Please write to the Commission supporting the Juarez/ Malaba amendment. We also urge you to attend and sign up to testify at the Oct. 18 Commission meeting, 12pm, Seattle City Hall. Links in article below.
October 14, 2022 Re: City of Seattle Council Redistricting For Fremont
Dear FNC Members and friends,
The Seattle Redistricting Commission is poised to vote on Oct. 18 to decide which Council districts to put Fremont in. The current proposal splits us among Districts 4, 6 and 7. Two amendments were proposed on October 12th. The Fremont Neighborhood Council (FNC) and some Fremont residents spoke up to object to the current proposal’s three-way split and to the proposal placing all of Fremont in District 7.
Two amendments have been proposed.
- From Ryan O’Sullivan and Neelima Shah, a map that keeps Fremont whole but moves ALL of Fremont into District 7 with most of Downtown, Belltown, Queen Anne and Interbay, crossing the Ship Canal and putting us entirely in a district that would then straddle the North and the West police precincts.
- From Eliseo Juarez and Commission Chair Patience Malaba, a proposed map that keeps us as we are now, in Districts 4 and 6, which we have told the Commission was acceptable.
Your FNC Board objected on Oct. 12. We need more voices to say to the Commission that we object to the O’Sullivan/Shah proposal before Oct. 18 and at the Oct 18 meeting. We need your help! We believe:
- the current proposal, and O’Sullivan/Shah are counter to the Commission’s charter saying district boundaries should follow “recognized waterways and Seattle communities and neighborhoods;”
- we have much more in common with our neighbors north of the Ship Canal, especially Ballard, Wallingford and Phinney Ridge;
- our long-established public safety relationships with the North Precinct should not be shattered nor severely weakened;
- that as a small community we have made it work to be in Districts 4 and 6 but it will be extremely difficult to make the adjustments the Shah and O’Sullivan amended map demands.
Please write to the Commission supporting the Juarez/ Malaba amendment. We also urge you to attend and sign up to testify at the Oct. 18 Commission meeting, 12pm, Seattle City Hall.
- Form to write to Commission here: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=RR7meOtrCUCPmTWdi1T0Gy8hOFL2SbFMna20407U41FURTNNUTVHUk9TR0VLN0dVMjJBSDc5VkEwSS4u
- Maps and more information here: https://www.seattle.gov/redistricting/how-to-participate
- Link to FNC’s earlier testimony here: https://fremontneighborhoodcouncil.org/fnc-board-voices-concern-about-seattle-redistricting-plan/
- Redistricting Justice for Seattle has a map, similar to Juarez/ Malaba that we can support: https://www.redistrictingjusticewa.org/city-council-redistricting-in-washington-state
Thank you for keeping Fremont’s voice on city issues strong.
Your Fremont Neighborhood Council Board
Fremont Neighborhood Council
3518 Fremont Ave N, #111
Seattle, WA 98103