By Hieu Nguyen

Published on July 20, 2008

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/371376_webltrs21.html

I’m a Washington resident since 1980, 24 years in Olympia and 4 years in Seattle. I’ve commuted to International District/Little Saigon for shopping and connecting with people who shops, works, and/or lives there. It’s not just a shopping district or market, it’s also a communal public space to me.

I come to Little Saigon to shop for food stuffs that not available anywhere, to see accountants who do income tax that charge little (since we don’t earn that much), to see doctors and dentists who is willing to accept Medicare and Medical coupons (mostly turns down by others), to get herbal medicines from traditional healers, to have hairdressers who banters in native languages.

For those 28 years that I’ve lived here I see very little investment from the City to Little Saigon, mostly cosmetic, a few signs, warning street lights, and some pole sculptures.

The City has many “strategic”, “vision” plans over the years (some far back more than 10 years ago) with wonderful recommendations for the Chinatown/International District, from cultural, economic, housing, safety objectives but there is not much to show for. The city has spent millions of dollars on consultants and own staff for those “studies” and “plans” but they are just plans. Besides, the planners don’t truly involve the people who will be impacted by those plans.

Many small merchants and business owners have paid with sweat labors over the years to build a vibrant economic environment serving low-income people without any help from the City. They paid their taxes but not getting much of the services, being neglected for years.

Now, the developers look at Little Saigon and vicinity as the prize to capture and city planners who aid the bidding. They tout such a “Livable” South Downtown. Livable to whom? Not the service workers and low-income residents. They want to capitalize on land values and it’s theirs to claim. The promises of so called “win-win” development is really a big WIN to big developers who plan to build big mall such as TRF Pacific and Ravenhurst Developments for the proposed Dearborn/Goodwill project. They will build a building for Goodwill, but definitely none of the Goodwill workers can afford to live there. The losers are also next door Little Saigon business owners who will be under displacement threat due to rent increase, traffic, and low capital to compete. Big box and formula retail in the area will overwhelm and dilute the unique Little Saigon cultural identity.

Upzoning and big development in the closeby area of Little Saigon will overwhelm and swallow it displacing existing residents and merchants. We should develop the area in a responsible and ethical way that support open space, green streets, parks, transit-oriented transportation, pedestrians and bicyclists, low-income and truly affordable housing.

Another letter to the Seattle PI editors – 09/3/08

Not Too Late to Influence the South Downtown Rezone Process

Hân Ngọc Trần

June 9, 2008 – Little Saigon, Seattle: The Dearborn mall would unquestionably affect Little Saigon, its surrounding neighborhoods and the whole community at large. The proposed project would include almost 700,000 square feet of retail, and 45,000 of administrative offices along with 21-acres of parking, most of it underground – enough for over 2300 cars. There is also supposed to be housing, but the developer is unclear about how many units and when they would be built.

With the resulting property value and rent escalating, many local small businesses and low-income families nearby would be displaced. In fact, the majority of Southeast Asians would experience displacement again as they did after the aftermath of Vietnam War. The mall requires an estimated 25,000 automobile trips per day and would create much more traffic congestion, further impacting small businesses and the health of the area. The cultural integrity of Little Saigon is also at stake. This vibrant ethnic community would loose its uniqueness if it turns into another mall center.

Now, there are several questions we need to consider. What can the community do to mitigate the impacts and to preserve the cultural distinctiveness of Little Saigon? Is it too late for action?

The answer is NO, it is not too late. And YES, there are powerful ways we can influence the process. The developer and his proponents would like the community to think the project is a done deal, so as to wane our spirit and determination. But nothing is set in stone. It has been more than three years and a great deal of effort and the developer has yet to pass his two biggest hurdles, City Council’s approval for a rezone and a street vacation, both of which are scheduled for hearings [1] in the coming months.

The developer’s very clever strategy is to sign a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the Dearborn Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods (DSCLN), composed of 40 member organizations. Having this CBA, the developer will have a better chance at getting necessary approvals for the rezone and street vacation. And so Ravenhurst Development/TRF Pacific has been putting innumerable resources to ensure a CBA with the Coalition. However, there have been contentions, even within the Coalition, as to whether the current CBA really benefits the community and whether our rights as a community should be given up just at the time when we can speak to the City Council decision makers about the problems that will result if this project is approved.

What is most troubling is the lack of transparency throughout this process. As the main group at the negotiation table with the developer, the Coalition is supposed to represent the community at large. Yet its meetings are not accessible. The content of the CBA is not made public or shared to a community at large. The common sense questions are: How can the community provide input when things are hush-hush? How do we ensure that the benefits of the agreement are provided fairly? With the direction regarding the CBA, we cannot help but to question the representation of the Coalition. The DSCLN was formed by the broader community to address the issues of the size of the project, the big box character and the traffic. These issues are no longer of importance and the Coalition now will accept the mall as the developer wished.

Thus, we cannot at this point depend on the Coalition to represent our best interests with regard to the Dearborn development. The community can and should participate in the process through grassroots organizing. We now hold the Coalition accountable for the high bar it initially set, and the developer and City Council for development that respects local businesses, community residents, and cultural integrity. Development such as this that will change the character of our community and cause displacement should be unacceptable.

The next few months is a critical time. Even if the Coalition decides to vote in favor of the CBA this week, we can still influence the process by collectively opposing the current project and asking City Council for reconsideration of a more community-oriented development and with appropriate community benefits. We invite concerned individuals to join us at the Little Saigon Street Theatre on June 13^th, 2008 at the Asian Plaza, a grassroots effort to encourage participatory planning and decision-making. Power comes from two things, money and people. We have a collective voice with power and need to show it.

[1] The examiner hearing is scheduled on June 24^th, 2008 at 9:00 am, Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 5^th Ave., room 4009.

NOTES:

(1) After the news on (a) the effects of inequitable urban development process and (b) the hidden agenda of the Washington State Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce (WaVA) made with developer Darrell Vange of Ravenhurst as well as the City were disclosed at the Street Theater events on June 13, 2008, this examiner hearing was delayed until September 22, 2008. Together with many witnesses and experts, we did participate and testify at this hearing.

(2) This article and our essay “Tiếng Trống Mê Linh” were published on the Northwest Vietnamese Weekly News of Mr. Kim Pham due to the encouragement from Mr. Bao Quoc Pham of Nguoi Viet Daily News in California on June 10, 2008. This article was the last being printed on Northwest Vietnamese Weekly News.

Vietnamese Version