It’s not your typical  classified ad for Capitol Hill Seattle blog:

Turns out, the Capitol Hill Patient Group decided to pack it up from their 14th Ave home after complaints from another business in the area. Here’s CHPG’s Aaron Sjoblom:

The ventilation connected to the neighbors and they said they could smell the medical marijuana coming into their vents . I honestly think they just didn’t like us there . They said they could smell it even when we were completely out . We double bagged it and put it in air tight jars but the smell still somehow went through the vents . We burned candles and incense , even bought a carbon filter to clean the air but still got complaints . He kept complaining to the landlord .  Maybe it did smell , who knows . If it really did we didn’t want to be negatively effecting his business , that’s not fair to him . We decided we didn’t want to be a burden to anyone so we asked the landlord if we could just get out of the lease and move out . We sadly just cleaned everything out on Tuesday . We’d love to stay and continue helping patients in the Capitol Hill neighborhood but we don’t want to be in a situation where we’re not welcome . We want to be good neighbors.

Now, before you start blowing smoke at neighboring Spinasse, we have it on good authority that it wasn’t the popular restaurant behind the complaints. The real issue, here, is the new set of challenges facilities like these face integrating into the neighborhood. Another business owner on the street said more than one tenant in the area had complained.

For Sjoblom, the hunt for a new Capitol Hill home is the focus. They’re looking for a retail space with a monthly rent around $2,500. Can they find a new home on the Hill?

Other players from Capitol Hill’s green wave of medical marijuana providers soldier on and new businesses emerge. It’s an independent space with no multinational corporations, yet, making designs to profit off the wave. And the city seems to still have the momentum necessary to change the ways that cannabis is taxed and regulated. Some providers like CHS provider advertiser Apothecary Seattle – who just put this fancy new sign on Broadway — even seem to be thriving if this recent Seattle Weekly write-up is any indication.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill Patient Group isn’t the first place to emanate a specific odor on Capitol Hill. You may have noticed Elysian’s hoppy wafts or the toasted loveliness of Vita’s beans from time to time. The smell of your friendly neighborhood dispensary? That may take some time to get used to.

There will never be another Capitol Hill Block Party like the party that went down in 2010. Last year, organizers said, was an experiment as the popular festival scrambled to add a third day for the first time. The result: Some 27,000 paid attendees, another 3,000 through the gates — and more “feedback” than the City of Seattle has ever received for the event that has slowly grown into one of the most popular, most unique music festivals in the country. “We don’t want to be Bumbershoot. We don’t want to be Sasquatch,” producer Dave Meinert said when talking about last year’s debut of the third day of the Block Party. “But there’s a demand for more.” 

2011′s Block Party, then, is about taking that experiment and finding a way to sustain it in a way that maintains the festival’s place near the top of US summer music festivals — and brings the neighborhood along for the fun. Changes include a more local, less big name-focused line-up, a logistical overhaul of many elements of the event and a much more robust connection to area residents and local businesses. Here is what to expect from CHBP 2011, some of the ways it will change and some ways you can enjoy it and help the party continue on its path in a changing Pike/Pine.

2011: Gates opened at 3pm Friday and open at 12 pm Saturday and 1 pm Sunday. Main stage will shut down by 9 pm on Sunday.

Lines: Hoping to avoid the negative consequences of the huge lines that formed in 2010 and lead to one of the ugliest disputes between the festival and a local business — 12th Ave’s Ferrari & Maserati of Seattle — organizers have reduced the number of tickets sold by 500 to 8,500 for each day of the festival and improved ticketing options to hopefully reduce dependence on will call lines that they say was the major cause of last year’s long queues. Note to attendees: Please don’t expose yourself to local business people. It causes nothing but trouble, in the end.

Preview? Here are our “pics from the crowd” for 2010: Day One | Day Two | Day Three

CHS in 2011: We’ll be inside the gates this year covering the festival from the community perspective, checking in with local businesses and keeping track of the neighborhood.

History: Our version of things and a more definitive attempt from Seattle Met

Tickets: Discounted 3-day passes are sold out but http://capitolhillblockparty.com/ continues to dole out single-day tickets. You can also score tickets at the Capitol Hill E Pike Caffe Vita.

Local dominated line-up: A more modest line-up with a heavy Pacific Northwest flavor — 7 out of 10 bands have Seattle region roots.

Free-loaders: Paid attendees weren’t the only contributors to last year’s bursting at the seems festival. Organizers say they will also crimp the flow of sneak-ins with increased security and cut down on the number of people they allow in for free from the neighborhood.

Shell station: One of the areas expected to see some of the biggest change outside the fences of the festival will be the gas station at Pike and Broadway. A popular gathering space for knot-hole crowds to enjoy the festival without buying a ticket, the gas station parking lot is also a key emergency route for SPD and Seattle Fire. Expect the parking lot to be closed in 2011 and manned by security. It’s the price of progress.

Rooftops: An iconic scene from every year of the festival are those god-like creatures looking down upon the CHBP rabble from a rooftop perch above. You’ll still see a few lucky souls who live or work in the nearby buildings enjoying the show from way up high. But if your plans include a scramble across Elliott Bay Book Co.’s skylights to gain a rooftop view like a few ambitious folks attempted in 2010, you’ll want to think twice. A portion of the increase security will be assigned to prevent similar shenanigans this year.

Layout: Meinert has said this year’s Block Party will have the same basic layout as 2009 and 2010 with the mainstage near Broadway and E Pike, and the smaller Vera Project stage on 11th between E Pike and E Union:

•                Pike Street will closed between 12th and Broadway  

•                10th & 11th Aves. between E. Pike and E. Union will be closed

•                If you live in a building with parking, you will have access to your parking garage as you did last year

•                Friday hours: 3pm gates, music on mainstage 4:30 – midnight, on Vera Stage 4:30 – 11pm, Neumo’s (indoor) 4:00 – 2am

•                Saturday hours: 1pm gates, music on mainstage 2:00 – midnight, on Vera Stage 2:00 – 11pm, Neumo’s (indoor) 2:00 – 2am

•                Proposed Sunday hours: 1pm gates, music on mainstage 2:00 – 9:00pm, on Vera Stage 2:00 – 11pm, Neumo’s (indoor)  2:00 – midnight

Sound booth move: One key layout change should make for better flow for safety concerns, patron enjoyment — and at least one local business. Curtis Bigelow of the Lobby Bar says he’s ready for a better year for his bar after 2010′s rough go thanks to increased help with security from organizers and a reconfigured sound engineering booth that will reduce the bottleneck near the music festival’s beer garden. The Lobby is also planning some fun promotions for the weekend. More on that, below.

Safety and permits: To start the week, organizers of the 2011 festival still didn’t have an official City of Seattle permit for the event. Believe it or not, that’s how it works every year for most events in the city — even giant music fests including national acts. A representative from the city told CHS last week that the 2011 festival was on track for the permit after months of work with the committee charged with approving these types of events. The city has already given the go-ahead for the third day of the event.

The city’s Special Events Committee is designed to organize cross-department approval for all major Seattle events from neighborhood parades to multi-million dollar spectacles like Block Party. It includes representatives from Seattle Police and Fire, the health department, Department of Planning and the Seattle Department of Transportation. The representatives have met with Block Party organizers for an on-site walk-through and worked out details of more safety and logistical improvements in 2011. At the meetings, safety issues like the Shell station access and fire exits on the south side of Pike near Broadway got the most discussion time. There was also interest in putting better controls on volume at the main stage, a problem organizers acknowledged and said was an issue for them too as sound engineers for the bigger acts were reluctant to cede overall control to the local crew.

Seattle Fire had this to say about the 2011 safety overhaul: “As a public safety agency we are concerned about the public’s well being at these events. The Seattle Fire Department worked with other city departments including Seattle Police to address some safety concerns based on observations made at last year’s event.”

*       The Special Events Committee (which SFD is a part of) worked with the organizers of the Capitol Hill Block Party to come up with a safety and security plan that includes:

*       Establishing an estimated maximum allowable occupant load for the entire venue and specifically the spectator area adjacent to the main stage

*       Increasing the amount of opening width in the security fencing adjacent to the main stage area to facilitate exiting in the event of an emergency

*       Ensuring that the event promoters provided an adequate number of appropriately trained crowd managers for the projected attendance

*       Controlling unauthorized spectator access to the roofs and/or fire escapes of buildings surrounding the venue, some of which are vacant

*       Controlling parking around the venue to ensure that the required exit opening in the security fencing is not blocked by trucks or other vehicles/obstructions that would hinder egress

*       Ensuring that there is an ability to provide emergency voice alarm messaging to the attendees

In case of an emergency, we want to make sure we have access to the scene. Response times are crucial for fire and life safety during emergencies.

East Precinct Commander James Dermody said, as usual, extra police will be on duty for the big event. “The East Precinct will have additional staffing working in the area of the CHBP as we have in past years,” Dermody writes. “We support a safe and vibrant city approved special event.  We have appreciated the work the organizers have put into the safety plan.”

Food trucks: Hungry Block Partiers will have more choices for chow this year as mobile food providers like @CharliesBuns and @skilletstfood will be in attendance certain nights of the festival.

Transportation: Take the bus. Bike. Walk. Fly.

Pike/Pine support: To help mitigate the negative business impact the festival has on some neighborhood restaurants and shops, festival organizers have worked overtime to find ways to bring some inside the festival gates (see Cupcake Royale, below) and integrate others with promotions some of which we detail elsewhere in this post. You can also take a look at http://www.facebook.com/The.Capitol.Hill.Block.Party for more.

Here’s what CR’s Jody Hall told us about her much improved outlook for the 2011 event:

 We’re excited to be inside the gates of block partythis year with our mobile cupcake party cart selling the Whiskey MapleBacon cupcake, and strawberry cupcakes.  They’re allowing us to do this with no fee attached.  As well, we’ll be doing band cupcakes for Cave Singers and Head and the Heart and possibly be doing frost-o-graphs by band members for our customers.

We built a great relationship with David M and Jason L – they’re doing extra work to promote our businesses with offers of free tickets for folks who purchase $50 or more (first 10 a day to do that, thru next Thursday,will get this deal!).  And, they’re adding extra security to help with managing the rowdy behavior outside the gates.  They’re adding more cleaning of porto-potties (no one wants to pee in a puked out bathroom!) -which will prevent less traffic to our café for restroom use (we’ll be closing down our restrooms for the party – and only offering it to customers.)

Feeling really great about it.  The other thing that’s key is that theacts are way more local and appropriate for a 10k attendance (Vs. JackWhite/Dead Weather and MGMT – which draw huge crowds are are more stadium shows than small venue shows).

In addition to working more closely with businesses like Hall’s, organizers also say they plan to donate about $20,000 to local non-profits from the Block Party proceeds. Meinert is sorting out details of money he said the Block Party will make available to improve the “South Capitol Hill” area: 

My desire going in to the meeting is to make as many people happy with the festival as possible. Certain people in the neighborhood hate nightllife and will oppose the festival no matter what format it takes. Others have legitimate concerns that we need to work hard to mitigate. Ultimately, other than having a great, entertaining, fun and safe music festival, I want the event to benefit and support the  South Capitol Hill neighborhood and its unique culture. We’ll be finding new and improved ways to do that every year.

The Capitol Hill Chamber tells us nothing specific has been worked out yet for the effort.

Community support: Organizers were part of a series of meeting to discuss the 2011 festival. While there was a handful of business owners who opposed the expanded festival, the overwhelming majority of residents and business owners who spoke at the meetings expressed support for the challenging urban festival. At one of the meetings, Mike Meckling of Neumos said he employs 70 people full-time for the three-day run of the festival and that his summer business depends on the Block Party’s success. “We will bring thousands of people into the neighborhood,” Meckling said. Meanwhile, some people who live in the area have been provided tickets for themselves and friends to be part of the fun while others have been offered hotel rooms so they can move out of Pike/Pine for the weekend if they choose, Meinert said. The biggest change has been overall communication with meetings planned and communicated more widely. Even before 2010′s expanded event, there were some businesses that felt left out by the growing festival. “Maybe Block Party hasn’t been as involved as they should have been in previous years,” producer Jason Lajeunesse said about not having worked more closely with the Capitol Hill Chamber in the past.

• CHBP organizers have teamed with several local businesses to offer ticket deals for purchases at the neighborhood merchants. Here are some example offers. Each has a limit (i.e., first 10 customers) so make sure to check with the merchant prior to purchase:

$500 at Retrofit Home, get 3-day pass

$50 at 35th North Skateshop, 1-day ticket

$50 at Cupcake Royale, 1-day ticket

$50 at Elliott Bay Book Co, 1-day ticket

$50 at Everyday Music, 1-day ticket

Haircut or color at Emerson Salon, 1-day ticket

• After experiencing 2010 mostly as an outsider to the festivities, Elliott Bay Book Co. is much more integrated in the 2011 event. The big highlight should be Thurston Moore reading poetry from the booklet of his Demolished Thoughts album Friday night.
• Organizers are still pulling together a roster of sales and deals available to visitors to the neighborhood during the festival. An example will be “15% off smoking accessories for Block Party attendees, and 25% off clothing!” at the Crypt, we’re told.
• There’s also some savvy counter-programming afoot. Like any good music event, the Block Party can bring out the “bridge and bridge” crowd. Lobby Bar is dedicated to gaying up Block Party with its Backdoor Weekend.
• Broadway’s TidBit Bistro is planning “a 3-day day&night Happy Hour with $1 wines, $3 wells and $3-5 tapas.” 12th Ave’s Lark is also planning a special menu for the weekend in conjunction with the Party.
• HG Lodge will be open and cover free all day Saturday to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the Members 206 club night.
• Bluebird rolls out a custom Block Party-inspired coffee+stout Battles ice cream flavor.
• Odd Fellows-based start-up King of the Web is playing CHBP Twitter bingo.
• “ThePeople’s Republic of Komedy is planning on having comedy events on all three nights of Block Party.  On Friday, we have our usual weekly comedy show at 8pm.  Saturday, 9pm, a live version of the local comedy podcast Charisma -2, with stand up and sketch comedy.  Sunday night, 9pm, the Ashley Judd Comedy Hour presents an evening of sketch comedy.  All at the People’s Republic Kafe.  1718 12th Ave.  ”
• High 5 Pie: ”We are VERY excited for Block  Party  here at High 5 Pie!  For those three days, we are doing special and awesome hours:  Friday July 22nd open at our usual 7am and staying open UNTIL 3 AM!  Sat, July 23, open 10am UNTIL 3AM!  Late night pie n coffee for all those rock n rollers…we are really looking forward to this!  Also, on Sunday, looks like we may be hosting a pre and/or post-show Pie Party  for one of the labels represented…so, basically, I can’t wait for that weekend to be here!! ”
• “Poquitos is super excited to be smack dab in the middle of Block Party 2011… Poquitos will be 21 and over ONLY for the entire weekend. The menu will be limited and they will have door guys. Rich Fox, one of the managing partners, has a lot of experience with large crowds. He has worked in super busy clubs/bars. “

If you know of a business promotion on the Hill this weekend, let us know in comments and we’ll continue to update this post.

OK. The whole “save King County Metro” thing is hyperbolic. But the threatened cuts are real enough. Metro is going to have to either find emergency funding (the Congestion Reduction Charge to the rescue) or start making even more significant cuts to bus service starting in 2012. Commute Seattle sends out this reminder of Tuesday night’s public meeting to discuss the situation and collect public feedback on solutions. Can’t attend? You can weigh in online here.

Why your route may be affected. 

Without more funds, a total of 600,000 hours of transit service would need to be eliminated over the next two years. This is about 17 percent of Metro’s entire system, but it would affect up to 80 percent of bus riders. That means as many as four out of five people will have to walk further, wait longer, make an extra transfer, stand in the aisle, or stand on the curb and see fully loaded buses pass them by. And it will force tens of thousands of people back into cars, worsening congestion for everyone.

What Can You Do? Attend!

Tomorrow the King County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee is hosting a special evening hearing in Seattle to hear public testimony on the proposed transit service reduction and congestion reduction charge. 

Public Hearing to Save King County Metro
Tuesday, July 12, 6 – 8 p.m.
King County Council Chambers
King County Courthouse, 10th Floor
516 Third Avenue Seattle, WA 

This meeting is an opportunity for you to learn about the proposals and weigh in on the future of Metro transit.

The person arrested during this weekend’s vandalism on Capitol Hill is a transgender anarchist and activist best known for smashing windows at the Democratic party headquarters in Denver in a summer 2009 attack, CHS has learned. Maurice Schwenkler, 25, was booked into jail early Sunday morning after being arrested as police busted up a march on Broadway that also resulted in broken windows at businesses along the crowd’s route and attacks on police cruisers. Schwenkler, who goes by the name Ariel Attack, was booked for pedestrian interference but has not yet been charged with a crime.

CHS has confirmed Schwenkler’s identity by comparing Seattle and Denver court records for the 25-year-old.

More on Schwenkler from the Denver Post

Schwenkler pleaded guilty in the 2009 Denver case and was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution. Anarchist groups raised funds to help cover the penalty and Schwenkler’s legal bills.

According to a spokesperson for the Seattle City Attorney’s office, charges in the case could take weeks as police gather evidence and prosecutors weigh their case against Schwenkler.

The Saturday night/Sunday morning melee started as a gathering billed as “a roving dance party in the streets.” Participants report a situation that quickly turned hostile and destructive as some people in the crowd of 100+ participants began attacking police cars and attempting to break windows. Two businesses suffered broken glass, an ATM was smashed and two patrol cars were damaged. SPD called the situation a “mob” in its report on the incident.

Schwenkler’s arrest was the only one reported by police in direct connection with the incident. No significant injuries were reported though SPD did say one officer suffered a minor shoulder injury. A police officer responding to the East Precinct from downtown as the situation escalated was also injured when his car smashed into a utility pole downtown as he rushed to assist.

A tragic but important milestone for the city will be marked by a project planned for the Broadway light rail construction wall that needs your stories and photos to make it happen. Details on the project headed up by Capitol Hill’s Gay City Health Project are below. Organizers are seeking stories and pictures from the community commemorating three decades of living with HIV/AIDS in Seattle.

As the international HIV/AIDS crisis continues into the fourth decade, the Seattle community prepares to reflect upon where we began and where we are headed.

Using three panels from the “red wall” on Capitol Hill (facing Broadway), organizers from different aspects of the community are working together to create an installation that both reflects and commemorates our unique, individual and community experiences in regards to the epidemic that changed the landscape of the world.

---

Void of entitlement or organizational ownership, the project organizers have congruently planned out the three phases of the installation – the first of which will be available for public consumption just in time for Pride – end of June. The remaining two installations will be presented in the following months to culminate on World AIDS Day – December 1, 2011. The tagline for the project is “Take Action Seattle” and the parties involved hope Seattle will do just that.

In addition to the physical installation, a website will be created harnessing images and recollections from the past 30 years ofAIDS. The website will also include a timeline, containing properties like the following (from the early end of the spectrum):

1981: First cases of Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP) are reported in young previously healthy gay men in LA, NY, & SF. The phenomenon initially is referred to as Gay Related Immune Deficiency (GRID).

1982: First case of AIDS is reported in King County, WA (Seattle); 2nd case is a person who returned to Seattle after a diagnosis in Hawaii.

1982: Bobby Campbell visits Seattle and shows his KS lesions to a group of doctors and volunteers at the Seattle Gay Clinic: first local AIDS forum sponsored by Seattle Gay Clinic & Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities is held at Seattle Central Community College to an overflow crowd of 300.

Seattle has a longstanding history with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Broadway, in particular, was a central meeting spot for those affected before treatments and medication became “the norm.” There could not be a more appropriate location for this installment as we approach the 30

th  Anniversary of HIV/AIDS here in Seattle.

So, how can you get involved? Email us your stories, photos and anything else you feel should be commemorated regarding HIV/AIDS in Seattle. We want to hear from you! Send an email with your stories and photos here: Robert@GayCity.org.

The boot (originally uploaded to Flickr by randomsheet)

Coming soon to the streets of Seattle: the boot. Starting July 5th, the city will begin enforcing its ticket scofflaw ordinance with hardware. The most double-whammy part of boot enforcement? You’re also on the hook for returning the device to the city or you will face further fines. In the meantime, you have another week and change to take advantage of Seattle’s ticket amnesty period when collections fees and interest will be waived on any outstanding tickets. And even your less impressive ones. Details on the new rules, the amnesty and how to check your outstanding ticket status, below.

If you have any unpaid parking tickets, the City strongly suggests you take care of them immediately. 

Vehicles that have four or more unpaid parking tickets are defined as Scofflaws, per City ordinance #123447. For all Scofflaws, starting July 5:

• Your vehicle will be immobilized (“booted”) on a City street.

• Once booted, to get the vehicle released you will have 48 hours to pay all parking tickets, default penalties, interest, collections agency fees, and a boot fee.

• If you do not pay within 48 hours of being booted, the vehicle will be towed and impounded. To release the vehicle from impound, you will need to pay all fees and fines, plus tow fees, per Seattle Municipal Code.

• If your vehicle is not claimed from impound within 15 days, it will be sold at auction to help pay your debts.

Pay now to avoid boot and tow fees and save yourself the hassle of being booted and/or impounded. Parking tickets may cost less from May 2011 through June 2011 as part of the Court’s Collections Reduction Program

Check the Seattle Municipal Court – Public Information Web Site to see if your vehicle has unpaid parking tickets

Seattle to give parking scofflaws the boot starting July 5
Pay outstanding parking tickets now and save money;
collection fees and interest waived through June 30 if tickets are paid in full 

SEATTLE – Beginning July 5, 2011, scofflaw vehicles – those with four or more overdue, unpaid parking tickets – found in public-right-of-way may get the boot, a wheel-locking device, whether they are parked illegally or legally.

To avoid the boot and save money, motorists are urged to take advantage of the Seattle Municipal Court’s “collections reduction event,” which waives all collections fees and interest on parking and traffic infractions if tickets are paid in full. This event ends June 30, 2011.

Once a vehicle has been booted, all unpaid scofflaw-eligible parking tickets, collection fees and interest on that vehicle, as well as the $145 boot fee, must be paid to get the vehicle released. After the payment has been made, or time payment entered into, the vehicle will be removed from the scofflaw list. The boot fee is paid to the city’s boot vendor, PayLock.

If all unpaid parking tickets and associated fees are not paid within 48 hours, excluding weekends, then the booted vehicle may be towed and impounded.

After impounding, if the scofflaw-eligible parking tickets and associated fees (including tow and boot fees) are not paid in full or a time payment plan is not established with Alliance One, the Municipal Court’s collection agency, within 15 days, then the vehicle may be auctioned.

Net program revenues are projected at $1.1 million in 2011 and $1.8 million in 2012. The revenues generated from scofflaw enforcement are expected to start out strong and then drop off as the scofflaws backlog declines. The city is owed $25.8 million for the scofflaw citations; another $3.7 million is due to the city’s collections agency, although not all of that will be collectible through the boot program.

SPD parking enforcement officers (PEOs) will patrol city streets with two license plate recognition technology equipped vehicles. When a scofflaw vehicle is identified, PEOs will apply a notice to the vehicle (which includes boot-removal information), and lock the vehicle’s wheel with a boot.

Motorists have three payment options if their vehicles have been booted:

• Pay via telephone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 
• Pay in person during business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) on the first floor of the Seattle Municipal Court, 600 Fifth Ave.
• Enter into a time payment agreement with Alliance One, the Municipal Court’s collection agency. 

Motorists are responsible for returning the boots, which should be placed in the vehicle’s trunk for safety purposes, to one of three boot drop-off areas:

• Park 90/5, 730 S. Stacy St., Building “C”
  Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Southeast Neighborhood Service Center, 3815 S. Othello St., Suite 105
  Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• University Neighborhood Service Center, 4534 University Way N.E.
  Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

If motorists do not return the boot within two calendar days of release, a fine of $25 per day will be levied. If motorists intentionally damage or fail to return a boot, a replacement fee of $500 can be levied.

As of May 15, 2011, 23,000 vehicles are listed as eligible for booting. While some of the license plates on the list are inactive, vehicles with four or more overdue, unpaid tickets that have since been sold to a new owner will not be on the list, provided the new owner has noted the sale with the Washington state department of licensing, as required by state law. The number of vehicles on the city’s scofflaw list is always changing as parking tickets are regularly issued or paid in full.

There are an estimated 500,000 parking spaces in public right-of-way and about one-fifth of these spaces are regulated (i.e., paid, time, loading, permit, or other restrictions). In 2010, the city’s General Fund realized approximately $27.8 million in paid parking meter revenue and $21.4 million in parking fines. SPD issued 600,543 parking tickets in 2010.

In adopting the 2011 budget, the City Council passed Ordinance 123447, which created the parking scofflaw program. Accompanying the legislation was a Statement of Legislative Intent (125-2-A-3), which called for a business plan to be developed by an interdepartmental team, composed of staff from the Department of Finance and Administrative Services, Seattle Municipal Court, SPD, SDOT, the City Budget Office, the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, and the City Council. The business plan was presented to the City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee today. The business plan is available online at:http://www.seattle.gov/scofflaw/

With some $2 million still in need of cutting from the school’s planned budget and important programs like Basic and Transitional Studies at risk, Seattle Central Community College is holding a public forum next week to give people in the community — me and you — an opportunity to be heard:

President Paul Killpatrick will host a community forum on Monday, June 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Broadway Performance Hall.   The purpose of the forum is to allow our external community supporters to have a dialog with Dr. Killpatrick and the college vice presidents.

Seattle Central must cut $4 million from its budget by June 30 and anticipates a similar cut next year.  All are welcome to attend, but please come prepared to offer possible solutions. All programs are valuable, this is understood. The question is, can we make every program financially sustainable?

We realize this is short notice; we want to hear from the community before making final decisions, and these must be made soon.

School administrators have already planned about $2.5 million in cuts by eliminating unfilled positions and other workforce cutbacks. According to a school spokesperson, SCCC is now assessing its programs for possible cuts to cover the remaining $2 million shortfall.

more at CHS Capitol Hill Seattle capitolhillseattle.com

An “extraordinary opportunity” has hit the Capitol Hill rental market. Capitol Hill developer Michael Malone is putting his 1905 St. Mark’s mansion up for rent, CHS has learned. You can make the nearly 9,000 square-foot 10th Ave E home with “dramatic views,” the “fantastic rec room” and the “pool side terrace and gardens” your romping grounds. But you’ll probably need roommates. Rent clocks in at $15,000. A month.

Extraordinary opportunity to rent a fully furnished estate on the crest of Capitol Hill, with dramatic views of Lake Union, Downtown, and the Olympic Mountains. Gated drive opens to 1-1/2 acre property and historic Arts and Crafts style home. Tremendous craftsmanship, very inviting residence, lovely rooms. library, media room, paneled dining room, fantastic rec room, pretty kitchen family room with access to the pool side terrace and gardens. Cabana.

According to county records, the 1.5 acre property and 6-bedroom house was already in the Malone family when the Hunters Capital head acquired it in 1990. No word on why Malone is making the fully furnished home available now but perhaps he’s enjoying his new Broadway Building which is a little more in the heart of the action.