Thursday, September 03, 2009

Civility, Walk around Mayor and gun violence

I have lived here in Seattle many years, I have fought for equal education, recruited good police and firefighters, helped raise millions of dollars for homeless children, promoted and support open housing, preventives to crime and neighborhood economic development. I have served in the legislature and retired after many years as a City of Seattle employee and I really liked the all kinds of people who live in Seattle. But...I am shocked at the level and tenor of conversation displayed in these comments. Who are these commentators? did they grow up in Seattle, go to Seattle schools?

There was once a move for civility in Seattle, well it seems to have failed for the lack of a second. The next Mayor Of Seattle needs to come in with a vision better than what we have been saddled with. He needs hire smart people to run the City and get out of City Hall and walk around and meet the residents, all of them. The loser kids on the corner should know him by first name he should ask and know why they are just hanging on the corner, why the preventives funded by the City now working for them? Ask them if they know who James Kelly is, what the Urban League does or any other who has money to turn their lives around. Just ask them they will tell you.

And next time the Mayor walks through if they are still there - yank the funding. Sound easy, it is. I talk to them all the time, I have to but I do not have or control public funds, just a caring for kids and mothers and the Rainier Valley. I did not build a home in Rainier Valley to "gentrify" though I did much to make it a better place than I found but it has slipped back and with each death, I feel sad. I feel say about the crass remarks the hate filled statements the lack of caring for the death of a young person who is a human being. I work with parents of young children, at a time when we can make the biggest difference. Yesterday I learned that one parent's two sons are now in vocational school.

Have to go now, I am off to a meeting to see if we can ban assault weapons in Washington, not the entire solution but a start in turning this very large ship called "Gun Violence"

Thank you for the space to vent.

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