Nickels unveils plan to build up southeast Seattle

Southeast Seattle would receive tens of millions of dollars worth of improvements in preschool education, affordable housing, public safety and other areas under an agenda laid out last night by Mayor Greg Nickels.

The announcement was Nickels' answer to specific recommendations made by community and business leaders and organizations that he convened last summer to find ways to revitalize southeast Seattle, including Rainier Valley.

Neighborhoods south of downtown are undergoing immense changes brought on by the construction of Sound Transit's light rail track. The Rainier Valley portion of the 14-mile line is scheduled for completion in 2007.

Nickels said he wanted to "harness that change for the good of everyone in southeast Seattle."

He said the city would invest more than $35 million over seven years to help close the educational gap in southeast Seattle, targeting that region for the first time with the city's Family and Education Levy.

Nearly $14 million would go toward preschool for 400 low-income children, along with teacher training, home visits and increased pay. Another $5 million is earmarked for after-school programs at elementary and middle schools.

Education would receive the most money under Nickels' agenda, which also covered public safety, business and job creation, housing and the arts.

Nickels said the city would provide $4.4 million from the housing levy and other city resources to help develop 478 units at five rental housing projects. He also wants to increase the police presence in southeast Seattle by allocating some of the 25 new officers that he earlier said he wanted hired citywide.

Some agenda items dealt with strategies and did not have price tags. Whereas some actions can be carried out without City Council approval, others will need the panel's OK.

The mayor introduced the planning initiative last summer by bringing together representatives of community organizations. The group, which included Councilmen Richard McIver and David Della, split into subcommittees, reviewed existing neighborhood plans and wish lists, looked for common themes, and developed recommendations in five areas.

Civic planning processes are "not always greeted with a lot of enthusiasm because people think it will take one, two or three years and countless meetings," said Geoff Spelman, chairman of the subcommittee working on housing and physical development issues.

But the subcommittees were able to move more quickly because they searched for commonality with previous plans, he said.

The agenda has an indefinite timeline, with some actions not scheduled for completion for several years.

"Maybe every six months, there'll be a chance to freshen it up," said Spelman, executive director of the Mt. Baker Housing Association.

The city had earlier established the $50 million Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, created to assist the nearly 70 businesses displaced by the light rail line and to provide business interruption payments to 275 businesses along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

Spelman said the business community would like the city to help with a marketing campaign to let the public know that "businesses are still open and life still goes on here" while rail construction proceeds.

Elaine Hayes, a consultant who was chairwoman of the education and work force development subcommittee, said the process ensured that "the city wasn't making decisions in a vacuum."

She is pleased that Nickels is directing resources toward preschool and after-school programs but said that only "touches the surface, because we need to address high school and work-force training."

NEIGHBORHOOD INVESTMENT

Mayor Greg Nickels' "action agenda" for southeast Seattle outlines city investments in five main areas. His plan includes spending:

More than $35 million over seven years for education, including preschool, teacher training, after-school programs, social workers and case management.

$2 million for a preapprenticeship training program with Seattle Jobs Initiative through the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund.

$14,300 to help youths use technology, with special outreach to minorities without access.

An unspecified amount to create a wireless Internet area in Columbia City.

$20,000 for a marketing campaign to promote Rainier Valley and its businesses.

$4.4 million for five rental housing projects containing 478 units.

An unspecified amount for more police officers in business "hot spots."

$10,000 to inform Latinos about their rights and responsibilities when dealing with police.

$2.1 million to create the Chief Sealth Trail between Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley.

$2.5 million for the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center in the Rainier Vista community.

$50,000 to buy more property to sustain the Hillman City P-patch.

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