The community council is in need of funds to repair the totem pole at Baker Park. As you may know, the pole is the major artistic element on the west edge of the park, sited near Mary Ave NW. It was carved from a dying monkey puzzle tree that otherwise would have to be removed when the park was created.
Unfortunately over the summer it was discovered that the base of the pole had extensive insect damage and dry rot. It was in danger of falling and had to be removed, and this had to be done quickly if any of the pole was to be saved from the infestation. Whittier Heights developed a plan to replace the stump of the tree with a new base and to have the original artist refubish the pole and replace it. This will restore the beauty of the west side of the park and the new base will ensure the pole will be safe and secure for many years to come.
We need your help to pay for the restoration. The total cost to the council is $1450, and we are hoping to pay for most of that from community donations, the rest coming from the general fund. Andrea Faste has been gracious in fronting most of the cost so the artist could begin work, and we need your generosity to repay her.
In order to make your donations tax deductible, we have arranged for Groundswell NW to be the agent of record for the work. They are a federally recognized charity. Groundswell NW was the original fiduciary agent for the entire Baker Park project, and we thank them for their continued interest in the success of this park. Please send your donations directly to them, checks made out to "Groundswell NW" with "Baker totem" on the memo line. The address is:
Sean White
Groundswell NW Treasurer
2810C NW 85th St.
Seattle, WA 98117
Thank you very much for helping to keep Baker Park vibrant and viable, a place we can be proud to have as a neighborhood park.
Seattle is working on amending the comprehensive growth plan adopted in 1994. Draft amendments are due by January 20, 2004. Learn more about the process at the city' Comprehensive Plan site. This has links to the plan plus a description of the amendment process. If you have ideas for updating the plan, especially for Crown Hill, please let me know (at awm@alum.mit.edu), so the WHCC can discuss.
On October 14, I attended a workshop to kick off the update process. My notes on the workshop and the plan.
To the right is a link to the bylaws, which were written when the community council was formed in the early 90s. Many of the provisions are no longer followed and some are outdated, so the bylaws are due for an overhaul. For example, we no longer collect dues, so it is difficult to know how many active members there are, which leads to difficulty in deciding when we have a quorum to conduct business. There is no provision for formulating a budget or plan for the activities for the coming year, which makes it hard to delegate responsibility for running events such as the yard sale or the salmon bake without holding meetings dedicated to organizing them. And the membership elegibility is totally determined by the boundaries of Whittier Heights, while many of our most active members come from areas outside; they join because no community councils exist in Loyal Heights or in the Holman triangle north of 85th Street. I'm sure if you read the bylaws for yourself, you could find more examples of things that need changing.
I will propose some amendments over the next few weeks on this page. If you have suggestions of your own, please add them in the comments, and we can debate them online. In December, we will devote part of the meeting to making changes to the bylaws.
Welcome to the new web home of the Whittier Heights Community Council. This domain name recently became available, and we decided to move from the old Seattle Community Network site because this would be easier for folks to remember. This home page will be used for news, and will be updated whenever we announce a meeting. You can look up old announcements with the links on the right or via the search box.