The East Precinct has a crime prevention coordinator watching over it again — sort of. At last week’s community meeting, Lt. John Hayes announced that Mark Solomon will be doing double duty, continuing his community work in Seattle’s south but also working on outreach issues in the Central District and the rest of the East Precinct including Capitol Hill. In March, the East Precinct’s longtime coordinator, Michael Yasutake, had to be let go because of a budget screw-up. At last week’s meeting, precinct commander Paul McDonagh confirmed Yasutake’s position had to be eliminated because the department had not properly budgeted for the prevention coordinator roles and accidentally hired two people for the same position. Yasutake had less seniority, McDonagh said, and the precinct had no choice but to eliminate the role.
Solomon already has his hands full in the South Precinct which is earning the reputation as Seattle’s most dangerous. He reportedly is an occasional commenter on the Rainier Valley Post site that covers the area, however, so maybe we’ll see him pop up on CHS or CDN every now and then.
