Proposed Budget Will Affect Us
On September 27th Mayor McGinn sent his proposed 2011-2012 budget to City Council. Because the recession has caused reductions in tax collections the proposed budget makes cuts in services in many areas. Among the cuts two will have a noticeable effect on Broadview. Public programs at Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center will be eliminated (school programs will continue). And the Neighborhood Service Center in Greenwood, the closest one to Broadview, will be closed. Given the many reductions on several City departments there will be other impacts.
On a positive note, the Mayor’s proposed 2011-2016 Capital Improvement Program budget calls for full funding of the Linden Ave. N Complete Streets Project.
The next step in the budget process is for City Council to consider whether to make changes. If you wish to weigh in a budget topic you might start at the City Council’s budget web page. More information is also available on the Mayor’s website. with links to the details of the proposed budget.
The Mayor’s budget proposes many tough cuts across the City. I am delighted to learn that the Linden Street Complete Streets projects will move forward. However I, for one, will miss the great environmental education opportunities at Carkeek Park, and the programs and newsletters organized by Bill Malatinsky. Bill is the kind of well rounded naturalist and educator we need to keep us informed and inspired to live more lightly on the land. I hope the City can find a spot for Bill and his colleagues to continue their public outreach.
With Viewlands Elementary school re opening it seems like the Environmental Learning Center will be in great demand for environmental education and stewardship of the Pipers Creek watershed. Does anyone know what will become of the Northwest District Council when the Neighborhood Service Center closes? The NWDC has funded Neighborhood Street Improvements in Broadview and represents 80,000 North West Seattle residents.
In the fine print about the budget it was stated that the SPU-funded school programs will continue at Carkeek. Bill is paid by SPU. I’ts not yet clear how Bill’s position at Carkeek will evolve.
Here is the fine print. “The 2011-2012 Proposed Budget will also reduce the current programming at the Environmental Learning Centers (ELCs) and DPR will look for new partners to help mitigate the change. Specifically, DPR is eliminating
the public programs at the ELCs, which includes nature walks and treks, bird programs, and beach/tideland programs. DPR will continue to provide school-based programs which offer field trip programming for school-aged children to learn about nature and the environment in a structured, classroom-type manner. ARC will also still run the Nature Day Camps and Nature Pre-School (day care) at the Discovery Park ELC. The Carkeek ELC will only be available for rentals. However, it will still run the SPU-funded Salmon & School Program.”
Did we have anyone from our community show up at the budget hearings? Was there a lot of people from other communities showing up with their neighborhood needs?