August 24, 2016 The Skanner Page 5
News
Events & Announcements
Community
Calendar 2016
cont’d from pg 4
make their own kites. This is a free event for the whole family.
10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Chambers Creek Properties, 9850 64th St. W.,
University Place.
MONDAY, AUGUST 29
THE SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY’S ART ON THE PLAZA: Come to the
Central Library on Monday for live music, open mic performanc-
es, social dancing and hands – on art. 5 p.m. – 7 p.m., The Seattle
Public Library – Central Library, 1000 4th Ave.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
EVENING FARMERS MARKET AT PIKE PLACE: Come join us on
Wednesday evening and pick up your fresh produce, fruit and
lowers. Stop by on your way home from work. 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.,
Pike Place Market, 93 Pike St.
SATURDAY – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 – 4
Tattoo Expo
Seattle Tattoo artist Jacob Dzul works on a client at the Seattle Tattoo Expo. Thousands of people showed up to the three-day event to
learn about the art form and even have work done by one of the many tattoo artists and vendors from across the country who attend
every year. People interested in having work done by a particular tattoo artist could schedule appointments with the artists ahead of
time online.
Seattle News Briefs
Mayor Murray Hires Director of
Homelessness
City of Seattle Awards $320,000 for
Digital Equity
Mayor Ed Murray today announced that George
Scarola will serve as the City’s irst ever cabinet-level
director of homelessness. Scarola will be responsi-
ble for leading the City’s homelessness eforts across
departments, providing oversight and evaluation of
outcomes, strategic guidance, and leading communi-
ty engagement.
Scarola is an experienced public afairs and com-
munity relations manager having led advocacy or-
ganizations in Seattle and Olympia for over 25 years.
From 1992 to 1998 Scarola led the Sand Point Commu-
nity Housing Project as Executive Director, which
converted housing at the Sand Point Naval Air Sta-
tion into homes for unsheltered youth, adults, and
families.
Ater years of failed school ballot measures, Scaro-
la helped turn the tide for public support for Seattle
schools by managing the irst success school bonding
measure in the spring of 1995, followed by subse-
quent successful campaigns to fund Seattle schools
and afordable housing for adults, seniors, and fam-
ilies.
In the early 2000s, Scarola served as a top aide to
Representative Frank Chopp and was Executive Di-
rector of the Washington House Democratic Cam-
paign committee during the 2002 election cycle that
captured a Democratic majority in the State House.
More recently, Scarola served the League of Educa-
tion Voters as Legislative Director from 2003 to 2012.
This year, Scarola returned from Hefei, China where
he was lecturing at the University of Science and
Technology of China. Scarola began his career in 1969
teaching at a then recently integrated public elemen-
tary school in North Carolina.
In conjunction with the hiring of Scarola, Mayor
Murray issued an executive order calling upon the
director of homelessness to oversee and direct key
City policy makers responsible for implementing the
City’s eforts to address the ongoing homelessness
crisis in Seattle. The executive order ensures that the
City maintains a consistent approach to planning,
budgeting, development and implementation of pol-
icies addressing homelessness.
Since taking oice, Mayor Murray has increased in-
vestments in homelessness response and prevention
services to a record $50 million. In 2015, Mayor Mur-
ray declared a state of emergency to call on the state
and federal government to restore resources and to
announce additional funding for shelter beds, a mo-
bile medical van, and harm reduction strategies.
In addition, the City has engaged a national expert
on reducing homelessness. This work along with an
analysis of our current homelessness system and rec-
ommendations will be announced next month.
Scarola will be paid an annual salary of $137,500.
His will start on August, 24th 2016.
Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council today
awarded 10 Seattle organizations a total of $320,000
in Technology Matching Funds from the City of Se-
attle. Council committee voted unanimously to ap-
prove the awards. Full Council approval is expected
on Sept. 6.
“Technology impacts nearly every facet of our lives,
from inding jobs to thriving in school,” said Murray.
“Our investment in these community driven projects
will open the door to greater success for Seattleites
who lack suicient technology access and essential
digital skills.”
“One of the most efective and meaningful commu-
nity investments we make in this City are these tech-
nology grants,” said Council President Bruce Harrell.
“These grants help people succeed by learning skills
critically necessary in the 21st century. They provide
critical support where the digital divide is the great-
est, to our low-income, homeless, immigrant refugee,
senior and disabled residents.”
The Technology Matching Fund projects help meet
the city’s Digital Equity Initiative goals of increasing
connectivity, digital skills training, and providing
devices and technical support, through partnerships
and community-driven solutions. They will assist
more than 2,500 residents in historically under-
served or underrepresented communities, including
580 immigrants and refugees, 1,240 seniors and 1,100
people with disabilities.
The 2016 Technology Matching Fund award recipi-
ents include:
• Children’s Home Society of Washington/North Se-
attle Family Center
• Coalition for Refugees from Burma
• Community & Parent for Public Schools
• El Centro de la Raza
• Full Life Care
• Multimedia Resources Training Institute
• Na’ah Illahee Fund
• New Horizons
• SightConnection
• Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle
Seattle’s Community Technology Advisory Board
selected the projects from 41 applicants though a
rigorous application review process. Awardees will
contribute more than $470,000 in projected commu-
nity matching resources.
For more information and a map of Technology
Matching Fund awardees, visit http://www.seat-
tle.gov/tech/initiatives/digital-equity/technolo-
gy-matching-fund/2016-awardees.
JAPAN FAIR 2016: Explore the traditional and pop culture of Ja-
pan at Japan Fair. This free two– day event features a market-
place with cultural arts, food and merchandise from Japan, as
well as live performances all day long. Admission is free. 10 a.m.
– 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday.
Murray Proposes Policies to Keep
Seattle a Global Leader in Green
Buildings
Mayor Ed Murray transmitted to Council a pack-
age of innovative policies aimed at keeping Seattle
at the forefront of energy eiciency solutions in the
residential and commercial building sectors. The leg-
islative package includes provisions that expand the
Living Buildings Challenge (LBC) and updates Seat-
tle’s building and energy codes to reduce energy use
in new commercial construction and expand solar
ready housing.
The Living Building program legislation expands
on a pilot program started in 2009 and increases the
number of buildings that can participate. The LBC is
the world’s most rigorous sustainable building certi-
ication program. It is a performance-based approach
– as opposed to a modeled performance – and aims to
foster the development of buildings that contribute
positively to their surroundings by mimicking eco-
logical processes such as capturing and treating all
stormwater and producing as much energy as it uses.
Among other changes to the Seattle Energy Code
and the Seattle Residential Code is a requirement that
commercial buildings up to 20 stories in height and
residential buildings up to three stories in height
reserve rootop space to be “solar ready” for future
equipment installation. This will speed the develop-
ment of rootop solar energy in Seattle by minimiz-
ing future installation costs. The efective date for
the proposed energy and building code updates will
occur on January 1, 2017.
The Seattle Energy Code legislation also takes a
signiicant step toward Seattle’s 2050 carbon-neutral
goal by mandating more eicient heating systems in-
stead of allowing less efective electric or fossil fuel
heating systems that are typically installed in com-
mercial buildings. The efective date of this particu-
lar Seattle Energy Code update is extended to Janu-
ary 1, 2018, in order to allow projects already in the
pipeline to be completed without major changes.
The Living Building Challenge legislation will be
discussed in City Council’s Planning, Land Use & Zon-
ing Committee on September 9, with a public hearing
to be held on September 20. The Seattle Energy Code
legislation will be discussed with City Council Plan-
ning, Land Use & Zoning Committee on Sept. 20.
View the Community Calendar and regularly
updated News Briefs
for Seattle and Portland at
