Food Fest prep, traffic projects, crime stats, egg hunt @ Fauntleroy Community Association’s March meeting

By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The March board meeting of the Fauntleroy Community Association, chaired on Tuesday night by FCA president Frank Immel, focused largely on putting the finishing touches on planning for the group’s annual membership meeting, aka Food Fest. The big event is coming up in just a couple of weeks on Tuesday March 24th from 6-8 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW). All neighbors are welcome!

Board member David Haggerty, joining the meeting remotely, went through his list of items and tasks in preparation for the fest, including the list of local food and beverage vendors who plan to attend and provide attendees with a variety of tasty bites and sips. The board conducts a brief annual meeting at the event, which includes the election of officers for the upcoming year.

As usual, there will also be large number of community-table participants (civic, community, nonprofit, and advocacy groups) at the event, and WSB will be there as well to cover the proceedings and also to share info about the annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day which opens for registrations on April 1. Here’s the flyer that was sent to neighbors last week, with additional copies being handed out as well:

Another popular Fauntleroy event coming up: The Annual Spring Egg Hunt at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse on Saturday, March 28 at 1 pm. Board members said that planning is well underway for the event, and the group looks forward to welcoming egg-hunters for the event. 

Other items of interest that were discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting:

SPD UPDATE: Crime prevention specialist Matt Brown provided some crime statistics, with the help of another officer. For the SW Precinct as a whole (West Seattle and South Park), total crime is down 14% year-to-date compared to last year, larceny/theft down 10%, and violent crime down by a whopping 29%. For Fauntleroy in particular, total crime is actually up 62% year-to-date (but Brown pointed out that the numbers are small, with 22 incidents so far this year compared to 15 last year during the same time period, and that the 5-year weighted average is “right on par.”) Fauntleroy has had zero violent crimes this year-to-date, and all incidents logged are property crimes (with larceny/theft being the highest), including burglary and one motor vehicle theft. Shots fired: zero for Fauntleroy this year, while the SW Precinct as a whole has had 11 incidents; 3 with injuries; zero deaths; most recent incident at Alki on Saturday.

A board member asked Brown if he had any insights regarding the notable drop in crime, and he called out the citywide policing strategy emphasizing repeat offenders, for example, focusing on individuals tied to the most gun-related incidents, as being a possible factor.

Another meeting attendee asked about staffing: Brown said things are going well, with many recruits currently in the FTO (Field Training Officer) phase, ready for assignment soon. He did add, though, that the SW Precinct—having the lowest crime compared to other Seattle precincts—will likely receive fewer new officers than other precincts.

Immel asked about the availability of community safety resources for neighbors, and Brown said he frequently provides personal safety and de-escalation trainings, and there are home/business security assessments available, along with brochures and handouts. Brown said SPD will bring handouts and materials to the March 24 FCA meeting, as well as probably have a squad car available out front (the popular “mobile precinct” vehicle is unavailable that night, though). 

DUELING PROJECTS IMPACTING TRAFFIC: Before Brown and his colleague departed for their next commitments, Imel raised the issue of the “traffic nightmare” looming as a result of the large number of concurrent civil/traffic projects that Fauntleroy will soon be facing. Imel asked if SPD was involved to help with enforcement and/or initial emphasis around upcoming the upcoming traffic changes (especially at the ferry dock). Brown took notes and said he would inquire internally at SPD and report back.

Imel called out several concurrent projects that will all be occurring with a mile of each other, likely causing a serious congestion and safety risk:

• Fauntleroy/Rose St crossing project (traffic/signal modifications)
• Ferry dock expansion and new signal
• Culvert work at California Ave, with traffic changes 
• Seattle Public Utilities‘ 45th SW Fauntleroy Creek culvert-replacement project 
• Electrical undergrounding (affecting detour routes)

Board members and meeting attendees including neighbors Victoria Nelson and John McNulty continued the discussion on these projects, with several noting that the agencies involved appear to be “siloed” and not coordinating with each other. Attendees agreed that ideally there should be much tighter coordination between various groups like Metro, SPD, SPU, and Washington State Ferries, with some suggesting that projects should be staggered over time to ease gridlock. Immel said that if many of these projects indeed happen at the same time, then drivers trying to leave the area will have “no way out” due to competing detours and closures.

Immel did provide an encouraging update that he met recently with Councilmember Rob Saka and asked if he could help. Immel noted that Saka’s office has already sent a coordination request letter to several relevant department heads, and that Saka seemed ready and willing to assist with encouraging coordination. FCA board members agreed that they would also draft a consolidated letter to numerous parties, outlining the traffic and safety issues likely to be caused by so many concurrent projects happening in the area. 

For the Rose Street project in particular, Nelson and other attendees reiterated their opinion that the project is too heavy-handed and that desired results could be achieved without including components such as the planned pedestrian refuge island. Attendees agreed that better coordination with Metro to ideally install a visible bus shelter would be beneficial, and the group also talked about signal design, possible speed cushions/raised crossings, protecting bicycle access and allowing for emergency vehicle movement.

Attendees agreed that there isn’t enough community awareness for most of these projects, and still a lot of unanswered questions, and it would be ideal to have project representatives attend future FCA board meetings to provide updates. These would include people like Washington State Ferries’ Hadley Rodero (who also lives in West Seattle) and SDOT’s Ching Chan.

BOARD BUSINESS: Some board members were absent Tuesday night and the group didn’t have quorum until partway through the meeting, so the agenda shifted a bit. No significant financial updates because FCA’s treasurer was not in attendance. For membership, the group expects a bump in activity at the upcoming Food Fest, as neighbors renew their memberships or sign up for the first time. Board members also discussed the existing committees that FCA has, and that some of them should be evaluated and potentially restarted. 

CROSSING FLAGS: As the meeting closed, board member Bill Wellington also said that he had recently noticed a disturbingly high number of the group’s orange crossing flags being strewn on the ground and in the streets. Attendees agreed that this was something worth watching, to ensure that there are enough flags being properly stored and restocked for neighbors to use when crossing busy streets.

The FCA Board meets ten times per year on the second Tuesday of each month, at 6 pm in the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse board room. Meetings are open to the public.

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