6 Friday, July 8, 2011 West Seattle Herald C M NT Guest Opinion Our stand in the sand -it's time to get off oil By Sierra Club's Washington State Resilient Habitats Campaign and Go60mpg Campaign. People from all over the world visit Washington to enjoy its majestic old-growth forests, the welcoming waters of Puget Sound and wodd class outdoor recreatioh experiences these unique areas provide. We have a legacy that blends the industda! with the natural, giving folks endless opportunities to work hard and play harder. As oil continues to wash up on the coasts of the Gulf over a year after the BP oil disaster, we are reminded that off-shore oil drilling and our addiction to fossil fuels have already damaged the health of our nation's environment and economy- and before long, Washington will be hit next, Oil spills large and small foul Puget Sound, threatening our coastal economies and ecosystems. Future spills are inevitable unless we fight this addiction. We must protect intact habitat and improve our planning and response in the event of a large oil spill. Ultimately, we must transition to clean energy alternatives. The health of Puget Sound resonated with the more than fifty Puget Sound residents who gathered at Alki Beach on June 25th to commemorate the devastation in the Gulf. Together we encouraged others to remember the dangers oil poses as we advocated for a transition to a clean energy economy. Just over a week before July 4th, those of us at Alki were joined by Washingtonians at Golden Gardens, Bainbridge Island and Westport in imploring our leaders to move America beyond its dangerous addiction and claim our nation's independence from oil. Washingtonians were part of an international action, known as Hands Across the Sand, to stand against risky practices that threaten fishermen, recreationists, small businesses and wildlife. From the shores of New Zealand to the beaches in Wales, people across the world held hands to remember and to fight against our deadly addiction. July 4th comes at a moment of opportunity to transition to clean energy alternatives. This summer, the Obama Administration is working on new efficiency standards for cars - and we need to call on our leaders to increase fuel efficiency as one way to reduce our nation's dependence on oil. The White House is set to announce new fuel efficiency standards for 2017-2025 this September. The highest standard under consideration, 62 miles per gallon, would cut the average car's oil consumption by half- here in Washington that would be the equivalent of saving over 3 million gallons of gas in one summer. At Alki beach and across the state, Washingtonians joined an international chorus decrying those leaders who cave to Big Oil special interests and ignore the health of American families and our environment. Getting at least 60 miles to the gallon in our cars is one solution to begin a clean energy transition that promises to protect Puget Sound and the rest of our nation's coasts from disastrous oil spills. As we celebrate our freedom on Independence Dayl we should consider our addiction to fossil fuels and how we can declare independence once more. Visit Go6Ompg.org and www.sierraclub.org/habitat to learn more and get involved. Anastasia Schemkes, Sierra Club Green Transportation Organizer can be reached at anastasia.schemkes@sierraclub. org or 206-378-0114 x 303 (c) 425-314-7506. Graham Taylor, Sierra Club Resilient Habitats can be reached at graham.taylor@sierraclub.org or 206- 378 - 0114 x 328 (c) 916 - 812 - 8828. King County Housing Authority flooded with Section 8 applications By Steve Shay As it was revealed June 14 that former King County Executive Ron Sims, the number two man at HUD since 2009, will leave his post and retire, some sad economic statistios were also released by King County Housing Authority stating that they received 25,306 applications for its Section 8 Rental Assistance Program during the two-week period when it reopened its much-anticipated waiting list, May 25-June 7. That is a large increase compared to the figure they received four years ago, which was 10,728 during the same two-week period in 2007, the last time they reopened their waiting list. They will place a cap on a selection of 2,500 applications from which to choose in a random system after they finish processing the mailed-in applications by hand in July. Generally the program pays the difference between the rent charged by a housing owner and the assisted household's rental contribution, which is set at approximately 30-40 percent of the household's income adjusted for family size and utility costs. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's 2011 "Out of Reach" report, the average monthly fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in King County is $1,176. Yet the maximum an extremely low-income family (earning 30 percent of the area median income or less) can afford to pay for housing is $622 per month. There are virtually no rental units in the private market in King County that are affordable to these households. The federal government has not significantly expanded the program in over a decade, Seattle and Renton have their own Housing Authorities. Seattle's situation looks as grim as King County's. This in March from Seattle Housing Authority's website, According to Seattle Housing Executive Director Tom Tierney, "The number of new people we are able to serve each month is shrinking. In January, just 74 new households were able to move into our housing or receive a voucher. This number has been as high as 200 over the past five years, but is clearly trending downward. Our vacancy rate in public housing is just 0.2 percent, with only 9 units out of 5,194 currently available to rent." In King County, applicants must be homeless or about to become homeless, live in substandard housing or be spending more than 50 percent of their income on rent. A typical household in KCHA's program has an average income Of $13,000. In a June 14 press release, Stephen Norman, Executive Director of the King County Housing Authority, stated, "This level of demand spotlights the growing need for housing assistance we are seeing across the region. The gap between wages or fixed benefits such as social security and housing costs has never been greater. The economic downturn, the steady loss of affordable units, and rising rents are placing many households in increasingly desperate circumstances. The majority of these applicants are elderly, disabled, or working poor families with children. Many are on the verge of homelessness." Rhonda R. Rosenberg is Director of Communications, King County Housing Authority. She told the West Seattle Herald that because of the weak economy, residents are not vacating their Section 8 rentals as quickly as before while the federal government is not keeping pace financially with the demand. "They've applied for a chance to get on the waiting list," she said. "The problem is that in the bad economy more vouchers are not being issued by the federal government. The only way someone can get a voucher is if someone else turns their voucher in and it gets recycled to the next family. But because of the recession they are holding on longer. Section 8 tended to be a leg up, to help a family for a couple of years, but now we have seen fewer and fewer people turning in their vouchers." She explained that the reason they cap the applications to just 2,500 is that "It could take 10 years to get through the entire list, and in 10 years those names would be no good any more. People move and their circumstances change." Steve Shay can be reached at steves@robinsonnews.com. Earl Cruzen, yesterday and today. The fastest kid on Webster Street By Jerry Robinson • If it wasn't for the bullies of northern White Center, young Earl Cruzen might not have become the fastest kid on Webster Street. Earl was a smallish lad who would rather write than fight. He learned to high-tail it away from bigger boys bent on "pantsing" him or doing him harm. White Center was a labor town in the 1930's, too blue collar for a bright young son of W.E. Cruzen (well known Seattle auto parts king for many years). Earl grew up in Highland park, just off 12th S.W. near the top of Boeing Hill. Through grade school he gained his fleet feet while selling magazine subscriptions to residents and businesses in downtown White Center. Earl was too small for sports, "1 saw how big those guys were", he said so he turned to writing about the athletes. He didn't golf but admitted that he and friends once snuck onto the 9th green of the old Garrett Lake (Hick's Lake) golf course before he was shooed away by local players. By high school Earl began writing for the West Seattle High Chinook (school newspaper) eventually getting some stories published in the West Seattle Herald. A budding journalist he wasn't. His heart was in the company biz. In 1939 Earl had already been working for his dad at the auto parts store selling Ansco wipers among other things. Trade was good. His graduation that year led to college and with the war came a stint in the Merchant Marines. After the war he returned to the auto parts industry making friends and keeping service stations and garages stocked with all the parts they needed. It wasn't enough to just run a good business.He is a beloved long term benefactor to White Center and West Seattle institutions like our local community college. He always has a twinkl in his eye and is ready with a bon mot. Earl can take credit for many murals around town and the now famous "Children Walking On Logs" sculpture along the Fauntleroy Freeway. Earl had been taking care of the landscaping until recently when age and a trip to the hospital limited his ability to negotiate the grassy hillside. At 91 this September he deserves a break. He is in recovery from recent health issues but we found him this week trimming shrubbery at his condo overlooking Alki Beach. Maybe the fastest kid on Webster Street is slowing down a bit. He is the same age as I, at 91 but could probably beat me in a 50-yard dash. Jerry Robinson is the publisher of the West Seattle Herald/ White Center News. He can be reached care of Ken Robinson at kenr@robinsonnews.com.