Fwd: Light Rail Station Opening at 148th August 30th, Public Safety Committee, Student Mental Health funding, CARE Expansion to North Precinct

[Licton Springs Community Council]

See Councilmember Cathy Moore's latest newsletter, including an update on her loitering/SOAP proposal (under the Public Safety Committee header):

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Councilmember Cathy Moore <cathy...@seattle.gov>
Date: Fri, Aug 16, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Subject: Light Rail Station Opening at 148th August 30th, Public Safety Committee, Student Mental Health funding, CARE Expansion to North Precinct
To: <lictons...@gmail.com>

This week's newsletter contains updates about a Light Rail Station Opening at 148th August 30th, Public Safety, CARE Expansion to North Precinct

Trouble seeing the message? View this email in your browser. New Light Rail Station Opens August 30th at 148th Public Safety Committee Council Approves CARE Expansion to North Precinct $12.25 Million Approved for Student Mental Health Washington Families Clean Energy Credit No Council Meetings Next Two Weeks In District 5 New Light Rail Station Opens August 30th at 148th On August 30th Sound Transit will open a new light rail station just north of the city limits at 148th Street on 5th Avenue NE in Shoreline. It will be called the "Shoreline South/148th" station. The station includes a parking garage with 500 spaces, and passengers can be dropped off north of the garage. Bike lockers and racks are available. Additional information is at Sound Transit's Shoreline South/148th Station webpage. This station opens as part of the Lynnwood Link Extension, which also includes stations in North Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood. The station will connect to stations on the 1 Line at the University of Washington, Downtown, SeaTac Airport, and 19 existing stations. With the additional stations, Northgate will no longer be the end point for the line. Sound Transit plans to open an additional station  at NE 130th Street in 2026. SDOT recently provided an update about projects in planning and design to enhance station access at 130th. King County Metro's Lynnwood Link Connections webpage includes updates about bus service changes that will begin on September 14th, and provide connections to the Shoreline South/148th Station. Public Safety Committee The Public Safety Committee heard a presentation on my legislation legislation to address commercial sexual exploitation. The turnout for the committee meeting was very high, with many North Aurora residents in attendance sharing their personal experiences with the commercial sexual exploitation in this area, and associated gun violence. Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting. I'll be proposing some amendments in response to public comments, including limiting the stay out of prostitution area to buyers and promoters (i.e. johns and pimps), so that it won't apply to sellers, who are predominately women. I'll be pursuing a budget request in the annual budget process that begins in late September for resources, including an emergency receiving center for the north end. I've heard interest in accessing the video presentation heard in committee; here's a link to the video. The next Public Safety committee meeting will be on September 10th. Council Approves CARE Expansion to North Precinct As a vocal advocate for the CARE program since taking office, I was thrilled to vote in the mid-year supplemental budget for its expansion to be a citywide program that will have behavioral health responders in the north end beginning this fall. We have many people in crisis in the north end, and having CARE crisis responders is encouraging for the future health and safety of our communities. I have advocated strongly for this during my time in office with the Mayor's Office and CARE, and emphasized the need in District 5. I've also heard strong public support. Expansion is based on 911 call data from 2023; there were an average of 19 'low acuity' calls daily in the North Precinct during 2023. Thank you to the Mayor for this proposal; here is his original announcement, and additional details. $12.25 Million Approved for Student Mental Health The City Council also voted to approve $12.25 million in new spending for student mental health for the the remainder of the year. This money will be immediately available, and for the first time includes programming for middle schools. One such school is Robert Eagle Staff Middle School, which serves as a feeder to Ingraham High School. Separately, north Seattle is currently not listed as a Community Safety Hub, which means gun violence prevention services are not being directed to the north end. We clearly need this type of programming. In the upcoming budget process I will be looking at how to further expand gun violence prevention intervention in  north end schools as well as the broader community. The 2025/2026 budget process will begin when the Mayor sends his proposed budget to the Council on September 24. Washington Families Clean Energy Credit Seattle City Light is offering $200 credits for bills for income-qualified customers. This comes from the Washington Families Clean Energy Credit program.  Funding comes from the state's Climate Commitment Act. You can apply online, and view eligibility criteria, here. City Light will automatically apply the credit to customers who have already received energy assistance or another income-qualified program. No Council Meetings Next Two Weeks The City Council will be taking a summer recess the next two weeks, and there will be no Council or committee meetings. This newsletter will be taking a break as well. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and have a great Labor Day! Cathy Moore Seattle City Council // District 5 Copyright © 2024 Seattle City Council, All rights reserved. You are receiving this message because you expressed interest in District 5. Thank you for engaging! Our mailing address is: Seattle City Council 600 4th Ave Seattle, WA 98104-1850 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list