MHI Contribution Makes It Into Draft Budget

Councilmember David Della wrote to me this afternoon with the good news that the $150,000 contribution by the city to the Maritime Heritage Initiative has been added to the draft 2007-2008 budget. Although the budget committee and the full council have yet to approve the measure, this is a huge step forward for the maritime heritage community. Della cited the strong advocacy for this budget item on the part of heritage supporters as a key factor in the budget decision.

And let's not forget Seattle voters. Councilmembers told a number of heritage supporters that if the transportation levy (Proposition 1) had failed, they would have a much harder time approving the addition to the budget. Of course, the levy passed by a wide margin in yesterday's election, 54% to 46%.