Re: “Ballard Commons Park set to reopen in March after 2021 closure” [Feb. 18, Local News]:
It doesn’t make sense that our District 6 Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss describes the park as having experienced a “decade-plus of neglect.” In our fast-growing neighborhood, local Ballard residents have seen extensive efforts in recent years by city staff, hired contractors, our neighborhood business alliance and volunteers to attempt to maintain the landscape, hardscape and restroom features, to provide regular homelessness outreach and public health support, and to offer seasonal event planning and activate the park with hired ambassadors. These civic efforts and expenses could not be considered neglect by any stretch of the imagination. It would be helpful to have reporting on how much money has been spent in recent years and how it was allocated, so that this can be transparently compared to new efforts (and their outcomes).
What many people are wondering is how the city will manage to quell the persistent property damage, fights and assaults, rats, communicable-disease outbreaks, drug dealing/use and other unsafe activity that led to the lengthy fencing off of our neighborhood’s central gathering space.
Angie Gerrald, Seattle