RC Blog

City Council “fast-tracks” hearing on $100 million Mercer West Project

posted by Cydney Gillis on Monday, October 26 at 7:17pm

If you missed this evening’s public hearing on the $100 million Mercer West Project, you’re not alone—so did the dozens of people who signed the protest letter below, which the Seattle Displacement Coalition sent out this afternoon. The letter objects to the Seattle City Council’s decision, at the last minute, to “fast-track” a public hearing on the project.

The hearing was squeezed in before a well-advertised budget hearing that was supposed to start at 5:30 p.m. The number of people who showed up to testify on Mercer West speaks for itself: Precisely five people made it to this sneaky “public hearing.” Given who benefits—billionaire Paul Allen and his Vulcan developments along Mercer—should we be surprised?

Should we be surprised that council budget chair Jean Godden pooh-poohed the complaints she had gotten about the short notice by saying there will be other opportunities to speak about Mercer West—in the middle of your workday morning prior to budget committee meetings that start at 9:30? (For those who can, that’s Oct. 29, Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.) Or that four of the five who made it to the “public hearing” were project supporters?

The detractor was Kirk Robbins of the Queen Anne Community Council and he gave Ms. Godden a piece of his mind. The Mercer Corridor Stakeholders Group that recommended the project convenes at the behest of Vulcan and “has a serious thumb on the scale for property owners in that area,” Robbins said, adding that a meaningful stakeholder process is needed.

In the meantime, “There’s supposed to be a serious Mercer hearing here,” he said, “and this isn’t it.”

From the letter sent out this afternoon by the Displacement Coalition:

Dear Councilmembers,

We are writing to strenuously object to the fast tracking of a hearing this afternoon on the Mercer West project - without notice and without any opportunity for the public to even be made aware of it, let alone show up and testify.  How ironic that you would hold up the council hearing on the budget (which you take pains to point out will require $72 million in painful budget cuts to basis services in our city.  And then to hasten construction of one our city’s most wasteful and needless boondoggle you fast track a hearing on Mercer West!  ...

We urge the Council to postpone this hearing until the public receives proper notice, can review materials, and make informed comments.  I am unable to attend today’s hearing but wish to weigh in with my objections….  thank you.

- John V. Fox for the Coalition and on behalf of 20 plus community organizations and over 150 community leaders opposed to use of city funds for the Mercer Project.  Other groups opposed to Mercer funding include:

Magnolia Community Club
Rainier Beach Community Club Executive Board
Queen Anne Community Council
Southeast Seattle Crime Prevention Council
Othello Neighborhood Association
Columbia City Community Council
North Seattle Industrial Association
Aurora Avenue Merchants Association
Fremont Chamber of Commerce
Ballard District Council
Seattle Community Council Federation
Northeast District Council
Metropolitan Democratic Club
Seattle Marine Business Coalition
36th District Democrats
Seattle Displacement Coalition
University District Community Council.
Individual Signatories of this letter include:

Matt Fox, Pres. U-District Community Council (endorses this statement)
David Bloom
Sally Kinney
Joe Martin
Toby Thaler Board member, Fremont Neighborhood Council (ID purposes only)
Gene Hoglund, No Tunnel Alliance
Kent Kammerer
Kris Fuller
Gloria Butts
William Bradburd
Brian Ramey
Irene Wall
Steve Rubstello
Cheryl Trivison
Mary Hisken
Dennis Saxman
Rick Barrett
Dennis Ross
Michael Oxman
Ken Meyer
Charles Pickel
Gary Clark
Ishbel Dickens
Bill Kirlin Hackett
Kris Weber
Stephen Lamphear, President, Evergreen Democratic Club (ID purposes only)
Christal Wood, JD
Brian Foley
Cameron Chapman
Keith Biever
Midge Batt
Harvey Friedman
Elizabeth Campbell
Doris Nicastro
Patt Watts
Patricia Stambor
Lynn Sereda
Tim Baker
Penny Lewis
Sooz Appel
Dorli Rainey
Jim and Diane Snell
Polly Trout
Sharon Scully
Robby Barnes
Sylvie Kashdan
Geov Parrish, Political Commentator and Journalist
Faith Fogarty
Maureen Bo
Anthony Jamerson, (former) Chief Steward OPEIU Local 8 & community activist
Roberta Nelson
Jackie Dempere
Chris Gordon Owen
Janine Blaeloch, Public Lands Activist
Jef Jaisun, Pres. Ravenna Park Action Council
Ishbel Dickens
Todd Tollefson
Cleve Stockmeyer
Bob Barnes
Benjamin Wojcik
Jane DeHaan
Denise Vaughn
Sinan Demirel
Madeleine Sosin
Brie Gyncild
Carla Bueno
Mary Kline
Rich Haag
Mike McCormick
Rev. Rick Reynolds
Sean Brailey
Patricia Paschal, SE Seattle Resident
Martha Baskin
Faye Garneau, Executive Director, Aurora Avenue Merchants Association Inc. as authorized by the Board of Directors 1/12/09
Kari Olson, “The Friends of Interlaken Park,” Seattle’s Urban Forest Stewards, Naturalist
Kenny Telesco
Cheryl Jones
Carla Miller
Erin O’Connor
Daphne R. Schneider
Cathy Dempier
BettyJo Reed
Edyth Koch
Melanie Cosette
Craig Salins
Joan Wisnowski
Margaret M. Boyle
MaryLou Pederson
Mary Lou Barian
Maurice Cooper
Flo Beaumon
Scott Species
Jenna Walden
Jeanne Legault
Joe Szwaja
Andrew Kirsh
Meredith van Ry
Jon Hiesfelter, CWA 37083 (ID purposes only)
Jen Domeier Seattle, WA
Ray Akers Gerrard Beattie & Knapp Realtors
John Barber
Joyce Moty
Lauren Ehnebuske
Marty Oppenheimer
Cheryl Petterson
Kevin Wildermuth
Marsha Shaiman
Sarah Prostak
Matthew goossen, president, Leschi Community Council
Cindy Domingo, Legislative Aide, King County Councilmember Larry Gossett
Monica Bradley

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