I was a bit disappointed in James Bush's look at the first year of Mayor Paul Schell's administration ("Where's Paul?" 12/10). I wish he would have mentioned how the mayor has gone against the will of the citizens on two key issues: the Olympics and the monorail. Schell had gone against the will of the people and City Council by siding, along with Ron Sims, to try to continue the push to bring the 2012 Olympics to Seattle even though many citizens spoke out against it, and had better reasons for their opposition than its proponents.
As for the monorail, I was disgusted to hear Schell state on Channel 28 that the monorail initiative would probably not happen because private support isn't there, yet he can manage to drum up corporate support for an Olympic bid that a majority of residents oppose.
What happened to Seattle's idea-a-minute mayor? He sold out to corporate interests.
John Santana
Seattle
Just the facts
I gave up reading the Weekly more than eight years ago, because your reporters and editors didn't fact-check your stories and you continually confused fact and editorial opinion. My husband recently brought the paper home, and I thought I would give it another chance.
Your story "Stealth Nonprofit" (12/10), which characterizes the purchase of Security House by the Housing Resource Group (HRG) as a "conspiracy" that will lead to the gentrification of low-income housing, is absolutely outrageous. The HRG has created and preserved more low-income housing in the downtown area than any other nonprofit organization or government agency. The board of HRG is completely autonomous from the Downtown Seattle Association; the only connection is that some financial support comes from downtown businesses that are also members of DSA. HRG is in fact trying to preserve the housing in Security House for low-income people and has been encouraged to do so by the city of Seattle.
It would behoove your reporters and editors to get the facts before going to press with a story. You do a disservice to your readers and the community. Maybe I'll give the paper another try in 2006!
Barbara Dingfield
Board member Housing Resources Group
Worthless fiction
"Paranoia Strikes Deep" must be the new marketing theme of the Weakly, er . . . Weekly. Is Mark Worth really Oliver Stone? "Stealth Nonprofit," combined with the other articles written by him in the 12/10 issue, proved that you don't have to worry about getting the facts right when all you need is good ol' fashioned fabricated conspiracy. Too bad. If he had done even a little research he might have uncovered shocking, hard-to-believe stories such as: The Housing Resources Group has produced and preserved more than 2,000 units of affordable housing valued at $100 million plus during the past 19 years—all primarily in greater downtown Seattle—and all developed during a time of dramatic decreases in government funding. But congratulations anyway on this masterpiece of Worthless friction, er . . . fiction.
Ken Saunderson
Seattle
SHA-no-no
Your 12/3 article "SHA-na-na" contained several inaccuracies:
1. The East African community has not taken issue with the Seattle Housing Authority about the wisdom of redeveloping Holly Park. In fact, Efrem Seyoum, whom you and John Fox used to substantiate your claims, was on the stage at the grand opening of NewHolly the same day as Mr. Fox's news conference, celebrating the fact that his will be among the very first families to move into NewHolly. Mr. Fox's efforts to create conflict led HUD Secretary's Rep. Bab Santos to call for an end to the attempts to divide people. He encouraged people instead to focus on the cooperative work of Seattle's ethnic communities, which have worked in solidarity for decades to achieve common goals.
2. Employment issues raised by Mr. Seyoum do not relate to SHA. SHA has never been his employer. In fact, while you state that a US Department of Justice employee attended Mr. Fox's event, you failed to note (although you had the documents) that the Seattle Office for Civil Rights has dismissed charges raised in your article, saying that SHA had no jurisdiction over the matter, and therefore could not have had a role. A second charge was dropped by the plaintiffs, noting that SHA had no role and should not have been named.
3. While the African and African-American populations of Holly Park make up approximately 17 percent of the households in Holly Park, 40 percent of the job placements have gone to these populations. African and African-American residents have constituted at least half of the enrollees in training.
4. SHA has met every single commitment in its agreement with the city of Seattle to replace one-for-one every dilapidated unit removed from Holly Park—we are doing so not by creating another ghetto of poverty, but by scattering attractive, low-income housing throughout the city in partnership with other nonprofit low-income housing providers.
5. SHA is thoroughly audited by HUD on a regular schedule, and each time we have demonstrated that the federal funds we receive are used fully in accordance with what was intended. Additionally, our most recent audit by the state of Washington came back with no findings and no recommendations for improvement, and we just received a national Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Financial Officers Association.
