Fremont Neighborhood Service Center Records, 1952-2010

Seattle has a network of Neighborhood Service Centers located throughout the city to provide citizens with information about Seattle services and programs. The customer service representatives assist more than 225,000 residents each year to obtain pet licences, pay City Light and Combined Utility bills, pay traffic tickets, apply for U.S. passports, and find information about city jobs. District coordinators are involved in neighborhood planning processes, serve as staff to the neighborhood district councils, and provide a wide range of information services to the community.

Seven Community Service Centers were established in 1973 under the direction of the Citizens Service Bureau to provide decentralized local government services to Seattle's neighborhoods. The program was inspired by Boston's successful "Little City Halls" concept, but budget constraints made it impossible to create as comprehensive a system. The original sites of the community centers were in the neighborhoods served by the Model City Program.

In 1974, the service center program was transferred to the Department of Human Resources (DHR). Under DHR, the service centers continued to provide decentralized City services, but also expanded into community-based social service delivery. In 1978, four of the centers were designated collection centers where citizens could pay utility bills and resolve billing issues. In addition, senior services, voter registration, animal licensing, and low income energy program assistance were instituted at the centers. During the 1980s and 1990s, the various service centers offered neighborhood legal clinics, IRS tax assistance, health and nutrition services, and a wide variety of other services.

The Department of Neighborhoods (DON) was created in 1991 and jurisdiction over community service centers was transferred from DHR. The Community Service Center Division was created within DON; in 1992 the division name was changed to the Neighborhood Service Centers (NSC) Division. In 1999, the Neighborhood Matching Fund and P-Patch Programs were merged with the NSC to create the Community Building Division. From the 1990s through 2010, the NSC program included staff in thirteen centers, including seven collection centers. Budget cuts forced the closing of six service centers in early 2011.

Records of the Fremont Neighborhoood Service Center include reports, meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings and other materials documenting the activities of the service staff, Fremont Service Center Manager Carla Main, and Neighborhood District Coordinator Steve Louie. The Fremont Service Center covered the neighborhoods of Wallingford, Ballard, and Fremont, as well as areas around Lake Union and Aurora. Service Center staff members worked directly with community groups and project committees. Records document activities including neighborhood beautification, traffic development, safety, and citizen concerns such as Aurora Motel safety, Lake Union seaplane noise and traffic, the Fremont Fair and Parade, the South Lake Union Development Project, and the Boylston Avenue Noise Wall.