Local 19 issued a press release in January, affirming their opposition to a new sports stadium being proposed for Seattle’s South of Downtown neighborhood (SoDo). Local 19 isn’t opposed to a new stadium in some other location, but the membership voted against a location in SoDo where traffic congestion could threaten thousands of jobs at Seattle’s working waterfront.
Big money behind SoDo site
The SoDo stadium is being pushed by wealthy tycoons with support from local politicians and land speculators. Local 19 members sued because the SoDo boosters failed to properly consider alternative sites for the stadium –as required by state environmental laws– before signing a deal with the investors that locked-down the SoDo location.
Billionaires try to buy NBA team
Buzz about the SoDo stadium scheme increased in January when it was disclosed that the Sacramento Kings basketball team was being sold to the tycoons behind the SoDo stadium deal, including hedge fund investor Chris Hansen who is worth a minimum of $300 million; Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who is worth $15 billion, and members of the Nordstrom family who made a fortune from the luxury department store retail empire.
Opponents gets attention
Opposition to the stadium site is coming from Local 19 members, multiple maritime, freight, and manufacturing stakeholders, and the Port Commission – all of whom are worried about the fate of 35,000 jobs and $3 billion in annual revenue generated by the Port. The campaign by critics has already forced stadium backers to offer $40 million for transportation projects intended to ease congestion in SoDo if the stadium is built there. But the state and federal taxpayers to match that amount – in addition to the $200 million they already expect local taxpayers to fork-over for financing a new stadium. And $40 million is just a fraction of what’s needed to fix traffic problems in the SoDo area – even without building a third stadium there.
Standing firm
“Their offers to mitigate the congestion problem haven’t shaken Local 19’s opposition to the site and our lawsuit remains in place,” said Local 19 President Cam Williams. “They need to follow the law and look at other locations where good jobs aren’t threatened like they will be in SoDo if a new stadium is built here.” TTI/Hanjin, the terminal operator at Pier 46 who would be most impacted by the project, recently agreed to extend their lease by another ten years, and Local 19’s opposition to the arena was a factor in the lease extension.
“That is a victory for us,” said Williams. “But this issue isn’t settled yet”.