Michael McGinn's Page

Inspired by the success of this site, the Seattle Great City Initiative has started a new website -- my.greatcity.org. We thought about just taking this site and evolving it into the new site, but we decided it was cleaner to start fresh with a new community site. However, we really want all of the members of this site to come over to my.greatcity.org and share your ideas, projects and passion with the people there.

The topics are intended to be broader than just parks and open space. We want t… Continue

A few people have asked me about the tax rate for the Parks Levy, as the ballot title is a little confusing. The Parks Levy will cost the median priced home about $81 a year, about $30 a year less than the expiring levy. The ballot title also mentions an overall limit on property taxes of $2.60, but that includes all other city taxes. That amount is not the rate for the parks levy.

By the way, city property taxes per $1000 assessed valuation have declined over time. Check out www.timburgess.com… Continue

The editorial in today's P-I urging a yes vote on the levy captures what this is all about:

"A citizens group formed by the council built its ideas for the parks projects from existing city plans. But rather than slipping into bureaucratic process, the group created a plan that almost magically captures how residents live and want to live. There is money for P-patches, sports fields, playgrounds and trails. There are forest and stream restorations, park developments on 66 acres of new reservoir… Continue

This week's Stranger has a full page advertisement for the parks levy, in a special section encouraging people to register to vote

Grab a copy, and share with your friends. It is a great image, and great message.

After you take a look, I hope you are inspired to come back here and volunteer for our events, and donate. We need your help to spread the word.

We have some great events planned this weekend as part of our Rolling Kickoff. Check out the events section for more details. We would love to have "on the bus" with us, or at some of the planned events.