Gordon Padelford to coordinate Neighborhood Support for Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

[Cathy Tuttle]

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways just got a grant from the Bullitt Foundation (Cheer wildly!!) to do more community engagement. I've hired Gordon Padelford as a consultant to be our Neighborhood Support Coordinator. 

Gordon has a background in Government and Environmental Studies and comes to us after working at the YMCA and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. As a volunteer, Gordon was a key organizer of the SR-520 campaign, a leader of Central Seattle Greenways, organizer of the 2013 Livable Streets Mayoral Forum, and has been working to create a Lake Union Greenways group. There are now 23 local Seattle Neighborhood Greenway groups in and around Seattle. Some of you are already real community powerhouses, and many more of you will be powerhouses in the next year with Gordon's support. New groups still seem to be starting up rapidly. You'll be hearing a lot from Gordon as he hopes to visit all of the groups soon!

Gordon will be the primary liaison between the local groups and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways so I can focus on citywide policies and events. So much is happening. We've completely transformed the conversation in the City, in other advocacy groups, and in the our communities about our desire for safe, comfortable streets for all of us.

Just in the past few weeks so much has happened:

• a new pedestrian signal was installed on Queen Anne Ave N and Highland Drive creating the Crown of Queen Anne as we requested in our 2013 project list
  
• SDOT did a walk through and committed to reconfigure a Madison Park intersection this fall where a cyclist hit a pedestrian and we held a Memorial Vigil
  
• the Mayor promises $14.8 million for road safety around schools (several Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Core members are very active on the School Road Safety committee) AND another $14 million in other road safety improvements
  
• the NE 75th road rechannelization was completed, with help from NE Seattle Greenways, just five months after Seattle Neighborhood Greenways initiated an April 1 Memorial Walk and community meeting for a double pedestrian fatality.
  
• and the Ballard Greenway officially opened!
  

Gordon, and I, and many of us spend amazing numbers of hours talking to SDOT, many other City departments, many other non-profits and businesses, City Council, and the Mayor's Office. The projects above are a testament to all of our hard work and the undeniable power of a coalition of neighborhood groups working together towards a common goal. 

Our success is an indication that we all need to keep going together. Greenways are about you, your family, and your neighborhood and all of us living together. It's about what we can accomplish as a larger community to make our streets safe for everyone regardless of what neighborhood we live in or how we choose to get around. Help us accomplish this great work by donating to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. Even your $10 donation shows that you support and believe in the idea that we will accomplish far more when we work together as a coalition of neighborhood groups than we ever thought possible. And yes, we still need your invaluable time! Donate here.

I'm grateful for all you do to make a better world.

Cathy Tuttle, Executive Director

www.SeattleGreenways.org