to instead build a low income apartment building on the site, with a Walgreens at street level (quite a departure for them). Dare I say "win, win"?
  

As I understand it (correct me, please) the driving forces in the Community Council put their all into opposing the Mayor's proposal to upzone Broadway, and then moved onto other things when they failed in that effort.

Given the changes happening in the commercial core of Captitol Hill (impending light rail, streetcar, massive redevelopment, revival of neighborhood plans, building code updates) it would be great to have a neighborhood group to help us interact with City government. Let's face it: I'm not Paul Allen - the Mayor or Councilmembers aren't going to come out to my living room to hear what my views are, but they will (and do) regularly come out to neighborhood groups to meet with people (even when they're not actively seeking votes!). I'm only aware of the history of the Council since the birth of MPNA, but I'm not aware of them ever advocating any of the NIMBYish things that so alarm the CHS blog.

So, how do we do revive the Community Council? José Cervantes write to offer City assistance (my comments are interspersed):

After talking to Crime Prevention Coordinator, Michael Yasutake and Thomas Withemore, Neighborhood Matching Fund, we would like to follow up on your suggestion to assist in the creation and or reactivation of the community council for the Hills.

For this we need your valuable assistance and input of the following:

-We would like to use the Blog (that would be CHS: Seattle) you identified at the recent public safety forum to advertise funding available through the Department of Neighborhoods/Neighborhood Matching Fund Outreach Grant (up to $750) for folks that would like to create or reactivate the mentioned needed community council for the Hills. The funding available can be used for this purpose.

-We need to know from Ann or other Elders of the previous Capitol Hill Community Council if they would like to participate on this or help us endorse the idea, everyone is welcome and the new group needs to develop the leadership responsibilities to accomplish the task. Can you help us with this? (Ann is Ann Donovan, who still runs the Community Council listserv and is, along with several of the previous officers, still living in the area)

-As you know, neighborhood organizations such as community councils are independently organized from the City, but once the core group initiates the organizing process DON and SPD can assist with funding applications, technical assistance, etc, as requested.

Jose Cervantes, Neighborhood District Coordinator
(206) 684-4574
jose.cervantes@seattle.gov

Some final thoughts:

• The listservs and blogs that we all use now make it easy to communicate speedily, but there's still value in occasional traditional neighborhood meetings.
• No need for kneejerk once-a-month meetings, but good to get together as needed: sitting down in a room sometimes just WORKS!
  
• Service projects, like the MADCAP cleanups, are one good way to get together and swap news.
• NO, I don't want to Chair the group! I'll come along to some meetings, but Miller Park is on the edge of Capitol Hill and somebody more central should be "in charge".
  

SO How do we proceed? You can contact me (tayles@jps.net) or José (jose.cervantes@seattle.gov) and, if there's enough interest, we'll take it from there.

Thanks for your time. I'll try and write soon about my (flawed) understanding of the various neighborhood groups that serve our assorted needs in working with local government.

Odd Fellows Hall

You might be interested in this Capitol Hill neighborhood generated website, which is gathering support for an effort to save the Oddfellows Hall. They have a long list of newspaper articles about the project.

Ann Donovan writes:
Help us compile a list of the top reasons for saving the Odd Fellows Hall (OFH). Here are some to start with:

• 1. OFH draws thousands of patrons to the Capitol Hill Community each month for classes and performances.
• 2. It is home to several of Seattle's performing arts incubators including Freehold Theatre and Velocity Dance Center.
• 3. Is a cultural institution/center for Seattle and for the greater Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Others in the neighborhood have suggested working with the developer:

With regard to Odd Fellows, one thought might be to work with the developer to see that the Century Ballroom is preserved and that rents are kept low enough for this space to ensure the current uses can continue.

I believe in preserving historic buildings and maintaining important/historic uses but I think the best way to get there is to fight irresppnsible development but to support and work with responsible development.

As far as a buyer for Odd Fellows is concerrned, we could not have done much better than Ted Schroth as he is commited to Capitol Hill and committed to preserving historic buildings. If we fight the responsible developers, we will scare them off.

Again, I would encourage concerned citizens to meet with him and voice your concerns. I bet there is a good chance that there is a win win solution here.

And Ann's reply:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It seems though that you aren't very familiar with the history or current uses of the building beyond the ballroom.

Also, I'm sure you are aware that with a offer made on the space, based upon plans to convert it to market rate offices, in itself negates its ability to retain its non-profit tenants -- including the Century Ballroom. While Schroth may be well intentioned in preserving the facade of the building, its value to the community is in its present use as a performing arts center, he might as well tear it down if that's all he cares about. The loss of the space if this deal goes through is one that cannot be recovered from -- plus driving out the non-profit tenants may well do them in entirely.

I think you need to learn a little more about this building.

Former Madison-Millerite runs for Mayor of Mount Vernon

This just in:

Hi Andrew, I am running for Mayor of Mount Vernon--
can you believe it?
no one filed to run against the current mayor, and i think he should be replaced, so i filed myself and now i have a growing campaign!
you can see me on the front page of today's skagit valley herald

--Doris Brevoort

I am keeping reading what's up with my dear Mad-Miller neighborhood, and am frequently referring to the Urban Village work I was involved with in our CAP group when people ask me what was my experience that makes me prepared to be the Mayor? goodness!
Best regards to all of you there at MMad--- Doris

Miller Park article in Capitol Hill Times

Article about closing of Club Chocolate City, problems at 23rd/Union etc in the 6/27/07 Capitol Hill Times.

If you weren't old-fashioned enough to get a paper copy, here's the electronic version and a photo gallery. There's an interesting snippet at the end of the article:

Another issue that remains is the fate of the now vacant property in the spot formerly occupied by Chocolate City and Deano's market. Vulcan developer James Mueller has purchased the building across the street from the Chocolate City site, and has plans to develop a six-story mixed-use building housing both retail and residential.

Mueller said by phone he doesn't have any plans for the Chocolate City site, which he points out is still owned by Dean Falls. King County records indeed indicate that the property is owned by Falls' company, DEF Inc., and that the account is active and currently subject to or in foreclosure due to an outstanding property tax balance.

(old) Miller Times newsletters finally online

Long, long ago, before the internet, we used to communicate by handing out neighborhood newsletters. I've finally got round to scanning them: look for the list of links at the bottom right of this page (or follow the blue headline links here). The newsletter articles (and the snapshots of old versions of the Miller website, see below) give a good idea of what we were up to back then.

First Miller Times: December 1990 Edition

• What is the Miller Park Neighborhood Association?
• Meeting notes
• Gardening corner
• Home Security
• Living in a fixer-up neighborhood
• A sex offender in our midst?
• Community Center news

February 1991 Edition

• Miller Community Center: what's that?
• Punxsatawney Phil
• The new TV Tower
• Trees!
• Miller Community Center makes national news

June/July 1991 Edition

• Should we close the Miller Community Center
• The greening of Miller Park
• Medgar Evers Pool, not a "Sleeping Giant"
• Soyu Chicken - Hawaiian style
• Capitol Hill Community Council - what's that?

August/Sept 1991 Edition

• Life in the neighborhood
• Where we've been, where we're going
• Recipe corner
• Community Center News

Fall 1991 Edition

• TV towers radiation and health
• The case for the Tower
• Does the "community tower" serve our communities?

May/June 1992 Edition

• Welcome, Gary Alexander, Community Center coordinator
• Tower developer still trying
• Field of Dreams: Grass or synthetic field for Miller
• Tree planting, 1992
• Neighborhood and Community Center news

June/July 1992 Edition

• Now, where did I park my car?
• Residential Parking Zone
• Affordable Housing on Capitol Hill
• Gardening corner: Iris
• The fight against more broadcast towers continues
• Water your new trees
• Origins of local street names

Fall 1992 Edition

• Miller Park: the Dream is Alive
• Grass vs. Sand: the playfield controversy continues
• RPZ update
• TV tower & tree planting updates etc.

Spring 1996 Edition

• Help revitalize East Madison Street
• Sex offenders in our midst
• What is CHHIP
• Mary Ruth Manor improvements
• Community Center news

Fall 1999 Edition

• Neighborhood history
• Lots happening on Madison!
• Help define a design theme for Madison!
• Miller fountain design competition

And since then?

Well, most of our communications have been by E-mail and website. The old Miller website concentrates on public safety (pretty much solved) and neighborhood redevelopment, which is still very relevant, and on neighborhood planning which may be making a comeback.
Thanks to the Wayback Machine Internet archive, you can look at snapshots of the Miller website at various points from 2002 to the present (and a few from 2000 & 2001) and see for yourself what we were up to then. And the rest, you know!