Historic Seattle Chinatown-ID Residents and Community were given less than three weeks notice to respond to yet another "Surprise Mega-project" that will forever hurt the community. Local stores, family restaurants, and community groups received NO outreach from the County Council or Executive.

King County, WA is throwing $66.5M to construct 500 beds in shelter expansion project for Urban Visions LLC 5 year lease. This project is proportedly evading permiting and community oversight by using "Emergecy Use Authorizations" to steam roll due process. It's a good way for state, city, and federal career Politicians to wash public $$$ from Federal & State into their contractor networks. It is clear that this is not about helping the unhoused, of which local Government has less than 30% success rate of keeping those that enter their networks off the street. (independent community NGOs are 3x more successful than the county)

Fair would be having every neighborhood in Seattle share the burden over sheltering the unhoused, but Seattle Chinatown-ID specifically already has 20+ shelters in a one mile radius (more than any other WA neighborhood); the worst air quality; worst tree cover; worst emergency response time; needle exchanges; I-5 hwy bypassing it; highest violent crime, highest arson rates, and has been slated for multiple other regional projects that weren't asked for, nor needed for recovery.

The other recent "shelter expansions" of King County of Renton, Kent, Federal Way, Newcastle and Bellevue locations follow similar trajectory of targeted construction in primarily Asian American and Pacific Islander [AAPI] neighborhoods.

The community is simply asking for your comments in support against silencing of AAPI voices in this rapidly developing project to break ground this Autumn 2022.

The full History explained in interview of Seattle University Professor and American Historian: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1543174/11371514

Hundreds came out Thursday, 8th September, and Tuesday afternoon, 20th September translators finally gave community a voice at Seattle City Hall. Our translation request were then denied by King County Council on the night before their Tuesday 27th September meeting, and community was told to find our own interpreters (which thankfully we have, but this is against county law!)

On Wednesday 28th September at groundbreaking of Megashelter, nonprofit representatives were told we are not allowed to record anything the county officials said regarding a tour of the project. We were given a list of "select representatives" for our own community to collect and meet them behind closed doors without accountability.

On Friday 14th October, YOU got King County Council to pause the megaplex - thank you! The Seattle Times recently covered the situation: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-king-county-piles-its-problems-on-the-chinatown-international-district/

Our next move is to continue to demand a concrete public safety plan so that retired seniors, the family stores, vulnerable low-income families, and the rest of the community can recover. These unelected and elected officials think they can keep demanding our community shoulder their bad policies and present NO concrete public health and safety plans.

While their contractor networks profit off of this paused development - salt is being poured on the wounds of our community.

Help our community be heard! Please keep the pressure in writing to these career politicians at: https://friendsofseattlecid.godaddysites.com/