That notion causes Nickels, his cheeks a little rosy on a brisk November morning, to chuckle. "I don't think there's a neighborhood in or around Seattle that doesn't know who I am," he offers.
Nickels is never one to shy away from the political, but his reasons for wanting White Center appear to be more personal. He lives in neighboring West Seattle (as do Deputy Mayor Ceis and City Attorney Tom Carr). And he's quick to point out that he represented the North Highline area for 14 years while serving on the King County Council. In fact, it's the first reason he gives to explain his interest in annexing the neighborhood. He adds that some of his favorite childhood memories happened there—like finding the first family dog, a dachshund they named Molly, in White Center Park. "Growing up, I never felt like White Center wasn't Seattle," Nickels says.
Kevin P. Casey
Freshly scrubbed public housing at Greenbridge.
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Nickels' deputy and deal-doer, Ceis, gets almost giddy when he talks about the annexation plan, his eyes bright under that signature swoop of salt-and-pepper hair.
"It should be something we want to do rather than saying, 'It's going to cost us too much money,' or, 'They're too needy,'" Ceis says. "Our job is to serve."
But Steinbrueck, the lame-duck Seattle City Council member, is quietly working to take the city's bid for North Highline off the table before his term expires in January—and before the mayor sends his big guns down to Olympia for round two. Steinbrueck's Urban Development and Planning Committee will vote later this month or early next on whether to remove the possibility of annexation as part of an annual process that amends the city's comprehensive plan. The proposal will then go before the full council.
Steinbrueck says the vote will be close, but by most accounts it's a long shot. The council voted 6-3 in favor of keeping the potential annexation area on the table last year, and there's little evidence that members have changed their minds.
Council member Richard Conlin, for one, says he doesn't understand how anyone could be opposed. "This area feels like Seattle. It's an integral part of making growth management work, and there's strong support from folks in the community. I think we can work out the financial part. I don't know what's not to like."
Ceis will be spending the next few weeks reminding the council that the only thing it's doing by not playing along with Steinbrueck is simply keeping the possibility of annexation on the table. "Nothing will happen unless the council wants it to," he says. "This just gives us a chance to work things out. [The council] has the final say." (The residents of the unincorporated area also get a vote, as required under state annexation rules)
All the while, the owner of White Center's Salvadorean Bakery—a restaurant often mentioned by Seattle City Council members touting their love for the neighborhood's color—would rather stay independent. "The county has more ease with us," says Julio Castro. "The city has more regulations, more taxation." (The mayor's office projects that, with annexation, businesses would pay an average of $250 more a year under Seattle's business and occupation tax.)
Castro, who emigrated from El Salvador 26 years ago, says he didn't even know White Center wasn't part of Seattle when he opened his bakery in 1995. Cities may mean well by providing things like housing and help for businesses, but Castro says he and other immigrants would rather be left alone. "We come from other countries that are less developed. We progress through hard work and don't ask for aid," he says, adding that he sees more police officers as a nuisance.
Asked which neighboring city he'd opt for, given that the state requires annexation, Castro says there's no choice in that decision.
"What, pick between one evil or the other evil? There's no freedom in that," he says. "In a way we're inside-outsiders. We've been incorporated into this country's economic and political system, but we also lived abroad for so many years. We know evolution's inevitable, even if it's not our choice. We know our utopia's not going to last. Someone's going to pop the bubble. We're going to have to face it and go ahead with it."
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