When the 2001 earthquake shook Seattle, it left us with a crumbling, dangerous Alaskan Way Viaduct and a heavily damaged seawall. After many years of public input, environmental review, and a transparent budgeting process, city and community leaders came together and agreed on a Waterfront Seattle plan to rebuild the seawall and create a public waterfront that connects new parks, bike and pedestrian paths, and access to Elliott Bay.
The elevated park created by Initiative 123 directly conflicts with that waterfront plan and the public process that created it. Additionally, the initiative's details have caused serious concern with everyone from the League of Women Voters to labor unions to the AIA Architectural Group of Seattle. There is no defined funding source for I-123, though it says the city's general fund will cover it--putting at risk more critical budgeted items like affordable housing and bike and pedestrian safety. It also forms an unelected board called the “Downtown Waterfront Preservation and Development Authority” to develop a plan that the City will then be legally obligated to pay for, no matter what the cost.
Vote NO on Initiative 123.
When the 2001 earthquake shook Seattle, it left us with a crumbling, dangerous Alaskan Way Viaduct and a heavily damaged seawall. After many years of public input, environmental review, and a transparent budgeting process, city and community leaders came together and agreed on a Waterfront Seattle plan to rebuild the seawall and create a public waterfront that connects new parks, bike and pedestrian paths, and access to Elliott Bay.
The elevated park created by Initiative 123 directly conflicts with that waterfront plan and the public process that created it. Additionally, the initiative's details have caused serious concern with everyone from the League of Women Voters to labor unions to the AIA Architectural Group of Seattle. There is no defined funding source for I-123, though it says the city's general fund will cover it--putting at risk more critical budgeted items like affordable housing and bike and pedestrian safety. It also forms an unelected board called the “Downtown Waterfront Preservation and Development Authority” to develop a plan that the City will then be legally obligated to pay for, no matter what the cost.
Vote NO on Initiative 123.