Response to 4th of July Late Evening Fireworks Chaos

To all our community: 

A lovely Alki 4th of July day turned into a late night of disturbing events. During the day, people enjoyed the beach, promenade, dining, salsa dancing, and other activities. What had been a peaceful celebratory day became something different in the evening.

Residents have shared stories with us regarding people misusing fireworks on the beach, on local streets, and on Alki Playfield. Mortar fireworks, roman candles, and other fireworks were thrown and aimed at buildings, cars, and people. There were several brush fires in the neighborhood, including near buildings, power poles, and electrical boxes, that locals and visitors put out.

Images of the fireworks events held late at night

We hear you. We understand that people are angry and upset. The violent behavior, which put lives and property at risk, is unacceptable. We believe and stand by the principle that the safety of our residents, businesses, and visitors is fundamental to a livable, thriving community.

We are working with other West Seattle community leaders to focus our efforts on ensuring the City acknowledges our experiences and concerns, and develops solutions.

Here’s what we are currently doing:

• Collecting evidence from residents and visitors - stories, videos, and photos from the 4th of July. Our President, Charlotte, is requesting videos, photos, and stories (in Word or PDF form) that you are willing to share as documentation. Please upload the documents to the Dropbox link below and let us know whether you are comfortable sharing your name or would prefer to remain anonymous. https://www.dropbox.com/request/69l7jpp5llpfa2t7stze

  You do not need to have an account to upload to Dropbox. We wish to respect privacy and will honor requests to remain anonymous.

• Encouraging residents to write directly to the City Council and the Mayor. Additionally or instead of Dropbox, write directly to the city council and the Mayor about the evening events. We are only one voice representing the community. More people writing directly to City leaders will get us more attention.

  
  

  You can email your story with a photo or video to:

  • council@seattle.gov (goes to all City Councilmembers)

  • info@wilsonforseattle.com (Mayor Wilson),

  • and cc us at hello@alkicommunitycouncil.org.

    
    

• Requesting an immediate meeting with City leaders. Our President, Charlotte, has spoken with Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka about the evening chaos and has requested an immediate meeting. Rob Saka will help coordinate a meeting with other West Seattle leaders, the Mayor’s Office and Chief of Police Barnes, as soon as possible.

  
  

• Town hall style meeting option. 

  We have had requests to organize a community town hall meeting with City leaders to share experiences and express concerns. These bigger meeting, as an additional approach to sharing information, take longer to schedule and organize, and could be scheduled in weeks or months.

  
  

  To get a more rapid response from the City, we think a smaller meeting between local WS community leaders and City leaders is the best approach for now. We may organize a larger town hall meeting in the future. To share your experience and concerns now to us, please email us (and the City leaders) and/or upload documents.

We are doing our best, as volunteer leaders, to represent the community based on what we see, hear, and read.

Thank you for your input. It takes a village to make change happen!

Alki CC