On Wednesday, the Seattle City Council PLUZ Committee voted 2-1 (O’Brien and Pacheco overrule Herbold) to send controversial CB119600 on a fast track to a full Council vote on October 7.

Lame Duck Council Members, Mike O’Brien and Abel Pacheco (not even an elected councilman) are on a mission to cram this legislation down citizens’ throats without a full vetting. They won’t even reply to downtown residents repeated questions and requests for an appointment to discuss the bill. At least Lisa Herbold, running for reelection in November, opposed sending the bill forward without answering important questions about the bill.

Even a scathing editorial by the Seattle Times Editorial Board had no sobering effect on either O’Brien or Pacheco, whose mantra seems to be: “Don’t confuse me with the facts; my mind is made up!”

If you haven’t been following this legislation, and don’t understand what’s at stake for downtown residents, please read the excellent Op-Ed in the Seattle Times by Claudia Newman and Megan Kruse.

Below are several of the more passionate quotes from downtown residents who spoke at the Public Hearing at City Council Chambers on Wednesday:

"Council Member O’Brien, your blanket accusation against anyone that files an appeal as “NIMBY obstructionists with the time to track land-use policy and the money needed to hire specialist attorneys” is not only false, but sounds like a Trumpian-style pronouncement…and that is personally offensive."

“It is unbelievable to me that in a Progressive City like Seattle you would even be considering trampling on citizen’s individual right to appeal [whether it’s adverse Transportation impacts or whatever]."  

"I want each of you to know that there will be “blood on your hands” if this bill is passed without needed revisions. While I can’t speak to the appeals in other parts of the City, the appeals to downtown high-rise projects have NOT mis-used SEPA as some have claimed. They have been and will continue to the result of serious, research-substantiated threats to our health, well-being, and livability that are caused by ill-conceived designs by greedy mostly out-of-state or foreign developers."

If you are as concerned about CB119600 as we are about City Council trampling on your individual rights and the disastrous effects it could have on your health, well-being, and livability, please write the Mayor and City Council now, and attend the full Council Meeting on this bill on Tuesday, September 24, at noon.

Mayor Jenny Durkan: jenny.durkan@seattle.gov

Sally Bagshaw: sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov

Bruce Harrell: bruce.harrell@seattle.gov

Mike O’Brien: mike.obrien@seattle.gov

Kshama Sawant: kshama.sawant@seattle.gov

Lisa Herbold: lisa.herbold@seattle.gov

Debora Juarez: debora.juarez@seattle.gov

Lorena Gonzalez: lorena.gonzalez@seattle.gov

Teresa Mosqueda: teresa.mosqueda@seattle.gov

Abel Pacheco: abel.pacheco@seattle.gov