Local

McGinn makes park privatization opposition part of mayoral campaign

SEATTLE — Susan Helf loves the Green Lake Community Center, but she knows all its warts. She pointed out a gap in the concrete at the base of one of the buildings.

“You see that, this is just one example of deferred maintenance,” she said.

Inside, we toured the center with Helf as she showed the water damage to the 88-year-old gym.

“It's warped here,” she said and then tapped her cane on ripples at the edge of the gym floor.

The city is studying whether to put millions of dollars into refurbishing the center or whether it should be rebuilt.

A public-private partnership is on the table. But Helf leads a group that's opposed to any kind of private takeover of public community centers.

“We won't be able to say, 'How come you're not letting the homeless shower here anymore? 'How come the rates have gone up? 'How come your mission has changed?” Helf said.

The anti-privatization forces got support Tuesday from former Mayor Mike McGinn, who is now running for mayor again.

Before he was mayor, McGinn was campaign manager of the 2008 parks levy and supported the 2014 parks district vote. He was asked why maintenance wasn’t taken care of when he was mayor.

“The 2008 parks levy, I was the campaign manager of. It was directed, you know written by the council, and that was actually an oversight in that levy,” McGinn said.

We reported a similar story three years ago. In August 2014, we reported on some of the exact same problems at Green Lake Community Center during the 2014 parks district campaign that both McGinn and current Mayor Ed Murray supported then.

“If we don't produce there's an accountability mechanism called elections,” Murray said at the time.