Group tells city to keep Kent Neighborhood Councils

Representatives from four Kent Neighborhood Councils told the City Council Tuesday to dump any idea of cutting the neighborhood program as part of proposed city budget cuts.

The Council discussed potential reductions in the neighborhood program at a May 10 budget workshop. The Council has not yet formally voted on any proposed cuts for the rest of 2010 in order to reduce the budget by nearly $7 million. That vote is expected to be taken before the end of June, said Council President Jamie Perry.

But the Council has been going back and forth at budget workshops over the last several weeks with Mayor Suzette Cooke, Chief Administrative Officer John Hodgson and city department heads about what to keep, add or drop from the initial list of budget cuts Cooke gave to the Council in April.

“We still need about $200,000 in cuts,” Hodgson said during a phone interview Wednesday about the remaining six months of this year.

The Council directed city staff to look at cutting $100,000 from the mayor’s office and $100,000 from the Economic and Community Development program, Hodgson said. The neighborhood program falls under the mayor’s office budget.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Albertson said during a phone interview Wednesday that Council asked the mayor and city staff to look into consolidating certain aspects of the Kent Police Block Watch program with the Neighborhood Program. She said the Council does not want to cut the neighborhood program, but it is up to the mayor to propose where to cut from her office.

“We asked the mayor to cut $200,000, we did not say where or how,” Albertson said.

Four residents showed up to speak about the Neighborhood Councils during an open forum session at the regular Council meeting Tuesday. Nearly a dozen other residents attended the meeting in support of the program.

The city started the neighborhood program in 2006 in an effort to help residents form their own councils in order to work closer with city officials to promote events or resolve issues. The city has 18 Neighborhood Councils formed in the East Hill, Valley and the West Hill.

“Two days ago I was informed that many on the City Council plan to dismantle the Neighborhood Council program by reducing staff that we depend on for the programs,” said Dawn Banfield, president of the West Hill Neighborhood Council, at the Tuesday meeting. “The mayor’s staff, especially Toni Azzola, have been our lifeline. We would not have accomplished what we have without them.”

Azzola works as the city neighborhood program coordinator. She has helped groups organize and receive grants to publish newsletters, install neighborhood entrance signs, fill sandbags and many other projects to improve the neighborhood.

Tina Budell, president of the North Park council, told the City Council that Azzola helped her organize a Spanish-speaking informational Green River flooding meeting last November that attracted more than 300 people from the Latino community.

“Without the neighborhood program and guidance, the people served by the Neighborhood Councils don’t have the access to government to work on the problems we do as volunteers,” Budell said.

Councilwoman Deborah Ranniger told the residents after their testimony that she supported the neighborhood program.

“Your presence here shows the success of the neighborhood program and councils,” Ranniger said. “I am appalled myself that we are even discussing to eliminate these programs.”

Perry also told the residents she supported the neighborhood program.

No other Council members spoke about the issue at the meeting.

The proposal to find other areas to cut came up after the Council told the mayor last week it wanted to keep two bicycle police officers as well as the subsidy to support the Kent Senior Center lunch program she had proposed to cut.

The budget for the final six months of 2010 also must include an estimated $101,000 to pay to King County for animal control and sheltering services, which means cutting that money from elsewhere in the budget.

“The mayor has told the Council that she does not support cuts in the neighborhood program or communications or reduced hours in the mayor’s office,” Hodgson said.

The Council is expected to have another budget workshop at a date still to be determined later this month to discuss how to find another $200,000 in cuts. Hodgson said Wednesday that city staff had not yet come up with any proposals for those cuts.

As for the neighborhood program, Azzola said she has watched similar programs work for other cities as well as Kent.

“When I came here I believed I could make a difference between government and residents and it has worked,” Azzola said during a phone interview Wednesday. “It would be sad to see the program cut. I don’t know how communication would get out like it is now. I think it’s fabulous for people to pull together and work on all aspects of a neighborhood.”

For more information on the Neighborhood Councils, call Azzola at 253-856-5708 or go to www.ci.kent.wa.us and search for Neighborhood Councils.