The following information was in a Petition was signed by CD residents and submitted to Mayor M. McGinn and Councilor Richard Conlin. Neither have responded to it.
Re: 200 Martin Luther King Way. Seattle 98122
We, who are constituents of Seattle, object to the manner in which the Department of Financial and Administrative Services (FAS) has dealt and disposed of this piece of Public Property.
Required procedure is a notification and request for input from constituents living 1000′ radius of this land was not made regards ‘future’ use of it in 2013. FAS proceeded without constituent input to sell the land through a Realtor, and did not ensure a fair and transparent bidding process was used, either through Sealed Bids or an Open Auction. lnstead there appears to have been free communication about bids, the price dropped from $121,000 to $40,000 at the request of a developer bidder, but the price drop was not placed in public view for ALL possible interested parties – either on the site’s Sale Board or on the Realtor’s website. Only a few interested parties were communicated with.
Constituents bordering this land objected to the manner of the bidding as they felt strongly unfair practice was/is evident at the end stage of the bidding.
The constituents living on the border of this land communicated with FAS concerned about the above facts. However FAS chose to proceed to complete the sale before responding. There has beeb strong objection to this exclusion of constituents in this process and the manner in which this City Department has sold public property without adhering to its duty to ensure due process which is fair and transparent to all.
This has served to betray the people’s confidence in it’s Administration of public property which the City is entrusted with.
Since the City has made the above omissions and errors we strongly believe that this sale is null and void, and the process should be recommenced, starting first with the Notification of all residents 1000′ of the property, This Notification is required by the City’s legislation of any public land in Seattle by the City.
The only response this community in the CD has had to the petition to the Mayor and to Councilor Michael McGinn is Silence. There has been responses to emails sent to Fred Podesta Director of the Dept of Finance and Administrative Services which manages Seattle’s public real estate, to Richard Conlin and to Hilary Hamilton Manager of Public Real estate. The Seattle City’s Customer Complaints Department have left a message on the phone that if we were not happy then we could take legal action. Similarly Fred Podesta and Councillor Richard Conlin has advised likewise. They are fully aware that most constituents are not in a position to do so. The Mayor has made no response to the Petition or any of the communications forwarded to him about the concerns.
People all over the city in all localities should be aware that similar pieces of publicly owned land can be disposed of by the city leaders without due regard to procedures and policy.
A person involved in looking out for the City’s Open Spaces writes:
“By selling this land, I believe that the City is not accounting for the benefits of keeping it in public ownership — namely, the forested steep slope provides much stormwater retention and carbon sequestation, as well as aesthetic enhancement for Martin Luther King Way, a major community arterial.”
This case is egregious on both counts. The impact of the sale of the property to a speculator for the neighborhood is substantial. Currently, the band of steeply sloped, wooded land provides substantial stormwater retention, reduction of air pollution along a busy arterial, and carbon sequestration. And, the band of green enhances the aesthetics of MLK Way as well as the neighborhood. The sale to a speculator and the eventual development does not bode well, because the property is covered by Critical Areas regulations. Building on a steep slope involves the cost of much mitigation and concrete to stabilize the site and process stormwater. All the positive attributes of the current conditions will be eliminated by development.”
This in not an unusual story in America as dental spending has remained flat since the economic crash in 2008. However , according to a study published in 
Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation will be on site at this year’s Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival at Seattle Center from August 31 – September 2. Be sure to stop by our booth (T18) in the INDIE MARKET section near Bagley Roadway and purchase limited edition Jimi Hendrix Park goods. See you soon.
And by today, we mean in approximately 10 minutes.
