Update 12:45: In today’s 2011 City of Seattle Budget Address, Mayor Mike McGinn has spelled out the finance proposal for next year.
Under the proposal, the Ballard Community Center will run on reduced operating hours. The Mayor’s plan calls for drop-in hours to be reduced from 53 hours per week during the school year and 46 hours per week in the summer to 15 to 20 hours per week year round.
The proposal also calls for the Sound View wading pool to be open three days a week again next summer, similar to 2010. The Gilman wading pool will be closed again next year, under the proposal.
Seven of the 13 Neighborhood Service Centers will be closed if the Mayor’s budget is approved. The Ballard NSC will be one of the six to remain open.
The City Council will spend the next two months reviewing the Mayor’s proposed budget. There will be three meetings for the public to voice their thoughts and concerns. The first meeting will be this Wednesday, September 29th, at the Northgate Community Center Gym (10510 5th Ave NE). If you’d like to speak, sign-in is at 5 p.m. The meeting begins at 5:30.
By Washington State law, the council must adopt a balanced budget no later than Dec. 2nd.
To see more of Mayor McGinn’s proposed budget, click here.
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Per WSB’s twitter feed: Proposed community center closures from source in Parks meeting: Alki, Green Lake, ballard, Laurelhurst, Rainier Beach #seabudget
They are proposing cuts at the Neighborhood Center Payment sites (and eliminating the WEST SEATTLE OFFICE), which will most likely result in laying off a few cashier clerks that make around $30,000 a year-but offer direct service to the community- WHY don’t they save those jobs and cut the pay of the Neighborhoods Director, the Neighborhoods Deputy Director, and the Payments Manager -all of whom make over $100,000 a year? Is it because these same 3 individuals were the very ones in charge of making the recommended cuts in the Neighborhoods Department, I think so.
I thought they just figured that having one in Delridge was good enough for now.
I strongly support this mayor. Tough choices, but his priorities are in order.
To all you haters – let me guess, you’re the same people who hate taxes. Gee.
More road diets and bike improvements, please!!
McGinn’s greatest days are ahead.
The cashiers are idiots and would not have a clue how to keep a city running, that’s why.
There is a reason why somebody makes $30,000 a year. It tells you all you need to know about their ambition and intelligence. We don’t need the idiots in charge just because they work for peanuts, ok?
The cashiers are idiots and would not have a clue how to keep a city running, that’s why.
There is a reason why somebody makes $30,000 a year. It tells you all you need to know about their ambition and intelligence. We don’t need the idiots in charge just because they work for peanuts, ok?
Kids pee in the wading pools anyway.
Puget Sound = Free Wading Pool.
Um, closing the Neighborhood office also saves all the money of operating that location. NOt just the salary of the staff. Not saying it was a good or an easy choice (I just don’t know in that case), but your pathetically simplistic rant is the exact kind of thing that people who know nothing but like to hate governments spew. There’s a lot more that goes into building a city budget than who makes what and what gets cut/raised.
Learn the issues, read the actual budget proposal, then make some comments.
I’m a Democrat, and a progressive, have been longer than most of you kids here have been alive. I’m in favor of higher taxes. If you equate opposition to McGinn to right-wing ideologues, you’re an idiot.
This mayor is a dishonest creep. His “greatest days” will start when he’s run out of office and no longer wrecking the city. This Democrat can’t wait for that day.
How many tens of thousands of dollars will McGinn hand over to SHARE? When he cuts programs, says “sorry, we can’t afford police”, remember the handouts to SHARE.
I’m also a Democrat and a progressive and I believe we should have a state income tax. I did not vote for McFool, I voted for Mallahan.
I agree with Art, I can’t wait to get rid of this Mayor. There have been Mayors that I voted for in my old big town in Southern CA that didn’t win just to be proven wrong. This Mayor hasn’t proven me wrong, he has proven my right- he is freaking liar with a one issue on his mind and if it doesn’t involve bikes he isn’t interested.
He’s not raising taxes, he’s cutting services. It’s the first thing he’s done in office that I’m impressed by.
How about Mayor McCheese start taxing the bicycle riders? Put licenses on them, put cops writing tickets for reckless riding and no helmets. Since he is money hungry, go for another group.
Aside from the opposition to road diets, can someone please be more specific about the “unicorn riding mayor mccheese.” Otherwise, these all come across as baseless insults. Sure, he likes to ride a bike. But he’s also faced with some rather terrible choices because of the budget. Prior to the election, when I heard him on KUOW, I thought he sounded kind of naive (Mallahan sounded no better). But lately what I’ve heard about his decisions and cuts and revenue generators, I’ve been impressed. He seems to be far better educated about city government and really working with what he’s got.
Sure, I’ll bite.
He has been lying through his teeth about his plans to sabotage the highway 99 project (aka “the tunnel”).
He initially campaigned for mayor stating his opposition to the downtown tunnel project – and stated that if elected, he would do everything he could to stop the project. So what was his proposed solution? Just wreck highway 99, and don’t worry about the consequences – no replacement needed (ride your rainbow colored unicorn).
That was not going down well with most voters. So late in the campaign, he dramatically announced that he was reversing his position, and he would no longer work to stop the project. Many were skeptical – he was so strident about killing the project, it seemed out of character. But he insisted he was sincere – he repeatedly stated he would not interfere with the project.
He squeaked by, and won the election.
Immediately, he began taking steps to derail the project. His stated concerns – about the city being on the hook for any cost overruns – are universally dismissed by everyone from the city council to the governor. When steps are offered (or taken) to reassure the mayor, to address any potential legal issues that he sees (coincidentally, nobody else does), then he moves the goal posts again and imposes another condition. At every opportunity, he steps in to try and block the project.
Now I’m not convinced that the existing tunnel plan is the best option, and I’m not crazy about it (personally, I think the existing viaduct should be either reinforced or replaced). But it’s the plan that was adopted, after decades of wrangling and dealing. The money for it is there – but if McGinn continues to dishonestly sabotage it at every opportunity, a big chunk of that money (federal grants) will disappear. And then the city and state would be REALLY on the hook for bigs bucks (McLiar’s stated concern). But that’s exactly what he’s counting on: his goal is to delay and obstruct the project until the federal and state money is pulled (that’s money that’s already been allocated). When that happens, he thinks that the only option will be to not replace the road – that the city will be forced to accept his preferred option.
You may not like the viaduct (I do), but it’s a fact that it carries a LOT of traffic through the city, and if that capacity were to simply disappear (the mayors dream), then the city would come to a grinding halt. Bicycles, busses and carpools? Good luck with that – every street in the city would be gridlocked most of the day and night. It would be an disaster. But it fits the mayor’s fantasy.
He won’t be honest about it – he learned in the campaign that if he is open about his agenda, the citizens would march with pitchforks and torches. So he just lies. Over and over. Every day.
THAT’S why.
Worst. Mayor. Ever.
As much as I dislike the Mayor he was left with a mess. The Nickels’ budgets had been spending down the rainy day funds and doing one time cuts that just pushed the deficit into the next year.
The previous administration signed contracts with the various unions guaranteeing COLA pay increases but didn’t tie them to any change in the CPI. So the city is on the hook for pay increases when the cost of living hasn’t risen.
The higher parking rates should “in theory” create greater turn over in parking spaces, fewer people working downtown will be plugging the meters all day long while they are at work leaving more spaces open for destination parkers who come downtown to shop or do business. And the increased meter hours (til 8 pm and Sundays) won’t come out to Ballard.
It is rough but services have to be paid for somehow.
I would appreciate it if all the unions went the way of the firefighters and agree not to take their COLA increase. Most of them are at least 2% and could save the city a lot of money.
“I’ll take deficits for $62 million Alex”