This week Jim, Kate, and David invite you to sign up for the Kirkland Initiative. A few ribbon-cutting recaps: the new Connections crisis center and the Houghton Park & Play. Houghton Beach reopened. Registrations for See Spot Splash and Park's Fall and Winter Recreation. Washington State's Polystyrene ban. Upcoming events: Emergency preparedness for seniors and Hand Mending & Embroidery for Beginners. Special guest: Councilmember Neal Black, shares how his passions led him to Kirkland!
https://kirklandwa.gov/podcast#20240815
This Week in Kirkland
August 15, 2024 - TWIK
This week Jim, Kate, and David invite you to sign up for the Kirkland Initiative. A few ribbon-cutting recaps: the new Connections crisis center and the Houghton Park & Play. Houghton Beach reopened. Registrations for See Spot Splash and Park's Fall and Winter Recreation. Washington State's Polystyrene ban. Upcoming events: Emergency preparedness for seniors and Hand Mending & Embroidery for Beginners. Special guest: Councilmember Neal Black, shares how his passions led him to Kirklan...
- Duration:
- 32m
- Broadcast on:
- 15 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to the August 15th episode of This Week in Kirkland, the official podcast of the city of Kirkland bringing you timely topics and noteworthy news, delivered to you every week. I'm your host, Jim Lopez, one of two deputy city managers here at the city, joined today by two members of our podcast team. - Kate Ryan. - And David Wohlbrecht. - As well as our very special guest, council member, Neil Black, welcome. - Thank you, Jim. Happy to be here. - Hello, welcome. - Well, we're super excited to hear about all your experiences on the Kirkland City Council, and we're gonna talk about your wonderful Meet the Council video. Sorry, that was really great. But before we do, here are the topics we're covering this week. - A few announcements including Connections Crisis Center opens in Kirkland. Our new park and play is open and ready for fun, and is Houghton Beach open or closed? - Oh, teacher, okay, also. - Yeah. - Get your dog in the water at C-Spot Splash, sign up for our recreation programs for the fall and winter, and learn about Washington State's ban on polystyrene packaging. - And a reminder, my friends, as always, we have links and more information in the show notes for all of our items. But first, our big story of the week, our very own Kirkland Initiative is accepting applications, everybody. This is our civic engagement program. Don't miss out on a chance to get to know city officials and staff and learn how the city operates. - Yeah, so the Kirkland Initiative, we've mentioned it before, it is an eight-week leadership program geared to support folks to become local leaders and civically involved. - Yeah, it's such a fun program to learn about Kirkland's civic engagement, process and policies, and gain leadership skills that will last a lifetime. - Yeah, it's a great opportunity to network with neighbors, city officials and staff, develop those relationships and expand your knowledge on how to make a difference in your community. - Yup. - So this past Monday was the grand opening of Connections Kirkland. I think Council Member Black, you were there. - I was. - First Crisis Center, that provides behavioral health care in King Hunt. - The center offers a range of services for adults in crisis, including walk-in mental health urgent care, stabilization units, extended stabilization units, and outpatient recovery services. - Yeah, so Connections Kirkland completes the three important resources for folks in crisis. Someone to call, someone to respond, and now folks have somewhere to go. - And on July 29th, everybody, the Kirkland City Council, staff and regional representatives, and elected officials toward the facility, and held a ribbon cutting. And it sounds like that was a really great event, Council Member. - It was, it was really well attended. A lot of excitement about the facility, a lot of excitement from the Connections staff. And what I really love about the crisis clinic is this is a resource for everyone. This is our neighbors, this is our coworkers, this is our family members. This is an important behavioral health resource for everyone in our community. And I just love having this resource, a place to go for people who are in crisis with a behavioral health issue, and also including substance use disorder. Just, it's a wonderful addition to our community. - Oh, fantastic. - Yeah, wonderful. And a critical part of the continuum of care that you talk about so much. - Mm-hmm. - That's a nice lack. And it happens so fast, it's just really an impressive example of government in action, so thank you. - Absolutely. - And speaking of ribbon cuttings, last week the Kirkland Parks and Community Service Department held the ribbon cutting for the Houghton Park and Play. - Play. - Yeah, see what we did there? - Yeah, so with the skate and bike features now open, this marks the completion of the recreation features for the temporary park and play. - If you haven't visited the park yet, go on down and enjoy. There's community gardens, pickleball courts, modular skate park, modular pump track, and a bicycle play garden. - And friendly reminder though, that this is a temporary park. These awesome attractions will remain in place as the city evaluates the long-term use of the site. - This is such a terrific example of the way that government, and particularly I think our local government in Kirkland, and thanks to staff for being innovative and flexible and able. You guys, you just talked about how quickly this came online. The Kirkland Council had this idea, and the speed at which park staff and public work staff and the city manager's office was able to bring this to reality, was really impressive to the benefit of the community. So I love the innovation, and I love the speed at which staff was able to make this happen, awesome. - Yeah, and thank you so much to the council for being so flexible too, 'cause we got some really good input from the community on the shape of that, and I think the whole community garden idea came from local folks, so bravo for that. - Very cool. - So although not marked by a ribbon cutting, Houghton Beach is now open to water activities, and that is a good thing. - It is. - How do you? - The beach had been close to swimming since July 16th, due to elevated bacterial levels. - And as always, water quality staff from King County tested the water this week, and notified the city that the waters were again safe for recreational use. - King County crews returned weekly to the beach throughout the summer to take samples and ensure that the water is safe. - Hey everybody, a friendly reminder. The city council is on summer recess. Yes, they do have a summer recess, and the next city council meeting will be on September 3rd. More on that, of course, in an upcoming podcast. Hey, does your dog love to splash and play in the water? - No. - Is that a trick question? I mean, I don't know. - Talk to us like a dry land sort of dog. - Okay. - Oh is that right? - Yeah, oh she does not like water. - No, Mochi doesn't like water. Mochi's frankly, he's evolved for the indoor environment. (laughing) So he just loves attaching himself to us and following us around the house. He's only 10 pounds, so. - Oh, that works. - He would probably sink to the bottom of the river. - I have to tell you, my Gracie, when we used to go to Marimor Park, I tell you, it was like she was in the bath. The ball was like her rubber ducky. And she could stay in there for hours. So please, if your dog does love to splash and play like my Grace, then mark your calendars for Sea Spot Splash on September 7th. - This is one of my favorite events where you can relax, meet new people, have fun. It's just so great to see everybody having a great time, even though Haku won't be there. (laughing) - Yep, the humans can enjoy vendor booths, music and socializing. The pups will enjoy splashing in the pool, and then afterwards, there will be off the leash fun at Lee Johnson. - Oh, fun, yeah, run around, dry off, so great. Participating dogs must be well behaved, show proof of vaccination, be licensed, and be on the leash to enter. - So speaking of our amazing parks department, and they are amazing, please get ready to sign up for fall and winter recreational programs. Is it that time already again? - Gosh, I know, adults, we gotta look ahead. So fall and winter, yeah, recreation registration opens on Wednesday, August 21st. So coming up next week. - Yeah, you can plan ahead by browsing our recreation guide, updating your online account, and, of course, setting your alarms for that 7 a.m. open. - I like that we put alarms as plural. (laughing) - He has to, he has to. - You gotta have more children than one. - It's like wake up and then also go to your computer. - Yeah, go to your computer. (laughing) - Hey, if you haven't heard, Washington State has now banned the use of polystyrene for food service products. - Yes, this includes products such as plates, cups, clamshell-style containers, and packing peanuts with some exceptions. - The ban applies to a wide range of organizations as well as individuals. And anyone can report a suspected violation on the ban webpage. Of course, we'll have that link in the show note. You can learn all about it. - Hey, a couple of upcoming events for you to check out. Emergency preparedness for seniors is coming up. This is at the Peter Kirk Community Center on August 22nd. They'll play through some scenarios and learn how to prepare. - Mm-hmm. - And the library, Kingsgate Library, is offering hand-mending and embroidery for beginners. That's on August 24th. You can refresh your own clothing and materials or just learn more about embroidery and sewing. - Awesome. - Yeah. - Maybe I have some pants that could use a little. - Yeah. - Yes. - And mending. - You and me both. - No. - And that brings us to our five over five. That would be five questions and what is certain to be over five minutes with our very special guests. Council member Neil Black. - Hello. - Welcome. - Hello again. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. - Well, we're super excited to have you here for many reasons which we're gonna get into. - Yes. - I remember when we first met. - I do. I do. We met a through-line coffee in downtown-- - That's right. - On Park Lane. - Oh, okay. - This was going there today. - Three council days. - It was, yeah. And you and I were-- - We chatted a little bit. Yeah, we were chatting about the United States Constitution. - That's exactly right. - Just like fair over latte. - Yeah, no, we were talking about gun violence prevention and we were talking about Second Amendment and we were talking about what local governments can actually do to help curb gun violence. - Yeah, it was a great conversation. Your story, super interesting story, starts in rural Oregon. 'Cause we'd like to find out how people found their way to the city of Kirkland. - Yeah. - So tell us about that. - Yeah, well, I grew up in a really small town in the high desert of Central Oregon, both small and remote. Yeah, I grew up in a family working class family. I had a granddad and a dad who worked in the timber industry of all things. But the town I grew up in was a timber town and a ranch town and I had a grandfather who managed the local grocery store. And I had a mom who was the library assistant at my elementary school. - Oh, wow. - So now, were you part of the family business? - Well, in some ways I was. When I was 14, I got my worker's permit and the very first thing I did was went to work at a mill in town at the age of 14. - Wow. It's interesting, so we go through rural Oregon through Stanford University. And the path from Oregon to Stanford, I'm very interested to hear. Our city manager went to Stanford and grew up on a farm as well. Kurt Triplett, his dad was a professor at Eastern Washington. That was his path. What was your path? When did the academic world take hold for you? - Well, I will say I sometimes use the analogy of force gum to explain some elements of my path. Very lucky, not as much forethought as you would expect. But honestly, growing up in and going to Kirk County High School in Central Oregon, it was, I was definitely very lucky to have the opportunity to go to Stanford. I will say, I did do everything that my rural high school had to offer. So I was everything from three sport athlete to valedictorian to president of the class to on the science Olympics and the math Olympics. But just the opportunity to go to Stanford was a huge opportunity for me as a first gen kid. My brother and I are still the only in our generation and our family to go to college and graduate from four year university. - That's great. - Once I got there, my plan was to study architecture of all things. - Oh, interesting. - Yeah. - How did that happen? - Well, I went, I thought, what do I want to do? I want to be an architect. I got to Stanford and they said, we don't have an architecture program for undergrads. I said, well, what does that mean? And most of our folks interested in architecture go on to grad school and every dreamt of going on to grad school. And they said, you have two paths. You can study art or you can study civil engineering. And I said, I'm not going home and telling my parents and grandparents that I'm studying art. So I'll study civil engineering. And that led to, I actually ended up for some reasons I can explain is that led to really a focus on civil environmental engineering. - Yeah, interesting. - Okay, so civil environment. So this was this related to kind of your upbringing on the, in the tree industry. - Yeah, so there was a lot going on at that time. This is the early 90s. And so Judge William Dwyer here in the Western District of Washington, federal judge had just handed down the, what's called the spotted owl. - Oh, yeah. - Tell the Endangered Species Act. - Yeah, so that was an order to tell the Forest Service to go back and redo the Pacific Northwest Forest Plan to comply with the Endangered Species Act and have a plan for protecting the spotted owl. What that meant though, was a three year injunction on all timber sales in Pacific Northwest forests. - Holy cow. - And my town had five mills, relying very heavily on federal timber sales. And so the mills cut their inventory of logs and shut down. And that was while I was away at college. So that was going on at home. At the same time I grew up in an area that was very close to wilderness and open lands and nature was very abundant. But I went to school in an area that was very sprawling and very urban. And it really made me, for the first time, a sense that the environment is scarce and fragile. And needs protection. And so I was really taking that experience I had growing up and what was going on in my hometown. And looking at it through a new lens in the broader world, where I was sort of learning and starting to think critically about what needs to be done with respect to care for the environment. - Sure, okay, so you are now experiencing all of these tensions, right? From the environment that you grew up in in the sprawl. And of course, this legal case sparks perhaps the legal bug. Was this the impetus that took you from civil engineering and said, you know, maybe I'm interested in getting involved in where policy meets the law. - Yeah, so basically midway through my studies in civil engineering and environmental engineering, I was having exactly what you described, Jim, was this realization of the importance of environmental law and policy on these issues that mattered to me. And that led me to do some pretty exciting things. I had a chance to go to Sacramento and work for the assembly natural resources committee. - Oh, wow, that's cool. - I was able to parlay that my senior year into internship at the White House in the executive office of the president and the office. - You ain't big. - Yeah, no big deal. - That was a no big deal. - So their office on environmental policy, which this was during the Clinton administration. So this is Vice President Al Gore, who we all know is a stock department. - Yeah, he's pretty into the environment. - Yeah, so there's this kid from Crook County High School first in his family to go to college. And there I am, walking the halls of the West Wing and the old executive office building and working on environmental law and policy. So by that time, by the time I finished my engineering program, I was really committed to the environmental law and policy side, amazing. - Okay, so you are now, you got bit by the bug, right? So you're out in the White House, you see Washington DC. So of course, what do you do next? You go to Georgetown Law, right? That's what one does. - Yeah, I went to Georgetown as one of the strongest environmental law programs in the country. And it was wonderful to be in Washington DC. - So Neil, this is where you met your wife at Law School. - I didn't, I actually met my wife in freshman dorm at Stanford. - Oh. - She and I were full. - She and I met the very first day of orientation. And she was 17, I was 18, we had a friendship for a couple of years and then we started dating. Yeah, during Stanford, then she went off to law school in New York and I went off to law school in DC. - Oh, wow. - Yeah, because I knew that Joanna's a lawyer as well. I have to say, your dinner, your dinner conversation must be really interesting. (laughing) - It is, and-- - Vergier is an action. - No, I'm just joking. - There's only two things in my life that have a similarly outsized impact and that's one meeting Joanna and making the sound decision to hitch my wagon to her and the opportunity for a first, yeah, the opportunity for a first-gen kid like me from my background to go to a school like Stanford. But yeah, other than around City Hall, most people just know me as Joanna Black's husband 'cause that's who she is. - Okay, so now you've graduated law school in DC. How did you come back to the Pacific Northwest? - Well, I wanted to get back to the Pacific Northwest. Joanna and I were getting married after I graduated from law school and she was like, I would really like to stay in New York or maybe go back to San Francisco. I said, how about Portland? And she said, no, and then too small. I said, how about Seattle? And she said, yeah, let's go check out Seattle. And like so many of my neighbors, we visited Seattle on a beautiful day. And so we ended up here. And we got married in August of 1998. We moved to Kirkland in August of 1998. We lived here ever since and we raised our kids here. But yeah, so we were sort of heads down, focused on our law practices. We did in current US dollars. We had $400,000 in loans that we were paying off. So that's what I was sort of heads down on that. The way I got sort of back into the policy work was my kids got a little bit older and I was seeing what was going on in our country around gun violence. And I grew up in a gun culture. And I've seen some of the cultural aspects of guns in our country and how it leads to violence. And so that plus the deaths and the mass shootings that got me into working on the issue of gun violence prevention in the early 2000s. And so that led to a series of opportunities and efforts that ultimately led me to the Kirkland City Council. - So you took the opportunity while practicing law inside the profession, right? To take on these policy issues and talk about the intersection between policy and law. One of the great things about having a law degree, right? It puts you right close to a lot of opportunities to branch out into fields like policy. Like so many of our council members, council member Black, you came to the city council through a border commission, right? - That's right. I was working on gun violence prevention. That led to an opportunity to work for the King County Bar Association's Public Policy Committee. - Oh, wow. - And I eventually became the chair and I was chair of the Public Policy Committee at King County Bar Association for four years. There I was able to bring my interest in gun violence prevention and have the lawyers and judges of the King County Bar Association take some positions on common sense gun safety legislation. But I was also able to work on is equal access to justice, which is a passion of mine. So a lot of the work I do outside of the council is still to this day on equal access to justice. But it was all that policy work that I did for a little over a decade that ultimately led me to really seek out opportunities to get more engaged in government, more civic engagement and look for opportunities here at the city of Kirkland. And it was that very first opportunity that I had with working with the city staff on land use issues that really, really sparked my passion. I mean, one of the greatest things about Kirkland is working with our staff. I like to say that we're sort of a junior varsity size city. Yeah, we're sort of a junior varsity size city, but we stood up a varsity squad. And I like it. I like the metaphor. And so honestly, one of my favorite things about city of Kirkland is the professionalism and innovative thinking and nimbleness of our staff. And our letterman jackets. Yeah, we should give out varsity letters. We appreciate and echo those thoughts 'cause we, you know, the different departments and the staff and the attention to detail in this government, I think is remarkable. So thank you for that. Now, it's interesting to mention-- Can I give an example of that? Oh, sure. I mentioned one day, I mentioned a gym that, hey, we need to talk about and think about the next level of civic engagement and reaching out to the community. I said, we need to think about a podcast. Yeah, this is very true. And guess who with his innovative jeans ran out and actually made this happen? There you go. And all of these themes, by the way, are in the Meet the Council video. It's very interesting because in the video, you talk about commitment to community and innovation as two of the reasons that you love to be in local government. And I think the podcast, perhaps, is a great example of those two things because it was designed to engage the community. And that's part of our rezendetra and being a show. That's right. Another interesting thing you noted, Council Member Black, is equal access to justice. And I know your passions-- I see a parallel to equal access to policy decisions, right? It's all part of that get involved in government. And you had some innovative thoughts about how folks should get involved, some kind of straightforward, simple approaches. Yeah, I mean, that's one of my passions. But in my role as a council member is how to help people get more engaged and more effectively engaged with our city government. I mean, one thing I talk about this all the time is how important it is that we demonstrate sound governance and build and maintain our communities, a confidence in local government. I think that's one of the most powerful things local government can do. But we're also very accessible. And we can be very accountable. And one of the messages when I meet with folks, either one-on-one or at a neighborhood association meeting or town hall, I try to leave them with some ideas for the most effective way to communicate and have an influence. And that is simple. I call it the power of a one-sentence email. Yeah. That's, you know, Neil, this is Jim. And I've got some ideas and questions about the next thing that, you know, the council is considering that it's upcoming meeting. And I'd love an opportunity to talk to you of time. That is such a powerful thing. And you're gonna, this is a council that's gonna be very responsive to that kind of education. And we're gonna set up a one-on-one meeting. And that really is the most powerful way to have these conversations is in one-on-one, one-on-two conversations directly with each other in real time. It's a wonderful tip and we do urge everyone to take Council Member Black up on that offer. Send a one-sentence email and get a one-on-one meeting. And you know, it's also interesting in the video, you talked about how the council could actually play a role in shaping people's interests to get involved in government. Yeah, I mean, if folks out there listening are interested in getting more engaged in government, certainly applying for the Kirkland Initiative, which we talked about earlier in the podcast today. Yeah. But yeah, reach out to a council member. That same one-sentence email to me saying, I would like to get more engaged. Let's sit down, let's sit down. You and I have coffee. Find out what your passions are, what your aptitudes are, what you're super interested in. And council members are in a great positions or identify those opportunities on those boards and commissions. That's where a lot of our council members got their start. We're in a great position to tell you about the opportunities that are coming up for engagement with boards and commissions. And oh, by the way, you're also gonna have an opportunity on that board and commission to start interacting with our varsity squad staff. And you're gonna realize that you want more of this. Oh, that's great stuff. Well, thank you so much. This has been super fun and informative. We do have one more question for you though. Okay, yeah, Council Member Black, do you have a favorite movie, show, book? I will say one thing real quick, the best legal movie out there is it's anatomy of a murder. And if you actually wanna see a courtroom drama that is actually real objections and real rulings by a judge, you have to see anatomy of a murder. Okay, no, before I can talk more about them, I should watch that movie. Also my cousin Vinny, 'cause that is just some of the best cross-examination out there. But my true favorite movie is a movie that was filmed right here in Seattle. And it's The Ring. The Ring is a horribly frightening. That is a scary move. Yeah, and the movie, but the reason it's my favorite is 'cause my wife Joanna is an actor in that movie. Oh, wow, golly. Really? Oh my goodness. Not only that. So much fun. What was her role? So she is the clerk. She has five lines and she... Speaking role. Hey. Yeah. All right. Yeah, her and Martin Henderson and a scene together, she had her own trailer and everything. Oh my goodness. So the story is that that movie was filmed just a few weeks after 9/11. And it was meant to be filmed in Boston and New England's area. And 9/11 occurred and they completely changed the production and moved it to Seattle. And Joanna was an actor at the time and she auditioned for a role. It's so much fun. Oh my goodness. So she's the clerk and she actually has... She delivers lines that are really pivotal plot points in that movie. Here's the plot. Oh, that's so great. Somewhere around... 'Cause it's a scary movie. Yeah. Somewhere around 45 minutes in, she delivers the message to the lead actor, Martin Henderson, that he's gonna die. And that's the stage for... Oh, spoiler alert. Yeah. So Council Member Black, will you stick around for our pop quiz, multiple choice trivia? I... I can't wait. Oh, great. Great. I can't wait and I only hope I don't embarrass myself. So one of these answers makes it to the silver screen. While the others are simply left on the cutting room floor, which of course means we just made them up. Oh, okay. Option A, many Hollywood hits were filmed or set in Seattle, including 10 things I hate about you and the movie Singles. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. Many films in Seattle. Option B, the first Hollywood movie filmed in Seattle, in the Seattle area, is a film titled Tugboat Arthur. This hit 1930s movie turned into a movie series and TV show centering on the salty old tugboat, Captain Arthur. Oh, okay. Captain Arthur. Okay. Option B. Yeah. A C based film, I can see it. Yeah. Yeah. And then of course there's Option C. And Option C, well, our very own David Walbrook as a bacon number of five, meaning that he has five degrees of separation from acting in a film with Kevin Bacon. Which means David is essentially famous. Bacon number five. Wow. Okay. I know there's kind of intrigue by Option C. Yeah, right, right. Is this the time that C is true? David may have a side hustle. Well, I do know that singles, I used to live down the street from where like the apartment that complex it was filmed in. So I know that one. Okay. I think 10 things I know you was filmed around Seattle. I thought maybe not or set, I don't know. I'm going to go with Option A. Okay. I don't know. Seattle is a pretty cool city to set a film. All right. I agree. I wish we had more. My personal favorite though, by the way, just for record, war games. Oh, classic. Not entirely filmed in Seattle, but the early bits of that movie are filmed in Seattle. Well, the answer my friends is A. Okay. Yeah. There is also, of course, sleepless in Seattle, which brought the notion of boat houses and their allure to nationwide attention. That's right. Yes. And tugboat Arthur was actually titled tugboat Annie and the series was written by a UW professor at University of Washington and inspired by the real life to comb a tugboat entrepreneur, Thea Fosse. Hey, all right. Wow. Didn't know that. Well, wow. Did you know that? Well, David. Yeah, here we go. The popular parlor game, The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, is, of course, focusing on finding connections between actors through their film projects that ultimately connect back to a film that is with Kevin Bacon. The degree of separation is known as a bacon number. The bacon number? Yes. And in fact, I have a bacon number of four, not five. So it's a bit of a trick question. It's closer, huh? Yeah, I do. I was a bandit was how I'm listing the credits for an independent film back when I was in college. Very nice. And folks involved in that have done other things. And they've got bacon number three, bacon numbers. Anyway. Where can I go to find Joanna's bacon number? There is a website we will link in the show notes. You can actually just plug in people's names and it'll tell you their bacon number. OK. We got to publish some bacon numbers. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Gonsma Member Black. This was super fun. Thank you for being on the podcast and helping create the podcast. Well, thank you. And Jim, thank you. Again, one of the things I highlighted was how impressed I am with the staff of Kirkland from the very first days. And you're launching this podcast. It's just another demonstration of that. And it's the innovation, the nimbleness, but also the commitment to civic engagement. Oh, thank you for that. That means a lot to us. Yeah, because we do love it and we do appreciate the opportunity. Don't forget to register for CSpot Splash. And that does it, my friends. For this week, you've been listening to This Week in Kirkland. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. Special thanks to Anthony Girardi and Victor Derontas for their behind the scenes of magic. Thank you so much. Thank you. Our next episode is August 22nd. Until then, everybody, stay connected, Kirkland. Stay connected, Kirkland. [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music) (upbeat music)