Ann Goos

July 9, 2024. Have an issue with graffiti on a building or bridge? Are you concerned about a vehicle parked for more than three days in a public right of way? Found some illegal dumping on your street? The city of Seattle may have the solution for you.

“Find It, Fix It” is a smartphone app offering mobile users one more way to report selected issues to the City of Seattle.

With Find It, Fix It, reporting an issue is as easy as snapping a photo with your smartphone, adding detailed information, and hitting submit. The map’s “drag and drop” feature or the phone’s own technology can be used to pinpoint the location.

Android users can download the app from the Google Play Store and iPhone users can download it from the App Store. The app offers the following service request categories:

• Abandoned Vehicle/72hr Parking Ordinance: Report vehicles parked in a public right of way more than three days.
• Clogged Storm Drain: Report a clogged storm drain.
• Dead Animal: Report a dead animal for pickup by animal control officers.
• Found a Pet: Report a pet you found within the City of Seattle.
• Graffiti: Report graffiti, including what it is on — parking meter, utility pole or building — so it gets automatically routed to the appropriate department for response.
• Illegal Dumping / Needles: Report illegal dumping — junk, garbage or debris — on public property, including roadsides, open streets and paved alleys.
• Lost a Pet: Report your own pet that you have lost within the City of Seattle.
• Overgrown Vegetation: Report overgrown vegetation in public right of way areas or on City property.
• Nuisance dogs in a park: Report off-leash dogs in Seattle parks not in a designated off-leash area; dogs in park playfields, playgrounds, fountains and beaches; or when dog owners are failing to pick up their dog’s feces in a park
• Parking Enforcement: Make an inquiry regarding a parking concern.
• Parks and Recreation Maintenance: Report damage or maintenance issues in City of Seattle parks.
• Pothole: Report a pothole.
• Public Litter and Recycling Cans: Report overflows or damage to sidewalk litter cans.
• Scooter or Bike Share Issue: Report a parking or maintenance issue with a shared scooter or bike.
• Snow and Ice: Report issues related to snow and ice within the Seattle city limits.
• Street Sign Maintenance: Report damaged street signs.
  Streetlight: Report a streetlight outage or damaged streetlight.
  Traffic Signal Maintenance: Report malfunctioning pedestrian and traffic signals and beacons, radar speed signs, and school zone and pedestrian rapid flashing beacons.
• Unauthorized Encampment: Report unauthorized encampments in City parks and rights of way.,or
• General Inquiry—Customer Service Bureau: This miscellaneous category is for inquiries or requests not listed above, which will be processed by the City’s Customer Service Bureau.

Magnolians have reported relatively good success in receiving the city’s response to challenging issues such as those listed above. Download the app today to have a unique and innovative service available in Seattle, right on your smartphone device.

June 26, 2004. Construction is starting soon in Ballard with work scheduled to begin on the 15th Ave NW and Ballard Bridge Paving and Safety Project as soon as July 8, 2024 and continue through 2025. After years of planning, design, and community input, SDOT is getting ready to kick off work this summer and continue beyond. SDOT’s work is planned to begin on the northern end of the 15th Ave W/NW corridor on NW 57th St and NW 56th St and move south towards the Ballard Bridge.

This project will bring safety and mobility improvements. SDOT is maintaining and modernizing our streets, making transit more reliable, and ensuring our essential bridge infrastructure stays in good shape. SDOT’s goal is to make 15th Ave NW safer and friendlier for people walking, biking, and rolling.

Ballard Bridge overnight southbound closures (starting as early as July 8)

As part of the paving and maintenance work, SDOT will be doing on the bridge, and will need to conduct a series of overnight closures, Monday-Thursday, as early as July 8 for approximately 6-8 weeks.

Lane reductions will begin as early as 7 p.m. and all southbound are expected to close at 10 p.m. and remain closed overnight until 5 a.m.

In general, here’s what commuters can expect:

SDOT will temporarily close southbound lanes on the Ballard Bridge overnight (Mondays through Thursdays after 10 PM) and reduce northbound travel to a single lane overnight to complete the bridge maintenance and paving work on the Ballard Bridge this summer, starting as early as July 8.

The Ballard Bridge has two lanes in each direction. A lane reduction in each direction may begin as early as 7 PM, and SDOT expects to close all southbound lanes from 10 PM to 5 AM Monday through Thursday for approximately 6 to 8 weeks.

Detour routes are still being finalized, but SDOT anticipates redirecting people driving to Aurora Ave N (SR 99). The Fremont Bridge is also available, although with limited capacity.

SDOT expects to keep one side of the Ballard Bridge’s path open to people walking and biking, though access locations may shift as work takes place. Please follow all instructions and detour signs posted around the work zone.

To get the latest updates, you can sign up for SDOT project email updates. They also encourage transit riders to follow King County Metro’s service advisories and sign up for transit alerts to stay informed.

Ballard Bridge full weekend closures (September/October 2024)

SDOT also needs to fully close the Ballard Bridge on select weekends in the early fall for maintenance to keep the 107-year-old bridge safe and strong. Potential weekend closure dates (to be confirmed and may change):

Friday evening, September 6, 2024, through Monday morning, September 9, 2024

Friday evening, September 13, 2024, through Monday morning, September 16, 2024

Friday evening, September 27, 2024, through Monday morning, September 30, 2024

Friday evening, October 4, 2024, through Monday morning, October 7, 2024

Friday evening, October 11, 2024, through Monday morning, October 14, 2024

June 5, 2024 – per the Magnolia Community Council.

Neighbors,

The Mayor and City Council have once again increased the size of the much needed Move Seattle Levy renewal. Overall, the levy, the largest property tax levy in Seattle’s history, puts safety at the fore, with spending aimed at slowing drivers down, fixing old bridges, planning replacement of the BIRT Corridor bridges, building new sidewalks and bikeways, and maintaining and installing crosswalks. Each District will be allocated an additional $1M for its specific needs.

The Select Committee on 2024 Levy Renewal will discuss amendments in committee at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday (June 4th), and the public will have a chance to weigh in 4:30 p.m., either in person at City Hall, or remotely by phone or email. The council has two more meetings to amend the levy proposal, June 18 and July 12, before it sends it to voters on the November ballot. [emphasis added]

We recommend that Magnolia residents submit written comments to Councilmembers at Council@seattle.gov. Helpful comments will include concern about Magnolia’s infrastructure connections to the rest of the city, and appreciation that the levy proposal is directing appropriate funding to plan for the future. Mention that the Magnolia community is eager to engage in real dialogue about planning to the Magnolia Bridge replacement, since the last study was inadequate in its scope and assessments.

Thank you for your support of this important initiative!

The Magnolia Community Council

April 21, 2024, per the Magnolia Community Council

Three quick action steps and information Magnolia needs to know!

Dear Neighbors,

The draft Move Seattle Levy renewal proposes $218M for Seattle’s Bridges. The Magnolia Bridge is a “candidate bridge” among their list of five bridges for “structural repairs”, and there is also a proposed funding category of “early design of five structures to seek funding partnerships for replacement.”

The Magnolia Community Council welcomes its dedicated funding stream for what we know to be aging infrastructures such as the Magnolia and Ballard Bridges.

MCC is seeking more details in addition to the general themes of the draft proposal, particularly if and how the City is planning to leverage governmental grants and partnerships to move the Ballard-Interbay corridor work forward, leading to the 1:1 replacement of the Magnolia Bridge. There will be more opportunities for input to the final draft, and we advocate commenting early and often.

In the meantime, there are three easy actions to help the neighborhood:

1. Complete the short Transportation Questionnaire (Deadline Friday, April 26th). Page one surveys bike and pedestrian improvements, Page two surveys road conditions, freight, and transit, and Page three concerns transit connections (east-west, light rail), electric vehicles, and expanding local input for street projects.
2. Send a message to SDOT Join the upcoming community events, and mention the Magnolia Bridge, at the Ballard Farmer’s Market on Sunday, April 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
3. Please send an email to Magnolia’s Seattle Council members, CM Dan Strauss and CM Bob Kettle, about the Move Seattle Levy proposal. Suggested language from the Magnolia Community Council are accessed by clicking on links.
4. The Magnolia Community Council appreciates your support of this important initiative and can be contacted for additional information by contacting the Magnolia Community Council here.

March 20, 2024. Mayor Bruce Harrell hosted a public forum on March 14th to discuss his vision for creating a safer Seattle and to hear directly from community members on safety challenges, accomplishments, and opportunities. Other city leaders joined him in the Creating a Safer Seattle forum, including:

Chief Adrian Diaz, Seattle Police Department 
Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, Seattle Fire Department
Chief Amy Smith, Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE)
Director Tanya Kim, Human Services Department (HSD)

To watch the forum, click here.

March 20, 2024. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing a pilot program for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to explore and evaluate the use of new technologies to assist in crime deterrence and prevention in specific locations where gun violence, human trafficking, and persistent felony crime are concentrated.

As proposed, the group of new technologies will help the City’s public safety response to aid victims, locate and preserve evidence and hold accountable those responsible for gun violence, alert real-time crime center staff to a serious criminal event, see multiple streams of information overlaid on a map view and convey that information to officers who are responding in the field.  

The city is nearing the end of a public comment period and encourages residents to learn more about the proposed technologies. You can learn more here, view a PowerPoint presentation, and provide your comments by Friday, March 22, 2024.

March 14, 2024. Public safety is not just the first charter responsibility of Seattle’s city government, it is the top issue for the Seattle community today. Mayor Harrell is hosting a meeting March 14th starting at 6 pm with constituents to hear concerns and ideas, and to share the actions the city under the Mayor’s leadership are taking, Seats are sold out, but you can watch on the Seattle Channel here.

In a press release on March 12th, Mayor Harrell says. “I am proud of our work to diversify public response options, address gun violence, and improve response times. But I know – we all know – that there is still more work to do. Community engagement, collaboration, and conversation is essential to our One Seattle vision for a safer city, because we can only make progress together.”

In case you can’t make the meeting tonight, there will be similar forums in April in each of the five Seattle Police Department Precincts. Magnolia is in Precinct 5. We will keep you informed, or you can check in with the Mayor’s office website and social media accounts for updates in the weeks ahead.

March 14, 2024. The Mental Health First Aid – or MHFA program – at Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care is partnered with King County to provide mental health first aid training that teaches participants how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders. This training benefits organizations like the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce and its members by equipping employers, employees, and volunteers with the necessary tools to recognize when they, or someone they know, may need mental health support. 

The MHFA program offers one-day mental health training at no cost to employers. MHFA teaches how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adults. Participants build the skills and confidence they need to reach out and provide initial support to struggling people. Training participants also learn how to help connect them to appropriate support. To learn more details about the youth and adult training, click here.

The MHFA training is offered to employers on weekdays and Saturdays and is available in person and virtually. Currently, training is scheduled, and anyone can join. MHFA is also working on scheduling additional training dates for the remainder of 2024. The following are trainings currently scheduled:

English led trainings:  

• Saturday, March 30^th, adult virtual class, click here to register 
• Friday, April 5^th, adult virtual class, click here to register                             
• Wednesday, March 20^th, youth virtual class, click here to register
• Thursday, April 11^th, youth virtual class, click here to register

Spanish led trainings: 

• Saturday, March 23^rd, youth virtual class, click here to register
• Saturday, April 6^th, youth virtual class; click here to register 
• Saturday, March 30^th, adult virtual class; click here to register 
• Saturday, April 13^th, adult virtual class; click here to register 

In-person trainings:   

• Friday, April 5^th, in-person Youth training in Kenmore WA, click here for more information and to register.
• Thursday, May 2^nd, Adult (English) class in Renton, WA; click here to register.   

If you’d like to learn more, have questions, or are interested in setting up a training, you can find more information and all upcoming trainings on the Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care website.  

February 7, 2024. Washington State Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, is alerting organizations statewide to a recent Consumer Protection Act enforcement action his office filed against a scammer targeting Washington small business owners.

Washington Labor Law Poster Service is deceptively posing as a governmental agency and sending hundreds of thousands of solicitations to Washington businesses. They advertise an Olympia address but are based out of Michigan. They mail the letters in envelopes with threatening language about legal consequences for not immediately purchasing the advertised poster products for $79.50 or more. These posters are available from government agencies free of charge.

This scam is likely targeted at some of our members. The Attorney General reports that more than 1,500 Washington businesses have fallen for this scam, which might be much higher.

We are linking the information provided by Attorney General Ferguson so you can learn more and protect yourself and your business from fraudulent and illegal scamming activities.

January 22, 2024. On Wednesday, January 17th, Seattle Department of Transportation representatives joined Magnolia Chamber members and guests to learn more about the Ballard Bridge & 15th Ave. NW & W Safety and Paving Project (the project). The project is slated to begin once final contractors are selected.

We thank SDOT’s Jules Posadas for his responsiveness and organizing the meeting held at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, who graciously opened their meeting hall for the information-sharing session. We also thank SDOT’s Marilyn Yim, Nyles Green, and Neftalie Gonzales for attending the meeting and providing information and support.

For those seeking detailed minutes from the meeting, please click here. Many thanks to Chamber board member Melanie Audette for taking thorough and informative meeting notes.

Other key documents and tips for staying informed and engaged:

• Project webpage 15th Ave W/NW & Ballard Bridge Paving & Safety Project – Transportation | seattle.gov
  
• Project listserv sign-up link  City of Seattle, Washington (govdelivery.com)
  • To receive information, enter your email address, hit submit,  select “15th Ave W/NW and Ballard Bridge Paving Project”, and hit submit again.
  • If signed up, you will receive project updates that include traffic impacts, detours, and anticipated construction work.
• PowerPoint presentation from January 17th meeting