I had heard that CleanGreens was nominated for a grant from the City so I wrote a letter of support to the Council.  Yesterday I received the good news that the funding had passed.  Today however, a correction came from Council member Richard McIver with the bad news.   CleanGreens will need all of our support even more to make the program work.  Stop by the produce stand, make a donation, or volunteer to help.  The produce is really good and the program even better.

Mr. Spitzer,

I’m embarrassed to have to correct my email response to you yesterday
regarding City funding for the Clean Greens Farm & Market Program.  I
wrote that the Council had voted unanimously to provide $50,000 to the
program in both 2009 and 2010.  Apparently my staff and I both
mistakenly thought this item was among the one hundred plus individual
budget votes we took this past Monday.   It was not, meaning that this
program will not receive this money.

The City is required by law to adopt a balanced budget.  The proposed
2009-2010 budget presented to the City Council by the Mayor in September
was balanced, although more recent pessimistic revenue forecasts forced
us to find an additional savings of $18 million over the biennium.  As
such, in order to add new or additional expenditures, the Council is
forced to find a corresponding savings or new revenue source.

My Council colleagues and I proposed far more additional spending than
we could realistically accommodate.  In order to create a final budget
that is balanced, Council members are forced to prioritize and find a
majority of colleagues who agree to fund particular items.  In the end,
an informal “balancing package” including some items, but excluding
others, is created which ensures that projected revenues match
expenditures.  The Council then votes to approve each of the individual
items included in that package, before approving the budget in its
entirety.

Somehow I was under the mistaken impression that the Clean Greens Farm
& Market Program was in that package, and was accepted by a unanimous
vote on Monday.  Please accept my apology for providing you with
incorrect information.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to
call my office at 684-8800.

Richard J. McIver
Seattle City Council

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>>> “Kevin Spitzer” <[email protected]> 11/6/2008 5:14 PM >>>

When I heard about the program in the neighborhood to mentor city kids
in organic farming and also bring fresh produce to the neighborhood, I
knew to keep my eye on them.  We have started using the CleanGreens<http://www.cleangreensfarm.com>produce at our restaurant.

The quality and flavor is very good and the program does great things for the diets and minds in the Central District.  Apparently the Council needs more encouragement and convincing to approve Richard Conlin’s proposed grant of $50k to this project. CleanGreens<http://www.cleangreensfarm.com>Farm & Market is a project that doesmany beneficial things for the area in a direct way.  I have live in the Central District for a dozen years now and there are often discussions about fighting crime that seem to drown out any other ideas.  CleanGreens<http://www.cleangreensfarm.com/>is a program that is inspirational in many ways and I believe it will bring positive changes in attitude to the neighborhood that will make working on the negative stuff that much easier. Please do what you can to direct the muscle of the city to assist this program to reach the point where it will stand on it’s own.

Thank You,
—
Kevin Spitzer
Central Cinema
1411 21st Avenue Seattle WA 98122
206-328-3230 office
206-686-MOVI info line
www.central-cinema.com