[AmazonSteeringCte] Fw: draft of letter to 4j

Wed Mar 20 11:51:12 CDT 2019

Hi everyone,

I attended the information session at Edison last night. Here is a summary
of what I heard:
Although 4j prefaced their presentation as only an "option, with no
decisions having been made", there were not other options presented with
the same level of detail. It is clear that at some point they were/are
leaning toward the option of permanently relocating Camas, and using the
old Camas as a temporary site for Edison while Edison is rebuilt in it's
current location.
Some of the obstacles they identified with rebuilding Camas in it's current
location:

where do Camas students go while the new school is being built?
the Camas site contains multiple terraces (it's built on a hill) that would
require a retaining wall and some "drainage issues" in the lower field to
be addressed

To me, these aren't reasonable obstacles. For one, did the district
consider where Camas students would go when they decided to include it in
the bond? If they didn't, what an oversight!
The Willard site is also on a hill...

The option of a "prefab" at the Willard site for a temporary location for
both Camas and Edison was mentioned. The district was quick to point out
that this would "cost even more money". It was clear that they had not
considered other options, but that they had considered why the current
Camas site wasn't the "best"' option.

We need to keep the pressure on the district. Since the board is not
supporting a letter as a group (which is really disappointing), I suggest
individuals email the 4j board and let them know that they need to think
about other options. Relocating Camas should be farther down the list, not
at the top.

-Rachael

On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 9:14 AM Rachael Latimer <rachaellatimer at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Kevin,
>
> It would be nice to know why Willard is now in the conversation. However,
> my primary issue is why this wasn't discussed as a possibility when the
> bond was on the ballot. The 4j board is quickly losing credibility: as news
> of this spreads, other neighborhoods and school communities are becoming
> concerned (Southeast, South University and Edison, and Friendly). This is a
> broader issue than one site costing more than another.
>
> -Rachael
>
> On Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 5:17 PM Kevin Shanley via Steering.cte <
> steering.cte at lists.amazonneighbors.org> wrote:
>
>> We should question how the Willard site will cost less. They still have
>> to demolish the old buildings and the site also has elevation change to
>> deal with, which is costly under current ADA rules. The Willard site is
>> about 9.79 acres and the Camas site is 7.12 acres which may make the
>> construction phasing a little bit easier (it may be cramped to build a new
>> building on the Camas site while keeping the school in operation).
>>
>>
>>
>> The Camas site:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> The Willard site at the same scale:
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Steering.cte [mailto:
>> steering.cte-bounces at lists.amazonneighbors.org] *On Behalf Of *Randy
>> Prince via Steering.cte
>> *Sent:* Monday, March 18, 2019 11:35 AM
>> *To:* steering committee Amazon Neighbors <
>> steering.cte at lists.amazonneighbors.org>
>> *Cc:* Randy Prince <randyprince24 at hotmail.com>
>> *Subject:* [AmazonSteeringCte] Fw: draft of letter to 4j
>>
>>
>>
>> You got all in there--walkability, lack of planning, voter trust--good
>> job!  I'll support that.
>>
>>
>>
>> Randy
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> *From:* Rachael Latimer <rachaellatimer at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Monday, March 18, 2019 11:29 AM
>> *To:* Kara Steffensen; Kevin Shanley; Randy prince; Jay DeKalb; Robert
>> MacConnell
>> *Subject:* draft of letter to 4j
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> below is a draft of a letter I believe we should send to 4j and copy our
>> city councilor, Alan Zelenka. Southeast Neighbors chair, David Monk, has
>> said he has confidence that SEN will support a letter of this nature.
>> Please provide edits/feedback.
>>
>>
>>
>> -Rachael
>>
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> The Amazon Neighbors Association (ANA) strongly urges the 4j board to
>> present options and prioritize the rebuild of Camas Ridge Community
>> Elementary in it's current location.
>>
>>
>>
>> ANA has consistently partnered with and supported our schools and members
>> of the 4j board. Prior to the last 4j board election, we hosted a forum for
>> 4j board candidates in conjunction with Safe Routes to School. The primary
>> topic that candidates addressed was the importance of safe walking and
>> bicycling routes to school. ALL candidates agreed that this was an
>> important topic and creating and retaining these transportation options for
>> students was important to the health of the community. The proposal to
>> relocate Camas to the previous Willard site would greatly diminish the
>> ability of students to safely walk and bike to school, by introducing busy
>> and congested streets to students' commutes. Many families would be forced
>> to drive their students to school, adding even more traffic to 24th and
>> 30th avenues and the surrounding neighborhoods.
>>
>>
>>
>> The most recent presentation by 4j referenced the millions of dollars it
>> would cost to rebuild Camas in it's current location. Voters just approved
>> the largest ever bond measure that highlighted replacing multiple schools.
>> There was no mention of even the possibility of relocation. Why is this?
>> Had 4j not accurately estimated the cost of replacing the schools?  Was the
>> district purposely keeping this new-to-the public possibility a secret?
>> This is a major breach of trust and carries with it the potential to shake
>> the confidence of voters.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Steering.cte mailing list
>> Steering.cte at lists.amazonneighbors.org
>> www.amazonneighbors.org
>>
>> http://lists.amazonneighbors.org/mailman/listinfo/steering.cte_lists.amazonneighbors.org
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.amazonneighbors.org/pipermail/steering.cte_lists.amazonneighbors.org/attachments/20190320/8386f563/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 626433 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.amazonneighbors.org/pipermail/steering.cte_lists.amazonneighbors.org/attachments/20190320/8386f563/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 808876 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.amazonneighbors.org/pipermail/steering.cte_lists.amazonneighbors.org/attachments/20190320/8386f563/attachment-0001.png>