(@gibbstack via Instagram)
Capitol Hill’s District 3 rep Kshama Sawant is soldiering ahead with a “Save the Showbox” concert and rally at City Hall despited a $40 million lawsuit against the city over a surgical preservation ordinance that has temporarily staved off the sale and redevelopment of the 1st Ave venue.
Seattle husband and wife rock band Smokey Brights will headline the Wednesday, September 19th, 5:00 PM “Concert/Rally” preceding a public hearing in Seattle City Council chambers. UPDATE: The bill has grown with Sol, Sassy Black, and Dude York joining the show.
CHS reported earlier on the Sawant ordinance passed by the council and at the heart of the $40 million lawsuit from the Showbox property’s owner, a Las Vegas company owned by Seattle strip club magnate Roger Forbes. Among the arguments in the suit are allegations Sawant and other council members “engaged in ex parte communications with Save the Showbox supporters but failed to disclose those communications as required by law” and that the ordinance represents an illegal “spot zone.”
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The concert and rally could add more fuel to the suit’s contention that Sawant and the council have violated the Appearance of Fairness doctrine by failing to “recuse biased members from voting” and actively campaigning “on behalf of a position on the issue” in addition to making “biased, prejudgment statements.”
But it is also a sign Sawant isn’t backing down in the face of criticism and expensive lawyers. A legal fight is still to come. The office of City Attorney Pete Holmes has yet to file its response to the lawsuit.
There is no word, meanwhile, if Death Cab for Cutie frontman and former Capitol Hill resident Ben Gibbard — who reportedly received coaching from the council before his public testimony in favor of the preservation ordinance and who met with Sawant in media appearances including a session on KEXP — will be part of next Wednesday’s show.
And yet again, Kshama is completely wrapped up in something outside of her district while ignoring her own.
Yup. I wonder if the 3rd will remember this come election time.
Sawant only cares about city-wide (and country-wide) leftist issues. She knew she was not electable to an at-large position on the City Council, so she ran for District 3, even though she has shown zero interest in issues which are important to our district.
How many days is it before we show her the door?
While I agree that she is a terrible representative and is basically the equivalent of Donald Trump on the left, it’s important to remember that she was originally elected At Large, before the districts were a thing. So let’s not start our own fake news, Bob.
Thanks for the clarification. Yes, she was an at-large council member from 2013 t0 2015, when she was elected to the District 3 position. Since then, the electorate has come to realize what a grandstander she is, as evidenced by the consistently negative comments here on this blog, which is a kind of “barometer” for District 3 opinion. Now that Seattleites have witnessed her dismal and self-serving performance on the Council, there is no way she could be elected to an at-large position (and hopefully not to the District 3 position either).
Bob – the comment section is mostly russian bots and trump trolls. don’t confuse it for a barometer of anything except propoganda from someone you will never know. thanks for participating in the internet though!
Oh come on, no it isn’t. Whether you like her or hate her, regular readers of this blog recognize frequent commenters and the positions they usually take. It may not be a representative sample of District 3 either, but it’s obviously not Russian bots or TrumpTrolls.
Meanwhile right here in her district we had yet another drive-by last night.
I wonder how many beat cops and gang detectives in the CD we could add for the $40M in city money she’s wasted with this illegal publicity stunt.
I was going to say the same thing. She continues to show zero concern for her own district and only focuses on attention getting, headline grabbing stunts.
More good money after bad. I’d bet an accounting of all the public expense resulting from Sawant’s many, many brand boosting and “movement” activating stunts, figures into the millions. She’s in this for one thing: publicity. She has no scruples about abusing her office (and the taxpayer) to get it. Oh, that her followers only understood that the second they became a problem for her, they’d be steamrollered into submission by the Great Leader. She’s the most un-democratic “democratic socialist” imaginable. She’s a completely authoritarian personality whose only interest is: Kshama Sawant.
Vote her out. Her and some of the others on that counsel if not all need to go. Vote them out.
I’m all for saving the showbox but her incompetence and grandstanding have in invited yet another lawsuit that we’ll have to foot the bill for. All for something not even in her district.
Wake up, Capitol Hill. She’s a fraud. The left’s version of Trump.
Position 3: District 3
Kshama Sawant
Elected 11/2015
Term length: 4 years
Term Expires: 12/2019
She could serve as a poster child of why NOT to have district Council representation. Only Capitol Hill would elect this attention hog. She could never win citywide.
Jim – thanks for participating in the internet! do you happen to be a russian bot? because kshama sawant won city wide election in 2013. your statement “she could never win citywide” is something that i would expect from a russian bot, or worse, a trump supporter!
you don’t have to participate in the internet. it’s not mandatory. especially if your plan is to spread misinformation. if that’s your plan definitely sit this one out!
but thanks for participating! AGAIN – not mandatory.
No, Steve, are you a Sawant bot, or just a tool? See Bob’s comment above for a perfectly clear explanation of why winning at-large would never happen again. And BTW, everyone on here who regularly reads this blog can disabuse you of the silly notion that either Bob or I are Russian bots— including the usual suspects that regularly excoriate both of us.
Thanks for playing. Now we have some nice parting gifts for YOU.