Queen Anne News 7-26-2023

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In-person Taste of Queen Anne set for Oct. 14

For the first time since 2019, Queen Anne Helpline will be hosting an indoors, in-person Taste of Queen Anne event. The event will take place in Banchero Hall at St. Anne Catholic Church on Oct. 14 at 5:30 p.m.

“We are excited to bring you elegant small tastes from your favorite high-end Queen Anne restaurants and the opportunity to bid on exclusive auction items including vacation packages and a private, catered dinner from Eden Hill’s Owner and Executive Chef, Maximillian

Petty,” says a press release. Join your neighbors in learning more about how to support the work of Queen Anne Helpline in preventing homelessness and bolstering access to the foundational resources we all need to thrive.

More details to come on auction items available to bid on and restaurants that will be serving up tastes. Tickets and tables are available at a reduced price until Sept. 16. Visit www. queenannehelpline.org to purchase tickets or for more information.

Queen Anne Community Council seeking members

Staff Reports

The Queen Anne Community Council is a volunteer organization of those who live, work, own property, or run businesses in Queen Anne. The council’s purpose is to advocate for the people of Queen Anne by listening, engaging and communicating within the community and beyond. The council is governed by a board of trustees elected by the community at large.

The council is looking to add to the leadership team at the board level and encourage you to submit your letter of interest to us at queenannecc@gmail.com no later than Aug. 18.

Please keep your submission to 1-2 pages. Tell us about your background/experience and how you can contribute to the mission of the Council. You must be at least 18 years old to be eligible, and you must live, work, or own a business or property in Queen Anne.

Applicants with a variety of interests and skills are sought. Board members should have good communication skills, be prepared to provide written reports as needed, and be prepared to collaborate on a variety of initiatives.

We especially need individuals

Queen Anne & Magnolia Worship Services

Sunday Worship at 10am Live Streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube. Simply look for Magnolia Lutheran Church.

Twelfth Church of Christ, Scientist

In Person and Online Church Services

All are welcome & warmly invited to join these healing services

For best audio results, please join by clicking on the link from your computer or smartphone and choose “Call Over Internet”

All Zoom Services Meeting ID: 418 806 2637

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4188062637

Sunday Services 11:00am – 12noon Pacific

Wednesday Testimonies 7:30pm – 8:30pm Pacific

Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons

Our weekly Bible Lesson Sermon may be found here: https://quarterly.christianscience.com/

Additional Healing Resources: ChristianScience.com CSWashington.com SeattleMetroReadingRoom.org

For additional assistance, please contact us at seattle12cs@gmail.com or 206.283.2300

ChristianScienceTwelfthSeattle.com

For a Healthier You

CHIROPRACTORS

DENTISTS

Queen Anne Dental Group

Dr. Frank J. Calvo & Family Cosmetic, Implant, & General Dentistry

400 Boston St. 206-284-7812 www.QADG.net

Chiropractic

AND Massage Therapy

Report: Metro capital project delays continue, could impact electrification plans

A new report from the King County Auditor’s O ce found that King County Metro continues to struggle with meeting deadlines on capital projects, o en overpromising and risking increased budgets down the road.

e audit, presented July 18 before the King County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee, focused on analyzing Metro’s large capital projects — buildings and infrastructure projects over $1 million — from 2016 to 2022. e ndings come as Metro looks to electrify its eet and expand its RapidRide system, work that could be held up if Metro continues to miss deadlines.

“Metro Transit’s ability to put transportation infrastructure in place is directly linked to the e ectiveness of the County’s transit system and its impact on the environment,” said Kymber Waltmunson, King County Auditor. “We are encouraged that Metro Transit has agreed to implement all of our recommendations.”

Auditors did note that Metro leadership and sta are aware of issues and have been making improvements to try to bring projects in on time and on budget, but gaps continue to turn up.

Key ndings include:

• Metro Transit has steadily grown its capital program and increased spending. Nonetheless, spending has not kept pace with forecasts, and Metro Transit has fallen short of its projected biennium spending on xed asset capital projects by at least 33% since 2017.

• Available data shows this lag in spending is because Metro Transit completes projects later than planned.

processes since Metro Transit transitioned to a department in 2019.

• ese initiatives have helped Metro Transit improve oversight of projects, but gaps in continuous improvement practices, reliable data, and communication with sta hinder the e ectiveness of new initiatives and Metro Transit’s ability to improve performance.

• Additional gaps in speci c areas of operations include the lack of estimation standards, not aligning project planning with internal sta capacity, not yet tailoring processes to the variety of Metro Transit’s capital projects, and the lack of a process to collect and review past lessons learned to identify and mitigate repeat issues.

e audit made 19 recommendations, including:

• Metro Transit should develop, document, and implement management accountability processes to support implementation of continuous improvement initiatives.

• Metro Transit should develop, document, and implement a change management plan that ensures communication between sta and management, improves communication within and between operation groups, and creates forums for sta to ask questions and provide feedback.

• Metro Transit should align future Capital Improvement Programs and program timelines with assessments of sta capacity.

• Metro Transit should develop standardized guidance for creating capital project budget and schedule estimates from Capital Improvement Plan preparation through project baseline.

DEADLINES

News Submissions | Wednesday, Noon 206-461-1300 or QAMagNews@pacificpublishingcompany.com

Retail Display Advertising |

Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. Tammy Knaggs, 253-254-4972 or ppcadmanager@pacificpublishingcompany.com

Legal Advertising |

Friday, noon Jody Vinson, 206-461-1300 legalads@pacificpublishingcompany.com

Classified Advertising | Friday, noon 206-461-1300 or class@pacificpublishingcompany.com

Darrell Gibson, D.C. • Sarah Gibson, D.C. Graeme Gibson, D.C.

David E. Goodall III, LMT

Sarah Rose Nottingham, LMT

Lauren E. Traynor, LMT

SERVING THE FAMILIES OF QUEEN ANN E SINCE 1991 1905 Queen Anne Ave N • 206.282.8275 www.QueenAnneChiro.com

• Delays in capital projects hinder Metro Transit’s ability to meet its long-range plans (e.g., Metro Connects and the transition to a zero-emissions eet) and its ability to meet existing service levels. Delays can also lead to higher project costs because of in ation.

• Metro Transit leadership is aware of the issues and has implemented new initiatives to improve its capital planning and delivery

• Metro Transit should develop, document, and implement processes to ensure all Capital Division sta understand and practice guidance on roles and responsibilities for decision-making and escalation of project issues.

• Metro Transit should develop, document, and implement mechanisms for management to review lessons learned to identify potential division- or agencylevel improvements that could help address common issues on capital projects.

with experience or skills in one or more of the following areas: promotions, writing and publishing; conducting surveys and data collection/management; strategic planning; website development and maintenance; fundraising; accounting.

In support of our interest in serving everyone in Queen Anne, we also encourage members of the business community to apply, plus those interested in any of the following: senior citizen issues, youth issues, matters of interest to renters and property owners, schools, parks, transportation, land use, public safety issues, and other aspects of life in our community.

e Council is an all-volunteer working board, and candidates should be willing to commit a minimum of 4-8 hours per month to council responsibilities. is includes about 2 hours for our monthly board meeting. Attendance at all board meetings is critical to allow the board to perform its duties. We also have 5 standing committees and a number of project groups and encourage your active participation in one or more of these e orts.

If you are interested in helping make Queen Anne an even better place to live, work, operate a business, own property, and have fun, consider participating as a member of the Queen Anne Community Council board.

COUNCIL from Page 1

Thank you, Mr. Wong

While it was happening, I certainly

realize that leaving my wallet behind could turn out to be such an enlightenment.

Before dipping in to Mr. Wong’s Salon for a quick wash and blow-dry, I had no idea what it would cost, didn’t care to ask, because when you land work in Honolulu, you accept, regardless, and then you nd a way to deal with 80 percent humidity. And my way of dealing with it was Mr. Wong. Whose name I am terribly fond of.

“You got frizzy, I x for you, yah, yah; then you pay me money, OK?” Mr. Wong said, pulling my arm in a way no one would pull my arm in Seattle without it feeling overly aggressive. Or mean. And while I hadn’t been prepared for such a pull, it didn’t bother me,

either. Because when in Honolulu, the smorgasbord of all melting pots, it is strangely incomprehensible, when you’re in the middle of such a pull, to not read it as anything but eagerness, the nearly childish way some new immigrants display elation, those who haven’t been told it’s impolite and uncustomary —rude, even — to talk openly and ravenously about money, or the possibility of making it. My father was the same way. A er leaving his warravaged country, he was so relieved to nd work, any work, and to make money, any money, that he didn’t try to hide it. His excitement was palpable. Like a kid on Christmas morning.

“OK!” I said, happy to have someone to talk to a er days of being on my own. And so I told this complete stranger the rst

thing that came to mind about my hair, how many hours I had lain on my back as a child, staring at a picture of Cher, touching my ngers ever so desirably to the smooth straightness of her hair.

Mr. Wong ran over to a table to grab a magazine, pointing with his comb at a frayed copy of House Beautiful he’d thrown onto my lap as if to say, “Stop talking!” Before I could ip through pages of throw pillows perfectly aligned on couches that always make me think that this cannot be a real couch in a real living room, he pulled me (again!) toward the back of the salon and pushed me (again!) into a black vinyl chair. en he dipped my head under the faucet.

As a rule, I’m grateful for anyone who doesn’t make me to do all the work of

communicating. Doubly in foreign cultures. I think this is why I was ne with Mr. Wong’s take-charge attitude. Because communication in the local dialect is trickier than you think. While pidgin may sound like English, or something close to English, it’s not all that easy to speak or to understand. It’s a chopchop of English mixed with Chinese, Japanese, Filipino — any combination until a transaction is reached. And what I nally realized is that the most interesting thing I felt about Mr. Wong was how his style of forcefulness allowed me to trust him more easily.

Later that evening, it dawned on me that my wallet was missing. I proceeded to retrace my tracks, starting at Mr. Wong’s.

People in Mr. Wong’s

neighborhood went into fear mode. “Cancel your cards!” is what they said. “I no have Wong’s number,” said the woman at the Korean BBQ next to the salon. I looked to the other woman behind the counter with pleading eyes. “No worry, Wong no steal your cash,” she said. My spirit perked up. “He steal your Visa.” And the two of them laughed.

The African American security guard said, “You

Mary Lou Sanelli Falling Awake

SANELLI Page 4

Grilling: It’s all about the sauce (and the seeds)

By Lynda Balslev

It’s o cially grill season. While you’re brushing o the grill grates and prepping your proteins and vegetables, don’t forget to make a bright and zesty sauce for serving. Herbaceous, citrusy condiments, such as salsas and pestos, will complement and elevate your charred grill food. And zhoug is one sauce you should

available, ground jarred spices may be substituted.

Zhoug is meant to be spicy, but you can regulate its heat by including or omitting the seeds of the chiles. Once prepared, zhoug has myriad uses. Swirl it into yogurt for a dip or smear it on atbread, sandwiches and burgers. in it with olive oil for an herby salad dressing, or use it as a garnish for eggs, stews, grains and

1/2 teaspoon green cardamom seeds, from about 4 pods

4 spicy green chiles, such as serrano or jalapenos, seeded if desired, coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

4 SWORDFISH STEAKS, EACH 6 TO 8 OUNCES AND 3/4 TO 1 INCH THICK

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges

Make the zhoug: Combine the caraway, cumin, coriander, peppercorns and cardamom seeds in a small skillet. Toast over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Transfer the spices to a spice grinder or a mortar with pestle and nely grind. Combine the ground spices, chiles, garlic, cilantro and mint in a food processor. Pulse to chop. Add the oil, lemon, salt and Aleppo pepper and process to blend. If too thick, add more oil to achieve a salsa consistency. Taste and add more salt if desired.

consider adding to your repertoire. Zhoug (pronounced zoog) is a ubiquitous Yemenite condiment composed of ery green chiles, fresh leafy herbs and ground spices, including cardamom, caraway, coriander and cumin. Toasting and grinding whole spice seeds is worth the extra step and will deliver the deepest, most fragrant avor to the sauce. e toasting method is easy: Simply heat the whole spices in a small skillet until fragrant, then nely grind them in a mortar or spice grinder. For the cardamom, crack open the pods to release the small dark seeds and discard the pod shells. (To do this, place the pods on a work surface and bang them with the bottom of a mug or a heavy-bottomed drinking glass.) If whole spices are not

couscous. It’s also delicious spooned over roasted vegetables, meat, chicken or sh, such as the sword sh in the recipe below. Once made, the sauce can be refrigerated for up to ve days. Note that its heat will diminish with time. Serve the zhoug at room temperature.

GRILLED SWORDFISH WITH ZHOUG

Active time: 25 to 35 minutes

Total time: 25 to 35 minutes

Yield: Serves 4; makes about 1 cup sauce

ZHOUG:

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

me. I had become suspicious.

Brush the sword sh with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over direct medium-high heat until well-marked and cooked through the center, turning once, 8 to 10 minutes.

Alternatively, arrange the sword sh in a baking dish. Place in a 400-degree oven. Roast until cooked through the center, 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steaks. If desired, turn on the broiler about 1 minute before nished to lightly brown. Serve the sword sh with lemon wedges and the zhoug for spooning and drizzling.

Lynda Balslev is an award-winning writer, cookbook author, and recipe developer based in northern California. Visit TasteFood at TasteFoodblog.com.

always been.

know, Wong is a Chinese name. You’re screwed.” Two local boys said I’d never see my wallet again because, as one of them pointed out, “immigrants steal you blind.” I started to feel more upset about the smear campaign than about losing my wallet. God, the prejudice!

e next morning, nose up against Mr. Wong’s window, I pounded on the glass. Without wanting it to, the discrimination had a ected me from the outside in. Overnight it infused

Another stylist came running, “Mr. Wong have wallet for you!”

And there it was. My wallet. Handed to me wrapped in delicate rice paper. A braided ribbon made from Ti leaves tied the bundle together. I didn’t need to scan the inside. Like my rst sense about Mr. Wong, I trusted everything was there. It was.

Now, whenever I think of Mr. Wong, I can see how the whole of the world’s problems were exposed for me at his salon: is is how it is. is is how it’s

at night, in my Ly from the airport, I stared out the window at the moon and thought it was, in fact, laughing at us, we silly, eeting, humans. How it can bare our stubborn foolishness and keep right on shining, I do not know.

Mary Lou Sanelli is the author of Every Little ing, a collection of essays that was nominated for a Washington State Book Award. She also works as a speaker and a master dance teacher. For more information about her and her work, visit www.marylousanelli.com.

Lynda Balslev

Grilled Swordfish with Zhoug.

SANELLI from Page 1

Inflation, $50M budget gap has King County Public Health predicting deep cuts

By Spencer Pauley The Center Square

King County Public Health is expecting its budget to have the largest reduction among county departments as an annual $50 million budget gap looms.

King County Budget Director

Dwight Dively presented an update on the department’s budget to the King County Board of Health, revealing that Washington state’s limit on property tax revenue growth is causing the county to make budget cuts.

The state limits property tax revenue growth to 1% per year, but cost growth has exceeded this in recent years. Inflation was 6.3% in 2021, 9.5% in 2022, and is projected to be 5.5% in 2023, according to Dively.

“Essentially, your largest revenue source, by far, can grow about 2-2.5% per year, and when inflation was low, that was sort of manageable,” Dively said at the Board of Health meeting on July 20.

Dively added that the county warned the Washington State Legislature that if the property tax revenue growth limits weren’t adjusted, major budget reductions would result.

King County’s annual general fund budget is about $1.2 billion. Out of the total budget, approximately $400 million is from other governments to provide services on their behalf, such as the Sheriff’s Office serving as the police department for a suburban city. Another $400 million goes towards services mandated by the state, including jails, public defense, elections, courts, prosecution and property assessment.

The remaining $400 million in the county’s general fund goes towards discretionary spending. Thus, $50 million in annual budget reductions will stem from this part of the budget.

King County Public Health has the largest amount of discretionary general fund money, which Dively said results in the department likely facing the largest budget reductions.

“At the end of the day, many of the programs that are going to be slated for reductions are things that are very consistent with our values that we don’t want to have to cut, but because the Legislature has given us no choices, those are the things that are going to have to be reduced,” Dively said.

Washington State law also precludes King County from asking voters to approve additional property tax revenue to offset these reductions.

According to Dively, King County is the only government in the state subject to this limitation.

Approximately 85% of the county’s budget is considered to be financially strong, but these funds cannot be diverted to offset General Fund shortfalls.

King County Executive Dow Constantine is planning to make budget reductions in two phases. The first phase will see a reduction announced this fall and be phased in the summer of 2024. The second phase will be for reductions in the 2025 budget. That is set to be announced in September 2024.

As of this publication, Constantine has not decided how much of the $50 million will occur in each phase.

King County Council discusses rehiring unvaccinated county employees

By Spencer Pauley The Center Square

The King County Committee of the Whole discussed a bill that would provide a priority pathway for former county employees who were separated or resigned due to noncompliance with the county’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn proposed Motion 2023-0094 in hopes that the legislation would allow the county to bring back a number of deputies that were lost because of the mandate.

There were 314 employees who separated from the county rather than comply with the vaccination mandate that County Executive Dow Constantine issued in August 2021. According to the King County Department of Human Resources, eight employees chose to retire, 25

employees resigned, and 281 employees were involuntarily separated due to noncompliance with the mandate.

The King County Sheriff’s Office had 33 departures as a result of the executive order.

“We have a lot of vacancies, both in the sheriff’s department, the jail, and other areas in the county and so it’s for my members consideration to look at [the motion] and consider whether there should be a policy shift on this issue,” Dunn said in the Committee of the Whole meeting on July 19.

Council central staff said that all former employees are welcome to apply for open positions within the county. They would have to follow the standard application process, rather than through a priority pathway, unless Motion 2023-0094 is approved.

Council staff said prior experience would likely give them a leverage in the application process. Vaccinations

Your best life: Making habits stick

If our lives are made up of our daily habits, what you building yours out of?

No matter how amazing your days are right now, I’m guessing there is something you’d like to cut out, change, or streamline in your health, home, or work life. A er all, we’re all works in progress.

DON’T WAIT FOR NEW YEARS

Change is challenging.

Erica Browne Grivas

e body and brain are e ciency machines, built to crop out wasted e ort, so naturally they resist change, resulting in some friction. is friction is what causes so many New Year’s’ Resolutions to fail, and why there are large tness industries built upon the idea that you’ll join a gym (and the attendant workout gear and protein powder) in January, and likely start ghosting it by March.

While I applaud the idea of selfimprovement, I’d rather think of it as an evolving year-long project than one you pick up for two months guilted by too much holiday celebrating. Does this sometimes lead to a distracted freefor-all where I am dog training one month and learning about sourdough another? Yes. But it’s still moving n a direction I want to go, so I’ll take it.

WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE?

Lose weight, gain a new skill, write a novel? Sometimes it’s easiest to start with something small, like drinking more water each day. at’s a great one because it’s easy, healthy, and makes your skin glow. A er listening to a masterclass podcast on water on “ e Model Health” show, I started drinking two pints of water upon waking. It’s

been about two years now, and it’s so fast and simple, it’s re exive for me now. e only time I struggle is when I’m traveling and have to pound four eight-ounce hotel glasses. If you need help during the day, there are bottles with measurements, apps that remind you and more, I’m sure. You can also set a limited duration, like a week or 30 days, to make it more palatable, or just know that you are an autonomous person with choice and there’s no shame in changing your mind if you decide it’s not for you anymore.

GET IT ON – OR OFF – YOUR CALENDAR

Whatever you choose, consider carving out dedicated time for it. Many people nd it hard to say no to their calendar – especially if they set a phone alarm for it, so that can be a helpful tool toward making a new habit stick. ere are all kinds of ways of organizing your life to prioritize one’s habits. Some nd it easiest to work in smaller increments. Fitness guru Chalene Johnson made a journal that breaks down life into quarters, targeting certain elements of her business each quarter. Others nd it helpful to make rules, like saving the time between 7:00 -8:00 a.m. for something precious, like meditation, journaling, working out, or reading something instructive or inspirational. (Early mornings before all those other people are awake is a popular time to begin new habits for obvious reasons.) Or, saving

your most productive time, whether you are an early riser or a night owl, for things you care about that take thinking and creativity, and using your a ernoon slump for returning emails.

Sometimes it’s about what you don’t do, like productivity and happiness author Neil Pasricha, who preserves at least one untouchable day a week.

“ ese are days where I am literally unreachable, by anyone, in any way – all day,” he writes on his blog (neil. blog). “My productivity is about ten times higher on those days.” He also has boundaries around how many days he’ll travel in a month and dedicated time with family.

GRAB AN ACCOMPLICE

For most of us, a buddy is even harder to turn down than your beeping calendar. So either nd an accomplice on the same journey to take that 6 a.m. bootcamp class or, if yours is a solo quest, you can take advantage of technology and make the world – or a good pal – your online accountability buddy. You can a) announce to your friends/followers that you are starting this quest and will report back daily/ weekly or even just email or text a friend (ask for their permission before spamming them with your life quest progress).

STACK IT!

We all have mental associations linking certain behaviors, like I always eat chips while watching TV at night, or I smoke when out with friends, or…. ey come from repetition as the brain builds up insulating myelin shoring up the neural pathways between them. I’d call these examples unwanted behaviors.

But you can use this same tendency to cement new desired

behaviors, by stacking them with something you already do automatically. For instance, you could practice squats as your co ee maker bubbles, or do face yoga or breathwork when you hit a red light. In the water example, you can make a point of drinking water at every meal, a er brushing your teeth, or whenever you turn your bedside light on or o . ink of all the things you can level up – taking out the trash, doing the dishes….

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

e mind makes place-related associations too. You can use your surroundings as a cue to your body to get ready for the activity you are doing. If you want to hone your focus while at your home computer, reserve it for work tasks - don’t use it to watch TV. Likewise, if you want your bedroom to be relaxing, don’t work or watch Youtube there.

FIND A STRONG WHY

When it’s cold and you don’t want to jump out of the covers to work out, or you’re feeling you’d rather catch up on your latest television show than write your novel, it helps to remind yourself why you started this in the rst place. Do you want to be able to play with your grandkids, feel stronger, or nally express your creativity? Tip: like we are sometimes more motivated to show up when a friend is coming, some of the most compelling why’s involve goals or other people. Note I’m not saying to live your life for external validation, but that it can be a trick to kick ourselves into gear.

Whatever change is inspiring you, take these few habit-forming building blocks as your permission to go for it.