Metropolitan King County Council Districts District Representatives
Bob Ferguson- District 1 206.296.1001 Bob.Ferguson@metrokc.gov
Larry Gossett- District 2 206.296.1002 Larry.Gossett@metrokc.gov
Kathy Lambert- District 3 206.296.1003 Kathy.Lambert@metrokc.gov
Larry Phillips- District 4 206.296.1004 Larry.Phillips@metrokc.gov
Julia Patterson- District 5 206.296.1005 Julia.Patterson@metrokc.gov
Jane Hague- District 6 206.296.1006 Jane.Hague@metrokc.gov
Pete von Reichbauer- District 7 206.296.1007 Pete.vonReichbauer@metrokc.gov
Dow Constantine- District 8 206.296.1008 Dow.Constantine@metrokc.gov
Reagan Dunn- District 9 206.296.1009 Reagan.Dunn@metrokc.gov
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It’s time to act! Brandon Burmeister
It’s time to act. State legislators decided that they will most likely allow King County to decide whether or not to give the UW the $150 million they are seeking for the renovation of Husky Stadium. Which means it’s time to do our part a little sooner than we had thought. An article in the Seattle Times today talks about this decision and how the Cougar alumni have already started to lobby against any tax dollars going to the Huskies. Here is the link to the article for those of you have not read it yet, Huskies may play at Qwest Field in 2010.
So how do we get involved? I would suggest reading the article and then finding your Metropolitan King County Council District Representative here. An email or phone call from you stating that you support the renovation of Husky Stadium for a number of reasons: safety, ADA compliance, its significance as a regional asset or any other reason you believe. An email would probably be the most efficient way to get this done. It is important that this email comes from you individually and is not a generic or forwarded email. We need to let them know this is important to us. The Cougars are going to be calling and emailing as much as possible to try to prevent the UW from getting this money so we need to make sure we out number them. Let’s get this done and make our voices heard. We’re 1-0 against the Cougars in 2009, let’s make it 2-0 by bombarding our district representatives with emails and calls that let them know Husky Stadium is important to us.
10 reasons to rebuild Husky Stadium
1: Husky Stadium is the oldest and largest stadium in the Northwest and deemed one of the 10 best places in the nation to watch football.
2: the Stadium’s lower bowl at age 88 has reached the end of its useful life and is increasingly costly to maintain. 3: the use of public funds to rebuild a public facility is a century old state policy.
4: Husky Stadium falls far short of meeting modern American Disability Act (ADA) standards and needs substantial renovation.
5: the proposed private investment of $150 million would be the largest private donation for any public building in Washington state's history.
6: the public tax sources requested are derived substantially from visitors. Husky Stadium football attendance by out-of-state visitors provides more tax revenue than the Seahawks at Qwest Field.
7: the tax sources requested are not available until 2013 at the earliest and thus are not available for other operating purposes in the 2009 -- 2011 biennium.
8: current levels of stadium reserved taxes will be retained. Some taxes would be extended but none would be raised. These taxes are collected only in King County.
9: the project is currently under design and will be ready for groundbreaking in November 2009. This would allow completion before Sound Transit is fully engaged in constructing University Station (immediately adjacent to Husky Stadium).
10: economic recovery in Washington state depends on our willingness to invest in job producing permanent improvements. Renovation of Husky Stadium would be an immediate and large contributor to job creation.
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