Talbott Letter:

Editors note: Editors of the Roundtable page have received numerous comments concerning the letters sent by John Talbott and some City Council members to the Department of Housing and Urban Development about the River Park Square project. Here is the full text of those letters.

December 16, 1997 Mr. Saul N. Ramirez Jr. Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Room 7100 451 Seventh St. S.W. Washington D.C. 20410

Dear Mr. Ramirez:

As you may know I recently have been elected Mayor of Spokane, Washington. As I begin to review the many issues I will be facing as Mayor, one project now before your department is of great interest not only to me but to many of our citizens, the River Park Square Redevelopment project and the pending HUD Section 108 application.

I would like to have an opportunity to meet with you and Mr. Paul Webster of your staff who I understand will be reviewing the details of this 108 application. While I along with most residents of Spokane support further development in our downtown, this particular project has been characterized by difficulty in getting information and by a very limited public process. It is my intention to address public concerns about the project’s funding by encouraging a broader range and depth to that process. I must tell you frankly that as Mayor of the entire community of Spokane, I am aware of other areas that I believe offer much greater potential for producing the type of jobs we badly need in this city.

I would be willing to travel to Washington D.C. to meet with you anytime after my swearing-in in late December. However I may try to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual Washington meeting during January 22nd through the 24th. Since many Mayors will be trying to see you during those days, perhaps the preceding day, January 21st, may work better.

Thank you for your willingness to listen to my views. It would be my hope that Mr. Webster defer any final decision on this matter until we have meet.

Sincerely

John Talbot

Mayor Elect

COUNCIL MEMBERS’ LETTER:

January 16, 1998 Mr. Paul Webster Director Financial Management Division Office of Block Grant Assistance Department of Housing and Urban Development Room B133 451 - 7th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C.

Mr. Thomas Kenney U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development V. Seattle Office N.W./Alaska Area W. Seattle Federal Office, Suite 200 909 First Ave., Seattle, WA 98104

Gentlemen:

This letter is being sent to you in response to the letter of John Talbott, dated December 16, 1997, and the accompanying letter and memorandum from political lobbyist, Bracy Williams & Company, dated January 8, 1998, that were apparently delivered to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., on January 8, 1998.

This letter is signed by five of the seven current members of the Spokane City Council.

The proposed Section 108 loan that is the subject of the materials that were delivered to HUD on January 8th has been the subject of considerable discussion, deliberation and planning of the City of Spokane since the summer of 1995. Very early on in this process, the City Council determined that this proposed redevelopment project presented significant economic development opportunities to the community and provided the keystone for rejuvenating a downtown area that had been steadily deteriorating over the past several years. The City Council has recognized that the continued vitality of the downtown area is a source of employment for thousands of Spokane area residents, contributes millions of dollars in annual sales tax revenue to the City of Spokane, and generates additional millions of dollars in annual property tax revenue.

In addition, the City has invested in the downtown area heavily over the past several years, including construction at the new Arena, the expansion of an Agricultural Trade Center, renovation of City Hall, construction of a new Main Public Library, and construction of a transportation center for the Spokane Transit Authority. While these projects have enhanced the downtown area, unfortunately, with the departure and demise of two large department stores, the commercial retail portion of downtown has suffered, and the proposed 108 project provides part of the mechanism for stemming the continued decline of the downtown area.

The project has been before the City Council on perhaps a dozen occasions since the HUD loan application was first approved in June of 1995. Considerable public comment has been generated before the Council concerning the project, and that comment has generally been highly in favor of the City’s involvement in this downtown redevelopment. In addition, the project proponents have conducted dozen of community meetings relating to the downtown redevelopment.

The City Council remains highly enthusiastic about this project and cannot over stress to HUD how significant the project is for economic development and job creation in the Spokane Area.

It is with this background that the Council must express its deep dismay at the unilateral action taken by John Talbott concerning this project. The Council was taken completely by surprise that Mr. Talbott had unilaterally determined to express his personal viewpoint about this project to Paul Webster in the December 16th letter.

That action on the part of Mr. Talbott was not sanctioned by any of the Council members signing this letter and was done in complete contravention to the three-year history of enthusiastic support that the Council and the citizens of Spokane have expressed concerning this project.

Mr. Talbott’s letter should not be taken as any indication that the City Council or the citizens of Spokane for the project has in any fashion wavered. If HUD desires to meet with Mr. Talbott, it should be with the understanding that he is not representing this Council nor has he been given any authority to do so with regard to the HUD loan application.

Mr. Talbott certainly has the right to express his viewpoint concerning the project, but that viewpoint should not be taken as representative of the official position of the City of Spokane toward downtown redevelopment and the Section 108 loan application. This project has received nearly unanimous approval on every occasion a vote has been required before the Council, and, in fact, the last time the project came before the Council for a vote in January of 1997, the vote was unanimous.

We have expressed to HUD in the past that, because of construction timelines, it is critical that the status of the City’s HUD 108 loan application be conveyed to the City as soon as possible. The project developer is literally standing by, awaiting word that the HUD 108 loan has been approved, in order to begin actual construction. As you know, demolition has already occurred on the site where the project is to be constructed, but the next stage of actual construction awaits word from HUD that the loan application is acceptable.

We continue to heartily endorse the City’s 108 loan application and anxiously await HUD’s approval of the same.

Very truly yours,

signed by

Council Member Orville Barnes

Council Member Jeff Colliton

Council Member Roberta Greene

Council Member Rob Higgins

Council Member Phyllis Holmes