Here are a couple of photos and my speaking notes.

Thank you to Ballard First Lutheran.

I’ve always thought, especially given the economy of the past few years, that we could spread this effort of Blessing the Fleet to other sectors. Blessing of the car manufacturers, the home mortgage writers, the restaurant waiters.

 

I appreciate the opportunity to mark what the men and women of the fleet do, the basic act of pulling sustenance from the ocean and bringing it to land. Through sun, wind, storm.  That you make a living at this and that you do it here, in Seattle, is a gift to this city and to this region. The Fleet here at Fisherman’s Terminal in invaluable to us. It’s part of our heritage, our present economy and our future.

 

I’m Irish Catholic which means I’m guilty standing in a beautiful place on a sunny day. I’ll wrap with a short piece of a poem from a participant in Astoria’s Fisher Poet’s festival that just happened a couple of weeks ago. This is an annual gathering of fisher-artists.  I grew up in Portland and spent a lot of time at the coast and from time to time in Astoria where you still have a strong fishing community despite all the changes in rules and economies. This is about a greenhorn back home for the first time. I picked this because the fleet heads out now, but already families think of them coming home. It’s by a woman named Moe Bowstern who has worked boats for years. I have to assume it’s a pen name.

 

“And then, finally after it’s all over, and you are back home, wherever that may be, among those who love you, who praise you, who hug you and laugh at your jokes and always say good morning–then you will find that beyond all reason, you are homesick. A truck will belch diesel as it passes you and the stench will transport you to a moment in a quiet bay, fueling up at your favorite tender. Everything will be too fast and too loud, there will be too many people everywhere. You will develop an affinity for men with beards. You will learn how to spot a working fisherman, a fellow. You will miss the boat. You will miss the ocean. And that will be hard.”

 

Good luck, happy fishing and safe voyage.

I tweeted a few times in the past few days about National Save for Retirement Week and I asked people to send me their retirement savings tips. Silence. When I posted an article about Americans worried about retirement to see if it rang true, the replies I got included:

“What’s retirement?”

and

“I’m 36 and I’ve all but given up hope of retiring comfortably in America. Looking at Argentina, Ecuador, Thailand, etc.”

The article I posted from the Pew Research Center (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/10/22/more-americans-worry-about-financing-retirement/) reflects scientifically what my unscientific twitter poll shows. About four in 10 adults are “not too” or “not at all” confident they have enough savings for retirement. Among adults in their late 30s, the number increases to 53% being “not at all” or “not too confident.” This statistic has increased over years – understandable given the recession and national dialogue about what’s happening to the Social Security system and other traditional methods of retirement.

I can’t predict the life span of Social Security, but I can predict we’ll all prefer a retirement funded by more than that single monthly check. Planning can’t hurt.  A good first step is to get a handle on where you are now in saving and then take a few basic steps to prepare better for retirement. Here are a few links to help you take some of the first steps in evaluating your retirement plan and then figuring out next steps that work for your present and future needs.

Figure Out Your Financial Situation

Social Security Estimator:  http://www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator/
Type in your basic information and this estimator pops out what you can expect to receive in social security depending on the age you retire.  Something I found interesting — there is a big difference between retiring at 62 and retiring at 70.

AARP Retirement Calculator: http://www.aarp.org/work/retirement-planning/retirement_calculator/?intcmp=DSO-SEARCH-AARPSUGG
A reliable calculator that takes into account assets you might be lucky enough to have at retirement. 

Start Planning

Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement:  http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/10_ways_to_prepare.html
A nice resource list on how to work towards retirement.  If you’ve estimated your financial situation and found out about your Social Security benefits, then you’ve already done two things on the list.  Well done! Next step, contribute to your employer’s retirement savings plan.  Even if it’s just a small amount, getting into the habit will pay dividends later. Literally.

If you’re one of those 6 in 10 people that do have retirement figured out, I’d like to hear from you. How did you start? What makes you feel confident?   Comment away.

 While I was busy escorting and listening, staff was busy refreshing this page:

 http://www.seattle.gov/council/budget/ 

 Now we start the several week long process of budget analysis. It’s the City Council’s job to thoroughly go through the proposed budget and determine how the City should spend our money best. This determination process will involve presentations from City Departments, community input, two rounds of discussions, and final decisions and voting. We start with general overviews of select departments and work our way more and more into questions about policy and priorities the further we go.  It’s a two month process that starts this week and should end just before Thanksgiving.

 For Mayor McGinn this is his third city budget proposal and the first in which he’s had any wiggle room to make “investments” – putting money into new efforts like transit corridor planning, bike route planning and hiring new police officers.  For the first time in several years, social service groups who contract with the city to provide shelter, food, counseling and other services will see an inflation adjustment in their contracts. We’ll add back some of the hours cut at high-use community centers. We might even hire some new police officers moving ourselves back toward the hiring commitment we made before the recession.

 These proposed additions are possible not because we have new, excess revenue. They’re possible because the gap isn’t as bad as feared last spring – the $32 million gap predicted earlier this year shrank. Sales tax receipts and taxes on real estate transactions are rebounding, but we still need to trim to balance the budget. The proposed budget still contains staff layoffs.

 I’ll be asking if we’re trimming in the right places, adding back in the right places, spending on new ideas in the right places.

 A resolution we passed earlier this summer about performance outcomes for new initiatives will help with our assessment of the budget. We’ll focus on funding projects that can show positive outcomes for City residents by asking the following questions of each new item:

• What is the long term and measurable goal or goals of the program?
• What is the gap between the status quo and the program goals?
• How effective is the new program expected to be in making progress toward the stated goals?
• How will the success of the new or changed program be measured?

 Keep an eye on the City’s budget page: http://seattle.gov/council/budget/ for additional perspective from the Council on the budget.

 And here’s where you come in.  I need your help to do my job better.   I depend on your feedback and input to make decisions about the budget. There are a couple of different ways you can get involved:

• Take our budget survey here:   https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CityCouncilBudgetSurvey

What are your priorities?  How are services in your neighborhood?  What would you like to see changed?  Taking this survey (it should take 10 minutes) will give us some great information.

• E-mail me at sally.clark@seattle.gov or call our office at 206-684-8802.

Let us know about your budget priorities.  Is there a key service that is effective in your community?  Something you’d like to see different? My staff and I review every e-mail and phone call I receive.

• Attend one of two budget hearings at Seattle City Hall and give your statement to the entire Seattle City Council. 

Hearings are in Council Chambers Thursday, October 4 and October 25, both at 5:30 p.m.  Typically, a couple of hundred people attend, so it’s best to arrive earlier than 5:30 p.m. to sign up to deliver a 2 minute statement to Seattle City Council.  This is a crucial part of the budget process and gives us lots of information about the breadth of issues the City needs to be concerned about.

 I look forward to hearing from you over the next few weeks.

Suddenly, we have less than half the year ahead of us. The good news is we’ve accomplished a great deal. The bad news is this is when I look at my wall calendar I realize we’re almost at the August hiatus which means we’re almost to the budget break which means we’re almost to the end of the year. Cripes!

My goals as Council President have been to 1) not screw up anything permanently (the general elected person’s version of the medical world’s “do no harm” oath); 2) keep the Council moving forward on our action priorities; and 3) do my part to keep the city focused on delivering service in a high quality way while we wrestle with the complex, knotty questions that invariably pop up despite the fact they aren’t listed anywhere on the action agenda. (Arenas, historic streetcars and profit-making ziplines, anyone?)

I may be biased (OK, quite biased), but I think the Council (and the city staff who help us) did pretty well by our priorities in the first half of the year. Among other accomplishments:

• The Third Avenue Initiative is underway coordinating city department work to clean up and better maintain Third Avenue through Downtown. Councilmember Rasmussen knows every inch of Third Ave. at this point.

• Construction of the First Hill Street Car is underway with the extension into Pioneer Square assured and the extension to Aloha Street under review. Councilmember Rasmussen has pushed this, as well, with Councilmember Conlin doing his part at the Sound Transit Board.

• We adopted an administration and finance plan for effectively using the Families & Education Levy funds approved by voters last fall. Councilmember Burgess spearheaded that work.

• The first Neighborhood Greenway opened through Wallingford this spring. Councilmember Bagshaw’s middle name is “Greenway.”

• We worked with allies in other cities and the state legislature to quell costly changes in Business and Occupation Tax collection and have launched work with allies on a better approach to simplification for businesses. This has been a big one for me.

• Squeaking in just at the start of July we adopted a Strategic Plan for Seattle City Light after thousands of hours of work by volunteers and staff. Councilmember O’Brien carried this over the line after multiple years of effort by Councilmember Harrell.

• Earlier this week we gave the final committee-level nod to asking voters to approve a bond sale for financing replacement of the central seawall. Councilmember Godden chairs this special committee.

We have a list of big items ahead of us before the December break – final decisions on new housing, zoning, parks and streets for the Yesler Terrace neighborhood (Councilmember Licata has the sharpest pencil reviewing this proposal); the SODO arena proposal; new zoning for South Lake Union; final rules on a rental housing licensing and inspection program; and more. We’ll receive the concept plan for the future Seattle waterfront later this month. We’ll spend October and November taking apart and reassembling the budget for 2013, including a probable shortfall of approximately $30 million.

We’ve also taken up brief conversations a few readers will think less important. I’m an optimist, though. I think we can review and act on something as detailed as the Seattle City Light Strategic Plan and have brain space available to consider a resolution on the potential impacts of coal trains chugging through Seattle.

I am disappointed to not have progress to report in one particular area – the City’s response to the United States Department of Justice’s December report on cases of excessive use of force by Seattle Police. While negotiations are currently the work of the Mayor and City Attorney, the crafting of new policies and the necessary staff and budget changes are of concern to all Councilmembers and rated as the Council’s highest priority for this year.

I believe the sooner the City reaches a fair agreement with the DOJ, the better for our police officers and the greater community. Ongoing pokes and disagreements about the validity of certain statistics cited in the DOJ findings do nothing to move us forward. Instead, the delays, intentional leaks to media, and resistance to change allow doubt and resentment to fester. 

It’s time for a reasonable negotiated agreement that puts Seattle on track to developing and living the policies and procedures, the training, the supervision and the accountability our officers and community deserve. 

There will be a price tag for making changes. We should calculate the real cost of reasonable, negotiated changes and then take responsibility for the difficult decisions we’ll need to make to pay for these changes.

We can do this. We can use this difficult opportunity to elevate Seattle to the top tier of urban policing. I hope to be able to blog soon that we have. We have less than half the year to go to get started.

Our local economy and our dinner tables have long benefited from the annual salmon harvest in Alaska. Seattle is home to a significant portion of the Alaska fishing fleet and several “fishy” businesses, large and small, are headquartered here.

Earlier this week I toured one of those businesses. Ocean Beauty is a 102 year-old business located on the ship canal, southeast of the Ballard Bridge. They’re a fish processing company, but that’s a dry way of saying they make delicious things from fish and send the products all over the world. Mark Palmer, Ocean Beauty’s President and CEO, explained that they provide hundreds of jobs to people in a variety of fields, including administration, logistics, mechanics, transportation and, of course, fishing. Ocean Beauty doesn’t do the fishing, but they contract with the boats that do.

Dave Gering, BINMIC, and Mark Palmer, President & CEO of Ocean Beauty

Ocean Beauty processes the salmon and other fish (Pollock, hake, mussles, tobiko and more) into more than 1,200 packaged products, some fresh some packaged. Ocean Beauty has offices in China and Japan and distributors in Europe, as well. Seattle is strategically located to be the American distribution hub. We watched workers thaw, skin, prep and package the last of the 2011 take.

On these tours I get to learn what a company like Ocean Beauty does and I get to learn what holds them back. We can’t take for granted that a company like Ocean Beauty will choose Seattle and stay forever. Mark had plenty to tell me about difficulties with access road maintenance and feedback later about zoning rules, too. Mark, I’m looking into it.

As we walked through Ocean Beauty’s offices on the way to the prep and freezer areas, many of the cubicles were empty. Staff is already on their way up to Alaska for this year’s harvest. In fact, Copper River salmon just started this week. I think I know what’s for dinner this weekend.

Then let’s add in the overall increase in competition for well-paying work. It takes more education and skills prep to earn a decent income and this trend will continue. The big figure everyone is using estimates that 67 percent of all jobs in Washington will require some kind of post-high school education between 2014 and 2019. Some kind of education after high school, a year in college even, has become the single biggest predictor of life-long earning power. And the further you go in post-high school education and training, the better your prospects.

But how? If you’re out there working in a lower-paying job, you need an education or training boost the most, but face the highest hurdles. Cost is one hurdle, the need for remedial courses in math or reading can be another. The partners in the Pathways to Careers and Pathways to Completion projects have identified significant transition points where people fall out of the system for one reason or another. Like between acceptance to community college or training program and actually signing up for classes. The programs focus on standardizing and compressing the long and somewhat mysterious application and prep time periods, working people into a cohort for mutual support, mandatory program orientation and advising and overall support with getting to class and achieving completion goals.

The City of Seattle is a partner in the Pathways to Careers work and I think it’s money well spent. Giving people the boost they need to get even a little post-high school education can change individual lives and the trajectory of a family. Job competition will only get hotter. Leaving people behind is unacceptable. Thanks to Seattle Community Colleges, the Seattle Jobs Initiative, The Workforce Development Council, OED and to funders like the Gates Foundation for their work.

Soon we’ll talk about the 13 year concept embraced by Seattle Community Colleges and others as a way to institutionalize access to post-high school education – and the life-long benefits it can bring.

Hearing Chris Hansen describe how he felt when the Sonics won the title in ’79 took me back to staying up too late for the broadcasts, crouching on my knees in front of the television with the volume down far enough my sister and parents wouldn’t hear it. I don’t remember specific plays from the championship games, but I do remember the celebration on the court afterwards. I remember Dave Twardzik saying something about how unbelievable winning was, how he thought he’d by then he’d be taking a lunchbox to work and punching a clock.

Some are immune, but the drama and elation of sports are powerful for most of us. Some of us have rules about which sports we’ll follow. Our dog walker, for instance, banished the NFL from her television after Michael Vick’s conviction. My eighth-grade teacher said she followed only collegiate basketball. The pro’s didn’t demonstrate enough good decision-making or gratitude by her measure.  Plenty of my circle say, “But we already have a pro basketball team.”

The idea of a new basketball and hockey arena in Seattle won’t be embraced by all.  I’ve heard from more than a few people strongly in favor of a new arena and I’ve heard from a few raising concerns.  Whether you love the idea or think we need another sports venue like a hole in the head, I hope you want Councilmembers to give the proposal released last Friday a fair shake. It’s what I intend to do.

The basics: Mr. Hansen (with the help of so-far-unnamed allies) has purchased the SODO Stadium District land necessary and would buy an NBA team when one becomes available (another group would need to purchase and move in a hockey team). Mr. Hansen would chip in $290 million and the City and County would under-write arena construction with a total of $200 million via councilmanic bonds. That debt would be paid back over time via rent payments and taxes and fees “captured” from the site and arena operations (city property taxes, city business and occupation taxes, city lease excise taxes, city sales tax, and city admissions tax). The team owners would operate the new arena and enjoy profits off the activities inside. The NBA team would have a no-relocate requirement for the 30-year term of the bonds. If revenues in any month don’t meet the debt payment amount, the owners would write a check for the difference. At the end of the 30 years, the city and county would own the land and the arena.

Since we (the people of Seattle) are being asked to go in on building the new arena to the tune of $150 million, we (the people jilted by a pro basketball team once before) need to be cautious and do our homework. The proposal released last Friday took more than seven months to build.  We’ll need a little time to unpack it and ensure it’s not just feasible, but a good step for the city.  How long we have to do that fair review depends on what happens elsewhere in the NBA. I take Mr. Hansen at his word when he says his motivation is not to “take” another city’s team, rather his goal is to return an NBA team to Seattle. That means he has to be opportunistic, prepared and patient.

I’ll have many questions, among them:

• How will the City of Seattle avoid a replay of the Sonics’ painful, expensive exit?

OK, maybe that’s too broad. Breaking that down a bit:

• How will we ensure that the city’s General Fund is shielded from responsibility for the arena debt?
• Can the NBA truly guarantee a no-relocate clause?
• How do we measure the economic impact of a new arena? How many permanent new jobs will be created and at what wage levels? How many new “heads in beds” for the hotels?
• How will the addition of a third venue in the Stadium District impact traffic? Specifically, what might a third venue mean for Port-related and other industrial traffic?
• How would use of our debt capacity for a new arena affect our debt limit? How might using City-issued debt for the arena affect our ability to debt-finance other major projects?
• How do we account for impacts to Key Arena operations?
• Are we a big enough market to support two more major teams? How does the size of our market affect projections for corporate suite sales, advertising and sponsorships?  All of these affect team business success and the ability of team ownership to fulfill debt payment back-up obligations.

Watch for review of the proposal to get under way in the Council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee in the near future.

The budget for 2012 promises more of the same. For context, unemployment nationally and regionally remains unexpectedly high; the housing market nationally is choking on a gut-wrenching number of foreclosures still “to clear,” as described in the media; and the Federal government is fighting us into a deeper hole with brinksmanship and the likelihood of deep cuts to domestic spending. Locally, tax revenues are no longer in free fall, but that’s the best thing we can say at the moment. This may be the “new normal,” or Greece, worse, will default on its debt and send reverb through the world financial system – and further gloom into the spending attitudes of you and me.

For the current Mayor and the Council, the reputed Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” might be amended to be: “may you govern in really broke times.”  This will be Mayor McGinn’s second budget and the second time he’s had to propose layoffs and program cuts. Not an enviable position and one I know he does not take lightly.

A budget is the opportunity to demonstrate one’s priorities and values through a spending plan. Through the Council’s review of the Mayor’s proposed budget I hope we can produce a budget for 2012 that accomplishes important objectives:

• Maintain the safety net. This Mayor and this Council have both prioritized direct services to vulnerable people in our community who have limited or no resources of their own. Food banks, shelter, counseling, job training and other social services are survival services in these times.
• Preserve public safety. While Seattle’s rate of violent crime is down, property and quality of life crimes are up and we hear regularly about street-level drug dealing and assaults in certain neighborhoods. We need to see change in these areas. We’ll debate how police staff, beat patrols, “hot spot” policing, street outreach, treatment and other approaches get into (or don’t get into) the City budget.
• Keep the infrastructure up. Whether we’re talking about sidewalks, concrete and asphalt travel lanes, overhead or underground wires, building roofs, pipes or conduit, I’ll be looking to see how each department (Transportation, in particular) deals with long-term infrastructure investments.
• Reevaluate what we do and how we do it. We, including me, have to set aside long-held ideas about how to provide City services. Asking the right questions about outcomes and competency, we have to look at City programs and measure how effective they truly are. We can’t afford everything we’re doing today. Chances are we won’t be able to afford everything we’re doing this time next year, as well. The Mayor and Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, chair of the Council’s Parks Committee, have already announced a different approach to community center staffing that preserves our system, but at lower cost.
• Cut where we have to, invest where we must. We will cut, there’s no doubt, but we should also maintain investments that draw in other sources of funding and that pay dividends for Seattle in the long-run. The Neighborhood Matching Fund is a great example of a fund that multiplies dollars and builds stronger communities.

We all want a City that does the basics really well and uses dollars effectively, despite the economy and predictions of future revenue declines. Easier said than done in a city our size, but we have until Monday, November 21 (final vote day) to get it right. The public hearings are slated for the evenings of Tues., Oct. 4 and Wed., Oct. 26 in City Council Chambers. I anticipate these will be well attended. You can find more information here, including a form for emailing councilmembers with your budget concerns and ideas. Please feel free to send ideas. I can definitely use them.

We’re now engaged in reviewing specific cuts and adds auditioning for inclusion in the budget. Yes, there are adds.  I’ve learned there are always adds. Even when cutting millions of dollars and laying off staff there are adds to account for new regulatory mandates, Council-wide priorities that differ from the Mayor’s priorities, and, sometimes, pet projects. To keep things from getting too crazy and to prevent any of us from slipping into what might look like grandstanding on behalf of a constituent group, we have a rule that requires at least three councilmembers sign onto a proposed addition before it can advance for discussion in the Budget Committee. Cuts at this stage are necessary, but also politically difficult. Careful watchers of the City Council process will notice that cuts are never proposed by named councilmembers, rather by the “Budget Committee.” Everyone likes to be a hero, no one wants to be the villain.

I’ve been reviewing my notes from the last public hearing we held. Speakers on Oct. 26 testified on many topics (and until 11:10 p.m.), but support for community centers, sidewalks, bike lanes, neighborhood district coordinators, community access television, shelter and other human services dominated. A few phrases that stuck:

“A lifeline for our future.”

“A community raises the kids.”

“They bring an integrity to civic engagement you won’t find anywhere else.”

“First, do no harm.”

“Your options are all tough.”

Things did get tougher as a result of Tuesday night’s results, but I still think we’ll deliver a budget with rational fee and fine increases, a reasonably intact safety net, more patrol officers, and attention to the elements necessary for safe, healthy and active neighborhoods.  Big questions remain when it comes to utility rates and the transportation budget. We’ll tackle those issues today, tomorrow and next week. We just have to figure it all out by November 22 when we take our final votes.

In his proposed 2011-2012 budget Mayor McGinn charts a course away from an automatic reliance on SCAN to provide management and content for Seattle public access television.  In press comments earlier this week the Mayor said that in the 21^st century people’s reliance upon television has lessened. We have multiple options for gaining our information about public affairs and for presenting our own contributions to public debate.  Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – all of these provide people with their own ways of contributing and viewing. The Mayor is saying we now have lots of soap boxes, so why maintain the same level of funding for public access television when our reliance on it has lessened.

The Mayor’s proposal cuts the amount of funding available for public access television from $650,000 down to $100,000 and commits the city to choosing a new channel operator via a competitive bid process. I don’t have qualms about the latter – I think there should be a request for proposals and the best provider chosen. Given the agency’s experience and investment in equipment, SCAN may emerge the best provider. As for the money cut, while I’m not sure I have a choice with the City facing such a huge budget hole, I don’t really see a plan from the Mayor’s side of the shop for how the City will ensure meaningful public access happens.  I don’t think it’s enough to say people will use Facebook and YouTube instead of a guaranteed, protected channel dedicated 24 hours a day to whatever you or your neighbor want to produce. Well, almost anything you want to produce. I may think some of the programming is weird, but I think the point of public access is that no one needs to get my sign-off.

I’m not a big public access viewer, so I posed the question to my 700+ friends on Facebook to see who among that self-selected group of friends, politicos and urbanistas watches.  You can see the results yourself here. Again, we’ve used just initials to protect against any unwarranted claims of privacy.

What about you? Do you watch? Why?

GA: scan? what the h*ll is that?
13 hours ago

BM: that’s a negative, ghostrider.
13 hours ago

BW: I am embarrased to say that I never heard of it until a week ago.
13 hours ago

PK: Scan? Cat scan?
13 hours ago

RT: i had to google it.
13 hours ago

KR: I confess, only out of perverse curiousity. Extremely fringey. But … shouldn’t the fringe have a place?
13 hours ago

JP: Sorry. No Scan. What’s this survey for? Just curious, Sally.
12 hours ago

TP: Not since we got that YouTube thingy…
12 hours ago

PBC: No.
12 hours ago

Sally Clark: JP – mayor’s budget proposes going a different direction for public access. A big cut to SCAN.
12 hours ago

GV: I signed a petition just this afternoon to ‘Save Scan’ – tho I do not have a television.

From what I understand it is an important access point for those who DO have tv’s, and may not be as internet savvy as us responders to your query, Sally.

I would just guess that you might get a VERY different response if this question were put out there on SCAN, to those viewers, no?
12 hours ago

JP: ‎@ GV: Excellent point!
12 hours ago

PBC: I’ll sign it. I do not have nor want cable or dish so I can not see it. It is important so I watch public access on line when I want to .
12 hours ago

ST: Off topic but why support the Pres after the announcement that there will be an appeal of the DADT injunction?
12 hours ago

GV: btw, the Petition said it was a $ 165,000 line item, if I recall correctly . . .
12 hours ago

LG: twice in my life, and only to watch people i know who were on so as to make fun of them.
11 hours ago

EK: Not since I had kids. Confession time: I don’t watch tv anymore. I would, but there’s just no time for it now.
11 hours ago

GC: SCAN hosted a people of color forum on ballot initiatives. It provides an opportunity for community members to produce their own media.
11 hours ago

KM: Thanks for asking about this Sally. This is an important issue, especially to Seattle’s immigrant community. Here’s a story I wrote for the P-I about an Ethiopian show on SCAN.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/235214_cable04.html

Later in the afternoon, Solomon was spreading the news at the line of Ethiopian businesses along 12th Avenue, by East Jefferson Street. A fan, Stewan Daniel, said, “Sundays are family time. To go to church and be with your family and listen to your language for an hour is good.”

Because of the important resource SCAN provides, it seems like we should be spending more, not less. Many people arent watching cable. But what SCAN really needs to do is the same thing mainstream stations are doing in response to changing viewing habits — putting their shows on an improved site that can be shared through means like Facebook.
10 hours ago

TH: sadly, not that big of a loss.
10 hours ago

SS: Never have. Feels kind of kookie?
8 hours ago

RM: No, The World Series is about to start… And then there’s, Corber’t, Stewart, Gail Conlins, David Brooks, the City Council, County Council, State Legislature, a sunraise, etc, etc… “It’s always something” Roseanne Rosannadanna…
6 hours ago

SP: SCAN is public access TV. Never seen it myself, but I hear it has a loyal following. I’m surprised it doesn’t get utilized more often.
4 hours ago

DP: I do every once in awhile
3 hours ago

KK: I used to watch more, been meaning to again. Democracy Now and Talking Stick. Maybe Seattle TV could pick up that slak? Thing is, in the deal where we gave away our TV to the cable companies, and then the city issues a cable franchise, we should have made sure the cable companies paid for the public access station.
3 hours ago

JR: Never.
2 hours ago

YC: I do watch once a while, and it helps many diverse communities to get info and news in their own language. However, I don’t think it is a priority specailly when we have more pressing issues. Nowadays, we have Youtube, Facebook, and other ways to reach out and communicate with a wide audience. I don’t think it is a big loss. Sally, keep eye on Human services — programs that help directly the low income population.

about an hour ago

JTW: Yes, I’ve watched it on and off. I like seeing local politics, School Board or Sound Transit meetings debating on occasion. I think it is important for some ethnic communities and for transparency. I’ve heard it may be cut and think it would be a loss to the community.

about an hour ago

JTW: Thanks for asking on FB!

about an hour ago

DHM: I don’t seek it out, but I have stopped on it and watched something interesting from time to time. I will say, I won’t watch online. I do NOT like to watch tv or broadcasts online. Too many stalls and stops, I turn things off – even things I have seeked out to watch.

54 minutes ago

LT: SCAN is a valuable asset to our community! Some of my friends’ opinions that SCAN is not a priority … I beg to differ when SCAN is the ONLY trusted and AFFORDABLE source of community empowerment mechanism to promote the VOICES of common …citizens out there without commercial and political pressures. I and many of my friends watch SCAN programming all the times. In fact, the Vietnamese American youth are organizing and developing a media empowerment project through SCAN’s supports. Sally, please champion the restoration and continued funding for SCAN. Congressman Jay Inslee and other “visionary” public officials are behind this program. Thank you for your support.See More

14 minutes ago

JS: Easy question – I don’t own a TV – Too much Propaganda – No surprise ; consider their owners.

12 minutes ago