Unfair For Billionaire To Buy Election, Opponents Say Critics Argue Others Need 179,000 Signatures To Get An Initiative On The Ballot

The way critics of billionaire Paul Allen’s proposed new football stadium see it, the state might as well stick a “For Rent” sign to the ballot box when voters go to the polls next month.

Under an agreement with the Legislature, Allen will reimburse the state for the $4.2 million cost of a special election he requested to enlist public support for his bid to buy the Seattle Seahawks.

Voters will be asked June 17 to cover $300 million of the $425 million cost of his proposed stadium complex. Otherwise, Allen says, the deal is off.

The payment arrangement for the election has prompted a debate between critics and supporters about whether Allen is manipulating the state for his benefit.

“We certainly aren’t going to stand back and see Paul Allen buy himself an election,” says Sherry Bockwinkel, a veteran of political campaigns and director of an anti-stadium group that’s taking Allen to court.

Even folks with no stake in the issue wonder about the precedent Allen is setting. Elections experts across the country say they cannot recall another case of a private citizen paying for a statewide election.

“That will be viewed as psychological vote buying,” says Terry Madonna of Millersville University in Pennsylvania. “Someone who has something to gain out of an election is paying for it.

“I don’t think it’s healthy. I think it’s going to add to public cynicism.”

Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft who has diversified into other high-tech ventures and ownership of the NBA Portland Trail Blazers, knew he was setting himself up for criticism when he asked for a special summertime election and agreed to cover the cost. He says this was the only way to squeeze in an election before his option to buy the NFL team expires July 1.

“If the price of his letting people cast a ballot is this criticism, then I guess that’s life. But that doesn’t seem very fair,” says Allen’s top campaign strategist, Bob Gogerty of Seattle.

Government and civic leaders asked Allen to buy the Seahawks after owner Ken Behring briefly moved the team to Southern California last year, citing a money-losing operation, a declining fan base and a failed effort to rally support for a new stadium.

Allen agreed, but only on the condition that the public help pay to tear down Seattle’s Kingdome and replace it with a fancier, open-air stadium.

After four months of negotiations, Allen and the Legislature agreed in April to give voters final say on a financing plan involving hotel taxes, lottery games, stadium parking and admissions surcharges and sales-tax credits and deferrals. Allen has guaranteed $100 million in private contributions, some from his own wealth.

Allen, who expects to pay about $200 million if he buys the team, enjoys a reputation as one of the state’s top philanthropists, albeit a reclusive one. Recent multimillion-dollar gifts went to the private school he attended, the Pacific Science Center, the Seattle Children’s Theatre and a cancer research center. He’s also establishing the $50 million Experience Music Project, a rock-and-roll museum dedicated to Seattle native Jimi Hendrix.

But his image has been tarnished by the stadium debate. And his call for public investment in the project wasn’t helped by Microsoft’s announcement of huge profits last month, which boosted the value of Allen’s stock by some $1 billion in a single day.

Opponents say it’s unfair - and possibly unconstitutional - to allow a wealthy citizen to simply write a check for the election when other individuals must struggle to gather the 179,000 signatures required to get an initiative on the ballot.

Bockwinkel’s group, Citizens for Leaders with Ethics and Accountability Now, challenged Allen’s participation in a lawsuit filed in Thurston County Superior Court. A hearing was scheduled for Monday.

“The initiative process has been bypassed by big money,” says state Rep. Tim Sheldon, a Hoodsport Democrat and critic of the plan. “You’re basically renting the ballot box for someone’s individual issue.”

Washington state’s elections chief says this is an extraordinary situation and he’s confident he’ll remember where the line is.

“I think it’s fine,” says Secretary of State Ralph Munro. “I don’t think it’s something that’s going to happen on a regular basis.”

“This is going to be run fairly and squarely,” he says. “Paul Allen isn’t going to get any benefit different than what the fellow on the street has. He’s just willing to write the check.”

Gogerty, the political consultant, says Allen didn’t have to follow the usual process of collecting signatures for a ballot initiative because the Legislature acknowledged the urgency cited by Seahawks boosters.

“It went through the legislative process,” he says, and lawmakers decided it was appropriate to let “the people decide whether they want to do this.”