Seattle Schools Being Sued for Libel by Local Landlords

The Stranger Slog reports that local Roosevelt landlord jerk, Drake Sisley, is suing the district for an article in the Roosevelt High School paper back in March 2009 that he says is "false, defamatory, libelous, and malicious."   There is much that I could say given where I live and my status at the time but I'll just leave you with the letter I wrote to Noel Treat, district lead counsel, the Superintendent, the Board and Principal Brian Vance.  Here's what I wrote:

Dear Noel,


I just got wind of Drake Sisley's lawsuit against the district over the Roosevelt High School newspaper articles about properties near RHS that he and his brother own.

First up, I live in this neighborhood (just 2 blocks from RHS).

Second, I was co-president at RHS PTSA from 2007-2009.  

Between those two items, I know this issue well.  I have had to talk to the police about this issue (at their request based on my being co-president of the PTSA).

Additionally, my son was the co-editor of the opinion page of the newspaper from 2009-2010. 

It is a painful thing to live in a neighborhood with such great neighbors and be surrounded by such blight.  It is painful to see our beautiful new RHS building fronting blighted buildings.  It is painful to know these landowners want to build a 20-story building in front of RHS. 

I just wanted to let you, the Superintendent, the Board and the district know that I stand ready to help in any way I can for our district.  Do not hesitate to call me if you need help.


Boy, do I hope I can help.

Comments

Bird said…
Isn't Sisley in his 80's now?

Perhaps he'll drop dead soon.
wseadawg said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric M said…
What a pig that guy is.
Ed said…
Is'nt his brother a District maintenance guy to boot?
wsnorth said…
What's it zoned for? One of the best ways to protest this kind of thing is if the developer is asking for any zoning variances.
WSNorth, they are trying to get a zoning variance because of the light-rail station to be built 2 blocks away. Our neighborhood is absolutely understanding of the density coming but we cannot support going above 6 stories.

Also, if the area surrounding RHS becomes most apartments (as the Sisleys want their developer to build), it may change the assignment pattern to RHS.
In the hood said…
According to the March "Roosie", the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association Newsletter, RDG (developer for Sisley) is poised to unveil its plans for a 125 foot tall mixed-use building...the project would include 283 apartments, 40,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail space and parking for 300 vehicles underground.

There are still some opportunities for public comment. There are overlapping rezoning processes: one is RDG's "contract rezone" for the Sisley properties and another is a "Legislative Rezone" which is focusing on the area around the future light rail station, which includes the area of the Sisley properties.

From the article, the Legislative Rezone is based upon detailed re-zoning recommendations developed by Roosevelt and Ravenna residents in 2006 as we updated our Neighborhood Plan. The gist of the Neighborhood's recommendations is that we can indeed accommodate significant additional density in the station area, but that this growth should occur West of 12th Ave NE, and not in the blocks South of Roosevelt High School, where the RNA plan calls for 40 ft (4 story) height limits.

The properties are a blight and have known drug activities. They are beyond repair and need to be demolished, but the proposed replacement is grossly out of scale with the neighborhood.
In the hood, I went to the Green Lake library to read the scoping report and it was gone (they don't recall even having it). So I'll have to go downtown to even read it.

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