CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, May 22, 2023 Conference Room 303 - Shoreline City Hall
5:45 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Keith Scully, Deputy Mayor Betsy Robertson, and Councilmembers John Ramsdell, Laura Mork, Doris McConnell, Eben Pobee and Chris Roberts
ABSENT: None
STAFF: Bristol Ellington, City Manager
John Norris, Assistant City Manager
Bethany Wolbrecht-Dunn, Community Services Manager
Mary Reidy
GUESTS: Theresa LaCroix, Director, Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center
Vedrana Durakovic, Community Engagement Officer, Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center
Quinn Elliot, Executive Director, ShoreLake Arts
Tracy Thorleifson, ShoreLake Arts, Board Co-President
Kenneth Doutt, Executive Director, Shoreline Historical Museum
At 5:47 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Scully. All Councilmembers were present except for Councilmember Pobee who joined the meeting at 5:53 p.m. and Councilmember McConnell, who was absent.
Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center
Theresa LaCroix, Director of the Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center and Vedrana Durakovic, Community Engagement Officer for the Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center, introduced themselves to speak about the wellness model of the Senior Center. They said in 2019, the Senior Center made a major decision to become a model organization with pillars under wellness, lifelong learning, and volunteerism. It was explained that the Senior Center has 33 different classes each week for health and wellness, including affordable medical care programs, and five hours of Spanish programming every week. They stated that there are 729 participants registered for programs and they shared other demographic statistics from the first quarter of 2023, including achievements of their in-house social worker. The Senior Center representatives voiced a request for support from the City Council to King County, that they deserve funding in 2023 from the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy.
In discussion, it was highlighted that community organizations appreciate collaboration among community organizations to promote and support programs. Ms. LaCroix said the Senior Center engages with other agencies to meet the housing needs of their seniors but there are challenges with accessing housing. The Senior Center provides resources such as grocery cards as a resource to seniors, but no one is permitted to sleep in the Center.
A question was asked regarding the physical location of the Senior Center and Ms. LaCroix explained that they are in the process of resigning a contract with the Shoreline School District for another five years in their current space, but she is working on a plan for the location of the Senior Center in the future beyond the lease.
Shoreline Historical Museum
Kenneth Doutt, Executive Director, Shoreline Historical Museum spoke about the strategic planning process for the Shoreline Historical Museum. He highlighted the Miyawaki Urban Forest History Project to create an outdoor exhibit of the native ecosystem and incorporate both indigenous and other aspects of human history as it coincides with the natural history of the area. Although they are having a hard time finding funding and have had to extend the project timeline, Mr. Doutt said there is enough excitement from community members to continue the project.
Mr. Doutt said the Historical Museum received a grant from the American Alliance of Museums in 2022 which involved a long process of analyzing every aspect of the Museum with the help of nationally recognized museum professionals and some Board and community members. According to Mr. Doutt, the Museum does not have official values in place, but they are working on developing their mission and vision. As a part of this, the Museum is engaging community members in listening sessions to gauge what the community would like to see from the Museum. He brought attention to the Museum’s upcoming fundraising event and encouraged everyone to visit the Museum and complete a survey to help determine the outlook for the Museum.
Mr. Doutt noted that in-person attendance at the Museum has decreased but he reported that the number of people the Museum interacts with has increased through other types of outreach. Someone recalled a program from the Museum called History Day and Mr. Doutt stated that the program is not something he has worked on but there have been efforts put forth to strengthen their relationships with the Shoreline School District to bring students to the Museum. Mayor Scully pointed out that there is an opportunity for collaboration by bringing in seniors to volunteer.
Quinn Elliot, Executive Director of ShoreLake Arts and Tracy Thorleifson, ShoreLake Arts Board Co-President, presented on arts education program and funding. Ms. Elliot highlighted that the arts education program started with 30 students in September and currently has about 170 registered students, with a potential to serve up to 200. By the end of 2023, they plan to serve at least 250 students and are continuing to grow in order to serve the schools on their waitlist. Shorelake Arts have started working with PTAs on after school enrichment programs this year, with plans to continue in the fall. Ms. Thorleifson raised concern that budget cuts facing the School District will impact their ability to serve non-native English-speaking individuals. However, through a grant from Arts One, ShoreLake Arts has been able to offer youth art classes with sliding scale payment ranging from $20 to the full cost of the class, which is around $285. Ms. Elliot said they are searching for funding for next year of programs.
Ms. Thorleifson spoke about the affordable artist housing complex and nonprofit center project, including the ongoing arts market survey and upcoming workshops on a capital campaign and space projection. She said the aim for the space is to provide affordable housing and art space for local artists as they currently must borrow, partner, and compete for space, which limits their programming. Ms. Thorleifson announced that 4Culture provided a $25,000 Building for Equity Grant and will conduct two workshops with ShoreLake Arts on how to do a capital campaign and how to fund a permanent home, after the surveys are closed this summer. The next phase, called the Redevelopment and Pre-Development Project Phase, will cost $750,000, of which $75,000 has already been secured, and the rest will have to be raised.
There was discussion from Council about the art space project, including the level of projects, income stability of residents, commercial space needs, survey responses, and the importance of space for various types of artists and performers. ShoreLake Arts is looking to collect 500 responses from their survey, and they encouraged everyone to take the survey to share their thoughts.
At 6:46 p.m., Mayor Scully declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/ Kendyl Hardy, Deputy City Clerk