Andy MacDonald . Net

Ballard District Council: Here are my notes from June's meeting. I should have had this done weeks ago, but didn't for one reason or another. This is my abbreviated list, leaving out bits that are no longer relevant.

• Seattle Transportation, having recently changed its name from SeaTrans, has changed again. New name: Seattle DOT.
  
• Report on the industrial economy of Seattle, a much overlooked but important part of the city, with quite a large presence in Ballard. Industrial employment is apparently still increasing here -- the speaker said by 51%, but didn't give a time frame, so I don't know if that is outpacing job growth in general. He mentioned that besides the obvious airplanes and fishing (40% of US total comes through our ports), Seattle has a high concentration of ship building, fish packing and vegetable distribution companies.
  
• Laurel Davis from the Seattle Livable Communities Coalition spoke about her organization's plans to get the city to improve neighborhood streets by taxing commercial parking lots 15% on all revenue. Laurel is enthusiastic but naive -- she expected approval for what appears to be a program to benefit neighborhoods, but was the plan was roundly criticized for an ill-defined plan that would penalize commuters and small businesses without clear benefits. BDC board members expressed skepticism that any of the $20 million expected to be raised each year from the new tax would actually be used to improve neighborhood streets, given the record of Sound Transit, which was supposed to use part of its money for that purpose.
  
• Lt. Paul Adams from the Seattle Fire Department spoke about the new mandate from the chief for stations to become more involved with the neighborhoods they serve. He is looking for suggestions for ways the stations could reach out, giving as examples CPR training or assisting in street address illumination. I brought this up at the last Whittier Heights Community Council meeting and volunteered to make contact for WHCC with Station 35, the one on Crown Hill. In response to questions, he mentioned that training for response to weapon of mass destruction attacks started for the SFD five years ago. He also mentioned the Online 911, where residents can track 911 calls. However, you can't make an emergency call online.