Community leaders discussed issues related to gang violence and education at a joint meeting of the Southwest District Council and the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council April 15 at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

There major topics were covered. They were made by the Seattle Alliance for Education, an independent nonprofit organization which acts as a constructive partner to Seattle Public Schools, by Mayor Greg Nickels’ new Seattle Youth Violence Initiative to lower school truancy and gang violence, and by the environmentally-friendly new High Point Neighborhood Center. The June grand opening of the new park at Morgan Junction was also mentioned. The petitions to name it after longtime West Seattle Herald reporter, Tim St. Clair, who passed away last year, have been turned in.

“At the end of the day we need to create academic success to benefit our students through the involvement of parents, public officials, volunteers, and the school district,” said Solynn McCurdy, of the Alliance for Education, who joined colleague Karen Tollenaar Demorest.

“We want parents choosing Seattle public schools, and we want our district to be the leader in the state, and maybe the country," said McCurdy. “If we don’t talk about getting past the hurt (regarding school closings) we may continue to see individual opting out.”

Pamela Banks, community relations director for Nickels, expressed Seattle’s urgent need to get a handle on truancy and gang violence, and discussed the recharged Youth Violence Initiative. The campaign to settle hostilities found mostly in the African American, Latino, and Asian communities will focus on Seattle’s central, southeast, and southwest neighborhoods, thanks to local court documents, she said.

These hotspots include the Delridge and White Center neighborhoods.

The program budget was cut from $9.2 million to $8 million because of economic hard times, she said. Denny Middle School will have police officers stationed there, called “emphasis officers.”

“These officers will have a positive interaction with the kids," Banks said. “We hear kids say that all interaction with police is negative. Police ask for their ID’s, question why they wear their pants low.

“We have hired ‘Peaceoholics,'" said Banks. "We are hiring former offenders who have turned their lives around. They will talk to gang members following a shooting, and try to calm them down. The kids will know they are not a police organization, and will not snitch to police. This group has an anger management component, so that hopefully these kids do not re-offend. We are taking the Washington D.C. ‘Peaceoholics’ program as a model, where the youth murder rate has decreased 50 percent over the past four years.”

Banks also discussed this year’s Summer Streets event where streets close to traffic and open to walking, biking, and playing. She brought up last year’s Alki Avenue controversy. This year Alki closes May 31.

“This is an awesome event, and planned better this year,” said Banks. “It is lead by local community organizations rather than the city. Last year the city was saying, ‘We want to close off Alki,' and restaurants and parkers were freaking out. This year we flipped the script. It’s not city focused.”