1. Just in time to tap the anger that recent Seattle Times and KING 5 stories have generated over the loss of parking spots around town—a few hundred out of half a million—the city's newest micorpark is opening later this week.

The new parklet—featuring film reels, a free library, seating and bike parking, and a starred walkway—will take up a few parking spaces in front of the Uptown SIFF Cinema in Lower Queen Anne. It will be the city's sixth parklet (the other five microparks around town have displaced seven parking spots overall or .001 percent of the city's parking.)

With a 93 percent occupancy rate for on-street parking spots in Uptown after 7pm, though—about 10 percentage points too high to be able to find parking—the change isn't likely to please people who drive in to Queen Anne. However, the community itself (and the theater) joined together to raise the money and partner with SDOT to make it happen.

And never mind the 97 pay lots that are available in Lower Queen Anne, according to PSRC data, I guess?

Yes, those spots are more expensive—$5.34 an hour on average vs. the city's $1.50 charge in Uptown. But that raises a more important question. Why is the city subsidizing parking rates when the market demands much more?

As for the front-page Sunday Seattle Times story on "vanishing" parking spots, check out yesterday's Fizz. I added some context and challenged the article's misleading premise that the parking conflict in Seattle is between people who want more public space for transit alternatives vs. people who simply want to share  access to the public right of way by zipping in and out of spots in their cars to do quick errands. 

That idea is undermined by yet more public policy that promotes car ownership: The fact that the majority of paid spaces (97 percent) allow up to at least two hours for parking—with some allowing up to 10 hour parking. People who drive cars appear to be looking for storage not access.

2. Longtime lefty King County council member Larry Gossett announced today that he's endorsing socialist city council member Kshama Sawant for reelection.

Gossett's statement says:

Kshama Sawant has achieved more in her first term than many councilmembers do, particularly when you think about how long it takes most of us elected officials to get legislation passed. Winning the $15 minimum wage is a game changer for young people, women, and people of color. But a lot of people don't know that Sawant also played a leadership role in changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day, stopping rent hikes by the Seattle Housing Authority, and increasing funding for social services in Seattle.

Capitalizing on the mainstream endorsement, Sawant's campaign added: "Gossett's endorsement ... reflects the depth of support for Sawant among progressive Democratic Party activists in Seattle."

3. Mayor Ed Murray is delivering his state of the city speech at 2pm today.

Watch for Murray to catalogue his first year of accomplishments—the $15 minimum wage law, preschool funding, Metro funding (and I'd add his ride sharing deal, plus expediting the 2nd Ave. bike lane and giving SDOT the power to expand car sharing.)

However, as his vague affordable housing task force appears to be tinkering rather than leading, and as public anger over SPD misconduct grows, Murray's statements on those issues rather than a review of his first year deserve the most scrutiny.