Tag Archives: wonk

Community Council | Survey: What are five ways you contribute to the culture of Capitol Hill?

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Capitol Hill Community Council March 19th, Meeting Agenda 1. Welcome 2. Jesse Perrin – Exciting new Capitol Hill Community Council Service Opportunity 3. SDOT – Streetcar Extension Update 4. Mike Archambault – Seattle Greenways Update 5. Elliot Helmbrecht – April 28th Special Election 6. Alex Brennan – “Only in Seattle” Update 7. Sound Transit Developer Discussion 8. Champion Updates, Streetcar Launch Updates & New Business (Bring your ideas!)

Capitol Hill Community Council
March 19th, Meeting Agenda
1. Welcome
2. Jesse Perrin – Exciting new Capitol Hill Community Council Service Opportunity
3. SDOT – Streetcar Extension Update
4. Mike Archambault – Seattle Greenways Update
5. Elliot Helmbrecht – April 28th Special Election
6. Alex Brennan – “Only in Seattle” Update
7. Sound Transit Developer Discussion
8. Champion Updates, Streetcar Launch Updates & New Business (Bring your ideas!)

Last week, the Seattle Times published an article, Cultures clash as gentrification engulfs Capitol Hill, which joined countless bandwagoners across Seattle attempting to diagnose the complexity of the changes occurring on Capitol Hill. The article used data to illustrate the unchecked gentrification, and the tangible effects of repellant cultures.

Since the 1970s, queer and creative people have given the Capitol Hill neighborhood its value. Their lives and identities created a desirable community of place, where, ironically, they can no longer afford to live and feel unsafe, in part, because of cultural differences.

Culture clash on the hill looks like groups of straight girls and their boyfriends planning “gay bar-crawls” – as though gay bars are theme parks for straight people. But there are vast differences between using real people and problems as the scenic backdrop of one’s filtered instagram pictures and respectfully engaging with our community in our community’s space.

This “culture clash” we are experiencing can be symptomatic of change. In order to determine the breadth of change occurring on Capitol Hill, we must first acknowledge what we are changing from. Each of us carries with us our own experience and perspective; shared community reflects back at us the values and ideals we share and there is no culture clash. Continue reading →

Hill Wonk | Dreaming big — asking ‘What if?’ — invites us to imagine a shared future

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We’ve asked Zachary (Pullin) DeWolf, Vice President of the Capitol Hill Community Council, to contribute to CHS about community civics and politics on a monthly basis. If you’re an expert and want to share with the community in a recurring CHS column, we’d like to hear from you.

Martin Luther King Jr. (discoverblackheritage, flickr)

[This is dedicated to a special woman, K. Toering.]

Sitting at the back of the theater — the din of people shuffling in, a lingering aroma of freshly-made popcorn — I waited for the film to begin.

Selma, shown as part of a special community screening for communities of color groups and organizations, portrays one of our country’s most critical chapters in civil rights history. Before it began, she stood at the front of the theater and looked out at all of us, smiling. The type of smile born of confidence in the creation of something that evolves into more than imagined, and she asked, “What if?” Continue reading →

Hill Wonk | Listening at the Capitol Hill Community Council Winter Open House

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We’ve asked Zachary (Pullin) DeWolf, Vice President of the Capitol Hill Community Council, to contribute to CHS about community civics and politics on a monthly basis. If you’re an expert and want to share with the community in a recurring CHS column, we’d like to hear from you.

Like so many in our neighborhood and across the country, I sat at home watching the live feed of St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch deliver the reasoning behind the grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the murder of  unarmed teenager, Michael Brown.

The news compelled people to do something, to speak out, and to implore us all to listen. In these moments, we are challenged to truly understand that a more complex reality exists. We are challenged to listen rather than default to putting our own lens and experience before others.

The Capitol Hill Community Council Winter Open House is Thursday starting at 6:30 PM in the Cal Anderson Shelterhouse -- CHS wrote here about the party and chance to talk with city officials about Capitol Hill issues

The Capitol Hill Community Council Winter Open House is Thursday starting at 6:30 PM in the Cal Anderson Shelterhouse — CHS wrote here about the party and chance to talk with city officials about Capitol Hill issues

When we allow our hurt to deafen our ears to the hurt of others, we are invited to maintain perspective and recognize our hurt relative to that of others. Fundamentally, we desire validation, and when we hurt we want someone to notice, and to listen. Listening is a critical point of orientation in a world of possibility because listening that results in hearing is possible when we aren’t most in love with our voice over any other.

Continue reading →

Hill Wonk | Community — and curiosity — reason enough to vote

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We’ve asked Zachary (Pullin) DeWolf, Vice President of the Capitol Hill Community Council, to contribute to CHS about community civics and politics on a semi-regular basis. If you’re an expert and want to share with the community in a recurring CHS column, we’d like to hear from you. This is his first post for CHS.

550190_10151496017543696_1846920479_nIn the August 2014 primary, roughly 29% of registered voters in our legislative district actually voted. It troubles me that a majority of people — especially registered voters — apparently have no motivation to vote.

As an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree tribe of Rocky Boy, Montana, I’m only the second generation with the right to vote. In 1924, Native peoples were granted citizenship, but in many states — including Washington — keeping Native people from voting persisted. Barriers to voting included: culture tests, unreachable polling places, and registrars unwilling to accept voter registration of Native peoples. In our state, the phrase “Indians not taxed,” in Article 1 of the Constitution, justified the exclusion of Native peoples from voting until the Supreme Court ruled that all Native people could vote, in 1948.

When we don’t appreciate the power of our vote, the history of voting, and the impact voting has on real people and neighbors in our community, only 29% of us turn out to vote. Continue reading →