Story and photos by Karen Berge
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

More than 25 residents, plus a handful of presenters, attended last night’s information-packed meeting of the Highland Park Action Committee (HPAC).

The meeting at Highland Park Improvement Club (HPIC)’s historic headquarters began with an informative, but brief, presentation by Cari Simson from Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC). She provided an historic overview of the Duwamish, including photos; then in contrast, she described its extremely polluted current condition, “basically, it’s a 5 ½-mile-long Superfund site,” a reference to the Duwamish being added in 2001 to the list of the most hazardous and toxic sites in the country.

Simson’s presentation included two especially memorable slides: One lists more than 40 pollutants that have been found in the river that exceed healthy levels, the second shows warning signs that are posted along the river that urge people not to eat any of the bottom-feeding fish from the river.

More about her presentation and other agenda items, ahead:

This latter slide prompted a question about why salmon weren’t mentioned; she responded that it’s because salmon migrate away from the Duwamish and spend the majority of their lives in other waters before coming back to spawn, so they absorb fewer toxins, and aren’t considered dangerous to eat.

Simson reiterated what was said at the Sustainable West Seattle community forum on October 18th (WSB coverage, with video, here): The biggest challenge facing the current cleanup effort is to control new and ongoing sources of contamination. She urged those who feel strongly about restoring the Duwamish to “be vocal about this” and come to one of two public community meetings coming up on December 7th and December 9th regarding the new document outlining potential cleanup alternatives. The DRCC website – duwamishcleanup.org – has links to the document and how to comment.

Second on the HPAC meeting agenda was an update from Carolyn Stauffer regarding the Highland Park Spray Park. She reported that they are happy that their spray park upgrade proposal is still on the “draft list” of 15 finalists for Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund consideration (she spoke at this past Monday’s public hearing; here’s WSB coverage with video). She reiterated that people can still comment on the proposed projects until November 17th (more info here). A decision on the final list of projects recommended for funding is expected by December 6th.

Pete Spalding, one of three West Seattleites on the levy’s Oversight Committee (which held the Monday hearing), spoke next with more information about the process. He said that West Seattle had two of the biggest turnouts, for both WS projects on the “draft final list,” the HP Spray Park and Puget Ridge Edible Park. At the hearing, more than 70 people testified – he noted he was impressed by “the passion that people have about their neighborhoods.”

Spalding went on to provide a glimpse into the criteria and process; one consideration is that they divide the money equitably across all six districts in the city. He noted that the Oversight Committee members are personally, physically, visiting each of more than 30 sites from the original 90-plus list of proposals.

He noted that public vetting of the projects is very important to the process and urged the audience to make use of the opportunity for public comment; it ends November 17th. He noted that projects that don’t get funded during this round of projects should consider reapplying; in 2012, $8 million more will be distributed.

On a separate matter, Spalding reminded everyone about the upcoming Gathering of Neighbors event at Chief Sealth International High School on November 6th. HPAC and HPIC said they will share a booth there. (Registration deadline for organizations/groups that want a table/booth is tomorrow – the registration form’s linked here.)

Ron Angeles, the Delridge District Coordinator for the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, was next up; he touched briefly on the Mayor’s proposed budget cuts. As reported previously here, one ramification is that the 13 District Coordinator positions would be reduced to 7 (including the elimination of West Seattle’s other coordinator, for the Southwest – western WS – District, and the closure of that Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction); another is that their budget “has taken a 22% hit.” The City Council is scheduled to finalize a budget plan November 22nd; comments are still being taken – go here.

Angeles also talked briefly about “Strategic Delridge”; he noted that there are 8 goals associated with this initiative, including making the Delridge corridor more pedestrian-friendly. He invited the group to attend their discussions; the next Strategic Delridge meeting is on November 17th – these meetings precede the Delridge District Council meetings at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

“Local Business Spotlight” is a regular agenda item at the Highland Park Action Committee meetings. It was more of a “local organization spotlight” this time – Rick Jump, executive director of the White Center Food Bank, was the guest speaker. He talked about some of the new programs they’ve implemented. Highlights from Jump’s presentation:

· Number of clients they serve per month has grown “exponentially” in the past year; it’s gone from 1,000 to 1,500 per month, with the expectation of more than 2,000 in November/December.

· They would like to call out for volunteers to help on 3rd Saturdays, 1 time per month (possibly other times as well).

· New program “Healthy Food Gift Certificate Program” was started last May and has exceeded expectations. Clients are given coupons to redeem at 2 local produce vendors. It’s “wildly popular”; coupon redemption rate has jumped from 47% to 75%.

· Two weeks ago, they launched a new mobile food bank (a refrigerated van – see it in WSB coverage of the WC Food Bank’s recent Harvest Dinner) that they can take and set up at senior housing facilities. He mentioned that Arrowhead Gardens, its first stop, gave very positive feedback about this new program.

· The White Center Food Bank now has a “demo kitchen” and “demo garden”; the garden will be a year-round garden that will provide fresh produce.

What is it they need the most? Jump noted that “hunger is a year-round problem, donations drop off drastically in January. They really need personal hygiene items (he urged those who travel to bring back hotel soaps, shampoos, etc.). They can use diapers for their “Baby Pantry”; he noted that they partner with WestSide Baby for other family needs.

He mentioned that cash donations are extremely welcome, as they can stretch the money further. He noted that White Center Food Bank (whose coverage area includes southernmost West Seattle) will spend approximately $100,000 to purchase food in a year; Pete Spalding added that the West Seattle Food Bank (he’s on its board) will spend approximately $150,000 to purchase food.

Lastly, Rick Jump urged people to consider purchasing turkeys when they are on sale to donate to the food banks.

The business portion of the meeting resumed with a brief discussion about a potential change to the Highland Park Action Committee name, followed by some announcements about upcoming plans, and lastly, the roll-out of a petition about low-flying aircraft.

· Dina Johnson noted that HPAC’s name implies that it’s a working committee rather than a fun social group (which it is!). She commented that a different name might lead to more participation and different expectations. The group plans to discuss this in more depth at a future meeting.

· On the subject of future meetings, the regular November and December meetings will be canceled; they are too close to the holidays. Instead, the group plans a party/non-meeting on December 1st at 6:30. Visit their website for more details. Rhonda Smith from HPIC announced several upcoming special events including cooking classes, a bazaar, and a dinner/dance. Visit the HPIC website for more info.

· Just before the meeting ended, HPAC chair Dan Mullins handed out printed copies of a petition to try to stop low-flying aircraft and some background information about an aircraft noise study. They’ll be posting this online shortly and plan to discuss at their next meeting.