Monthly Archives: October 2015

Report: Wage theft, paid sick law violations common among Seattle restaurant workers

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Comet

Guild Seattle’s Joey Burgess spoke about how the bar’s ownership group was bucking bad trends during the report release event. (Image: CHS)

As the rise of Capitol Hill’s food and drink economy continues, a new report claims many of Seattle’s workers are not coming along for the ride. A survey of 524 restaurant employees by the labor group Restaurant Opportunities Center found many workers were poorly informed of their rights, faced unpredictable schedules, and are not properly compensated for working overtime.

Among the most concerning findings: only 37% of restaurant workers were aware of the city’s paid sick leave law and 74% reported that they don’t have access to it. Nearly a third said they were concerned they would be fired be if they called in sick. Moreover, a fifth of those surveyed reported working off the clock without getting paid.

According to the labor group’s study, Seattle’s restaurant industry employs 86,000 workers at 5,400 establishments.

The non-profit Restaurant Opportunities Center’s mission “is to improve wages and working conditions for the nation’s low wage restaurant workforce.” The group grew out of New York City and has since expanded to 32 U.S. cities. The Seattle report is part of a wave of survey results being released about inequity in the nation’s restaurant industry.

ROC-Seattle will be discussing its findings Thursday afternoon at the Comet along with Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant.

UPDATE (3:30 PM): Speaking at the Comet on Thursday afternoon, ROC United co-founder Saru Jayaraman highlighted one finding in the report she found particularly troubling: Among Seattle’s “front of the house” workers, white men earned $5 more per hour on average over women of color. Thats a $1 more than national average, Jayaraman said. According to the report, white men earned a median wage (plus tips) of $18.83/hr compared to $13.55/hr for women.

“The tip schedule definitely hurt women of color the hardest,” Jayaraman said, referring to Seattle’s minimum wage law which gives smaller companies more time to get tipped employees to $15 an hour.

The study release event was the culmination of two years of interviews and analysis conducted by ROC-Seattle. It’s the 15th study the organization has completed on restaurant industries in cities and states across the country.

In an effort to crack down on wage theft, Sawant said she was pushing for a bill that would require employers found guilty of wage theft to compensate workers triple the amount they’re owed. “The report ROC has come up with really shows the urgency of the need to get bills like that passed by the City Council,” Sawant said. Continue reading →

Police: ‘Urge’ drove alleged Capitol Hill garbage truck thief

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(Image: @scottwegner via Twitter)

(Image: @scottwegner via Twitter)

The 18-year-old E Pine resident arrested after a giant truck was taken on a slow speed joy ride of chaos and destruction across Capitol Hill Tuesday morning told police he “got the urge” to keep driving, according to court documents from the suspect’s Wednesday afternoon bail hearing.

A judge set Mussie Alemu’s bail at $150,000. The teen is currently jailed for investigation of vehicle theft, assault, malicious mischief, and eluding police.

He has not been charged. UPDATE 10/30/2015: Alemu was charged Thursday with theft of a motor vehicle, assault and attempting to elude police. The 18-year-old’s charges also include “a special allegation of endangerment, alleging police officers, pedestrians and motorists were in endangered by the stunt, though no one was hurt,” the Seattle Times reports.

According to the court documents, the driver of the Allied Waste/Republic Services truck told police that a male later identified as Alemu approached him just after 6 AM while he worked in the alley behind the East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine, exiting a stairway in the alley, yelling “fuck you,” and lunging at the driver. Believing he was going to be attacked, the driver told police he got back in his truck but then decided to go inside the East Precinct to report the situation, leaving the truck running with the keys in the ignition. When the driver came back outside, he said he saw the suspect drive out of the alley and begin what police say was a 17-minute path of destruction across Capitol Hill, driving “erratically,” and “recklessly,” in “opposing lanes” and running red lights. “Alemu drove the truck as far north as Olive Wy, as far south as E Pike, as far east as 13th Av, and as far west as Melrose,” the police report notes. Continue reading →

On the List | Hilloween 2015: carnival, where to trick or treat, haunted fun, and more

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(Images: CHS)

Halloween’s celebration of the dark, weird, and spooky brings especially dark, weird, and spooky fun to Capitol Hill. Twitter can fill with “Capitol Hill? Or Halloween?” jokes but don’t give in. You chose to live with these freaks. Head out, get dressed up, and give them candy!

First, we’ve updated the CHS Hilloween Trick or Treat Hot Zone Map for 2015 by pretty much not changing it one bit! The best, safest, most tricked out trick or treating happens on the teen avenues around E Aloha — just find 16th Ave E and bring your manners. Here’s what it looked like there — and across Capitol Hill — in 2014.

The big change is that red explosion of excitement-like icon on Broadway — that’s where you’ll find the new location for the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce’s annual Hilloween Carnival. For 2015, the carnival has moved indoors to Seattle Central’s Mitchell Activity Center at 1701 Broadway. Here are the details from caphilloween.com:

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31
12:00 – 3:00 PM Carnival
3:30 – 4:00 PM Costume Parade
4:00 – 7:00 PM Trick-or-Treating on Broadway Ave.
2:30 – 4:30PM Haunted Bank Laboratory @ 1st Security Bank
5:00 – 7:00 PM Pizza Party @ Pagliacci’s (FREE slice to kids in costume!)
Hilloween, Capitol Hill’s favorite kid-friendly Halloween event returns Saturday, October 31th and it’s sure to delight kids of all ages. This community party is FREE and open to everyone – designed with kids in mind – but just as fun for adults too. We’re moving inside this year to avoid any chance of rain! Seattle Central College’s Mitchell Activity Center will host Hilloween this year and it falls on HALLOWEEN NIGHT itself!

CHS is a proud community sponsor.

Also stop by Volunteer Park for the Haunted Conservatory and jack-o-lanterns. More grown-up fun includes the Spookhaus 3 haunted house at the Northwest Film Forum, the Capitol Hill historical ghost tour starting at Elliott Bay Book Company, the Seattle Women’s Chorus’s Hallows In The Cathedral at St. Mark’s, and a candy bag full of parties. Check out the CHS Hilloween Calendar for details. You can also add your own event to the list. Continue reading →

Macklemore weighs in on Value Village closure

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Finally, a key player in the dramatic news of the imminent closure of Capitol Hill institution Value Village has spoken out on the issue:

Ah, hell no. Indeed. The independent rap artist and Capitol Hill resident linked to the Seattle Times story linking to our report :(

The Capitol Hill thrift shop, part of a national chain of stores headquartered in Bellevue, is slated to close on November 7th after 20 years on 11th Ave.

Screen-Shot-2014-02-23-at-8.37.50-PM-600x3431“Though unfortunate, certain business conditions have made it necessary to close our Value Village thrift store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood after a number of years of leasing the space on a month-to-month basis,” a company spokesperson told CHS.

A representative from developer Legacy Commercial, owned by Tom Ellison who also serves as the chairman of the board for Value Village/Savers and is owner of the 11th Ave buildings home to the store and The Stranger, tells CHS that the company is still moving forward with plans for a preservation incentive-boosted 75-foot high office and mixed-use development that will incorporate the two landmark protected, auto row-era structures. In the meantime, the giant space is available for a short-term retail tenant.

Meanwhile, some of the nostalgic love for Value Village may quickly fade as the rapidly growing company’s business practices and competition with nonprofits face increased scrutiny and criticism.

UPDATE 11/5/2015: If you’re really, really sad and can’t even muster the energy to Google, here’s a roster of vintage and thrift opportunities nearby:

  • Lifelong Thrift, 312 Broadway E
  • Out of the Close Thrift, 1016 E Pike
  • Goodwill, 115 Belmont Ave E
  • Take 2, 430 15th Ave E
  • Pretty Parlor, 119 Summit Ave E
  • Revival, 233 Broadway E
  • Crossroads Trading Co., 325 Broadway E
  • Le Frock, 613 E Pike
  • No Parking, 1102 E Pike
  • Two Big Blondes, 2501 S Jackson

Seattle loses out on federal cash to expand bike share

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Screen-Shot-2015-10-06-at-11.16.17-PMThe Seattle Department of Transportation has lost out on a federal TIGER grant that would have allowed the system operated by Pronto Cycle Share to expand into many more neighborhoods, including Ballard and West Seattle.

The Seattle Bike Blog reports the feds passed up the opportunity to back the Seattle proposal requesting $25 million in federal funds to help fill the $15 million funding gap in the Northgate bike/walk bridge project and to improve connectivity to transit by investing $10 million in a dramatically expanded bike share system.

The city would have matched this with $5 million of its own, while Pronto’s private operator Motivate would pitch in $3 million. With the TIGER grant, the system could have added 250 stations.

Only 14% of Seattle residents currently live within close walking distance of a bike share station. Under the expansion plan, 62% of residents would live within reach.

Earlier this month, SDOT officials told CHS that even if they lost out on the grant they would move forward with plans to take over the system with an eye on a more modest expansion in 2017. Continue reading →

Undecided District 3 voters weigh strong activist against city problem-solver

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Above, Sawant celebrates — Below, Banks with a group of Capitol Hill business supporters (Images: CHS)

“If we are serious about solving the most urgent problems that face the constituents, we have to do what works: having grassroots movements inside City Hall”

Since her first campaign for public office as the “Occupy” candidate in 2012, Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant has battled criticism about the effectiveness of activism in office.

With less than a week to go before Election Day on November 3rd, the socialist City Council member and candidate to lead District 3 says you only need to look at what she has accomplished on the minimum wage and housing affordability over the past year for an answer.

“A majority of people in the district are truly progressive and are looking at our record,” she said. “If we are serious about solving the most urgent problems that face the constituents, we have to do what works: having grassroots movements inside City Hall.”

Those grassroots movements have been fueled by galvanizing a small army of young workers, students, and activists — a group that had been detached from City Council campaigns.

Seattle Urban League president and Sawant challenger Pamela Banks has amassed a very different backing, one she says is more diverse and neighborhood oriented. Drawing on her years of experience in the Department of Neighborhoods, a founding board member of the Garfield High School Foundation, and organizer for little league baseball, Banks says she has an unparalleled relationship with district residents. Banks touts herself as a “city problem-solver.”

As president of the Urban League, Banks said she’s not opposed to activism in office as long as it focuses on local issues.

“You have to bring dark to light,” she said. “I know my community, I know the issues that are plaguing the community. It’s not about doing a rally. I keep telling people, ‘I want to do the work.’” Continue reading →

Welcome to the Hotel East Jeff: Project could bring boutique inn to Central District

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(Images: Hybrid)

(Images: Hybrid)

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A swarm of development and new businesses on E Jefferson will be joined by a Central Seattle rarity if the plans for a new development on the street go through. A project to create a four-story hotel and bakery just east of 12th and Jefferson will go in front of the East Design Review Board Wednesday night.

The design proposal for the “Art Inn” concept at 1225 E Jefferson captures some of the rapid change underway in the area just east of Seattle University:

The site is bordered with an older craftsman style house to the west. There is a historic apartment building to the south directly across the alley. Across 13th Ave from the site is a vacant parking lot, and beyond that a one-story structure that is currently being renovated into a steak restaurant. Across E Jefferson St to the North, is a three-story historic building with retail on the ground floor and apartments above. The neighborhood is currently undergoing a change of character, with many of the older residences being converted into multi-family buildings. Apart from residential development, the institutional building of Swedish Medical, Seattle University and King County Juvenile have a dominate presence in the area.

Continue reading →

Walking Fingers, Crossed Pinkies soon to grace Capitol Hill Station

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Forney got a rooftop view of the completed panels for Walking Fingers (Images: Ellen Forney with permission to CHS)

Forney got a rooftop view of the completed panels for Walking Fingers (Images: Ellen Forney with permission to CHS)

With Capitol Hill Station fully on track for a March 2016 opening, it’s time to install the art.

Or, the rest of it.

The massive, hot pink Jet Kiss sculpture featuring the deconstructed hulls of two A-4 fighters was hung during construction of the Broadway light rail station’s underground platform.

"The top design is 'Walking Fingers,' a 28' x 20' mural for the Sound Transit Capitol Hill Light Rail Station's west entry (near Seattle Central Community College). The bottom design is 'Crossed Pinkies,' a 40' x 10' mural for the light rail station's north entry (the corner of Broadway and John)."

“The top design is ‘Walking Fingers,’ a 28′ x 20′ mural for the Sound Transit Capitol Hill Light Rail Station’s west entry (near Seattle Central Community College).
The bottom design is ‘Crossed Pinkies,’ a 40′ x 10′ mural for the light rail station’s north entry (the corner of Broadway and John).”

“Did I mention that I’ve been waiting for eight years for this job to become something beyond PowerPoint slides?”

Workers will soon begin installing two giant, paneled murals by local artist Ellen Forney. The panels for the works are still being finished but the walls are up and ready for installation. Forney agreed to let CHS share some behind the scenes looks at the final work. Continue reading →

Rent control for small business: Sawant and Capitol Hill owners have a plan

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Dave Meinert says pro-small business rhetoric is rarely followed up by policy. (Image: CHS)

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Sawant had this list from a summer art event of “iconic” closed businesses in hand while pitching a commercial rent control. (Image: Alex Garland)

City Council member Kshama Sawant joined Capitol Hill business owners and advocates Tuesday morning to release a seven-point plan reflecting a rare crossroads in Seattle politics: pro-worker policies and the interests of small business.

At the top of the list, a proposal to enact some form of rent control for small businesses. According to Sawant’s office, the statewide ban on rent control only applies to residential properties, not commercial ones.

City Attorney Pete Holmes told CHS he hasn’t personally reviewed Sawant’s proposal, but his office is working on it.

Other pieces of the plan include creating a City-backed “portable retirement account” system, a new municipal bank, and expanded late night transit to help “swing shift” workers commute.

“There’s a lot of of small business rhetoric from corporate politicians but little actual policymaking that help our city’s small business,” Sawant said. Continue reading →

CHS Community Post | Volunteer Park Trust launches community fundraising campaign with $35,000 matching gift

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070915_dh__VPT_concert_018Volunteer Park Trust has just launched its annual fundraising campaign with a $35,000 matching gift from its committee members.

The Trust is a volunteer driven organization with the mission “to restore, protect and preserve this city and national landmark for today and for generations to come”. Volunteer Park Trust is known for its work in restoring garden beds to the original Olmsted design, organizing community-wide park clean-ups and community events and most recently, launching a feasibility study for replacing the park Amphitheater (http://volunteerparktrust.org/current-projects/amphitheater/). The annual campaign will bring in needed funds to keep Volunteer Park Trust operating year round, and support such programs as revamping the southeast entrance, expanding and replacing irrigation pipeline, weeding, mulching and removing litter, and their annual free events the Picnic in the Park and Holiday in the Park.

Ellen Look, chair of the Trust’s Development Committee, says, “Even with the new parks levy, the city still does not have the resources to maintain all of Volunteer Park’s 48 acres. As neighbors of the park, we’ve stepped up to make the park a better and safer place for everyone.”

To help with this goal, leadership members of the Trust have pooled their resources to match gifts one-to-one up to a total of $35,000, effectively doubling contributions. “We hope to inspire others to give what they can,” Look says. “Every contribution helps and now gifts from our friends and neighbors will go twice as far.” Donations can be made through their website at volunteerparktrust.org.