City Budget Cuts
Citing bad financial forecasting by the Seattle City Council, last week Mayor Greg Nickels downsized the city's $640 million 2002 general fund by $7 million. The cuts made good on Nickels' earlier threat to reject the council's unanimous February 19 vote to fund $563,038 worth of human services contracts. Nickels maintained some of the funding, like $30,000 for a Capitol Hill homeless youth center and $30,000 for a Lake City food bank, but he nixed $217,000 worth of budgeting, including cash for several sexual assault and women's protective services agencies. JOSH FEIT
Ballard Skate Bowl Gets Go-Ahead
Ballard skate kids may finally get the concrete bowl they've been trying to build since last year, when Seattle Parks and Recreation halted construction ["Obstacle Course," Jennifer Elam, Dec 13 2001]. The city assigned new employees to oversee the project--Erin Devoto and Dan Johnson, who A-okayed the controversial bowl.
"[The city's] not giving us money," says skateboard activist Chris Hildebrand, "but at least they're letting us do the project."
Hildebrand and his volunteers need to raise another $19,000 to finish the bowl, so they've scheduled a punk-rock fundraiser at the Tractor Tavern on April 10. AMY JENNIGES
Local Arthur Andersen Rally
One hundred Seattle employees of Arthur Andersen, the global accounting firm being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for its dubious Enron bookkeeping, are holding a noon rally on Thursday, March 28 at the downtown Federal Building. The rally, along with full-page national newspapers ads that appeared in The Seattle Times, is part of an Andersen PR campaign designed to put a "human face" on the company. If the Seattle rally is anything like previous rallies in Philadelphia and D.C., expect to see employees carrying "Save Andersen" signs while wearing "I am Arthur Andersen" T-shirts. PAT KEARNEY
Mayor Avoids Meeting
Greg Nickels may have beaten the dreadful Mark Sidran in last year's mayor's race, but Sidran's most ardent antagonists--the Sidran Truth Squad--aren't happy. That's because Nickels has given the lefty group the cold shoulder. After promising the Truth Squad some face time with the mayor, Nickels' office seems to be shelving any plans to meet.
The Truth Squad dropped $5,000 on a pro-Nickels mailer to 20,000 voters last year, and wants to chat with Nickels about its key concerns: police accountability, gentrification, and housing. JOSH FEIT
