Slog - Comments on Nickels's Budget Moves Forward With Park Rangers But No "311"

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:45:16 -0800

Got to have them "park rangers" to keep all the fancy parks in South Lake Union safe from non-millionaires ...

Comment by LH

LH — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:53:56 -0800

a clarification...The Mayor's proposed budget had a sidewalk development program of $1 million and a sidewalk repair program of $1.8 million. The Council budget is providing an overall increase to sidewalks of $1.5 million above the mayor's 2008 budget.

Comment by unPC

unPC — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:09:36 -0800

Hmmm ....

neighborhoods with sidewalks (the "Haves") get $1.8 million for upkeep...

while neighborhoods without sidewalks ("Have Nots") get $1 million for new sidewalks?

Glad to see the mayor and council comport with fundamental rules of power and wealth. Certainly Madison Park should have theirs repaired before Greenwood gets any!

Comment by laterite

laterite — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:14:12 -0800

Is there perhaps room in the budget to ban the group "311" from the city limits?

Comment by michael strangeways

michael strangeways — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:38:24 -0800

Aids 'pervention'...does that stop pervs with Aids from infecting others?

just askin'

Comment by catalina vel-duray

catalina vel-duray — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:53:48 -0800

Oh UnPC, don't be such a drip. I live on Beacon Hill, and have sidewalks, but your house is probably worth more than mine.

What is it with people and sidewalks anyway? It's the only thing the south end (mostly) has that the north end (sometimes) doesn't. Why try to make it a class issue?

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:16:32 -0800

We have something like this here in SF that I think was designed to keep loonies from tying up 911. I'm not sure if it works, and I've never heard anyone suggest using it.

Google SMS on the other hand, rules, and pretty much serves all my phone information needs.

Comment by Zander

Zander — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:53:32 -0800

Glad to hear they are planning to start the Park Rangers. I have lived downtown for a dozen years and they have always been an in-your-face problem the whole time. Hopefully, this experiment will be successful.

Comment by snort

snort — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:58:48 -0800

Over half a mil for Park Rangers - unarmed, untrained (and probably otherwise unemployable) employees with City benefits.

Meanwhile, Seattle Police officers get ready to start their second year without a labor contract.

Gotta love Seattle. Every pol in the City shows up for every photo op they can get with a union organizer - but then look at how they treat the largest union in the City government.

Comment by Perfect Voter

Perfect Voter — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:00:50 -0800

Re the "311" controversy. Rather than go to all the trouble with the phone companies of setting up 311, why not just introduce 684-0311 as the City's main phone number for incoming requests? Calls should be answered first by the Citizens' Service Bureau, as many now are already.

684 is the City's main prefix, so 684-0311 should be a much cheaper way of channeling calls than would be the 311 proposal.

Comment by HEY WAIT

HEY WAIT — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:23:22 -0800

What happened to that trail around Lake Union? I haven't heard anything about it since the Mayor's announcement!

Comment by Dono

Dono — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:40:10 -0800

Why the hatred over the 311 service? It works great for NYC by providing a central point of contact for the various issues that plague the city and also allows issues to be centrally tracked, etc.

With that said, Perfect Voter's idea is a great one.

Comment by S. M.

S. M. — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:08:47 -0800

MORE SIDEWALKS

Comment by John

John — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:45:15 -0800

One of the great "champions" of the 311 phone system that you just trashed? Jean Godden, the useless council member that you endorsed, for reasons passing understanding. I guess you didn't think that was worth mentioning, though.

Comment by datageek

datageek — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:11:53 -0800

The demographer position may be boring to some, but it is my dream job. Yeah, I know I am lame.