A responsibility would be to ensure continuity in communication of long term plans and short term goals that would likely extend beyond the time of a single term of a councilmember.
It is not in the nature of the way council gains and loses the job to sustain programs that could take a couple decades to fully realize (like the PSRC 2040 vision).
http://www.psrc.org/growth/vision2040/
That's one item.
Department of Neighborhoods needs to align ASAP , and not in 2015. That's way too late for us [in district 5]
District offices are not political boutiques, they are direct service center points for the citizens of the given district.
We have been waiting on a decade long study to move the north precinct from a wetland to some place else.
How about the new north precinct move into a space large enough to accommodate the cop shop, the a department of neighborhood satellite office, and the city council satellite office.
Or, maybe use a much lighter footprint, and utilize the existing rooms at local libraries and community centers. Most are served by transit.
Back to the issue of the city council offices out in districts.
What these offices are not, they are not:
Campaign offices;
State, county, federal, legislative offices;
Private political party offices.
There has been a real rush my the local private political parties the latch on and gain control of these offices as part of their empire. The fact of the matter is that these districts are different than the politically (private party) controlled district seats (public positions) .
When redistributing happens there be no effort allowed by two majorly political parties the carve up the city to benefit their private party and an incumbent politician.
Washingtonians are so proud of the recent state redistricting map, it was so balanced, dividing the state that best serves the political parties.
It will by my goal to ensure that district independence remains free from the "party first" influence that plagues much of out state today.
Mike Baker,
Seattle City Council District 5 Citizen
That's one item.
Department of Neighborhoods needs to align ASAP , and not in 2015. That's way too late for us [in district 5]
District offices are not political boutiques, they are direct service center points for the citizens of the given district.
We have been waiting on a decade long study to move the north precinct from a wetland to some place else.
How about the new north precinct move into a space large enough to accommodate the cop shop, the a department of neighborhood satellite office, and the city council satellite office.
Or, maybe use a much lighter footprint, and utilize the existing rooms at local libraries and community centers. Most are served by transit.
Back to the issue of the city council offices out in districts.
What these offices are not, they are not:
Campaign offices;
State, county, federal, legislative offices;
Private political party offices.
There has been a real rush my the local private political parties the latch on and gain control of these offices as part of their empire. The fact of the matter is that these districts are different than the politically (private party) controlled district seats (public positions) .
When redistributing happens there be no effort allowed by two majorly political parties the carve up the city to benefit their private party and an incumbent politician.
Washingtonians are so proud of the recent state redistricting map, it was so balanced, dividing the state that best serves the political parties.
It will by my goal to ensure that district independence remains free from the "party first" influence that plagues much of out state today.
Mike Baker,
Seattle City Council District 5 Citizen
