Andrew Lewis.
Provided to the QAM News
As a lifelong Seattleite, and Center School graduate, I love Queen Anne. My wife and I are proud to be raising our daughter here and I will continue to be a strong advocate for a safe, prosperous, and fun Queen Anne.
In my first term, I secured $19 million for a complete remodel of the Queen Anne Community Center. Originally planned to be a mere $4.5 million patch-up, this over $23 million renovation will be the most comprehensive update since the center was built in 1950. Planning work is ongoing, and I will make sure the community is extensively consulted before final decisions are made. I consider securing the capital plan to completely renovate the Queen Anne Community Center to be one of my biggest achievements during my first term in office. For generations, this investment has eluded the elected representatives of our community. It is a great relief to finally secure this necessary upgrade to benefit future generations of Queen Anne for decades to come. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2025.
In a second term, I want to build on this progress by expanding Queen Anne's recreational amenities. We need turf fields at Big Howe, full staffing and expanded hours for the Queen Anne Pool, and a new Upper Queen Anne off leash dog run. As someone with a strong record of securing needed investments for the Queen Anne community I am by far the best positioned candidate to deliver on these essential improvements.
Another critical priority during my first term has been public safety and health. My office has led on critical initiatives, including expanding park rangers and behavioral mental health alternative 911 response. On our ranger program, I worked with Mayor Harrell to expand the number of rangers from two to twenty-eight to make sure our parks are clean, safe, and open. Rangers issue citations for violations of park rules. They are a great new asset for true community safety.
On mental health response, I partnered with Mayor Harrell to create our new Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department. CARE will dispatch trained mental health clinicians to de-escalate and provide treatment to community members experiencing crisis. This will free up police to respond to calls only they can handle. A wholly beneficial new service.
However, these services are currently only available Downtown. Term one was defined by securing these services, term two will be defined by expanding them, including to Queen Anne and Magnolia. As the candidate who brought people together to secure these new services I am best equipped to advocate for their expansion.
I stand by my record of bringing people together to deliver for Queen Anne and Magnolia. For decades, city hall ignored pleas to renovate our crumbling community centers. I delivered. When we needed a new mental health 911 response I stepped up. In a time of great polarization and divisiveness I have my eye on the bottom line. I will continue to deliver real substantive change for the people of District 7.