A friend made the point recently that in a city where a public meeting that draws 300 people counts as "packed," it's easy to get discouraged by (or derisive of) citizen activism. But what struck me as I sat through a meeting on amendments to the city's comprehensive plan (oh, yeah) Monday was how many people do show up to speak—often delivering almost identical testimony, year after year, even when the council is hostile or apathetic. Take Phinney Ridge activist Irene Wall, who has spent much of her energy for the past three years railing against a proposed four-story parking garage at the Woodland Park Zoo, despite losing at virtually every turn. (The council approved the garage contract last week.) On Monday, the council considered a comp plan amendment written by Wall herself, which would "state that Seattle Parks property [like the zoo] shall not be used for structured parking." Council staffers said the amendment was too specific to qualify, but I hope Wall tries again—and I don't doubt for a second that she will.

Monday's comp plan proposals included a raft of amendments by City Council Member Peter Steinbrueck aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and car dependency. Some of his amendments read like a first draft of a campaign mailer against Mayor Greg Nickels. For example, Steinbrueck's first point, "Climate Change Goals," would adopt "more aggressive" global-warming goals than Nickels's promise to exceed Kyoto standards by 2012 and include "goals for greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources"—a subtle jab at Nickels's two-year campaign for a new six-lane tunnel on the waterfront.

The $198 million Pro Parks Levy, passed by voters in 2000, probably won't be up for renewal after its funding runs out in 2008, says mayoral spokesman Marty McOmber. (Instead, the mayor will ask voters to pay for improvements to Pike Place Market and Seattle Center.) Which raises a potentially troubling question: How to pay for ongoing operations and maintenance on all the 100-plus projects that have been completed with levy funds? At the moment, that's sort of unclear. "We would like to absorb those costs into the general budget," McOmber says. However, the mayor's office doesn't know how much "absorbing" would be required. Parks spokeswoman Dewey Potter said the budget has absorbed about two-thirds of ongoing costs so far, leaving an unspecified amount still unfunded.

Last Wednesday, City Council Member Sally Clark presided (solo) over a meeting of the council's neighborhoods committee to discuss the mayor's proposed nightlife advisory committee—in Bitter Lake, a neighborhood without any bars.

Residents—many of them visibly irritated by the lengthy discussion of a proposal that had nothing to do with their neighborhood—filed out of the room, slept, and tapped anxiously at their chairs, awaiting the roundtable on neighborhood issues (P-Patches, potholes, and sidewalks were high on the list) that followed the nightlife presentation. One resident could even be heard muttering, "Are you DONE yet?"

Maybe next time they could hold a hearing on Social Security at the Venom nightclub.