VIDEO: Promises made, concerns voiced at Alki/Harbor community-safety meeting, four days after deadly shooting

(WSB video and photos)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Alki-area community advocates who co-hosted tonight’s public-safety meeting with District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka have long been pushing for as much action against street disorder as the city can muster. Last weekend’s shootings at Duwamish Head were just the latest flashpoint.

Perhaps that’s why the first actions promised tonight by city reps – but, they insisted, not the last – had to do with street design: Lane-narrowing and more speed cushions are on the way, per SDOT managers. The action most requested by attendees, installing speed cameras, isn’t so easy, panelists explained. Same with the matter of “holding people accountable.”

Above is our video from the nearly-two-hour meeting inside the sanctuary at Alki UCC; below, our recap:

After an introduction from Saka’s chief of staff Elaine Ikoma Ko, who organized this along with Saka’s district director Leila Gheisar, the councilmember spoke first. He thanked local neighborhood advocates Charlotte Starck and Steve Pumphrey for co-hosting, and then introduced the panelists (SDOT’s chief safety officer Venu Nemani, SDOT’s senior deputy director Francisca Stefan, Parks and Rec superintendent AP Diaz, interim SPD chief Sue Rahr, and Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s new public-safety director Natalie Walton-Anderson).

“We’re here to talk about public safety,” Saka said, expressing condolences to the family of 22-year-old Luis Angel Solis Lara (identified today), as well as noting those residents whose homes were “shot up.” “What happened Saturday morning was unacceptable,” Saka said, noting that he visited the scene at midmorning Saturday, saying that one of his first actions was to call for this meeting. He then recounted public-safety-related actions he said have already been accomplished during his first half-year in office:

-“Police hiring is up” – more people are applying
-“We’ve taken action to address unsafe vacant buildings”
-“We helped streamline the SPD recruitment and hiring process”
-Earlier this month, “we passed some great legislation to take action against stolen cars,” including automated license-plate readers for every police vehicle
-He’s gone to precinct roll calls to try to rebuild trust between police and elected officials

Saka said he supports SDOT redesigning or eliminating the Duwamish Head diagonal parking, supports speed-enforcement cameras (that got whoops from the crowd), and previewed what SDOT would later announce for the street in that area, adding that the Public Safety Committee had just been briefed (as reported here) on the proposed street-racing crackdown bill, for which he said he will have specific amendments (though he did not elaborate).

He handed the mic to citywide Councilmember Tanya Woo, who was in the audience. “We have a new council and we all agree that public safety is our priority,” she declared. “We all agree we have to work together to get things done and make our streets safer.” For specifics, she also mentioned the license-plate readers.

Neighborhood advocate Steve Pumphrey, who co-founded the Harbor Alki Neighbors Group, spoke next. “We’ve had successes – we were successful with the city in getting the terrible RV encampment off Harbor Avenue, clearing the greenspace .. but we’re not ready to stop.” He recounted that he was the person who had bullet holes in his window (as shown in our first Saturday report). He mentioned meeting the victim’s family at the scene – as they placed the memorial – and that they “were torn up.” He added, “We have to realize people are coming from out of the area to party and race and drink and do drugs … we can’t legislate that all away, and we don’t have the officers for enforcement, but we can change the environment.” That means the streets, parking areas, and others that have “trapped the people who want to come here and create mayhem … if we make it harder for them to come here (and behave illegally) … then we win … we can’t just stand around and do nothing.”

Alki Community Council president Charlotte Starck spoke next, noting she has been leading the group since January, “working on uniting the community, keeping the problems of crime and traffic front and center … What we worked for are tehse commonalities … working to bring civic leaders together with the neighborhood group. … We all want to live in a peaceful, safe place … that’s the end goal.” She also recounted becoming active after crime/disorder hit her home, in the form of two reckless-driving incidents, plus gunfire on her street, bullet holes through a kitchen window. That “has been a growing problem since we’ve seen the decline of our police force. … As crime lands on your front doorstep you get really upset, you get angry, there are people hurt, properly lost, businesses leave … we need to get it under control.”

Then it was on to the panel.

First, Walton-Anderson, the mayor’s public-safety director and, before that, a veteran prosecutor – also a longtime West Seattle resident who said she walks Alki almost nightly. She conveyed Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s regrets for not being able to attend but said he does care about this area.

Then Rahr, the new interim police chief, who in turn introduced local Officer German Barreto, new Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Krista Bair, and Community Service Officer Dennise Lopez, who will be assigned from the precinct from hereon out rather than from downtown.

(Officer Barreto and Capt. Bair)

Rahr noted that the U.S. Surgeon General just declared gun violence to be a public-health crisis. The ex-sheriff said a lot has changed in the 12 years since she’s been out of law enforcement – increased gun violence, increased lawlessness, the social fabric “is unraveling” – yet she is heartened to see that “people are interested in getting that shored up again.”

Parks superintendent Diaz said, “We too are struggling to best serve the needs of our entire system,” 500 parks and – until recently only two Park Rangers, now increased to 28, “and in record time we filled all those spots.” He talked about working to remove the barrier that kept the Park Rangers working downtown – now they can work citywide. “It’s not enough, we need to do more.” He suggested they’ll be asking for more funding for more rangers, but in the meantime, they’re collaborating with other agencies. Diaz insisted, “We hear you loud and clear” on the need for safety improvements – “Today’s just a start.”

SDOT’s Stefan then spoke, first offering condolences for “the tragedies in your neighborhood.” She said she empathizes with those dealing with driving stunts as her (non-WS) neighborhood has “drifting” going on nightly. She said some of the changes on Alki/Harbor already, like speed cushions and center-line posts, have already brought down speeds.

SDOT’s Nemani followed with just words of introduction – he had more to say moments later.

Ko then read from presubmitted questions (500 of them, she told us pre-meeting, received in barely 24 hours), consolidating what she said were recurring or redundant topics: What’s the latest on speed cameras, and what are your plans for speed cushions, including south of the Water Taxi dock, monitoring speeding, and permit parking for Alki (that mention drew applause)?

Nemani responded. Regarding cameras, he mentioned the “racing zone” ordinance passed by the previous council, including designating Alki and Harbor. The funding has not been identified or allotted in this year’s budget, he explained, adding that the state law has changed regarding safety cameras and how they can be installed – requiring “a lot more documentation” before they can be installed. So, he said, they’re having internal conversations on a holistic policy for installing more cameras,”including speed safety cameras,” and getting the required “inclusive community input.” The policy should come out “later this fall.”

But they have other options, Nemani continued. He echoed Stefan’s declaration that speed cushions had been effective on stretches of Alki – “very effective,” he said – so they can pursue installing more speed cushions between Seacrest and the heart of the beach, as well as south of Seacrest. SDOT staff is working on speific locations. Also, he said, the lane widths along most of Alki are so wide that it’s conducive to speeding, so they are proposing reducing the lane width to 11 feet between 63rd SW and Fairmount SW, restriping them to about 11 feet wide, so they can naturally calm speeds. “We are planning to pursue those things this summer.” (How would the narrowing be done? we asked post-meeting; he said by bringing the solid “fog lines” on the street edge closer in, NOT by adding medians.) Regarding permit parking, “that needs to be a wider conversation,” but he said a community conversation about better managing parking in general certainly could be had.

After Nemani finished, Saka jumped in to say “funding is not an issue” regarding the cameras; the holdup is more of an operational/planning issue. He repeated that if it was a matter of money, they’ll get it, that the mayor has made that promise.

Next, Rahr addressed a multi-part police-related question, First, about parking enforcement; she noted flagrant disregard for the rules. “Clearly this is a habit formed in the community that needs to be broken … the atmosphere of ‘rules don’t matter’ seems to have taken hold.” She mentioned “several hot spots” around the city and said she’s elevated Alki to #5, so a team of parking-enforcement officers is being assembled, both for Don Armeni and for overnight problems, with a caveat: “That’s the aspiration and now I’m going to tell you the truth,” because emphasis requires officers to sign up for overtime, and the force is still 400 officers short, so she’s not sure how much extra patrolling she’ll be able to muster.

Regarding “holding perpetrators of gun violence accountable,” the chief said, “We live in a gun culture, folks … our society celebrates guns …” and firearm availability is “out of control.” She mentioned a (non-WS) shooting scene last weekend with 164 shell casings found. Guns in the community plus angry young people = “bad things are going to happen.” Of course, she said, “we’re going to do everything we can to arrest the perpetrators” – but that’s not as easy as you think. She brought up the law keeping officers from talking to juveniles, getting in the way of solving the Garfield HS shooting, for example, “There’s a lot of barriers that are new” since she left law enforcement, she said. “And that is a problem – because a lot of this gun violence is perpetrated by juveniles … the likelihood they’ll be arrested is far lower.” Ultimately, holding people accountable is up to the courts and state legislators. She urged people to pay attention to what state (as well as local) laws are being passed. She said she supported a lot of police reform but nothing intended to result in this. Checkpoints? She said that may not be legal but “we should do everything we can to make this a less attractive area for kids to come and drink and shoot off their firearms.” She also said they’ll work with Parks to lock the gates at Don Armeni.

Saka followed her up by noting that the juvenile-questioning law also hampered the investigation of the shooting death of 15-year-old Mobarak Adam back in January at Southwest Center/Pool. He said the state law was modeled on city and county laws but went beyond it. He is advocating for a legislative solution to that. “We need to do better.”

Walton-Anderson jumped in on those questions. She reiterated that holding people accountable is the role of prosecutors and judges and legislators, not just police. “These (legislative) bills come up, and we have to pay attention.” She mentioned again the juvenile-questioning law. Regarding the police shortage, she asked everyone to recruit, and to do it widely, mentioning a 62-year-old who just got out of the academy. “SPD is hiring and we cannot get through this shortage unless we start recruiting … that could even be you.” Rahr agreed: “Recruiting is huge. …Our message is, we have a different City Council.” The crowd whooped and applauded. She said she’s using the “shift in city government” as a selling point when she’s recruiting. She also said the mayor really is letting her run the department: “I’ve done some stuff!”

Next group of questions: Can the Don Armeni gates be chained? Can Hamilton Viewpoint be shut down after 9 pm? Can Alki access be restricted?

Diaz said, “Yes on all of them – this is a problem happening at (other city parks too)- The weather gets nice, people want to go donb to the water, unfortunately bad things are happening,” He has the power to adjust the hours that otherwise are stipulated in the city charter. He notes that beach fire times for example have been pulled back for summer. Regarding gun violence, he pointed out the shootings – and said it’s not illegal to bring a gun into Parks facilities – it’s illegal in many other places, and parks and community centers were supposed to be in a state bill last year, but were pulled out. Meantime, though Park Rangers aren’t law enforcers, SPD officers can help them.

Then the meeting shifted to open-mic Q&A – First for SDOT – will there be speed cushions in other areas like 55th and 56th? Nemani said he wants speed cushions on 56th too.

Next Q: Can information be provided for contacting legislators? Saka said he can get that info out, including contact info for the three who serve the 34th Legislative District (House Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Emily Alvarado, State Sen. Joe Nguyen – their contact info is all linked here).

Next Q was a comment from another person whose home was hit by gunfire. She said she heard it and thought it was fireworks. “Nothing’s going to change until parents control their children. …. The police come, (the troublemakers are) back two hours later … I don’t want to spend the rest of my life waiting for changes,”

Next Q: Why is the ‘Belltown Hellcat‘ not in jail? Rahr: “We’ve been working on it.” Saka: “The Hellcat guy, that dude is totally out of hand ..” but, he added, “there’s only so much government can do … we’re not going to legislate our way out of this.”

Next Q: To reduce teenage troublemaking, could we have a curfew? Saka: “It might be possible,” but enforcement might be difficult. Rahr: “I would love that … but we can’t (incarcerate) juveniles aside from violent crimes … It goes back to the family.”

Next Q: What about the speed/racing cameras? They were approved in June 2023 …but everybody points the finger regarding why they’re not yet in use … “what do we have to do, wait for someone to die? That just happened.” Saka said he’s said the same thing “over and over and over” regarding both installing speed camera and exploring CCTV cameras. Some finger-pointing ensued in the reply, until Walton-Anderson reiterated that there are some aspects of state law they still have to work through. Stefan also sought to clarify misunderstanding about funding – it hadn’t been allotted for racing cameras; the city budget had money for school-zone cameras. But “we’re with you on this journey and you’ll have to be with us” as they do a safety analysis, an equity analysis, and other mandated parts of the process. Saka: “It’s clear we’re aligned.”

Ko observed at that point that the status of speed cameras was a top question in what was submitted.

Next Q: With more Alki speed cushions, you’re going to have a major traffic issue. Has there been discussion on the height of the speed cushions so perhaps they could affect people going 50+ but not people going the “normal” speed?

Nemani answered, explaining the difference between speed cushions and humps, and said what’s in place now along Harbor/Alki are speed cushions, with the break in the middle. They do affect all vehicles, there’s no way to discriminate between speed vehicles, The arterials get cushions to accommodate emergency vehicles, among others.

Next Q was about rental scooters, contending they are “basically used for joyriding, how do we get rid of those?” Stefan said diplomatically that they won’t – they’re important because of access challenges due to limited transit in the area, and, she said, rider education is a priority.

Other questions/comments included:

-“Why do politicians not say anything about families needing to be involved with their children, because that is the problem. What is a 17-year-old doing with a gun?” Saka: The government can do some things, but there’s also a certain among of personal responsibility.

-A Harbor Avenue said speed cushions should be more tightly spaced since drivers speed up between them.

-About closing parks – what is stopping people from coming back after they’re forced to leave? What’s being done besides just a warning? Diaz said they’re looking at ways of making it less attractive to linger – gate-closing, lighting, etc. Rahr said they can’t just search people without probable cause to suspect a crime. The speaker reiterated, what’s the penalty if you’re in a closed park? You can be cited, Rahr said.

-Will they really close Don Armeni’s gates? Why can’t the diagonal parking at Duwamish Head just be roped off? Rahr said she’ll try on both counts, including “get(ting) traffic officers out there.”

With that, and a few quick words of thanks, the meeting ended. Many of the city reps lingered to answer questions one-on-one, and crowds quickly developed around them.

WHAT’S NEXT: In the main concrete promise of the night, SDOT said the lane-narrowing and speed cushions could be done by summer’s end. Meantime, there’s been no new information about the investigation of Saturday’s shootings, nor did anyone take the microphone tonight to ask for an update.

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