News

In Other Neighborhoods

by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

MAGNOLIA Objections from neighborhood residents and the financial needs of the U.S. Army may derail a project to put housing for the homeless at Fort Lawton, tucked into the northeast corner of Discovery Park. The city's Office of Housing is trying to acquire the mothballed army property and plans call for a redevelopment of the 38 acres of land that would incorporate a mix of market-rate and homeless housing. Nancy Rogers, president of the Magnolia Community Club (MCC), says that neighbors are "concern[ed] about how homeless housing... would fit into Magnolia." Rogers points to a lack of social services in the area, and a letter to the city from the MCC states their preference for "housing for homeless seniors" rather than homeless families because of "the impact of children moving in and out of our local schools as their families step up the economic ladder." Meanwhile, the army, low on resources these days, hopes to maximize its profits from the sale, rather than sell to cash-strapped social agencies. Federal guidelines passed in 1987 require the army to first offer surplus property to agencies that assist the homeless. The city should be hearing from the army in the next several weeks. ...

SOUTHEAST SEATTLE Infighting over who should be allowed to join the Southeast District Council (SEDC) has led to a temporary freeze of membership, and some members of the council are crying foul. According to Leslie Miller, president of the SEDC, the council was once composed of three or four neighborhood residents, with no official titles. Over the years, the council has swelled in membership, something that Pat Murakami, president of the Mount Baker Community Club and member of the SEDC, feels has diluted the focus of the group. Murakami says she believes that the influx of members to the SEDC is part of a larger effort by the city to "[promote] the mayor's agenda," although Murakami admits she "has no concrete proof." Miller says that the dispute has slowed community interest in the SEDC, which she says was probably the "intended effect."