CcLober 28, 2014

ClLy of SeaLLle, Cfflce of Lhe Mayor

Mayor Ld Murray
600 4Lh Ave #7
SeaLLle, WA

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uear Mayor Murray,

AL Lhe monLhly meeLlng of Lhe uelrldge nelghborhoods ulsLrlcL Councll (unuC) on CcLober 13, 2014, a member
of Lhe nelghborhood MaLchlng lund (nMl) Advlsory CommlLLee lnformed Lhe assembled communlLy members
of lLs recommendaLlons for Lhe Small Sparks and Lhe Large ro[ecLs lund. We be||eve that these
recommendat|ons p|ace the Department of Ne|ghborhoods (DoN) |n d|rect v|o|at|on of keso|ut|on 27709,
whlch esLabllshed Lhe duLles of Lhe Cfflce of Lhe nelghborhoods as well as Lhe funcLlon of Lhe ClLy
nelghborhood Councll (CnC) and Lhe ulsLrlcL nelghborhood Counclls.

1he uelrldge nelghborhoods ulsLrlcL Councll does not accepL Lhe recommendaLlons of Lhe nMl Advlsory
CommlLLee for Lhe Large ro[ecLs lund (Ll) for Lhe followlng reasons:
1he ClLy nelghborhood Councll was noL parL of Lhe recommendaLlon process whlch ls ln dlrecL
vlolaLlon of 8esoluLlon 27709, ALLachmenL A, SecLlon 3, arL b "1he respons|b|||t|es of the CNC
sha|| |nc|ude |} rev|ew and recommendat|ons regard|ng C|ty budget |ssues |nc|ud|ng the genera|
fund, cap|ta| and b|ock grant budgets and the Ne|ghborhood Match|ng Iund"
1he Advlsory CommlLLee recommends Lhe Ll 8equlre only ClLywlde 8evlew 1eam Lo revlew all
Ll appllcaLlons" whlch vlolaLes SecLlon 8, arL d "1he Match|ng Iund sha|| be adm|n|stered
through the Cff|ce of Ne|ghborhoods, |n consu|tat|on w|th the C|ty Ne|ghborhood Counc||. 1he
D|str|ct Counc||s and then the C|ty Ne|ghborhood Counc|| sha|| rate and rank the e||g|b|e
app||cat|ons for the Match|ng Iund."
1he Advlsory CommlLLee's recommendaLlons are Lo allow for non-geographlcal appllcanLs and
pro[ecLs Lo apply for Lhe Ll ls also ln vlolaLlon of Lhe 8esoluLlon 27709, 8evlsed ALLachmenL A
(11.06.89), SecLlon 8, arL b "1he fund sha|| be d|sbursed |n match|ng grants to ne|ghborhood
organ|zat|ons to address prob|ems they have |dent|f|ed. At |east 57S0,000 per year beg|nn|ng
|n 1989 sha|| be a||ocated from the Match|ng Iund to |ow-|ncome ne|ghborhoods"
We furLher belleve LhaL Lhe proposed budgeL lLem Lo move $1.3 mllllon from Lhe LMl lnLo Lhe nelghborhoods
ark and SLreeL lund ls also ln vlolaLlon of 8esoluLlon 27709, ALLachmenL A, SecLlon 8, parL e Match|ng Iund
do||ars sha|| not be used to rep|ace do||ars wh|ch wou|d otherw|se have been ava||ab|e to the ne|ghborhoods
from the C|ty".

1he unuC ls concerned LhaL Lhese proposed changes were dlsclosed wlLh a november 2014 deadllne. unuC
reps for our nelghborhood and CommunlLy Counclls (and oLher parLlclpaLlng communlLy organlzaLlons) need Lo
dlscuss Lhese recommendaLlons wlLh Lhelr respecLlve organlzaLlons, and many do noL meeL ln november and/or
uecember. 1hls leaves us lnsufflclenL Llme Lo obLaln genulne CommunlLy feedback.






ln llghL of Lhe above, and ln conslderaLlon of a good relaLlonshlp wlLh your communlLy leader consLlLuency golng
forward, we now call on you as Lhe Mayor of SeaLLle Lo:
ueclare an lmmedlaLe halL Lo Lhls process and obLaln an lndependenL evaluaLlon of Lhe
relaLlonshlp beLween Lhe uon and clLlzen communlLy leaders
CbLaln a revlew and lndependenL evaluaLlon of Lhe Survey Monkey poll used and ofLen
referenced as [usLlflcaLlon by Lhe uon
LsLabllsh a renewed commlLmenL Lo Lhe foundaLlonal elemenLs of Lhe uon - 1he CnC, Lhe ulsLrlcL
Counclls, and Lhe nelghborhoods Lhey serve:
o lor Lhe pasL Lhree years, Lhe uon has wlLhdrawn lLs ongolng supporL Lo Lhe ClLy
nelghborhood Councll by noL sLafflng CnC meeLlngs on a regular basls, a vlolaLlon of
8esoluLlon 27709, ALLachmenL A, SecLlon 4, arL d "1he Cff|ce sha||, have the
respons|b|||ty for the fo||ow|ng ongo|ng act|v|t|es: . staff support for the C|ty
Ne|ghborhood Counc||"
o 8eglnnlng ln 2009, sLafflng and funds ln dlrecL supporL of Lhe core mlsslon of Lhe uon
have been cuL and noL resLored, acLlons we regreLfully accepLed as necessary aL Lhe Llme,
buL no longer
1he unuC belleves Lhls recenL acLlon by Lhe leadershlp of Lhe uon Lo be anoLher example of Lhe ueparLmenL of
nelghborhoods loss of focus on lLs orlglnal mlsslon - Lo serve our nelghborhoods ln parLnerlng wlLh our clLy
governmenL. We conslder Lhls acLlon a roadblock Lo helplng our nelghborhoods Lo bulld sLrong and vlbranL
communlLles. Pavlng esLabllshed your elecLlon plaLform wlLh nelghborhoods as a one of flve foundaLlonal
elemenLs, we call on you Lo honor your commlLmenL.

ln CommunlLy,

MaL Mc8rlde
unuC resldenL

eLe Spaldlng
unuC vlce-resldenL

cc:
kshama SawanL, ClLy Councllmember
8ruce Parrell, ClLy Councllmember
1om 8asmussen, ClLy Councllmember
Sally 8agshaw, ClLy Councllmember
Sally Clark, ClLy Councllmember
nlck LlcaLa, ClLy Councllmember
!ean Codden, ClLy Councllmember
Mlke C'8rlen, ClLy Councllmember
1lm 8urgess, ClLy Councllmember
ClLy nelghborhood Councll 8epresenLaLlves and AlLernaLes
8ernle MaLsuno, lnLerlm ulrecLor ueparLmenL of nelghborhoods
!ames 8ush