Chief
08-29-2007, 08:28 AM
EFFREY MIZE, Columbian staff writer
November 12, 2003; Page a1
A group seeking to force a public vote on Vancouver's downtown hotel-conference center has abandoned its petition campaign.
Larry Patella, a leader in the referendum campaign, said Tuesday his group instead will place its hopes for killing the $71.2 million project on a pending lawsuit in Thurston County. The lawsuit, which Olympia attorney Shawn Newman filed in late September, seeks to cut off the flow of state sales tax dollars to Vancouver's conference center and to a similar project in Olympia.
"We're not even going to count our petition signatures, and we don't intend to turn them in," Patella said. "We're going to save our time, energy and money to support the lawsuit effort. We feel pretty confident that those folks have better than an even chance to prevail."
Petitioners had proposed using the referendum process to repeal an ordinance the city council approved Oct. 13. The ordinance provides several pieces to the financing package for the 225-room hotel, which will also have 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
They needed to gather signatures from 2,313 registered voters living in Vancouver and submit them no later than Thursday to meet requirements outlined in the city charter.
Patella, who led two earlier signature-gathering campaigns, said he polled the other five petitioners before deciding to table the referendum.
"We're confident if we turned them in and they got certified, we would wind up in another lawsuit with the city," he said. "We can't afford that. No sense in wasting the taxpayers' money. And from where we sit, the lawsuit that's being filed against the two cities looks really good."
Only weeks ago, Patella said they were proceeding with the referendum even though they expected to be challenged in court.
Two previous campaigns gathered more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but the city council did not place either before voters.
The city scrapped the first effort because petitioners had not attached notarized affidavits to each signature sheet. It rejected the second because the proposed initiative's wording was ambiguous and confusing. Both decisions were upheld in Clark County Superior Court.
Earlier this week, Patella said his group was having trouble collecting signatures and had "struck out most every place where you can collect them."
Patella said his group would not count the number gathered.
"We would rather not know, I guess. ... We're pretty confident that we would probably lose again in court for reasons I would rather not say," Patella said.
City attorneys say Patella's referendum would have not thwarted plans to build the hotel-conference center at the southwest corner of Sixth and Columbia streets. They have argued that initiative and referendum powers are limited to legislative acts, or the making of laws, and that financing for the hotel project represents an administrative act that cannot be challenged. Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson endorsed that argument in March when she struck down the second petition campaign.
Nonetheless, city attorneys said they are pleased not to have the specter of a referendum hanging over the project as they race to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to commence construction.
If the city doesn't begin construction by the end of the year, Vancouver will forfeit $1.3 million a year in sales tax revenues, a crucial funding piece to a complex project that has taken more than five years to come together.
State law doesn't define what constitutes construction, but city officials have opted to take a conservative approach. They will interpret construction to mean pouring foundations and adding other permanent features, not simply tearing down buildings and prepping the site.
Newman's lawsuit threatens to delay a bond sale that would generate $66 million to purchase land for the project and to finance construction.
As a temporary measure, the Vancouver Downtown Redevelopment Authority has approved a license with Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell and his wife, Jody, the property's owners. The license would allow demolition to proceed, but not actual construction.
The license still has not been signed. Until then, FaulknerUSA, the city's Austin, Texas-based contractor, cannot begin tearing down the former Greyhound bus station and other buildings on the site.
"The remaining issues that we are working through are related to construction and liability insurance," said Doug Ness, The Columbian's finance director who has represented the Campbells in negotiations with the city. "We expect them to be wrapped up anytime, hopefully within the next day or so."
The Campbells intend to sell the land for the hotel project and to build new Columbian offices on the southeast corner of Sixth and Columbia streets, immediately to the west of the hotel.
Robert Gallup, vice president of operations for Faulkner's western regional office in Denver, said demolition could begin as early as Monday, presuming the license is signed in the next few days.
As long as Faulkner can start demolition before Thanksgiving, the company should have no problem getting actual construction under way by the end of the year, Gallup said.
"We've got staff out there," he said. "We're excited about getting started. I think people are going to love the project. I think it's going to be a tremendous asset to the community."
Patella, however, continues to argue the project will put too much public money at risk.
"We're not giving up the ghost," he said. "We're going to be nagging them until the last brick is in place."
In an e-mail announcement on the referendum petition, Patella reinforced his opposition to the city's plans.
"May the Lord have mercy upon us if they are successful in turning Vancouver into a Socialistic City," Patella wrote.
HOTEL PROJECT UPDATE
* Deadline: 49 more days until construction must be under way.
* issues: Approving agreements, selling bonds, resolving litigation.
* Next step: Vancouver Downtown Redevelopment Authority and Vancouver Public Facilities District boards meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at city hall, 210 E. 13th St.
Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Columbian and may not include subsequent corrections.
All materials appearing in The Columbian are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of The Columbian Publishing Company or the party credited as the provider of the content.
November 12, 2003; Page a1
A group seeking to force a public vote on Vancouver's downtown hotel-conference center has abandoned its petition campaign.
Larry Patella, a leader in the referendum campaign, said Tuesday his group instead will place its hopes for killing the $71.2 million project on a pending lawsuit in Thurston County. The lawsuit, which Olympia attorney Shawn Newman filed in late September, seeks to cut off the flow of state sales tax dollars to Vancouver's conference center and to a similar project in Olympia.
"We're not even going to count our petition signatures, and we don't intend to turn them in," Patella said. "We're going to save our time, energy and money to support the lawsuit effort. We feel pretty confident that those folks have better than an even chance to prevail."
Petitioners had proposed using the referendum process to repeal an ordinance the city council approved Oct. 13. The ordinance provides several pieces to the financing package for the 225-room hotel, which will also have 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
They needed to gather signatures from 2,313 registered voters living in Vancouver and submit them no later than Thursday to meet requirements outlined in the city charter.
Patella, who led two earlier signature-gathering campaigns, said he polled the other five petitioners before deciding to table the referendum.
"We're confident if we turned them in and they got certified, we would wind up in another lawsuit with the city," he said. "We can't afford that. No sense in wasting the taxpayers' money. And from where we sit, the lawsuit that's being filed against the two cities looks really good."
Only weeks ago, Patella said they were proceeding with the referendum even though they expected to be challenged in court.
Two previous campaigns gathered more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but the city council did not place either before voters.
The city scrapped the first effort because petitioners had not attached notarized affidavits to each signature sheet. It rejected the second because the proposed initiative's wording was ambiguous and confusing. Both decisions were upheld in Clark County Superior Court.
Earlier this week, Patella said his group was having trouble collecting signatures and had "struck out most every place where you can collect them."
Patella said his group would not count the number gathered.
"We would rather not know, I guess. ... We're pretty confident that we would probably lose again in court for reasons I would rather not say," Patella said.
City attorneys say Patella's referendum would have not thwarted plans to build the hotel-conference center at the southwest corner of Sixth and Columbia streets. They have argued that initiative and referendum powers are limited to legislative acts, or the making of laws, and that financing for the hotel project represents an administrative act that cannot be challenged. Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson endorsed that argument in March when she struck down the second petition campaign.
Nonetheless, city attorneys said they are pleased not to have the specter of a referendum hanging over the project as they race to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to commence construction.
If the city doesn't begin construction by the end of the year, Vancouver will forfeit $1.3 million a year in sales tax revenues, a crucial funding piece to a complex project that has taken more than five years to come together.
State law doesn't define what constitutes construction, but city officials have opted to take a conservative approach. They will interpret construction to mean pouring foundations and adding other permanent features, not simply tearing down buildings and prepping the site.
Newman's lawsuit threatens to delay a bond sale that would generate $66 million to purchase land for the project and to finance construction.
As a temporary measure, the Vancouver Downtown Redevelopment Authority has approved a license with Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell and his wife, Jody, the property's owners. The license would allow demolition to proceed, but not actual construction.
The license still has not been signed. Until then, FaulknerUSA, the city's Austin, Texas-based contractor, cannot begin tearing down the former Greyhound bus station and other buildings on the site.
"The remaining issues that we are working through are related to construction and liability insurance," said Doug Ness, The Columbian's finance director who has represented the Campbells in negotiations with the city. "We expect them to be wrapped up anytime, hopefully within the next day or so."
The Campbells intend to sell the land for the hotel project and to build new Columbian offices on the southeast corner of Sixth and Columbia streets, immediately to the west of the hotel.
Robert Gallup, vice president of operations for Faulkner's western regional office in Denver, said demolition could begin as early as Monday, presuming the license is signed in the next few days.
As long as Faulkner can start demolition before Thanksgiving, the company should have no problem getting actual construction under way by the end of the year, Gallup said.
"We've got staff out there," he said. "We're excited about getting started. I think people are going to love the project. I think it's going to be a tremendous asset to the community."
Patella, however, continues to argue the project will put too much public money at risk.
"We're not giving up the ghost," he said. "We're going to be nagging them until the last brick is in place."
In an e-mail announcement on the referendum petition, Patella reinforced his opposition to the city's plans.
"May the Lord have mercy upon us if they are successful in turning Vancouver into a Socialistic City," Patella wrote.
HOTEL PROJECT UPDATE
* Deadline: 49 more days until construction must be under way.
* issues: Approving agreements, selling bonds, resolving litigation.
* Next step: Vancouver Downtown Redevelopment Authority and Vancouver Public Facilities District boards meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at city hall, 210 E. 13th St.
Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Columbian and may not include subsequent corrections.
All materials appearing in The Columbian are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of The Columbian Publishing Company or the party credited as the provider of the content.