Zachary Pullin DeWolf is the President of the Capitol Hill Community Council

There is no Capitol Hill Community Council this month but please consider attending Thursday night’s Capitol Hill Housing community forum — Gearshift
Thu, May 26 at 5pm
The Summit — 420 E Pike
The evening will feature five projects with the potential to increase the resilience of the neighborhood. The five projects:
+ Building leadership and power for renters on Capitol Hill
+ Expansion of the Capitol Hill Business Improvement Area
+ Lidding of a stretch of Interstate-5 at Pike/Pine to create developable land and open space
+Local sharing of meter revenue with the creation of a new Parking Benefit District (also recommended by HALA)
+The creation of a new city program to incentivize developers to build or maintain work or performance space for local artists
On May 26th, five professional urban planners and passionate community organizers will introduce these ambitious projects in a series of rapid-fire presentations followed by an opportunity for each guest to participate in a facilitated discussion about one of the five projects. Presenters include Sierra Hansen of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, Scott Bonjukian of the Pike Pine Urban Neighborhood Council, Alex Brennan from Capitol Hill Housing, Zachary DeWolf of the Capitol Hill Community Council and Tonya Lockyer of Velocity Dance Center. Civic leaders (City Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Mike O’Brien are confirmed) will be there to listen and respond to your comments.
Free online tickets are no longer available but you can sign up to enter at the door Thursday night.

Growing up, my family taught me that service is a first priority, and I’ve worked hard to practice that value. Before I was born, my grandfather was the chairman of the tribal council – it’s long been instilled in me that serving the community is one of the truest, most authentic ways to interact with my community. But that doesn’t make sense or work for a lot of people.

It reminds me of when I was ten years old: I coordinated a mock trial day for my class with the help of my mom. What I remember being hardest to grasp at the time was “making a case” because it’s a different way of thinking. Sadly, I believe I’ve done a poor job at making the case for our Capitol Hill Community Council and the “why” because new people are still discovering us as though we’ve been serving quietly.

So, why should you care? Why should you get involved?

First, it’s important to reflect on our history.

The Capitol Hill Community Council – as a neighborhood group – has existed since as early as the 1940s. Back then, it was called the Capitol Hill Community Club and their main motivation for working together was to fight against integrating “their “neighborhood. In concert with redlining and housing covenants, this dedicated group of neighbors used fear, racial prejudice, and an aversion to change to keep black people out of the neighborhood.

In 1972, when queer folks had only recently began moving into the neighborhood, tension was high between long-time residents and queer people because we were seen as “faggots,” instead of as neighbors. Thankfully, a few friends established a gay community center to provide services to queer folks. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Council Neighborhood Social: Happy Hour at Witness
Thursday, March 17th 4:30 to 6:30 PM
Witness, 410 Broadway E
Every other month, the Capitol Hill Community Council has committed to hosting neighborhood social events – similar to our Meet Your Neighbor event last year – where we can create a space for neighbors to meet each other (in real life!), connect and engage with folks about topics that important to you and our neighborhood, hear from unique programs and initiatives, and spend a relaxing couple of hours just being in the community. This month, we’re inviting King County Metro to share about “In Motion,” which is an effort aimed at reducing drive-alone trips and promoting other travel options like biking, walking, or taking transit. Plus, we have a drawing for a gift certificate to another local, neighborhood restaurant! Sign in and you’re entered into the drawing.

Questioning in the pursuit of understanding and progress must be valued. Otherwise, we lose the accountability of ideas and the innovation that moves our communities forward.

I was reminded of this just recently when I met with a friend and mentor from our community. She’s a neighborhood activist who has worked on various issues that have shaped Capitol Hill for the last few decades.

There came a moment when I recognized that we both had questions of the others’ ideas and intentions. Unchecked, our conversation may have unfolded in a direction neither one of us would ever have wanted.

So, I waited for the chance to interject and suggested that, in fact, questioning the way things are, in and of itself, is not detrimental to progress. I believe, it is what actually makes our work of creating shared community, stronger. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Council members Reiny Cohen and Zachary DeWolf working with Dylan Cate of Rep. Brady Walkinshaw’s #WorkingTogether project to collect community priorities at the Punk Rock Flea Market.

Attending events across Seattle, particularly organizational fundraisers or campaign events, I connect with a variety of interesting people. Often, local electeds and community leaders attend and I always notice one particular behavior during these interactions.

People either shake my hand with the limp enthusiasm one receives when meeting someone who would rather be elsewhere or the confident, respectful hand-embrace given when greeting someone with whom you are familiar. I describe this as the battle between the fish or the firm.

When I was a kid, my father often let me go with him when visiting his friends around the reservation. Even at six, he would pester me about shaking his friends’ hands with strength and confidence. “It must be firm to show respect, not only for the other person but for yourself, as well,” he’d say. Whereas, a dead fish handshake illustrates that one is uninterested, nervous, and lacks confidence, which often leaves the receiver feeling disrespected.

So after reading a recent post on Seattlish titled Ballard NIMBYs are Not Happy that O’Brien, Murray Actually Care About the Homeless Freezing to Death, I thought about how our service through the Capitol Hill Community Council sometimes feels like an active choice between “the fish” or “the firm.”
Continue reading →