by Marlon Meyer
Northwest Asia Weekly
Turnout at the July 14 Sound Transit board meeting hit an all-time high since the agency resumed in-person meetings. (Photo by Assunta Ng)
Protesters’ placards turned in the wrong direction. So Claudia Balducci, Chair of the System Expansion Committee (SEC) at Sound Transit (ST), said, “Please take a moment to change them to this so I can see them.” Then she laughed nervously, all traces of Like all fluttering in front of her. “I appreciate that,” she said. “Thank you so much.”
As such, the July 14 meeting began with what seemed to mark a new chapter between the Asian American community representing the Chinatown-International District (CID) and ST, which for over half a year has been working to involve the community on its board seeking to Determine the appropriate location for the new station.
Balducci’s courtesy in presiding over the meeting seemed to create an atmosphere that encouraged community members to express their emotions and seemed to represent an increasingly complex engagement between the two parties.
To be sure, the transit agency received more than 5,000 comments in its official public comment section through April 28, and has committed to responding to those comments in a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). It also held five meetings to hear community input on the draft EIS, as well as a range of other events including an online open house attracting more than 19,500 online visitors, community briefings, office hours, workshops, advertising and social media seeking Posts in conversation with the community.
But last week’s meeting was the first time Cantonese and Mandarin simultaneous interpreters were present. This also happened after Balducci and King County Councilman Joe McDermott took a walking tour of the CID in person.
The atmosphere in the conference room gradually became boisterous, with the speakers applauding, cheering, and finally greeting them not only after, but before, their speeches.
At one point, Balducci gave extra time to a woman who was struggling to get the interpreter to understand her instructions. As the woman tried to figure out where the Chinese and English were flowing, Balducci had apparently reset the clock, then froze, and finally gently urged her to end her comment.
Betty Lau, community advocate and co-founder of Transit Equity for All (TEA), said she has written an email to Balducci to thank her on behalf of the community. “The consideration shown,” she said, “is impressive.”
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In recent months, most community members have supported building a station on Fourth Avenue (ST only offers options involving Fourth and Fifth Avenues, no bypass options) to their current position: completely rejecting Identifier.
But Balducci encouraged community members to continue to attend meetings of the SEC and the entire board, even though the official comment deadline has passed.
“Board members will consider public comments and their analysis of the draft EIS to determine the preferred alternative,” said Rachelle Cunningham, public information officer.
After the July 14th meeting, there is really a lot to think about. Speaker after speaker moved quickly, adjusting to a sea of commentary about discrimination, inevitable loss, and the desire for safety in one-minute segments. A digital timer shows the seconds remaining in each person’s turn, allowing many to adjust their pace to accommodate all their comments.
Some are speaking remotely from COVID-19 quarantines and even emergency rooms.
In most cases, speakers called for a new plan to place a station outside the CID.
It’s unclear if this is in the cards.
In one motion, the SEC voted on July 28 to refer the “Fourth Avenue shallow tunnel option” to the board for consideration. But the language is a bit ambiguous, and it seems that the possibility of outlier inversion to select locations other than the CID still remains.
The motion states that future alternatives should “include concepts requested by community and institutional partners.” These should include “but not limited to” Fourth Avenue options.
The motion also calls for a report to the board no later than February 2023 on further “research” to be undertaken and further “public engagement”.
Shortly before the SEC meeting, the Seattle City Council and Mayor Bruce Harrell, who is also a member of ST’s board, passed a joint resolution calling on the agency to more “adequately address community concerns about existing alternatives.”
However, the resolution only mentions “modifications” to “alternatives to Fourth and Fifth Avenues” to reduce the impact on the community.
It does not refer to the current position supported by the majority of community members present – ST bypasses CID entirely.
Opposition
According to the agency, the meeting has the largest number of community participants at such a venue since ST returned to in-person formats. Within about 30 minutes, a series of comments protesting the current option erupted.
One speaker referred to some people’s arguments that ST is a regional entity and therefore needs to be considered regional.
“Replacing communities of color is not regional justice,” she said, adding that CID already has the lowest tree canopy and some of the worst air pollution in the city. She asked the board to “reject the option of Fourth and Fifth Avenues.”
Chrissy Shimizu, co-executive director of community advocacy group Puget Sound Sage, echoed the comments, saying CID residents have shorter life expectancies than the rest of Seattle due to decades of environmental injustice.
Deepening past hazards by choosing Fourth or Fifth Avenue “would cause unacceptable damage.”
In a letter, former Seattle city councilman David Della described his family’s longstanding ties to the community and his personal advocacy “to protect and protect this community from destroying our Asian culture and replacing the people and businesses that exist in CID.” effort”.
“Frankly, putting alternatives to Fourth and Fifth Avenues on the table is insensitive and an affront to the history and needs of this community, so I urge you to delete [them] From considering and researching alternative routes.
Frank Irigon, a longtime community activist and veteran representing the OCA APA Advocates-Greater Seattle chapter, said the community protested similar displacements 50 years ago when the kingdom was planned.
“This fight is about our civil rights as Asian Americans,” he said, speaking remotely as he was wheeled from the emergency room to a hospital bed. “Let’s not do the same thing that forced us out of Seattle, but this time on light rail because of our race.”
Citing a civil rights song, he described the community as “a tree planted by the water” and added the refrain: “We won’t be touched.”
Others point to recurring injustices in the past, such as the inability of communities of color to build equity at the same pace as the mainstream, if at all.
A speaker said the community would be wiped.
“If the BIPOC community no longer exists, it will not benefit,” he said.
Community leaders have condemned years of construction, truck exhaust and above-ground vents that release air from traffic, increasing street closures and other damage they believe will stifle the area.
Richard Sarkin, owner of a Filipino and Black-owned business, said he was “firmly opposed” to either option.
“By deciding to dump in the heart of our community, you’re clearly showing us that you don’t value our life, heritage and culture.”
Other speakers bemoaned the lingering impact of the pandemic on the community and hatred towards Asians.
Advocates for members of the BIPOC community for the mentally ill say low-income housing needs to be close to service providers. A disruption to this network would mean it “will never recover,” she said.
Balducci’s extra-time speaker, Lydia Lin, said the community is made up of many different Asian cultures and therefore attracts tourists from all over the world.
She fears the transit scheme could “disrupt tourism”.
Another spokesman said CID was “one of the few authentic Chinatowns”.
Gei Chan speaks while Melanie Reffes waits for her turn. (Photo by Assunta Ng)
Gei Chan said she grew up in an “all white” town. She said discrimination kept her from going to school.
“In Chinatown, I have a sense of belonging, and that’s important,” she said. “I ask you to find another location for the station, not the CID. For me personally, the CID is an important cultural home.”
As for the earlier comments made before the April deadline (and thus recorded in the DEIS), a spokesperson said the community at the time preferred Fourth Avenue simply because it was “the lesser of two evils.”
Inside the Sound Transit conference room at Union Station. (Photo by Assunta Ng)
But Brien Chow, president of outreach at the Chong Wa Charity Society, said in an emailed comment, “The DEIS comment has been posted and people have said: Light rail on Fifth Avenue is unacceptable,” referring to an earlier A string of comments.
Liu responded to his comments in a remote statement, adding: “Don’t violate the National Register of Seattle’s Chinatown Historic District!”
In another sign of ST’s growing engagement with the community, a spokesperson thanked board members for “showing concern for the community and the damaging consequences of current choices” in the area.
“I invite other board members to visit,” he said.
To view information on attending the July 28 Board meeting, please visit: soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/news-events/calendar/board-directors-meeting-2022-07-28.
Mahlon can be contacted by info@nwasianweekly.com.
