If you are furious after attending or watching Tuesday evening’s Redmond City Council Special Meeting, you are not alone. By a 5 to 1 vote, Redmond councilmembers plowed ahead and approved the transfer of $5.5 million public land to Plymouth Housing for the development of a homeless building in downtown Redmond. The council meeting room was packed with people holding signs saying, “No Public Input, No Transfer of Public Land to Private Entities”. More than two hundred people emailed the mayor and councilmembers and urged a NO vote at the special session. The council’s answer? Councilmember Melissa Stuart arrogantly told the audience: “my messages for those who’ve been robust in their feedback over the last couple of days is this is not the first permanent supportive housing that we’re going to provide in the City of Redmond. This is not the last permanent supportive housing that we’re going to bring to Redmond… we’re going to keep going on this…” You can watch the meeting in its entirety at: https://www.facebook.com/CityOfRedmond/videos/1438647097046891/
The Plymouth Homeless project was disapproved by the City of Kenmore on January 22 because it was a “bait and switch”. The next day, Carol Helland, Director of Planning at the City of Redmond, brought the project to Redmond. When was the last time you saw our government act so efficiently? If you ever wonder what the incentive is, the picture below is the answer. Yes, Director Helland also serves as the Chair of ARCH, the partner/backer of the Plymouth Homeless project. Mayor Birney sits on the ARCH board. Governor Inslee praised the City of Redmond, saying, “The city of Redmond is setting a great example by stepping up to ensure we don’t lose a 100-bed project.” King County Executive Dow Constantine also praised Birney and the Council: “I want to congratulate Mayor Birney and the Redmond City Council for taking this bold step forward towards securing more affordable housing in King County.” (https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WAREDMOND/bulletins/38a8476 )
Below is what Director Helland told the Council at the 2/13 Special Meeting:
- Helland: The Cleveland parcel was always considered for affordable housing;
- Helland: Property transfers are exempt from public disclosure. No public hearing will be held;
- Helland: The permit will be administrative approval;
- Anderson pressed for the funding timeline, Helland said, “generally city funds are the first in, and they support securing the additional funds.” She said Redmond was seeking to provide the land and the $3.2 million dollar “to ensure that actually Plymouth has the leverage to continue negotiating on this project”;
- Anderson raised the concern that there was no RFP process. Helland deferred the answer to a ARCH staff. Anderson proposed an amendment at the 2/6 meeting to make this an RFP process, yet that amendment failed;
Director Helland and Mayor Birney played fast and loose to bring the Plymouth project to Redmond. There are many legal questions surrounding the details of the project and their action. We have reached out to a reputable lawyer to provide a litigation analysis as the first step to help us navigate the situation.
Please donate and help move this litigation analysis forward ASAP. Donation link: https://safeeastside.com/donate/ . Your donation is tax deductible and can be matched by your company. The city and Plymouth are under pressure to act fast. We need to have funds in place to hire the lawyer to provide a much needed opinion on what our legal options are moving forward.