Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Councilman (and mayoral candidate) Tim Burgess has a regular newsletter that he sends out. Here's what he has to say about the South Lake Union development and a "public school." 3. Support our public school system. Two weeks ago, Seattle voters once again demonstrated generous support for public education by renewing two vital levies at a time when more parents are enrolling their children in public school. City government can do more to support the school district by encouraging the development of an elementary school for the growing number of families in the greater downtown area. With this up-zone of South Lake Union, we must craft language that specifies what a developer would need to build for a school (such as space suitable for classrooms, cafeteria and a gymnasium) to earn additional building height. As with any piece of land use legislation, the details of how we seek to accomplish these policies will be very important. The Council will meet on Monday in Ci...

I want to support BEX IV. I know that the District desperately needs to build additional capacity to meet the demands of increased enrollment. I would be a lot more comfortable supporting the levy if I could just get a few questions answered.

Today's front page headline story in the Times is about Amazon, " a virtual no-show in hometown philanthropy." The story points out that while it even took the Gates Foundation awhile to start opening its vast pockets, Amazon still hasn't.  Their model? "Our core business activities are probably the most important thing we do to contribute, as well as our employment in the area," Bezos told The Times. In a 2010 interview with PBS' Charlie Rose, Bezos expressed doubt that philanthropy was the best way to solve social problems. "I'm convinced that in many cases, for-profit models improve the world more than philanthropy models, if they can be made to work." For example, he thinks inventing the Kindle brings more reading opportunities to people worldwide.  Discuss that statement. But frankly, I guess if Amazon continues to grow, employ and be good employers, that is a good thing for our city.

I let too much time go by and I now have to admit I'm just posting info from two BEX meetings from February.

The Seattle PI has links to various neighborhood blogs around the city. It's always good to keep up so I like to pick one and read it. Today I picked the South Lake Union blog and it's by a woman who lives in South Lake Union. The title is "Vulcan's Grip on South Lake Union: the how and why of managing a neighborhood". From the blog: Y our average developer creates spaces for living, working and playing and then moves on to the next project. Vulcan's role is unique because they have the power to shape not just one building, but an entire neighborhood and they will always have a presence in South Lake Union, even after the last brick is laid. Naturally, the Vulcan team is acutely aware of their special status, which is why they also envision themselves as being responsible for connecting people in the neighborhood, their prime example being the South Lake Union Chamber of Commerce . I was also surprised to learn that, since the new public school...