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Friday, March 19, 2010

City Mayor McGinn Walks, Eats Sandwich in Pioneer Square

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 12:19 PM

McGinn in a charming neighborhood watch vest

McGinn in a charming neighborhood watch vest

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Mike McGinn and a cadre of city officials, including SPD Sergeant Chris Fowler, forayed on foot into the International District and Pioneer Square. Their mission: Listen, gab, eat a sandwich.

Noticeably absent from the tour was City Council Member Tim Burgess, who was slated to attend. A call to his office this morning revealed that he canceled but staff provided no answer as to why, which is a shame because at one point, a heckler joined the tour, clapping his hands and shouting "Give me change! Give me change! I want change! The black man promised me change!" It was unclear if he was talking about President Obama or bus fare. Either way, a wasted photo opp for Burgess, who is pushing an aggressive solicitation bill (the bill wouldn't address this panhandler who was obnoxious, but not violently threatening).

"I want to know, what are the specific things we can do to make this neighborhood better?" the mayor asked the crowd.

Realistically, this walk doesn't do anything immediate. But people LOVED it. "I can't believe he's really walking with us," said one small Asian grandmotherly lady, who was wearing a reflective Neighborhood Watch vest.

"Just wait until next week when he invites you to join him on his tandem bicycle tour* of the city," I said.

"I don't ride bicycles but I might for the mayor," she said.

If anything, the neighborhood walks—which will be happening on a near-monthly basis—bolster a sense of connection to the city and accessibility to the neighborhoods. About 75 other people were there representing the community. To McGinn's credit, it's this sort of connection to neighborhoods that former mayor Greg Nickels lacked.

Hyeok Kim, Executive Director of the Inter*m Community Development Association, says there's a lot of trust-building that's gone undone with city officials. "If you're a refugee who's fled a militaristic country, calling SPD won't be your first choice," she says. Seeing more police on foot patrol—a tactic supported by McGinn, Burgess, and pretty much every advocacy group in the city—is a good start towards developing community trust, she added.

During the three-hour tour, residents talked about the need for better street lighting, more outreach by police, and then showed civic leaders where to score drugs after 6 p.m. The tour ended in Pioneer Square with a look at alley art behind Elliott Bay Book Company, and a discussion of how to make alleys more pedestrian friendly. Then the mayor ate a sandwich. And the people rejoiced.

*A call to the mayor's office reveals there are no plans for a mayoral tandem biking tour of the city. Yet.

Comments (22) RSS

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wow
this is unbelievably pathetic.

Posted by "I can't believe he's really walking with us!" on March 19, 2010 at 12:22 PM

Pioneer Square stroll may be mayor's last walkabout. With image of Mayor McGinn given in The Stranger, we're gonna lose him at Easter.

Posted by edmund burke on March 19, 2010 at 12:25 PM

I hear Tim Burgess was cowering in fear under his bed, afraid the boogey man might get him and sell him Girl Scout cookies near an ATM ...

Posted by Will in Seattle

on March 19, 2010 at 12:29 PM

the bill wouldn't address this panhandler who was obnoxious, but not violently threatening

Wouldn't it address him if he refused to go away after being told no?

Posted by keshmeshi on March 19, 2010 at 12:31 PM

3
I hear Tim Burgess was bouncing in ecstasy on his bed on your momma

Posted by he said she moos like a heifer.... on March 19, 2010 at 12:33 PM

"Realistically, this walk doesn't do anything immediate. But people LOVED it. "I can't believe he's really walking with us," said one small Asian grandmotherly lady, who was wearing a reflective Neighborhood Watch vest.

"Just wait until next week when he invites you to join him in his annual citywide orgy," I said.

"I don't usually do old fat white guys but I might make an exception for the mayor," she said."

Posted by just don't forget your permission slip from grandpa... on March 19, 2010 at 12:35 PM

That's quite a photo. I love the amazing historic curtain he's grown nearly wide enough to block our view of, poor dear.

Posted by gloomy gus on March 19, 2010 at 12:48 PM

I'll join him on his Lake City bar crawl.

Just after he realizes Lake City is part of Seattle.

Posted by wilbur@work on March 19, 2010 at 12:57 PM

@8- We all KNOW Lake City is part of Seattle. We just don't bring it up in polite company.

Posted by dwight moody on March 19, 2010 at 1:07 PM

Like most citizens, I like things that make me feel that my representatives are listening, even if they're not. So basically - I love this idea.

Posted by kersy on March 19, 2010 at 1:11 PM

I wonder how many patrol officers work the downtown police precinct at a time? In my precinct the magic number is: 5. 5 individual officers to cover all of West Seattle, Delridge, and South Park at any given time.

Police officers already can't respond to minor issues in a timely fashion (if at all). Immediate threats of violence are the first priority. Things like prostitution, open-air drug deals, petty theft, car break-ins, and certainly panhandling are at the bottom of the list with 5 people trying to respond to robberies and in-progress domestic violence and assault.

Unless 'aggressive solicitation' calls happen to come in when there is nothing for police to respond to in the neighborhood, no thefts or violence or drug events, and no larger emergencies going on in the city requiring backup, police response will come too late. I guess hypothetically, if both solicitor and solicited both wait for the police, then a $50 ticket might be issued. Whoopee.

Bottom line - patrol officers presence is what 'keeps the peace,' not officers' writing tickets or making arrests; that all happens after the fact. And police officers cost a whole lot off $$$ we don't have.

Posted by sammielu on March 19, 2010 at 1:21 PM

where was the sandwich from? salumi?

Posted by Kinkos on March 19, 2010 at 1:24 PM

Damn I hate these teaser headlines. There was almost no mention of the sandwhich when it was obviously the most interesting part of the story. Did McGinn fall off the Philly Cheeaesteak wagon? I figure he went for something with sprouts, mayo and goat cheese.

Posted by Zander on March 19, 2010 at 1:25 PM

Glad to see Mayor McDumbass is working hard!

Posted by giffy on March 19, 2010 at 1:48 PM

@9 ftw.

Remember, Bothell isn't just a state of mind, it's a great place for mimes.

They do have good donuts in Lake City, mind you.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on March 19, 2010 at 1:58 PM

All for the idea of him listening to the needs and concerns of the voters, but he is starting to look more like Nickels everyday - a BLIMP! Perhaps he should leave the lunch part out of it and just listen more.

Posted by azankich on March 19, 2010 at 2:14 PM

hm. I had forgotten that there are people living down there in drug and infested bar heaven. I wouldnt go down there ever, not in the day, and definately not at night.no matter how many sandwiches Mike eats there.

Posted by Womyn2me $http://http:\\www.shelleyandlaura.com$ on March 19, 2010 at 2:44 PM

Burgess's bill addresses solicitation at ATMs and pay stations. It doesn't address ten billion other things. So fucking what, Cienna? Addressing solicitation at machines is a perfectly adequate thing to address. Why does this bill have to solve every single problem you pull out of your ass?

If you want a bill to address something else, why don't you fucking write one and go propose it?

In all honesty, you people at the Stranger are being assholes about this. ASSHOLES. Cienna. Charles. Dominic. I'm talking to you. Either write something funny, or write something informative. Please stop being assholes.

Posted by elenchos on March 19, 2010 at 2:48 PM

@7, that's the old fire curtain from the Nippon Kan Theater in Nihonmachi, now installed in the Wing Luke Museum. Those are old ads for neighborhood businesses, from before WWI. It's an astonishing relic, especially since the Nippon Kan has been ruined, converted to offices.

Posted by Fnarf

on March 19, 2010 at 3:22 PM

Actually, Nickels did dozens of neighborhood tours and more than 100 "clean and green" events in neighborhoods. He did regular walking tours of neighborhoods and hit just about every neighborhood business district in Seattle during his two terms. The Stranger -- which used to have news reporters -- usually dismissed these as non-news events. Still, you were just too lazy to even google "mayor nickels neighborhood tours." Sigh.

Posted by skipper on March 19, 2010 at 3:26 PM

@20 - you must think "news" organizations actually send reporters scouring for news instead of just repackaging wire reports written by stringers from India ...

At least the Stranger tries to report local news ...

Posted by Will in Seattle

on March 19, 2010 at 3:35 PM

Yes, @11, and all 5 of the on-duty West Seattle cops show up for pretty much any incident. The other day I saw three units dealing with a DUI. Three! This multi-unit response policy is something they need to examine.

Posted by Free Lunch on March 19, 2010 at 5:47 PM