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Which box on your ballot will you fill in next time? (Links in blue) On Feb 8, 2006,
the HCA sent an emailt to Sen. Prentice and State Reps Hudgins and Hasegawa. This email also had several attachments to show our
concerns were valid:
On March 23, 2006, the HCA reached out again to Senator Prentice to no avail. Can you believe that with all this information, Senator Prentice remained silent!!!! We're supposed to "pussy foot" around because she holds an influential position in the Washington State Senate? That makes her all the more responsible to be responsible to her constituency, especially in the serious situation that was evolving in the Highlands with the mayor's "vision for an urban village." On March 30, 2006, the HCA again reached out to Senator Prentice and Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa regarding the HCA objection to the mayor's Environmental Review Committee decision regarding a DETERMINATION OF NON-SIGNIFICANCE regarding environmental impacts resulting from rezoning the Highlands. The email the HCA sent to the City of Renton regarding its objection to its SEPA DETERMINATION OF NON-SIGNIFICANCE REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS was attached. What does it take to get their attention! This email of March 30, 2006, also contained the notes from the March 8th City Council Offsite and a spreadsheet showing how many officers were available to deal with crime in the Highlands. However, only 2-3 patrols were assigned at a given time, and these were not totally dedicated 100% to patroling the Highlands. Yet the mayor could use crime as one of her reasons for wanting a Declaration of Blight? The mayor contributed to the crime by withholding patrols in numbers commensurate with the population. As you can see, the HCA reached out to Senator Prentice and Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa multiple times. We still hope to receive some written feedback regarding the information the HCA has sent to them regarding the planned use of a Declaration of Blight in the Highlands. This may be legally right, but the HCA does not believe it is morally right. We want to know where they stand on this very important issue. At the Renton city council meeting held on May 8, 2006, which was also a public hearing attended by almost 400 Highlands property owners and residents, Mayor Koelker thought she was so clever reading a letter from Senator Margarita Prentice "into the record" to the effect that Senator Prentice did not support the position of the HCA. Without even asking the HCA what its "position" was, Senator Prentice decided it was appropriate to write such a letter and then have it read publicly into the record of the Renton City Council. That was an extreme act of prejudice, there is no other description appropriate. Link to Senator Prentice's letter of May 8, 2006. As you can see, this is a letter written on plain bond paper,not letterhead. And its ambiguity hints to something that was prepared on the spur of the moment. It is also hard to believe that Senator Prentice wrote the letter with no influence from Mayor Koelker. I heard that Senator Prentice was seen at Renton City Hall earlier that day or the day before, so it is quite possible that she scripted this letter at the promptings of the mayor; and it backfired. So Senator Prentice doesn't support the position of the HCA? Well, look at all the great things that the HCA has done--all the great things for the voters of the Highlands! If Senator Prentice was manipulated by the mayor based on their old friendship, is this the kind of person who should get your vote? And I'm speaking of both of them . . . Senator Prentice owes her allegiance to the People of the Highlands, not to a dictatorial mayor who happens also to be a personal friend. On May 11, 2006, the HCA sent a letter to fifteen (15) state legislators, including Senator Prentice and Reps Hasegawa and Hudgins with attachments to prove that the mayor's "vision for an urban" village did indeed include the use of a Declaration of Blight under the State's Community Renewal Act. The attachments were damning, to say the least. A COVER SHEET accompanied the May 11th letter, asking the recipients if they would take a few minutes to read the HCA's letter, along with its attachments, and to respond. Imagine asking elected officials to respond to the citizens--with carbon copies to Mayor Koelker and Renton City Council President Randy Corman. On May 25, 2006, the HCA sent another email to Senator Prentice and Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa updating them on the status of the mayor's "vision for an urban village," and the public meetings to date. This email contained the high density map and the non conforming map with the 1's and 2's on it. These two maps visually show the impact to the people who live in those single family homes and duplexes. It is no small thing! This email also contains a biographical sketch of one of the widows who has a beautiful remodeled duplex which would end up as fodder for eminent domain if it was located in a 5-acre plus parcel that a developer wanted. The lack of response from our elected officials in Olympia is disturbing. Silence isn't right, nor is what Senator Prentice did right. The voters deserve so much more from their state senator and house representatives. Senator Prentice's May 8th letter, because it was read "into the record" of the Renton City Council, was shown on Channel 21 all week and its publication was posted to the web. When the HCA secretary called Senator Prentice to discuss the letter, Senator Prentice hung up on her. Senator Prentice's arrogance is unacceptable, and it put the HCA in a position of having to respond in writing; however, neither Senator Prentice or House Rep Bob Hasegawa has answered yet. We invite the voters to remember this when they run for office again. On June 7, 2006, the HCA wrote again regarding comments made in the city council meetings, Senator Prentice and Reps Hudgins and Hasegawa were carbon copied. The HCA wrote again on June 11, 2006. If you doubt the HCA's concerns, please link to Alex Pietsch's statement of work and schedule to use a Declaration of Blight in the Highlands HERE And take special note of the "elements" relating to a Declaration of Blight and "accumulating property" or in other words, the use of eminent domain. And we ask Senator Prentice and Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa what they like about this proposal? Link to currently published high density zoning recommended to create the mayor's "vision for an urban village" HERE Link to the map which shows the single family homes (indicated by 1) and duplexes (indicated by 2) which will become NON CONFORMING and non-existent if the mayor's zoning plans are implemented HERE Link to the "Points to consider" handout from the HCA general meeting held in Feb 2006 HERE Senator Prentice and Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa, please tell the HCA what don't you like about this? Link to the 14-point plan for Highlands Redevelopment which integrates higher densities while not creating any NON CONFORMING properties HERE Senator Prentice and Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa, please tell the HCA what don't you like about this? The HCA will continue to lobby for a letter of apology or explanation from Senator Prentice which we want read "into the record" of the Renton city council minutes. And we would like to receive some written feedback from State Representatives Hudgins and Hasegawa. If they support a Declaration of Blight in the Highlands under the State's Community Renewal Act, then the citizens deserve to know. "Fence sitting" won't work regarding this issue; it's just too important. If they do not support use of the Community Renewal Act in the Highlands, then we would like their help to change the State law to give the People more protections than the law currently provides. Many states are making the move to reduce the impact of Kelo, and we would ask our state leaders to move ahead swiftly to do the same. The link to the Castle Coalition to the left contains information about what other states are doing--good and bad. Week of June 26, 2006: Zack Hudgins asked to meet with the HCA, which he did; and he later provided legal information on the State Community Renewal Act. We thank him and he gets a "thumbs up." Senator Prentice needs to support the Highlands and face up to making a bad decision when she wrote that May 8th letter. Maybe she didn't know the mayor was going to read it into the record and that that could cause her votes. |