McGilvra’s reconsidered

In the month since we reviewed McGilvra’s (Much needed addition?) the new bar and eatery seems to have hit its stride. Reviews of the restaurant on Yelp during the past month have been significantly better than when the place first opened (the last seven reviews have averaged almost four stars out of five, whereas the average of the early reviews was only one star). Meanwhile, Urban Spoon Seattle gives McGilvra’s a 91% favorable rating, with 23 reviews to date (Urban Spoon voting is on an I Like It/I Don’t basis).

Someone who recently ate at McGilvra’s just commented our own review, stating that while the food and atmosphere were good, the staff seemed young and inexperienced (the food took 45 minutes to arrive). So perhaps there is still some inconsistency in the service, depending on whether things are particularly busy (as on a rare sunny day).

A friend and I checked out the lunch scene at McGivlra’s last week and found the service and the food excellent. He had the fish sandwich and pronounced it very good, and I had the toasted BLTA (A for Avocado) sandwich and rated it a 10. Personally, I think they’ve got their act together and the jury is now in: worthwhile addition to the neighborhood.

Filling a void or just filling time?

Today marks the one-month anniversary of this blog! When I began this project I didn’t intend to do a blog about Madison Park at all. The title of the blog was chosen simply because I wanted to be Seattle Blogger and that moniker was already taken. So, I chose Madison Park Blogger just as a way of designating where I was blogging from, not what I planned to blog about. Actually, my vision was to give myself a platform for broadcasting my jaded views on life, along with occasional diatribes about the maddening world in which we live. That, at least, was the plan.

About a half week into my blog experiment, however, it was pointed out to me that Madison Park doesn't really have any timely source of information about what’s happening in the neighborhood. The Madison Park Times, a worthy little publication, only publishes monthly, and its coverage area also includes Denny-Blaine, Madrona, Leschi, and Madison Valley. Additionally, the staff of the paper was recently decimated and the editor removed. The new editor handles five separate publications, and it is not clear that the paper currently has a reporter who actually lives in Madison Park. Worse yet, many of the news stories and editorial content of the MVT are from the publisher’s other Seattle neighborhood papers (for example, a recent story on Megahouses had a picture of a Madison Park house with a story which quoted sources in Ballard and Capitol Hill, but no one from the Park.)

It seems that the only way to disseminate information on a timely basis in the ‘hood is to post a note on the board at the hardware store or at Starbuck’s, put a flier in the windows of those retail establishments that will allow them, or staple notices on telephone poles. Otherwise, it’s word of mouth.

So this blog is now designed to fill that void. My intention is to meet the need for a central source of information on Madison Park issues and events. But if this is to be a successful operation it will depend upon your help in getting the word out. If you think this site is valuable please let your neighbors know about it (and if you haven’t done so already, please also vote in the reader poll situated in the right-hand column of the blog). If you can think of additional ways for us to publicize the site please forward your ideas (our email address is also in the right-hand column). To date it has been suggested that I use the methods listed above as well as setting up a table at the Music in the Park concerts and at the Sidewalk Sale and Parade. I will also be placing an ad in that old-fashioned medium, the Madison Park Times.

We did hit some milestones in the last month that make me cautiously optimistic that this blog is for real. We were picked up as a media source for EveryBlock.com, and we were reviewed and rated by Blogged.com (to put this into perspective, that team has rated 26 Washington blogs, with this blog ranking 9^th on their list). We were also accepted for inclusion as a “hyperlocal" blog by BlogCatalog, which gives us some additional exposure. We had the first referral to our site through both a Google search and a Yahoo search, and somebody in Tunisia (believe it or not) actually spent 14 minutes reading blog posts on the site earlier this week! The average daily number of visitors to Madison Park Blogger is now 25, up from just 2 during the first week (just me, and perhaps my wife). Stats for the site, by the way, are measured by SiteMeter, and you can click on the icon at the bottom of the right-hand column for up-to-date traffic information if you’re interested.

Thanks to all of you who through email or in person have encouraged me to continue my efforts. I appreciate your support, and it’s nice to know that someone out there is reading this stuff. Please continue to provide your input (both complimentary and critical) and send me your story ideas. Please comment on the posts (you can do so by clicking on "Comments" at the bottom each story). Your tips are always welcome!

Boo hoo! Boo hoo! FOTF no more

Last Friday, when the WaMu sign came down from Chase’s Madison Park branch, I wrote a blog entry talking about the days when WaMu was known as the Friend of the Family (FOTF for short). My photographer neighbor, Bob Peterson, now provides us with a Madison Park connection to WaMu’s 20-year FOTF ad campaign, featuring character actor Booth Coleman. Coleman personified the Bank’s then-folksy image; and he was famous in Washington State, at least, for his mastery of the avuncular role. It seems that several of the FOTF TV commercials were shot in Bob’s front yard, right here on 42nd Avenue E. And Bob’s got a photo to prove it:

Bob reports that not only is the 86-year-old Coleman still alive, but he’s still acting. A native Northwesterner (born in Portland, Oregon), Coleman has a long and distinguished film, TV and stage career to his credit, including a role as one of the apes in the TV version of Planet of the Apes.

Coleman and the Friend of the Family tag line epitomized Washington Mutual for about two decades, ending in the early 1990’s. At the time the Bank was seized by federal regulators last summer in what is to date the largest bank failure in U.S history, the Bank’s official tag line was Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Need I say more?

[Photo of TV Commercial © Bob Peterson: http://www.bobpeterson.com/]

New preschool to open in the ‘hood

A new preschool called Bright! will be opening in Madison Park in June. Resident Glenn Ader, who has a background in preschool programs, says that the first session for the school will be a summer “camp” limited to eight kids. It starts June 22 and will run eight weeks during the hours from 9am to 1pm. Each week will be devoted to a different set of subjects (e.g. week one: gardening & nature, week eight: wilderness and outdoor fun).

The fall session will be open to ten kids and will also be a half-day morning program running on the same calendar as that of the Seattle Public Schools. Ader’s pitch: “We are a child centric school that focuses on child development through hands on experience. Play is a child's work!”

For more information, including details of this Saturday's open house, visit Bright!’s website: brightinthepark .

Another rant about those banks

You may have noticed the recent spate of stories in the press about consumers being treated miserably by the big banks, which are accused of unfairly jacking up rates and fees on credit card holders at the slightest excuse. As a banker myself, I’ve tended to be less than sympathetic when hearing these reports, believing that banks are just managing risk by discouraging the bad behavior of their worst offenders. Some people just shouldn’t have credit. So my usual reaction when seeing someone on TV complaining about bank charges was “Hey, Buddy, you should’ve read the fine print!”

I’m not singing from that hymnal anymore, however.

My wife was down at Bert’s the other day attempting unsuccessfully to pay for her purchases using a Citibank credit card which, no matter how many times she swiped it through the machine, just could not get itself authorized. So naturally on her arrival back home she asked “What’s the deal?” I was sure it was just another bank mix up, so I called Citibank to straighten out the problem. After I had identified myself to their satisfaction, here’s how my phone conversation went:

Me: I’m calling because my wife was unable to get authorization to use our credit card today

Citibank: That’s right sir. You are past due on the account.

Me: Past due? Since when?

Citibank: Six days past due, sir.

Me: By how much?

Citibank: $25, sir.

Me: What? You suspended my card because I was six days past due on $25? Are you @#$%*%^# kidding me?

Citibank: No, sir. If you were even one hour late on your payment, we would have taken the same action. We would still have suspended your use of the card, sir.

Me: But I’ve been a Citibank customer for 20 years, I have a great credit score, I don’t think I’ve ever been delinquent by even 30 days! Aren’t you the same Citibank that just got $30 billion of taxpayer money?

Citibank: [silence]

Me: This is how you treat your customers? We taxpayers own you!!!!

Citibank: Would you like to make a payment on your card now, sir?

Me: Okay, fine. If that’s how you’re going to treat me, I’m paying off my card in full right now! And I will never be using it again. You have my account information, so just charge my checking account for the full amount and be done with it.

Citibank: That will be $14.50, sir.

Me: $14.50 for what?

Citibank: For making a phone payment, sir.

Me: You’ve got to be joking! [Pause] Fine. I’ll just go online and pay it down that way!

Citibank: Can’t be done sir.

Me: Why not?

Citibank: We’ve suspended your on-line privileges, sir.

Me [while figuratively slamming down my cell phone]: #$%@*&%$@

Later, a banker friend on hearing my story suggested that I am exactly the kind of customer Citibank wants to get rid of. I asked what he meant, and he said that the bank probably makes no money on my account since I pay it in full every month and am only late about once a year. Thus from the Bank’s point of view, with no interest and few fees to collect on my account, I’m as much of a deadbeat to them as anyone who has bad credit. They’re probably glad to be rid of me! (This thought undermines my satisfaction in having told them in writing that I would never bank with them again, even if they were the last bank left on earth).

With regard to those other victims whose stories I so cavalierly dismissed: I’m sorry. I’m sympathetic now. I get it. I was wrong about those bankers. And I was wrong about the $30 Billion, too. Citibank has, believe it or not, received $50 billion of capital from the U.S. taxpayers PLUS another $301 billion of taxpayer loan guarantees to backstop the Bank’s so-called toxic-asset portfolio. 

$351 BILLION is a lot of money!

POLICE BLOTTER
MAY 6-13

It was not a good week to be leaving valuables in your parked car along Lake Washington Boulevard (East or South), as there were four separate incidents of car prowling reported, each involving broken windows or doors and the theft of property.

It also wasn’t a particularly good week for the Madison Valley merchants and offices located on East Madison Street:

May 6: Hoa Salon (2900 E. Madison Street) reported that sometime during the previous night someone entered the business by throwing a piece of cement through two double-paned windows and then stole several items, including a laptop and some jewelry. A resident of the building reported that she heard a loud noise at about 11:00 the previous night, but she had not seen anyone when she looked out of her apartment. The property loss was estimated at $1900. May 7: A business owner in the 2800 block of E. Madison reported that she had apparently thwarted a possible burglary around 9:30 p.m. after she heard a loud noise and investigated. She observed a suspect standing near a broken window on the east side of the building and asked him what he was doing. He then ran from the scene and was not apprehended by investigating officers. May 8: A woman working in her office on the 2800 block of E. Madison reported at 2:45 p.m. that she heard her outer office door open and someone enter an inner office within her complex. When she went to investigate she discovered two men exiting a storage area and carrying her laptop. She chased the suspects and asked bystanders to call 911, which they did. Officers several blocks away spotted someone who met the description of a suspect. The man was holding something wrapped in a coat. The officers pursued the suspect, but the suspect jumped a fence. Officers later recovered the abandoned laptop, the suspect’s coat, and what was assumed to be the suspect’s Nike shoe. Upon searching the coat the officers found that the suspect had left his identification card in one of the pockets.

May 13: A resident of the 1600 block of Lake Washington Boulevard E. (Arboretum) reported that she had discovered that sometime the previous night someone had entered her unlocked 2008 Mercedes ML550, had ransacked the interior, and had taken the resident’s electronic garage door opener. The Mercedes was parked in the driveway outside the garage. The suspect then used the remote to open the garage and entered the woman’s unlocked 2004 Porsche 911 convertible. Although the Porsche was also ransacked, only a mink lap blanket was apparently stolen. Because the victim had replaced all of the ransacked items and closed all vehicle doors, the police were unable to get suspect fingerprints from any surface as a result of dusting.

Former 'Friend of the Family' bites the dust in Madison Park

They pulled the sign down this afternoon from the Madison Park WaMu branch (4020 E. Madison Street), dramatically and quite literally signaling the end of an era.  

Most of us can remember the time when Washington Mutual was a well respected local institution that featured a kindly-uncle spokesman and the rodeo grandmas in its ads. Many of us learned about saving money by participating in the bank’s school savings program as children. Those were the days long before Kerry Killinger and his team destroyed WaMu’s culture from inside and then rode the bank into the ground. In a recent story, The New York Times had a fabulous 2003 quote from Killinger which is a classic in prognostication:

“We hope to do to this industry what Wal-Mart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Loews-Home Depot did to their industry. And I think if we’ve done our job, five years from now you’re not going to call us a bank.”

Well, we certainly won’t be calling WaMu a bank much longer. The new Chase sign is scheduled to go up within the next two weeks, I am told. Meanwhile, thousands of WaMu employees are out of jobs and on the streets, tens of thousands of WaMu shareholders have had their holdings rendered valueless, and millions of WaMu customers now await the next chapter.

The workers taking down the sign, who have been doing the same thing at other WaMu branches in Seattle this week, asked me why people are so upset seeing the signs come down. “It’s almost as if they are blaming us,” one of them told me. “I don’t get it.” I told him that it’s always sad to see a local icon replaced with some big behemoth from out of town, especially one from New York City. “Now I get it,” he said. “Money always talks.”

Something like that.

[The New York Times did an excellent job last December of chronicling the corrosive effects of Killinger and his team on the bank and their ultimate destruction of Washington Mutual. For those interested in reading the full story: Saying Yes, WaMu Built an Empire on Shaky Loans.]