ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: Safety, schools, fall fun top the topics at general gathering

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

West Seattle’s first community-council meeting of fall was on the second night of fall, as the Admiral Neighborhood Association held its every-other-month gathering at the Admiral HUB (formerly church) this past Tuesday. We’ve already featured two news items from the meeting; here’s the full story:

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT POLICE: This briefing was presented by Lt. Wes Collier, the second-watch (dayside) commander, relatively new to the Southwest Precinct, after a variety of roles in the department – “I’ve been around for a while.”

He brought an update on the 27th SW shooting, as noted here, and also talked about Admiral-specific crime trends. Robberies are up 44 percent – a category of crime covering more than you think – could be a shoplifter making a threat or using violence. There’ve been four more in Admiral this year to date compared to last year. “That is a cause for concern.” He also said Southwest Precinct response times are slower than the – minute goal – currently 10 minutes, even for highest-priority calls (“if you tell me someone is here right now”). He said he’d be addressing that at a gathering Monday, the next day most of his officers are on duty because of an overlap. He declared he’s “no stranger to holding people accountable.” An attendee asked, “What’s the vibe about the end of the consent decree?” Reply: “A weight off our shoulders.” Another question: What about staffing? (As noted in our story on the mayor’s proposed budget – more hires, fewer departures than expected.) What about planning for next year’s World Cup matches? Planning began last year, Lt. Collier said. “We treat all the (big sporting events) as practice runs” for that, plus they’ve had a lot of drills – they’ve also sent police and POET (protest-focused team) members to London “to see how they handle it.”

Lt. Collier also noted the Traffic Unit has two motorcycle officers day shift who can do, and are doing, traffic enforcement. One attendee had words of praise for officers who were on Alki on the Fourth of July; another attendee said the Don Armeni Boat Ramp nighttime closures have been helpful: “It kept things nice and calm.” Lt. Collier said he’s going to dedicate two officers to an “09” car – emphasis patrol (which has been done on Alki and Westwood), taking orders directly from the watch commander rather than dispatchers (unless of course there’s a major emergency). He hopes to dedicate them to vehicle thefts, among other things. He also gave a short introduction to Matt Brown, who’ll be filling in for Jennifer Satterwhite as Crime Prevention Coordinator during her upcoming maternity leave. (Brown is South Precinct CPC right now.)

SCHOOL BOARD: Board president and West Seattle (and vicinity) director Gina Topp (who’s also a local small-biz owner, as a partner in Admiral’s Mission Cantina) was the next guest.

Enrollment is steady, finances are not – they’re facing an $80 million deficit, she noted, out of a $1.3 billion budget for a 49,000-student district. She said they’re trying hard to “protect what students need most.” Then there’s the superintendent search. They’ve heard from families, students, other community members, and they have a “leadership profile.” As noted in our Tuesday story, they have 41 qualified applicants for the job. “That is great – we are super excited about that number.” First review as a board is this Friday, she said. And as we recently reported, Alki Elementary remains on (revised) schedule to open in September of next year. One man noted that 43 percent of his property taxes go to education; Topp agreed it’s regressive taxation. Another attendee noted that West Seattle HS’s student body count – more than 1500 – is larger than last year, so how’s the district count now? Holding steady (100 more than last year, per figures presented to the board this week), although the graduating class is larger than incoming kindergarten, Topp said. “Looks like we may be plateau’ing a bit.”

An attendee who identified herself as a late-career SPS nurse said she’s one for 1,600 at her (non-WS) school, and before that 1,100. “We saved this community during COVID.” She talked about the effects of the lunch split – today she had two suicide threats, a dozen diabetics, and the idea of one nurse handling 1200 students is almost impossible. She seldom gets lunch and says it’s an impossible job for one person to handle. “You need to look at Health Services” and related areas, she implored. Another attendee mentioned that 2026 graduation dates are right up against the local FIFA World Cup matches and that’s going to make things difficult. “I hope there’s been some thought about moving the ceremonies early.” The attendee also talked about his child’s school using PTA fundraising for a school nurse and counselor, and he hoped that would be allowed where it’s possible so that district resources could be freed up to cover such services at schools that don’t have a fundraising capacity. He also suggested the district could be making more money off some of its facilities, like Nino Cantu Douthwest Athletic Complex. Overall, he said, “I’d like to see a new focus on fundraising.”

In wrapping, Topp noted that the next night’s board meeting – which also tackled the high-school lunch issue (WSB coverage here) – was planned in work session format, so no in-person public comment

EVENTS: President Joanie Jacobs sang the praises of volunteers. First, the two new coordinators of the Fourth of July Kids’ Parade … the organizers of the AMP concert series … and everybody who helped with the Admiral Block Party. Now it’s fall and it’s time for more fun, including Trick or Treating. Volunteers will be needed for the October 24 trick-or-treat event, as well as December 13 business event Winter Wonderland. Trick or Treating will go from Avamere in North Admiral to Charlestown/California in South Admiral. It’ll go back to 3 pm to 6 pm this year. Also ahead, 7 pm October 7 at West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor) is a gathering for prospective volunteers, for both the trick-or-treating event and Winter Wonderland.

ADMIRAL EMERGENCY HUB: Hiawatha is a gathering spot in case of catastrophe, with a big box full of emergency supplies. There’s a new hub captain, and the outgoing one spoke to the group, explaining what would happen there in case of trouble – the communication that would happen because regular channels would be down. Lt. Collier was asked about police readiness; he said they’d of course do what it took to help keep people safe, but also advised that people sign up for Alert Seattle, and mentioned that many more officers are trained as EMTs now.

NEXT ANA MEETING: November, which will include board elections. Possibly November 18, since the second Tuesday is Veterans’ Day and they don’t think that’s the proper night for a community council meeting. Watch the website for updates.

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