The website for Nickelsville is NickelsvilleWorks and it is very aptly named. This is a mini-exercise in participatory democracy. The Tiny Housing Village at 22nd and Union operates like other Nickelsville sites; they have a standard set of rules, but rules can be amended at the weekly meetings by a vote of the residents. Everyone shares in the work and everyone gives an hour a month to the greater community. In this area, that work consists of picking up litter at the construction site (where the gas station used to be) and the plastic bags that are immediately dropped on the ground by eager customers from Uncle Ike’s. One does not see litter on the Village site. There are recycling bins, a garbage dumpster and a food waste composter. This Village consists of 14 tiny houses, each with their house number displayed. Various groups have contributed to the building of these houses, including tribal groups. Sawhorse Revolution was mentioned as the builder of the shower house and two of the houses, including one with a loft. (Sawhorse is a Seattle non-profit that works with high school students in central and south Seattle to build these tiny homes. They use recycled materials as much as possible. Photos of the houses at this site may be seen at www.tinyhousedesign.com/sawhorse-revolution-and-nickelsville/.) Currently there are 17 adults, 6 children and 5 pets living in this village. The shelter space in Seattle is usually limited to single persons of one sex: men at one shelter and women at another and no space for children or pets at any of the shelters. The children here attend school; one preschooler is in a pre-school program, the teenagers are able to get to Garfield High on Metro and the younger children are taken to school in a taxi. Each resident has tasks, two shifts for a working person and three shifts for non-working persons. The longest shifts are those at the gate with one person working 7-4, another 4-11 and a third person has the night shift 11-7, but that person can be in their own tiny home (rather than the gate house) as they can be called if a resident returns after the gates are locked at 11pm. Folks sign up for 30-minute shower periods and in that time must leave the area clean for the next person. The Kitchen tent has many tables with plastic bins storing foods that could attract rodents. The large refrigerator is for personal food; each house has a plastic container with the house number on it to identify the owner. A smaller fridge holds donated foods, which are up for grabs by any resident. There is a donated microwave, which also has a grill in the upper level that makes great grilled cheese sandwiches, I am told. There is also a burner for cooking. Cookware is shared and hangs in the tent. The Village is invited to attend Sunday services at the Good Shepherd Church (which owns the property) and join in the Sunday breakfast afterward. The church gives some emergency support, such as adding to the toilet tissue supply when they run out. The $90 rent for each unit goes toward paying the utility bill. Each house has heat and electricity and of course, the waste costs for garbage and food waste are considerable for a group this size. This Nickelsville has a local hero: Doug Hobkirk, who is considered their structural guru. Doug has been a builder and actually made the safe, sturdy sheds for the Nickelsville site that was once on Dearborn. He has built the guard shacks at the various sites. He lives within a mile of the Union St. site and visits twice a week. He was checking on the condition of the kitchen tent with its larger porch structure while I was there. He had added handrails to the steps before each of the 14 tiny houses. He said the residents will vote on improvements, deciding if the money will to be found from LIHI or if they are to seek donations. This Tiny village is considered transitional housing and caseworkers guide residents through the process of obtaining housing that is more permanent. A one-year anniversary party is planned for January 31 at 6pm with a celebratory dinner at the church. Tours of the Tiny House Village are available before and after the dinner. Donations can be taken to the welcome hut at the entrance any day: 1419 22nd Ave. ~Diane Snell

It only takes a quick glance around our Central Area to see how rapidly it is changing to accommodate the population growth in our city. As we watch our surroundings evolve, I hope you consider joining us this February 1 at 7pm at the Central Area Senior Center, as we have the pleasure of learning more about the Central Area’s history from K. Wyking Garrett and Jill Freidberg. I look forward to not only learning more about our past, but also learning about some of the ways we’ll see our past incorporated and honored into our future through art and design. Check out the “Neighborhood Change” article for more details about February’s Community Council programming. February also will bring about the launch of our new website. We appreciate your patience as the team has worked diligently on the new platform, and we look forward to hearing what you think! Homelessness, particularly amongst children, continues to be a concern of the Council. We have been brainstorming ways to help these children and their families, particularly during this cold winter. Following a conversation expressing our concerns and ideas to Council Member Sawant late last year, we are putting forward a letter with our recommendation to the Central Area Neighborhood District Council (CANDC), and we aim to garner additional support from the CANDC to then publish an open letter to Mayor Murray. Although we recognize that utilizing an emergency plan at Garfield Community Center is more of a stopgap than a long-term solution, we hope to initiate a conversation about alternatives that, to our knowledge, have not been considered yet. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out the information in this newsletter about the Food Drive at Leschi Elementary School and how you can help. Food donations may be dropped off at the school before Feb. 6. ~Yuki

December 14, 2016—Attending: Yuki Igarashi, Yousef Shulman, Jeff Floor, John Barber, Tracy Bier, Diane Snell. Guests: Kshama Sawant and aide Clay Showalter This meeting location was changed the day of the meeting, as Iora had no one to staff their facility that evening. The Central Area Senior Center graciously provided their technology room for our meeting. The LCC Board had invited City Council Member Sawant and her aide, Clay Showalter, to our meeting to discuss homelessness. Concern had been expressed at a previous meeting about hosting homeless persons in the parks without resources. We began the meeting with what we felt were more reasonable choices for housing the homeless; there are spaces within community facilities that could be used for temporary shelter to put folks inside in inclement weather where resource information could be more easily shared. And many large churches in this area have considerable parking lot space where tiny houses could be built. A logical choice, but not one favored by the Mayor, is the designated emergency shelter in each city district; in our area, that is Garfield Community Center. John Barber, as a Park Steward in Leschi Park, spoke to situations that had occurred there where homeless men are living but not visibly. John had found a prescription bottle of needed medications and a dental plate at different times and luckily, had been able to find the owners in both cases, but this is an example of why resources are needed for these folks. CM Sawant seemed to agree with the need for resources. She said 3-4 new encampments are planned around the city. Her office plans a push for a tax on the rich and a real estate excise tax to increase needed funds. She offered resources from her staff in our endeavors to implement community resources for the homelessness. Other business: Jeff said there will be a meeting on the design plans for the Midtown Center on 12/22 at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 6:30pm. Yousef: He had hoped that the website would be up by now but there is more training needed. He did not feel we should pay for it until that was accomplished. Diane suggested that we pay half the final payment and pay the second half when the training is complete. Yousef and Yuki expressed agreement with that plan. Diane: The January issue newsletter deadline is Dec. 19; need to include brief recaps of the LURC activities and Parks. All advertisers have been contacted re: rate increases for ads in January. No negative feedback received. No letter has been sent to Restricted Fund Chairs yet as no Treasury report has been generated. No info on website ads has been sent to advertisers yet as we have not been trained on entering the ads yet. More money was spent on food for the Holiday party this year and more was eaten; report being sent by email. Park Postal can do newsletter layout on InDesign and they are OK with 2-day turnaround; need to discuss cost. ~Respectfully submitted by Diane Snell

The first few times I drove past Feed Co., I didn’t notice the Burgers part and wondered what a rural supply place was doing in the heart of the Central District. Not having a ferret or even a hamster, I couldn’t see myself going in there. I finally noticed the word “Burgers” and realized that WE were the livestock this place was meant for! It did seem the right place for an eatery on the ground level of a multi-story building with apartments (The Stencil), but the name is less than appealing. Nevertheless, it needed to be reviewed and with my friend from Maryland in tow and my spouse, the three of us “did” lunch. One is not sure what to do on entering; it looks like a place where you go up to the counter to order, but we decided to choose our booth first as there was only one left. A waiter brought menus to our booth and later brought our food; we didn’t need to retrieve it. Then they kept bussing empty plates although there is an accessible receptacle for bussing your own, so not sure what is the PC thing to do. Wait staff is friendly and engaged. There is a basic burger for $5 (1/4 lb.), or you can go upscale with a 6 oz. burger dressed with fancy trimmings. My husband ordered the generous Texicana with frizzled onions, BBQ sauce, bacon, cheddar, slaw and a grilled jalapeno ($9.50). I noticed he put the jalapeno to one side, but he did bring it home when he couldn’t get through the second half of the burger. My friend Pat ordered the Mushroom Burger, which has porcini and crimini mushrooms, thyme, and Gruyere ($9). There was nothing on the menu about any veggie burger, so I ordered the Tempura veggies (only $4) and we got two sides: onion rings and sweet potato fries. I figured the tempura would be a small offering (wrong) and we would need the sides. Too much food. But they have take-home boxes so we didn’t waste! My tempura veggies consisted of four very large stalks of broccoli dipped in tempura batter and fried. There was an orange (in color) dipping sauce, which was not distinctive, and I kept thinking how good a spicy peanut dip would be with this. I later discovered from the waitress that they do have a veggie burger and you can order it with any of the fancy treatments. The drinks were interesting; there were soft drinks in two flavors: pear and raspberry ($4 each). Pat ordered a Coke and it was a Mexican coke with real sugar and no high fructose corn syrup. They also serve interesting flavors of shakes (Salted Caramel!) but it was cold out and ice cream seems a crime against nature in that weather. Feed Co. Burgers - Central 1190 24th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 206-726-6000, feedcoburgers.com Open daily, Mon-Sun, 11AM-9PM ~Diane Snell

Frigid weather has been hard to come by the past few years in the Pacific Northwest. Due to the “Blob” of warm water in the Northeast Pacific for much of 2014 and 2015, a very strong El Nino during the 2015-2016 winter, and additional warming due to climate change, Sea-Tac Airport has only recorded two months of below-average monthly temperatures since January 2014 (February 2014 and November 2015). But this December, we’ve seen our fair share of winter weather, with sub-freezing temperatures, lowland snow and even freezing rain in spots around the Columbia River Gorge. What changed, and why have we been so cold? The culprit behind our cold December is also every news station’s favorite winter weather buzzword: the “polar vortex.” But the “polar vortex” wasn’t just conjured up by a creative journalist some blisteringly cold winter day; it is an actual phenomenon in scientific literature that only found its way into the mainstream media over the past couple years. The polar vortex is an area of low pressure and very cold air that is generally kept locked up in the arctic by the jet stream – the current of strong winds in the upper troposphere that steer the paths of storms across the mid-latitudes. But sometimes, a strong ridge of high pressure will push the jet stream poleward, disrupting the polar vortex and weakening it. As the vortex weakens, it loses its staying power in the arctic and can actually slide down into the mid-latitudes courtesy of a large trough in the jet stream, bringing true arctic air down to the Lower 48. Early in December, a ridge of high pressure started to bulge northward into Western Alaska/Far Eastern Russia, disrupting the polar vortex and sending it southward. One cold wave came through early-mid December with highs in the upper 30s and even an inch of snow between December 8-9, and an even colder one came in during mid-December with highs struggling to reach freezing in many areas throughout Western Washington. But as cold as things were here, they were much colder further east. Casper, Wyoming dropped down to -33 the morning of December 8, and West Yellowstone, Montana dropped to a bone-chilling -43 degrees on December 17. We Seattleites can thank the Rockies and the Cascades for blocking this truly frigid air from entering our region. Some long-range models hint that January may look like December, with the potential for occasional arctic blasts and bouts of light snow for parts of the Pacific Northwest. Be sure to check out my weather blog at charlie.weathertogether.us for all the latest on the wonderful weather we experience in the Pacific Northwest, including the potential for snow this month! ~Charlie Phillips

Happy New Year Leschi! Now that the cellar has been depleted with host gifts and general entertaining, it is a good time to restock. In the event you missed out on some of the recently high profiled wines, here is a recap of some of the wines that are still available from the always coveted Wine Spectator Top 100. A great way to fill back up that cellar is with proven winners. Here are five. 2014 Mollydooker Shiraz McLaren Vale Carnival of Love ($69.99) #30 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2016. “Luscious cherry, blackberry and plum jam fruit flavors marry together, forming this powerful yet elegant Shiraz. Made from a selection of McLaren Vale’s premier grapes, its deep color and fragrant nose leads to quite a voluptuous palate of fruit intertwined with rich mocha, coffee and chocolate, with traces of licorice and toffee. Carnival of Love offers exceptional complexity while remaining balanced and delightful to drink.” 95-points. 2014 Orin Swift Machete Petite Sirah & Grenache California ($44.99) #6 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2016. “A nearly opaque color sets in the glass with a hard, red complexion that is almost black. Aromas of ripe blueberries and candied plum mingle with toasted oak and charred vanilla. The entry is soft and inviting which paves the way for a lush mid-palate replete with layers of ripe boysenberry and cassis. The finish showcases ripe tannins and pronounced fruit which frames the two for nearly a minute.” 94-points. 2014 Hahn Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands SLH ($21.99) #67 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2016. “The texture is plush, with lots of complex flavors, ranging from plum to anise to dusty, cedary oak. Satisfying from start to finish, ending with dusty, nutmeg-scented tannins. Drink now.” 90- points. 2014 M. Chapoutier Côtes du Roussillon-Villages Les Vignes de Bila-Haut ($13.99) #51 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2016. “This red is supple and fresh, showing a mix of dark berry, plum, herbal tea and peppery flavors. Lightly grapy tannins frame the licorice- and mineral-accented finish. Drink now through 2018.” 90 points. 2014 Joseph Drouhin St.-Véran ($16.79) #61 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2016. “Though rich, this is offset by vivid acidity, creating a nice tension to the lemon, apple and melon flavors. Long and tangy on the finish. Drink now through 2018.” 90 points. New Walla Walla Winery Shortly before the holiday craziness, the Leschi Wine Panel was lucky enough to meet Elephant Seven Winery. They check all the right boxes: Small production? You bet! Producing three total wines, and their current offerings are their very first releases. Scores? Yes! Garnering great scores with a first vintage is unheard of—see the write-ups below. Local? Of course! Not only are the grapes sourced from Walla Walla, but also the winemakers live right down the lake from us here in Leschi! I’ll leave you with this quote from their website, and encourage you to learn more here: www.elephantsevenwine.com. Give them a try — you won’t be disappointed. “Our goal is to do as absolutely little as possible to the wine. We do not use chemical additives, enzymes, color enhancements or any other foreign substances. Through the struggle of keeping things simple, we create something that is genuine, honest, and beautiful.” 2014 Elephant Seven Syrah Yellow Bird Vineyard Walla Walla ($41.99) “This Syrah from the Yellow Bird Vineyard is co-fermented with 6% Viognier. It begins with aromatics of leather, milk chocolate, blackberry preserves and hints of smoked bacon. There are flavors reminiscent of black cherry, anise, crème de cassis and milk chocolate. Plush, and exceedingly delicious, this will age gracefully into the next decade. Best 2016-2026.” –International Wine Report, 93-points. 2014 Elephant Seven Syrah River Rock Vineyard Walla Walla Rocks ($32.99) “Sourced from the prestigious River Rock Vineyard, this deep cored wine opens with an aromatic profile of tar, smoked brisket, Umami, blackberry jelly and hints of cassis. There is a gorgeous range of flavors at play, with red currants, red cherries, Umami, seaweed and bacon fat. The palate is rich with a seamless mouthfeel and velvety texture. 114 cases made. Best 2016-2026.” –International Wine Report, 93-points. CHEERS! ENJOY! Kenneth Benner, a Seattle area native, is a trained chef and has worked in such restaurants as Barbacoa, B.O.K.A. Kitchen Bar, and Dahlia Lounge. Ken is the wine buyer at Leschi Market. He has a passion for learning, a meticulous palate, and a tenacity for searching out the best for his customers while offering some of the most highly coveted wines in the area. His wine column is intended to inspire and explore new choices in wine, learn about wine with his readers, and share his knowledge and experiences in the wine world. Check out the latest at www.LeschiMarket.com or request to be added to email updates or send questions, comments, or suggestions to ken@leschimarket.com and follow the wine department directly on twitter at twitter.com/leschimarket.

When I went to the wonderful Tabaimo exhibition at the Asian Art Museum, the head curator told me that the Museum would close at the end of it for two years! That is February 26, 2017. Mark your calendars. Tabaimo is a world-renowned artist who represented Japan at the 2011 Venice Biennale! We are incredibly lucky to have a major exhibition of her work here in Seattle. Even more amazing is that half of the works are newly created for this exhibition. The artist herself curated the show, pairing her videos with famous works from the Asian Art Museum’s collection. Tabaimo made up the word “Utsutsushi” to go with “utsushi” which means immersive copying and studying of a master artist’s work. At the beginning of the exhibition, Tabaimo honors her mother, a well-known ceramic artist and the Edo era artist that she studies (utsushis). “Utsusushi” seems to mean taking it further, to play with and innovate in response to historical art. Tabaimo, public conVENience (sic), 2006, video installation, Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi First, Tabaimo pairs two 16th century Chinese wooden chests with her video Two, 2016. The video is projected on the back of a transparent wall behind the chests, so that their silhouette frames the video. Initially we see an animation of a chest full of bed covers, but then an arm reaches out from behind a pillow! Suddenly we realize that this artist creates fantastic stories. A sense of the unknown from mundane places erupts in many of the works. One great example is ConVENience, which features a walk in installation with three walls on which the artist projects life size Japanese public toilets. Inside this space, one drama after another emerges such as a turtle coming out of a drain and a woman diving in and disappearing. The artist cautioned us as we went through the exhibition to stay until the end of each work: it was true- there are always surprises that catch us off guard in these poetic narratives. They aren’t very long, so it is not difficult to watch to the end. I also encourage you to enjoy the well- known historical works juxtaposed to the videos. You will see them with new eyes. The historical art collection features many extraordinary works many donated by museum founder, Richard Fuller. We have seen only a small part of it over the years. The museum wants to expand in order to increase its space for exhibitions, as well as accommodating more resources for teachers and schoolchildren. The expansion also adds temperature controls that will protect the works on exhibit, and expand what can be borrowed for special exhibitions. That expansion is projected to be 50 feet high with a lot of glass windows. It will be added to the back of the museum, in an out of the way corner of Volunteer Park (the East side). At a recent community hearing (there have been five), elite board members and other art people defended the need for the expansion, while park users bemoaned the cutting of trees, the threat to copper beeches, the loss of part of the park, the idea that the museum goers would be looking down on people in the park through the windows, the excessive height (as tall as the Olmsted Tower), and the light that would be blazing from the museum. Some called for the museum to be built somewhere else, or to stay within its footprint. Many people made a lot of good points. Many park users were upset they had not been asked about the plans earlier in the process. I spoke in favor of the expansion because I know that Richard Fuller was a pioneering supporter of contemporary artists as well as a collector of Asian Art. He would certainly have been delighted with this plan for modernizing the 1930s building. (Let’s face it: it is a little dreary, isn’t it?) But, after listening to the many park users, I could also sympathize with the concerns for the park itself. While we are endowed with many beautiful parks in Seattle, Volunteer Park certainly is special. Small and centrally located, it embraces many different activities. I revel in the old growth trees as well as Shakespeare in the Park. (By the way, the theater is also going to be rebuilt next year.) People lie in the sun, but they also play games. Then there is the wonderful Conservatory. Will the new Asian Art Museum tower over us and inhibit our enjoyment? I don’t think so given the location of the expansion. But for two years, the building of the new wing will disrupt us with a lot of construction noise. Both Volunteer Park and the art deco Asian Art Museum are landmarked. The plans need to go before the Landmark Preservation committee and doubtless will be altered by other committees as well. Stay tuned. Here is a link to the current museum presentation on their website. www.seattleartmuseum.org/inspire. But above all, don’t miss the Tabaimo exhibition! Bring your children and grandchildren, they will love it and it will cheer you up as well. Not only amusing, but also thought-provoking, Tabaimo’s work leads us into imaginative worlds in which anything can happen, certainly a good place to be for this particular historical moment. Other shows not to miss: “Kiss Fear” Bonfire Gallery, 603 S Main Street at the Panama Hotel to January 28, 2017 “Poet Daemond Arrindell with Artists Mary Coss and Holly Ballard Martz take an intimate look down the barrel - contemplating gun rights, the loss of life, and the search for healing in their touching, powerful and sometimes darkly humorous ruminations on America’s weapon of choice. “ First Thursday Reception January 5, 2017: 6PM - 9PM Workshop with Poet Daemond Arrindell Saturday January 7, 2017 3PM – 6PM “30 Americans” Tacoma Art Museum to January 15, 2017 “This critically acclaimed, nationally traveling exhibition showcases paintings, photographs, installations, videos and sculptures by prominent African American artists who have emerged since the 1970s as trailblazers in the contemporary art scene.” “Yves St Laurent: The Perfection of Style” – Seattle Art Museum to January 8 ~Susan Noyes Platt, www.artandpoliticsnow.com

This past year, there have been multiple work parties restoring nature and improving trails in Leschi, Frink, the Leschi Natural Area, and Peppi’s Playground —- especially, preserving a wetland area of Frink Park, restoring a former homesite and steep slopes in the Leschi Natural Area, and planting hundreds of new plants and improving the trails of Peppi’s Playground. The shoreline street ends received some help from the City street landscape crews and year-end volunteer work parties, due to a re-focus of the monthly stairway cleanup project. Leschi Park is benefitting from a new crushed gravel path that the Parks Department installed to enable handicapped people to access the Park’s comfort station from the parking lot by the tennis courts. Sadly, we continued to lose trees — some from illegal woodcutting in Frink Park, but also disease claimed a magnificent elm tree that graced the edge of Lakeside Avenue South in Leschi Park. The latter will be replaced by a noble fir tree. Powell Barnett Park blossomed with the installation of an adult outdoor fitness center and the landscape renovation of the slope along the east edge of the park. The raised crosswalk across Martin Luther King Jr. Way at East Alder Street was painted in the bright colors of Africa. Flo Ware Park continued to receive special treatment from Park Department gardeners, especially the perennial landscaping on the west edge. Some people have asked: what did we get out of the recent tax increase for parks (the Metropolitan Park District)? I’ve seen some real but mostly subtle improvements in landscape maintenances, for instance renovating of the landscape above the comfort station in Leschi Park as well as the rebuilt stairway and new trail there. The parks were greener this summer, and are getting to look more well tended. Some parts of parks maintenance are missing the extra help that crew work can provide — notably the trails. At this writing, there is no word about the future of the boat marinas or of filling our wading pools with water this summer. The proposal by Seattle City Council to legally allow camping in our neighborhood parks is apparently on the shelf, hopefully not to be revived. In many ways, this was a desperate attempt to accommodate homeless families and individuals. But it was deeply flawed, because the idea lacked the essential features of safe, sanitary, easily accessed by public services (social workers, police, fire) locations, and most of all, the concept did not put a roof over their — the homeless — heads. Readers, please note that the Leschi News provides contact information for the Community Council officers and main volunteers, who invite your comments, input and questions. ~John Barber, Parks and Greenspace Chair

This month’s hero is a fairly new resident to Leschi and you may have not realized she was here, but she is highly visible in the world of Seattle and Housing as the Director of the Low Income Housing Institute. Sharon Lee came to Seattle in the 80’s from Philadelphia where she had become active as a teenager when Chinatown housing was threatened there with the expansion of downtown, a freeway and a convention center. One of the victories back then was that landlords could not raise the rent if they had housing violations (sound familiar?) Sharon went on to college to focus on Urban Studies and for a Masters in Architecture and Urban Planning. When she arrived in Seattle, she went to work for “Uncle Bob” (Bob Santos) at Seattle Housing and later for the City Council. She ended up working for Frank Chopp at the Fremont Public Association. The group was not interested in managing housing despite recognizing the need and so the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) was formed in 1991 with Frank as a co-founder. Sharon was named Executive Director in 1994. So, in just 25 years and numerous grants, this busy woman has guided LIHI to create 63 buildings with 1900 units of housing. We have two near us: the Ernestine Anderson Place and the new Abbey Lincoln Court, which is devoted to workforce housing. Lower rents allow lower paid city workers to both live and work in Seattle. The first family to move in was a young couple with an infant who had been living in one of the tiny houses. The names chosen for these two facilities are those of figures in the jazz world, recognizing the Jackson Street jazz history and a history of civil rights activism. LIHI also owns and operates three Urban Rest Stops, where folks can shower and do their laundry. It is estimated that 60% of homeless persons work either full or part-time and the Rest Stops allow them to maintain basic personal cleanliness and clean outfits for work. LIHI has also spearheaded the movement to build Tiny House Villages. Each structure costs about $2200 in lumber and supplies and they are indeed tiny, but they provide shelter off the ground and have that all-important door that locks, protecting personal belongings. We have an example on 22nd just north of Union, behind the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. A creative fundraising effort was developed between LIHI and Uncle Ike’s: 5 pre-rolled joints in a package designed to look like a Tiny House; a percentage of the profit goes directly to the Tiny House project. Designed to be a gift, it sells for $25. One bud-tender reports that sales are good and even better; many of the staff have enthusiastically decided to help build a tiny house! (Will send photo) LIHI is working on projects in Olympia, Renton and next to Fire Station 39 on Lake City Way. Permits are being sought to build workforce housing in the Little Saigon area in the International District. Sharon is a woman with a critical mission; we can help by identifying possible building sites in the area and urging our churches to provide space for Tiny Houses or supplying temporary housing inside until more permanent housing can be found. ~Diane Snell

The year 2016 has been an auspicious year in Central Area development and land use, and in turn, a full one for the Central Area Land Use Review Committee (LURC). We’ve studied, commented on and hosted meetings on all of the following projects, including some lively events that if their potential is captured, will lead to community-building beyond the occasionally confrontational discussions. The heart of the district at 23rd and Union has been humming with activity, both on paper and in construction. Two mixed-use buildings that herald the next generation of urban form opened their doors: the Central, a 65’, six-story project at the southeast corner, and the four-story, 45’ Stencil at 24th and Union. One more broke ground in November, East Union, also a 65’ six-story project, on the former Richlin’s gas-station/Cappy’s gym properties at the northeast corner. The eponymous Liberty Bank Building (LBB), a low-income housing project by Capitol Hill Housing, is currently moving through the permitting process, slated to start construction in late 2017. And at the very tail end of the year, we all learned about the Lennar/Regency redevelopment of the Mid-Town mega-block at the southeast corner (currently owned by the Bangasser family, site of the Post Office). These last two projects are of particular interest in light of the ongoing gentrification of the Central Area in particular, and urban centers around the country in general. In both cases, the developer is building a partnership with community groups, with the potential end result being an ownership model that would itself be groundbreaking. The non-profit Africatown is a common thread in both, with a memorandum of understanding that 15 years hence could land them and Cornerstone in an ownership position at LBB, and at Mid-Town, could see them with an actual financial stake in the project. This is all happening at the heart of the once redlined zone, at a time when the ethnic demographic of the area is flipping. Down the road a piece at 23rd and Jackson, the redevelopment of Promenade 23 is moving ahead. In February, LURC hosted a gathering of over 125 people, interested enough to jam into the lobby of Ernestine Anderson Place. The 500-unit, 65’ high project is targeted to begin construction in fall of 2017. Along with a full-grocery store and various retail spaces down to the pop-up scale, it will re-establish a direct pedestrian connection along the 24th Avenue alignment from South King Street to Jackson. At Jackson, this aligns with the current crosswalk to Walgreen’s occurs, and at the south side, it is currently the blank back wall of Red Apple. This feature is a clear public benefit, only diluted somewhat by the proposal that it be gated off after hours. What becomes of Red Apple – or a reasonable facsimile thereof – during the two-year construction period is still unresolved. Kitty-corner to this, and much less on the radar for most folks, Community House, next door to the more prominent Flowers-4u shop, is in permitting for a four story mixed-use project, and has plans to redevelop that entire corner. More should be learned at the beginning of 2017. Other projects in the pipeline include six-story mixed-use proposal at the northeast corner of Rainier and Dearborn, and one of similar scale immediately to the north at Rainier and Lane. A multi-building project at 13th and Fir (behind Washington Hall) looks likely to break ground in 2017. In addition to bricks and mortar, there are other policy initiatives that continue to warrant attention. The HALA effort will be moving forward in piecemeal proposals, with some portions possibly applying projects that become vested in 2017. The “Backyard Cottage” (detached accessory dwelling unit, or DADU) rules update hit a stall recently, with a hearing examiner ruling in December that the city needs to go through an EIS process before the changes can go into effect. One of the bigger impacts that received some commitment is the approval of the master plan at the Swedish Hospital Cherry Hill campus. The allowable building heights there will be dramatically higher than existing, which has put residents in the nearby blocks on edge for years, bracing for what will be a parallel increase in traffic and other impacts. To address the prospects that the future holds for our neck of the woods, LURC also has been involved in reviewing proposed changes to the Design Review program – the process that multi-family and commercial projects go through to refine the quality of what we all look at every day (important reminder: single family projects do not go through Design Review). Several of our members also participate in the Central Area Design Guidelines Coalition – a group formed in May of this year to document criteria that will guide designers working here, and the design review boards that review their work, to solutions that fit their context. The process will likely take years to complete, not unlike the timeline for any construction project. LURC also participated in its first “Land Use 101” seminars this year, providing residents with some fundamental grounding on how development works, with the hope being that an informed community can better steer its own future. No doubt, the one project that most of us deal with directly is the ongoing 23rd Avenue Corridor Improvements, even if it is not exactly in the purview of LURC. Thankfully for the denizens of north-south travel, the year saw the completion of this massive water-main replacement/street-rebuild project between Jackson and Union. At the time of this writing, a war zone persists between there and Madison (and will extend to John Street…and at some point, south of Jackson). If fortune be with us, the future for the Central Area will be as smooth and gracious as the newly paved 23rd Avenue. ~Jeff Floor, Chair Land Use Review Committee

Happy 2017! For me, this new year comes with a new role with the Leschi Community Council. As still a relative newcomer to the Leschi community, I wasn’t expecting to find myself in this position so soon. But in a few short months, I’ve already learned what a wonderful community this is, and with such a rich and storied history. I am lucky to be surrounded by an amazing and knowledgeable council who deeply cares for this community. I’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to Yousef for his leadership as President over these past several months. The amount of work he’s done behind the scenes has been remarkable, and I hope to continue to build upon the momentum. We are all lucky that he isn’t going far and will be continuing on with us in the capacity of Vice President! If I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you yet, I hope to very soon! I live in the Central District with my husband, Kyle, but I work here in Leschi. I had the distinct pleasure of joining the Edward Jones Leschi branch in the spring of 2016, moving from my initial branch location on Capitol Hill. Admittedly, my path to Seattle is a story all too familiar in this city, as I moved here in 2009 for a job - but Kyle and I also have some family history in Seattle. As such, my objective this year on the council is to continue to be the voice and support of a gracefully evolving community - to both welcome the Seattle and Leschi newcomers finding opportunities and a new life here, while respecting, supporting, and learning from those who have built this neighborhood to be what it is today. As a council, we will continue to make progress against our 2016-2017 goals. The payoff of Yousef’s efforts to improve communication channels, including a revamped website, email communications, and social media, will be available in early 2017. We will continue the stairways & String of Pearls maintenance projects, bring more visibility to the Leschi Business District, and explore new ways to increase membership and involvement with the LCC, per the goals initially outlined in mid-2016. We welcome your ideas, questions and comments - as always, you can reach us at LeschiNews@comcast.net, or follow us on Facebook. Watch for Facebook notice of launch of new website! ~Yuki Igarashi

BOOK REVIEW ‘“That little Kennedy…he thought he was a god,” and then the storm passed and the genial old gentleman was himself again’. So begins our introduction to Allen Dulles, the primary figure in David Talbot’s The Devil’s Chessboard, a 100-year review of America’s foreign affairs. And this is not the most damning quote. Dulles is revealed to have been not just a nasty man, but also a dangerous one. This is a book for those who want to understand how we have come so far since the pre-WWI days when Woodrow Wilson won on a campaign promising to keep us out of foreign wars. It is a big book, packed with footnotes and references ranging from Dulles’ papers and daily calendars to hundreds of interviews and private letters. These include those of Dulles’ wife, mistress and children. It has also greatly benefitted from the continuing release of government documents based on legislation requiring that all information relating to the JFK assassination be released by October 2017. And yet, it is a page-turner. Don’t let the book’s heft discourage you. If you like foreign intrigue, this book will grab you from the first page. Just try the first chapter and I’ll bet you will continue on. You might ask, “If this book is so great why haven’t I read raves about it?” Unless you are a regular web crawler or YouTube enthusiast, you will not have found reviews because there are practically none. I have found just two newspaper reviews (a short negative one, in the San Francisco Chronicle and a light-weight one in the San Jose Mercury) while there are many, many positive ones on the Internet. The best and most extensive one appeared in the Huffington Post of January 11, 2016, by a young historian. For a quick sense of the book’s value, look up the comments on Amazon and our public library staff recommendations. This is the book to read to fully understand how the world has come to be run during the past century, the American Century. To my mind, a salient clue that the book touches some very sensitive nerves within Washington circles of power is that there is clearly a concerted refusal in the major print press to review it, though Talbot’s two recent earlier works were enthusiastically received. Talbot has said that his publisher was informed by the Washington Post and New York Times that they would not be reviewing the book. If your curiosity is teased by this and you want to quickly learn more, you might look up the YouTube Devil’s Chessboard interviews with David Talbot. There are many, but if you try this, I’ll bet you will find you’ll want to listen to the longer ones. What he has uncovered you will find fascinating. That is, if you are willing to face this jarring description of how the world works. ~Jim Snell