Kirkland’s Real Estate Interests Have Filed A Lawsuit To Prevent The Construction Of Homeless Housing
A non-profit initiative named “Keep Children Safe” filed a complaint Thursday evening to avoid safe and affordable housing from starting in Kirkland. This event triggers approximately two weeks after County revealed the acquisition of a La Quinta Hotel as a portion of its Wellbeing Thru the Housing department. Town officials aspire to build over 1600 components of permanent housing thru the converting of recently departed guesthouses into fixed residential units, that will be financially backed by a 0.1 percent statewide value-added tax authorized by HB 1590. Residents of these amenities will also have direct exposure to on-site case management, behavioral health and addictive personality services, and residential counseling. As I said before, they are indeed a tried-and-true remedyto our poverty crisis.
Although the site’s opponents have been portrayed as worried parents upset about the danger which formerly homeless people allegedly portray to their kids, the lawsuit is far from a grassroots effort. According to state filings, the foundational members of the board of Put Kids Safe, which was formed in mid-March relating to the purchase of a guesthouse, are now all closely engaged in the real estate market. Jeff Chaney is a VP at Kidder Mitchell, an advertising real estate company based in Bellevue including over 40 million sq. ft of yearly leases on the West Coast. Mike Raskin is a companion and the founding member of MJR Advancement, for whom the webpage paradoxically tries to promote the company’s dedication across all of its initiatives in Washington State.
Furthermore, the lawsuit cites remarks made by Nixon at the very same March 1st gathering in which he expressed his faith that now the County still hadn’t accompanied its very own Wellbeing Thru the Housing action plan, which was managed to pass in Dec. 2021. While the court system now will decide whether or not such a claim is true or whether or not it makes a difference, it’s upsetting that Nixon’s remarks are already being used as main points in a lawsuit that endangers to halt the purchase of accommodation since over 120 vulnerable citizens of society — a residential building that he has repetitively claimed to support.
If the lawsuit is successful and the defendant’s queries are granted, each brain’s city council member would’ve been penalized a minimal level of $500 (in conformity with Radically changing 42.30.120) for breaching the OPMA.
