MICA, Council leaving questions unanswered

On Dec. 11 I sent an email to the former, current, and future City Councilmembers, with copies to the City Manager and the City Attorney. I requested answers to three questions pertaining to MICA. Although I have not received answers to these questions, I hope that we have the answers BEFORE a lease is signed with MICA.

Excerpts of the questions are below.

1. Who promised $2 million from public City funds for MICA construction, as indicated on page 7 of the application that MICA submitted to 4Culture in September? When was this money promised? How was this decision made? Who communicated the decision to MICA? Why was the public not informed of this decision? During the City Council meeting on November 16, Deputy Mayor Grausz stated at 3:35:13: “Please keep in mind that MICA is going to put 25 million dollars, or some amount of money, into this project. The City is contributing land, with a value undetermined. This is not a City project. It’s a MICA project….” No mention was made of the $2 million donation from the City.

2. How will the City permit construction on designated wetlands when the City code, as well as federal and state regulations, prohibits such construction, and an attorney hired by the City, Jeff Kray of Marten Law, stated categorically  that construction on the wetlands would be in violation? Erin Legge, at the Army Corps of Engineers, and Paul Anderson, at the Department of Ecology, have stated in emails that the City must comply with these regulations.

3. What is the rationale for the City Council’s acquiescence to MICA president John Gordon Hill’s plea NOT to hold a citizens’ Advisory Vote about donating public park land to a private group for construction? Councilmember Cero’s question to Hill was not “Would you like to have an advisory vote?” but rather, “When would you like to have an advisory vote?” (emphasis added) In the past our City Councils abandoned two previous plans to build on Mercerdale Park following citizen protest (against the Civic Center in 1986 and against the Fire Station in 1996). In both cases alternate space was found and subsequently those buildings were constructed, leaving Mercerdale Park inviolate.)

Who is watching our tax dollars? Who is protecting our wetlands? Who is preserving our parks?

Meg Lippert