SEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION Connections FALL 2013 Bringing Inspiration and Action to the Lower Duwamish After immigrating to the U.S., Ruben Chi Bertoni fell in love with the great parks in Seattle. An advocate for environmental justice, he argues that neighborhoods in the Lower Duwamish should have the same kinds of recreational opportunities that are available in the rest of the city. Can you talk about growing up in Seattle? I spent my childhood in Bolivia. In 2001, my father took the family to the U.S. for business opportunities, but my parents divorced after we moved here. I went to high school in West Seattle, where my father lives, but over the last couple years have been spending more time in South Park with my mom. When I was in high school, my mom encouraged me to participate in the Environmental Science Academy. We would go out to parks, take water samples, and learn about nature. To be honest, I never really liked school until then. These field trips inspired me to major in environmental studies at the University of Washington. How did you get involved with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group (DRCC/ TAG), and what do you do with them? My mother, Analia, inspired me to do community work. She started working with Latino community groups when my brother and I were in school. She helped organize the first college fair for Ruben Chi Bertoni and SPF staffer the Latino community outreach organization Campaña Quetzal. Later, she worked for the Kelly Huang on a boat tour with the South Park Community Center, which currently hosts lots of events in partnership with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. DRCC/TAG. When I was doing a paper on the Duwamish River cleanup project for a class at UW, my mother introduced me to Paulina Lopez, one of DRCC’s community outreach coordinators. I started assisting with community outreach, making phone calls to Latino immigrants, and organizing events such as the annual Duwamish River Festival. My immigrant background and language skills helped me build connection with residents, and through this job I really found my niche working for the environment and the community. Duwamish Clean-up (from front page) I have also begun working with the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS) on the Powerful Neighborhoods Program. I will be helping Seattle City Light to install light bulbs in low-income households in South Park. Through your work, what have you learned about the needs of South Park residents? There is definitely a need for better park infrastructure. At one of EPA’s Duwamish River Superfund Site public meetings, a mother asked, “Why do I have to take my kids to North Seattle or Bellevue for good and safe parks, when we have a river in our neighborhood?” People need access to the river, but it hasn’t been a safe option for South Park residents. As agencies and community residents focus on the river cleanup, there is a lack of conversation about and planning for parks and green spaces. In a mixed industrial and residential neighborhood, good parks are really important. Growing up, I was lucky to have Lincoln Park nearby. I wish kids in South Park could have the same opportunities to connect with nature. Safe access to the shoreline is important to residents of the SPF is working with the South Park Area Redevelopment Committee and a broad array of Lower Duwamish. community organizations and residents on the South Park Green Space Vision Plan, which will identify priorities for improved parklands, open spaces, and recreational facilities in South Park. For more information, contact Becca Aue at 332-9900 x12 or [email protected]. Partner Spotlight: Michael Shiosaki SPF relies on Michael, the Director of Planning and Development at Seattle Parks and Recreation, for guidance, encouragement, and wise oversight. “I love my job because I get to have a hand in creating public parks and open spaces that everyone can use and enjoy forever. I feel a great responsibility to continue to expand and improve Seattle’s park system—a system that has come together through the hard work and passion of so many people over so many years. “Our parks bring great balance to my life. As much as I love living close to the heart of the city, I need my quiet time—running along Interlaken Boulevard and through the Arboretum, and walking our dog, Rory (on leash, of course), at the GAR Cemetery and Volunteer Park.” PERSPEctIVE The Parks Legacy Plan . and Beyond By Brice Maryman The Parks Legacy Plan was commissioned by the city council and Mayor Mike McGinn in the spring of 2012 to ensure that Seattle’s parks and recreational facilities remain accessible, full of opportunities, and financially and environmentally sustainable. The plan, currently in draft form, includes a detailed assessment of parks operations, recreation programs, and maintenance costs and also reflects public input. It is the guiding document for a Citizens’ Advisory Committee that is researching and recommending funding opportunities for Seattle Parks and Recreation through a proposed 2014 ballot measure. Brice Maryman is a member of the advisory committee as well as Seattle’s Board of Park Commissioners. He is a landscape architect with SvR Design Company and an ex-officio member of the Seattle Parks Foundation board of directors. Seattle is pioneering innovative ways to reinvigorate and reinvent parks and open spaces. Some of our parks, like Bell Street Park and Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, have been made possible by the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy. Other initiatives, such as the Central Waterfront, the neighborhood greenways movement, and the Lake to Bay Loop, are next frontiers in our city’s pursuit of an exceptional, interconnected network of open spaces. These efforts expand on investments in Seattle parks over several decades and return us, in important ways, to some of the principles that John Charles Olmsted compelled us to consider over a century ago. What follows are three propositions for the future of Seattle’s parks and open space system that are inspired by current discussions. This is by no means comprehensive— rather, it is an opening statement about how our system could be positioned to meet the needs of future generations. 1. Seattle deserves an interconnected, integrated system of parks and open spaces. In its draft form, the Parks Legacy Plan is an exceptional, data-driven management document. It is not, however, a visionary blueprint for our next generation’s parks and open space network— one that would interweave existing parks, bicycle and pedestrian paths, stormwater concerns, and climate resiliency. In fact, Seattle hasn’t had such a blueprint since the Olmsted Brothers’ visit to our city in 1903. If we are to consider all the public assets that could be managed as a system of open spaces, we must take into account the interdepartmental partnerships, citywide plans, and evolving environ- mental and regulatory concerns that will require coordination between Seattle Parks and Recre- ation and other entities, both within the city and beywond. Although no model is perfect, Vancouver, B.C., offers two promising approaches. First, Vancou- ver recently met a 100-year-old goal of completing a public walking and biking path around the downtown peninsula. Second, it has placed the management of its entire urban forest—a critical open space asset—under the auspices of a single agency, the independently elected Parks Board. The board not only maintains living resources in parks but also cares for street trees, provides plants and horticultural expertise to other departments, and facilitates reclamation of various street rights-of-way for new parks. 2. Parks and Recreation should lead the discussion about an open space network. Current land use discussions give insufficient weight to the role of parks and open spaces as city-making features, and without a comprehensive blueprint the city will have difficulty advancing a substantive vision for interconnected open spaces. I believe that Seattle Parks and Recreation is uniquely qualified to lead this discussion. There is simply no other agency that better understands open space planning and development. This would require a more expansive and assertive role for the department as a critical agent in shaping our city. Carved out of an abandoned parking In much the same way that the city’s neighborhood planning efforts established a vision and lot, the Thornton Creek Water Quality led to multi-agency implementation, a new open space vision will need cross-jurisdictional Channel in North Seattle—a multi- agency public space project— buy-in. A process I worked on—Open Space Seattle 2100—and Seattle Parks Foundation’s includes a water treatment facility report provide good frameworks for this vision, but ultimately these efforts and a 2.7-acre urban refuge for the Bands of Green community. Image courtesy SvR. must be articulated and implemented by the city itself. This work is something we can embark on now. The Board of Park Commissioners has reached out to the Planning Commission and is hoping to have a robust, standalone parks and open space element included in the city’s 2015 rewrite of the Comprehensive Plan. 3. We must adopt sound fiscal policies. The recession forced several rounds of cutbacks at Seattle Parks and Recreation, resulting in demonstrable impact on the way park services were delivered. It is a testament to the creativity and flexibility of the parks staff that so many essential public services and programs were preserved. As we emerge from the downturn, we should reflect on the lessons learned and establish a strong policy framework that will keep our fiscal house in order in the years to come.