Comment from Laura Argilla
Time November 24, 2009 at 12:54 pm

Can you apply pressure to the Seattle Public Schools to balance the inequities in the Pay to K system. Currently kindergarten parents pay fees to provide full day kindergarten. The problem is that the fee varies from location to location. For some schools it is free (and not just schools that meet the poverty requirement. For example Salmon Bay does not charge for kindergarten) and for others it is as high as $250 per month. This means some parents pay $2500/year for full day kindergarten and others pay nothing. It would be more equitable to balance the costs across all full day kindergarten parents so each parent paid the same price (with an exemption for those meeting the free and reduced lunch qualifications). I’ve tried to bring this issue to the attention of the school district and have pretty much been told they are aware of the problem and may (or may not) do something about it in the future. I understand the mayor is not in charge of the school district, but I believe you made statements about taking a participatory role in the schools in Seattle as Obama had suggested all mayors do.

Comment from Chad Lupkes
Time November 30, 2009 at 9:37 am

I’d love to see people who have submitted ideas to ‘ideasforseattle.com’ and come to these town halls given a minute each to pitch their ideas directly to the Mayor-Elect.

Comment from Joan Rocheleau
Time November 30, 2009 at 11:16 am

I’ve owned my home in Meadowbrook for 33 years (south of Lake City, North of Wedgwood and due East of Northgate. There was no water problem there 33 years ago. Today is a different story. Because of all of the “urbanization” of the Northgate area, concrete door to door, trees taken out, the water flows downhill into our area. Now, instead of the city taking responsibility, I have been given notice by FEMA that I am now in a “flood prone” area. This sounds like expensive flood insurance and lowered property values to me. It also sounds irresponsible on the part of Seattle proper. Please help with drainage issues, larger culverts, redirecting water, and adding parallel overflow waterways where appropriate. thank you for asking for neighborhood input. How refreshing! Joan

Comment from George Robertson
Time December 6, 2009 at 12:18 pm

See Danny Westneat’s column on page B1 in the 12/06/2009 Sunday Seattle Times, “$10 an hour with 2 kids? IRS pounces”. According to the IRS, Rachel Porcaro is too poor to live in Seattle. As a Seattle resident of very low income, she is therefor presumed to not be supporting her kids and not entitled to claim an income tax deduction for her children. So she owes the IRS more tax. This is abusive tax enforcement. I am going to allow that their action might be technically legal on some weird basis, but it is at least morally intolerable.

I think Mike ought to say something in public about the many hundreds and perhaps thousands of under employed and underpaid people currently struggling to survive and remaining in Seattle, I think he might address “doubling-up” for housing, and ask the appropriate agency of Seattle government to find some new ways to create more boarding house accomodations in Seattle to help everyone like Rachel Porcaro survive. We ought to set out to make it true that a person making minimum wage or $10 an hour, can live in Seattle and remain in support of two dependent children. In the mean time, As Mayor, he ought to along with the Seattle Business community formally seek some kind of relief from the federal government for low wage workers from this kind of Abusive tax enforcement. We need these low wage workers in Seattle. Love it or hate it, all business that remains alive in Seattle, is to some degree surviving on the productivity provided by struggling low wage workers, people just like Rachel. We must at least have the integrity to back them up. Please help.