County Council comes to Burien for animal services Town Hall Meeting

A citizens committee and an expert consultant have sounded the alarm about substandard conditions in King County Animal Shelters. The people of King County will not stand for anything less than the best care for vulnerable animals in our custody. Each of these creatures has a right to food and water, shelter, medical care, and the chance to find a loving home.

The King County Council needs your help, advice, and support as it faces the dramatic choice of either rebuilding our shelter system into a model program or, failing that, taking the County out of the provision of shelter services altogether.

I've invited the King County Council to Burien for a special Town Hall meeting on animal care and sheltering services this coming Monday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Highline Performing Arts Center, 401 South 152nd St. Please come early for a special pet adoption fair beginning at 5:30. You’ll be able to select a pet to bring home right away or after the meeting.

Elliott Bay Water Taxi returns on April 27

The 2008 summer season of the Elliott Bay Water Taxi will kick off on Sunday, April 27 with a noon celebration at Seacrest Dock in West Seattle.

Refreshments, live music, and family activities will be featured at the event. The musical group Once, featuring singer/songwriter Bronwyn Edwards Cryer, will perform. Water Taxi rides will be free all day.

The West Seattle-to-downtown passenger ferry is coming off a record year (161,331 riders in 2007, an increase of more than 30 percent over 2006). And the future looks bright, with the new King County Ferry District scheduled to establish year-round service on the route in early 2010.

For more information on the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, call (206) 553-3000 (TTY 206-684-1739).

Sound Transit 2: Back to the ballot

I believe that now is the time for Sound Transit to present a refined light-rail and bus-rapid-transit plan to the voters of King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties.

I support a return to the ballot this fall with a new plan not hobbled by the Legislature’s unwise mandate that both roads and transit investments be funded through the same measure.

The people of our region need real transportation improvements, and further delay only increases construction costs and encourages continued sprawl.

Read my commentary in the Seattle Times on the 2008 vote.

Mission Accomplished! Seattle’s last historic downtown church saved

On Easter Sunday, hundreds of First United Methodist Church members, former members, and well-wishers filled the church’s historic 1910 sanctuary at Fifth Avenue and Cherry Street.

The occasion was the congregation’s final service in their historic home before moving to temporary quarters pending the construction of their new Belltown facility. But it also celebrated the preservation of the beautiful Beaux Arts sanctuary which, just two years ago, appeared doomed—slated to be replaced by yet another office tower.

I am proud to have been part of saving the sanctuary. When the demolition of the church seemed inevitable, I worked with church leaders, the local development community, and city and county officials to craft a solution that will allow the First United Methodist Church congregation to continue its ministry to downtown’s homeless population at a new location, while preserving the historic sanctuary.

This solution would not have been possible without the support of church members, the participation of an enlightened, preservation-minded developer (Kevin Daniels of Nitze-Stagen), and major commitments from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, King County, and the city of Seattle. County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels each took a personal role in urging the parties to reach agreement.

The result is the preservation of a building that humanizes our downtown skyline and provides a tangible link to Seattle’s storied past.