We’re talking about Fort Lawton.
KUOW, AP, Erica C. Barnett, and MyNorthwest cover the city’s release of a draft redevelopment plan for Fort Lawton.
The Seattle Times reports on the work in Olympia to reform the eviction process.
The Stranger has election news.
Seattle Weekly reports on a coalition of local businesses introducing a new effort to create middle-income housing.
The Stranger writes that so far little has happened towards saving the Showbox since the Council’s emergency action last fall.
Erica Barnett covers an ethics complaint about Council member Sawant, and the latest Council briefing on the Center City Connector Streetcar.
SeattleMet also covers the Council’s briefing on the Center City Connecctor Streetcar.
One thing that makes me nervous about Lawton – and City operations in general – is that they seem to have a number of financial + service entanglements with religious affiliated orgs. (in this case, Habitat for Humanity and Catholic Community Services)
I know that there are probably a lot of great religious orgs in this town doing great things for people – but these types of setups make me nervous (it’s that whole church vs. state thing)
I’ve tried before to dissect the budget – and figure out what external orgs, groups, etc. are funded via the city – via grants, service contracts, etc. but have failed miserably.
Curious if this author of this blog may have thoughts/perspectives on the topic?
Oh… and the Fort Lawton redevelopment is too small. If we have the ‘dirt’. We should put in a few residential towers with a bust stop in the basement. My 2 cents. 😉
And, people can blame the ‘NIMBY’s all they want – but to me it’s a story of failed leadership… and inability of City Hall to sell the vision of a growth plan to the overall City.
There are certainly relationships with religious organizations that are problematic. Catholic Community Services generally hasn’t been one of them; Union Gospel Mission has been more of an issue, since there is a religious aspect built into its services to the homeless population.
The issue I worry more about related to religious organizations is the Catholic Church’s quiet monopolization of hospitals. In many rural areas in the United States, there is only one hospital and it is owned and controlled an arm of the Catholic Church. Because of that, the only services available are the ones that the Church approves.