Empty Proclamations to Feasible Solutions – Puyallup Senior Center, Downtown Parking & Public Safety Building

I read with anticipation the proclamation on Senior Center issues my opponent (taking his 2 year turn as mayor) presented during the recent August 26th City Council meeting. Everyone was waiting for the mayor to present solutions to his position on council that lead to the removal of the Senior Center’s AOB parking lot. As you can see in the photo below, it removes the lot where many patrons park to access the library, farmer’s market, spray park, farmer’s market, Pioneer Park & Pavilion.

I think there was a real feeling of disappointment when the proclamation turned out to be nothing more than a feel-good statement saying that City Council supports the Senior Center in general. Later in the meeting, the mayor promised to ensure there would be designated on-street parking for Senior Center patrons during and after construction of the new development replacing the AOB lot.

First of all, a “mayor” in Puyallup is just one council member taking his or her turn facilitating meetings for 2 years before the next council member takes a turn, so his promises will depend on the approval of the council as a whole before construction begins. Second, the residents and business owners who occupy the same building as the Senior Center will have something to say about the loss of on-street parking for their patrons.

Last but not least, my opponent claims on his campaign website that he secured “800 free parking spaces for easier access” to downtown. I assume he’s taking credit for the addition of the Sound Transit commuter parking garage, and Puyallup Fair parking lots located 5 blocks from the Senior Center, Library and Pioneer Park. It’s quite a stretch for him to claim credit for those projects that were planned before he was on council. Either way, they don’t solve the problem of parking for the Senior Center, Kids Spray Park, Library, Pavilion and all the large events in Pioneer Park.

What we need are solutions where seniors and families with children can easily access these critical facilities at the center of our community life. Now that the AOB lot development is considered a “done deal” removing parking from the Senior Center, Spray Park, Library, Pavilion and downtown businesses without replacement before moving forward… I would like to propose the following solutions:

• Have city management negotiate an inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Post Office for priority handicap parking on weekdays for the Senior Center, and evening/weekends for events like the Farmer’s Market, in their lot directly across Pioneer Avenue. The post office does not fill their lot with delivery vehicles as they did in the past, something you can see in the next birds-eye photo below.
• Direct city staff to approach the esteemed funeral home on the corner of Pioneer and 4th St SW to negotiate an agreement opening up hourly parking spaces in their lot when funerals and other private events are not taking place. The city could arrange to validate payment for spaces used by Senior Center patrons in particular. This would be a very cost-effective addition to parking for city facilities and events, while also supporting downtown business revenue.
• Long-term, the city needs more parking for the Senior Center as our population ages, as well as for the Library and Kiwanis Spray Park as our population of families raising children in Puyallup simultaneously increases. Removing the AOB lot with no replacement in place was irresponsible. It moved the city backwards when it comes to downtown parking access. A long-term solution I want the city to investigate is replacing the old police station building (kitty-corner from the Senior Center) with a mixed-use parking garage. The mayor has already done a ribbon cutting for a new police station up on South Hill despite voters saying “no” to that project 3 times, and voters have already passed a bond to move the fire station that shares the building. We also need a police precinct downtown, and the city can still use the bottom floor of City Hall for our downtown police precinct as they had planned in their 3rd failed bond measure.

I’ll write another blog post about the new rented police station being renovated on South Hill , and how much more expensive the project will end up costing us than all the ballot measures voters shot down. As a retired Puyallup Police officer, I have always advocated for a new police station, but one that’s on property we own, and which is accessible to people across the city. I have also advocated for the closure of our very expensive, run-down jail, and switching to use the New Pierce County Jail we paid to have built precisely for cities in the predicament we face. The New Jail still has hundreds of its 1,000 beds sitting empty, waiting for Puyallup to utilize the space. No other city in Pierce County, including Tacoma, wastes as much on jail services as Puyallup – precisely because we are the last city running its own jail.

My opponent is so attached to our jail, that he is now promising to spend even more of our tax dollars to renovate the old one he said all along was “not fixable.” It really does need to be razed and replaced with something the city actually needs: a parking garage that could also include a couple shops on its corners, or office space on top, depending on feasibility studies.

Join Jeff Bennett on Thursday, September 25th from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Puyallup Activity Center to chat about the future of Puyallup. The event is a “Town Hall Style” Meet & Greet for all voters in District 1 and throughout Puyallup to ask Jeff questions and discuss solutions to the problems facing seniors, youth and families our city. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres provided by the Jeff Bennett for Puyallup City Council campaign.

One of the main things Jeff will discuss during the September 25th Meet & Greet is how his opponent, the incumbent mayor, hasn’t offered a viable alternative for the loss of Senior Activity Center and downtown event parking, while his staffing cuts (budgeting for the expensive new police station) have caused the loss of Activity Center rentals and will affect Puyallup Library services just as the library finally has its new Teen Zone ready. The September 25th Meet & Greet is a great chance for everyone to help in Jeff’s efforts to restore and enhance services for seniors, youth and families in Puyallup.