Invitation to join Lake City Neighborhood Action Team

Below is a letter from Jerry DeGrieck at the Mayor's office regarding the newly formed Lake City Neighborhood Action Team.  They are looking for input from the community to identify problems in Lake City. They will then produce an Action Plan sometime in April / May. This is a great opportunity for people to get involved directly with our city government and make positive changes.

LCNA will be adding meeting dates to their public calendar as they become available. 

( document in a pdf format is available here for offline printing. )

Hello Lake City Neighborhood Stakeholders,

Late last year, Mayor McGinn asked me to lead a City-Neighborhood Action Team (NAT) to work with Lake City neighborhood stakeholders to address a range of issues and problems as part of our work to make Lake City a great neighborhood.  In December 2012, nearly 20 City staff members went on walking tours in Lake City led by members of the Lake City Neighborhood Alliance.  By bringing together multiple City departments and community members, we believe this Action Team can creatively approach problems, build on community strengths, and make progress to improve the neighborhood. 

The Team has formed three City-Neighborhood workgroups:

·       Economic development; City Leads are Andres Mantilla (Office of Economic Development), 206-233-3868, Andres.mantilla@seattle.gov, and David Goldberg (Department of Planning and Development), 206-615-1447, DavidW.goldberg@seattle.gov

·       Public Safety, programming, health, and human services; City Leads are Rebecca Karlsen (Parks and Recreation), 206-684-7279, Rebecca.karlsen@seattle.gov, and June Beleford (Public Health – Seattle & King County), 206-263-8762, June.beleford@kingcounty.gov

·       Access and pedestrian and physical improvements; City Lead is Dongho Chang (Seattle Department of Transportation), 206-684-5106, Dongho.chang@seattle.gov

The work of the workgroups is primarily focused on the Lake City core/urban village geographic area.  The first task of each workgroup is to develop an Action Plan.  The purpose of developing an Action Plan is not just to have a plan; the City department staff members and neighborhood stakeholders on the team will implement the plan and take steps to improve the neighborhood.  Each work item on the Action Plan will have clear strategies, timelines, objectives, metrics, and designation of City and/or Community Leads.  We want to have a draft Action Plan ready by the end of April.  We will then widely distribute the draft Plan and invite comments and input from interested Lake City residents, businesses, service providers, and other neighborhood stakeholders.  We will invite you to a community meeting in mid-May to offer your comments and help shape the plan.  There will also be opportunities to provide input through online surveys. 

To be successful, we need and want the participation and involvement of all of the diverse stakeholders that comprise the Lake City neighborhood.  Representatives from the Lake City Neighborhood Alliance are participating on each of the workgroups and others are welcome to participate.  

There are a number of ways you can be involved with this effort:

·       You can contact the City Lead(s) for any of the three workgroups and provide your input on what you would like included in the Action Plan.

·       You can attend the meetings, become a member, and participate on any of the workgroups; again, contact the City Lead(s) and they can let you know when/where the meetings are.

·       You can contact the Lake City Neighborhood Alliance (LCNA), info@lcna-seattle.org, and participate through LCNA. 

·       By early May, you will receive a copy of the draft Action Plan and can comment and provide your feedback to help shape the final Plan; there will also be opportunities to provide input online.

·       You will be invited to community meeting in mid-May to review the draft Action Plan and provide your comments and input to shape the final Plan. 

In addition to the City workgroup leads listed above, the following City staff are participating on the team to develop and implement the Action Plan:

·       Mayor’s Office: Jerry DeGrieck and Aaron Fishbone

·       City Light: Rose Feliciano

·       Facilities and Administrative Services: Daniel Bretzke/Hillary Hamilton

·       Housing: Laurie Olson

·       Human Services: Mary Flowers

·       Library: Steve Delvecchio/Chance Hunt

·       Neighborhoods: Thomas Whittemore

·       Police: Lt. Ron Rasmussen

·       Public Health: Morgan Barry

·       Public Utilities: Shannon Kelleher/Sheryl Shapiro/Daniel Sims

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.  Thank you very much.

Jerry DeGrieck

Senior Policy Advisor to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

Human Services, Health, Education, Housing, and Financial Empowerment

206-684-4029 (Office)

206-321-7307 (Work Cell)

Jerry.degrieck@seattle.gov