MLK School sale not illegal

For the benefit of our readers who missed the story in the major media, we note that the Washington State Auditor has determined that "the Seattle Public Schools followed state law and district policy when the School Board voted last year to sell the former Martin Luther King Elementary School to the lowest bidder."  That, according to the Seattle Times in a copyrighted story today.

The Auditor, however, did not opine on the wisdom of the policy that allowed for an outcome that lost the School District millions of dollars it would have received if selling the abandoned building to the highest bidder, The Bush School.  The Auditor's job was simply to look for violations of law and due process.

It's ironic that we find ourselves linking to the story in the Seattle Times, given our stated position that the paper's failure to properly cover this story in the first place might have been partially responsible for the questionable outcome.  That feeling led us for the first time in the two-plus year history of the Madison Park Blogger to leave our journalistic perch and descend into out and out editorialism.  Or was that a step up?

The Seattle Times: late to the party

MLK sale is suddenly big news

Commentary By Bryan Tagas

If there were an award for ringing the fire bell after the house has burned down, the Seattle Times would surely be deserving of a nomination today for its front-page story concerning the School District’s sale of Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School last year. The paper’s breathless coverage focuses on the questionable decision-making process by Seattle Schools and the conflict of interest which may have existed because of ties by District decision makers to the low-ball bidder, First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME).

Ostensibly, from the point of view of the Times, what makes this story suddenly worthy of this high-profile treatment is the fact that the State Auditor’s Office has announced it is looking into the situation.  But what really makes the case potentially juicy for the newspaper is the possible involvement in the School’s decision-making process of the now notorious Fred Stephens. That’s the man, as readers will recall, who famously failed to supervise ex-furniture repairman Silas Potter, the guy who eventually took down School Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson last year.

We now know a lot more about some of the players than we did at the time the School Board decided the MLK School issue.  Presumably this knowledge informs the Times’ new sensationalist approach to the MLK story--a story that many people, in and out of the media, were pretty well aware of before the State Auditor got involved.

One may legitimately ask, “What did the Times know and when did it know it?”  Surely the paper was aware that the School District was about to sell MLK for “a song” (to quote today’s headline) well before that sale actually took place.  If the paper had covered the story then as it covered it today, it would have provided the public service of shining a light on a very flawed process.  The Times also knew, or should have known, that there were legitimate procedural questions about the sale that had been raised by the opponents.  Included on that list was the fact that the School District did little due diligence with regard to FAME’s proposal to purchase the property.  We reported this bombshell as part of our own coverage of the MLK sale (Ron English, the School District’s in-house lawyer, telling us that no analysis was undertaken).

Before the School Board voted, what did the Times actually do with the information at its disposal?  It buried it on the inside pages, running a perfunctory story about the upcoming sale.  Why would the paper do that rather than beat the sensationalist drum it so recently discovered?  Well, it’s only speculation on my part, but when the MLK situation should have been big news the Times was editorially supporting passage of the $48 million Seattle School levy.  To do a story on the District giving away School assets “for a song” would have potentially undermined the paper’s effort to see the levy passed. Surely the Times would not have wanted blame for causing a levy failure.

But maybe that’s unfair.  Perhaps this was simply a case of slipshod journalism—the failure to follow a story to its logical conclusion.   Whatever the reason, mainstream media failed to do its job, with the Seattle Times squarely in the forefront.

What makes the MLK sale a big story is not just the possibility that School official Fred Stephens may have wanted to sell the property to a Church at which his father was once the pastor—or even that he may have used undue influence to see that that sale ultimately occurred.  If any of these allegations is true, this conflict-of-interest angle is certainly worthy of reportage.

What’s an even bigger story, however, is the one that’s based these facts:

• Our cash-strapped School District sold a valuable asset for a pittance 
• The process for vetting the various School-purchase proposals was critically flawed 
• The taxpayers of the State (through Legislative appropriation) ended up paying for a church to acquire public property that could much later be resold by that church without any repayment to the taxpayers

Today the Seattle Times’ kicker (that line of copy just above the headline) screams: “Seattle school district passed up millions to favor low bidder in sale of Madison Valley school.”

NOW you tell us!

[The former MLK Elementary School site acquired by FAME is located at 3201 E. Republican St.  Photos show the current condition of the buildings on the property.] 

ML King School sale: done deal

The Seattle School District confirmed last month that the sale of the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School site in Madison Valley had been finalized and ownership transferred to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME), as approved by the School Board in a controversial decision late last year.  FAME was the lowest bidder for the site, and the District walked away from the millions of additional dollars it would have received if it had sold the property to neighboring Bush School.

Recently, there has been speculation by some opponents of the sale that the FAME purchase could be overturned.   The Seattle Weekly was the first of the media outlets to pick up the story, followed by KING-TV on its 11:00 broadcast last night.  The basis for the hope of re-opening the MLK school-sale decision is the fact that then-District official Fred Stephens, boss of the now-notorious Silas Potter, was heavily involved in FAME at the time the District agreed to sell MLK to the Church.  According to the Weekly, Stephens' father was a one-time pastor at FAME, and Stephens himself was active in the Church. This connection has led some to speculate that Stephens had an unfair role in getting the School District to accept a lower offer for the MLK property from FAME.

The School District, however, rejects these claims of possible conspiracy or, at minimum, conflict of interest in the MLK sale. School Board member Michael DeBell was interviewed on KING stating that Stephens had nothing whatsoever to do with the District's decision-making process.  However, Adrienne Bailey, leader of the Madison Valley residents who wanted to create a community center at MLK, was also interviewed, stating that she has evidence in the form of emails that show Stephens was, in fact, involved in the District's process.

Short of proving the sale of MLK was a fraudulent transaction, however, it is hard to see how the District could be forced to try to recover the Elementary School property, now that the deed has been transferred.   There's been no comment, apparently, from FAME on the supposed Stephens connection to the property sale.

Meanwhile, we have been asked whether FAME has the right to dispose of the MLK site and keep any profits the Church might realize from the sale.  We have read the MLK purchase and sale agreement and the related restrictive covenant agreement, and it appears that FAME is not prohibited from selling the property so long as certain community-use conditions continue to be met.  The draft documents are available here for those who want to look for themselves.  For some reason, the executed documents are not available online, but the School District has confirmed to us that "the draft was not significantly different from the final" documents.

As a practical matter, however, it seems unlikely that anyone would want to buy the property from FAME with the restrictive covenant in place.  If community use of the site does not continue at the level contemplated by the agreement, rent will have to be paid to the School District for the conversion to non-public purposes.  For example, $6,000 would due as an annual penalty for each classroom redeveloped for non-public use, and $20 per hour would be charged for each hour of contemplated public-use of the gym space that does not, in fact, occur.  These rents or "value-sharing payments" would continue for the 40-year life of the restrictive covenant.  After that point, the School District would apparently no longer have any control over the property's use.

Short takes No. 10

Madison Park Conservatory: getting close

Since neighborhood favorite Sostanza went dark in July, many Madison Park gourmands have been waiting with eager anticipation for news about its replacement, Madison Park Conservatory. Co-owner Cormac Mahoney added to the buzz last week by making the rounds of Village shops and charming the owners—or at least several of the female ones. We heard all about it, of course, and that prompted us to go direct to the source and ask the really important questions: when is the place opening and what can we expect to see on the menu?

As to the when, Mahoney says he’s expecting a late November or early December start date for the new restaurant. As to the rest? Well, he promises to divulge all (or, more truthfully, he agreed to speak with us and tell us something) within the next couple of weeks. Construction is quite obviously underway (the dry wall was delivered last week); and Mahoney confirms that, indeed, the fireplace is now a thing of history. But that’s about all of the news we could get out of the guy. Except for one other, not insignificant, fact. He reports that he’s moved to Madison Park from his abode in Eastlake, thereby making him one of the very rare—four or five at best—local business owners who are also residents of the Park.

While we’ve still got hope for a meaningful future dialog with Mahoney, all we’re left with today is this teaser: “Please be satisfied,” he says, “with our current mantra: we will be a Seattle restaurant serving delicious plants and animals with a squeeze of lemon.”

Did we mention the bit about his being young and charming?


MLK sale to FAME approved

As expected, the Seattle School Board (technically, the Seattle School District Board of Directors) last night approved the sale of the Martin Luther King Elementary School site in Madison Valley to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. The vote was 5 to 2. Based on the emails we’ve received, as well as on comments left in response to our blog posting on the subject, the School District’s action is highly controversial, both in our neighborhood and in Madison Valley. For whatever reason, we’ve not heard from First A.M.E. or from any of its supporters since the story broke.


‘Honey’ declared a dangerous animal

The Washington Park Pit Bull which allegedly attacked three women on one day in August, has officially been designated as a “dangerous animal” by the Director of the Seattle Animal Shelter. As a result, an administrative process will now begin during which the owner can appeal the decision. Unless the appeal is successful, Honey, the tan Pit Bull (or Pit Bull mix) will no longer be allowed within the City limits. She is reportedly now living in West Seattle.


Rejuvenation anyone?

Just next door to the new Madison Park Conservatory is Spa Del Lago, into which former Madison Park resident Dr. Teri Burnett recently moved her practice. Although a plastic surgeon with nine years of experience in using more-invasive procedures, Burnett is now specializing in some less-intrusive approaches to helping people look younger: Botox, dermal fillers, and wellness supplements. You can get the details on her no-surgery/no-pills program by checking out her Facebook page, Get Young MD. Spa Del Lago is located at 1929 43rd Avenue. E.


[Madison Park Conservatory is located at 1927 43rd Avenue E. Photo of Spa Del Lago courtesy of Get Young MD.]

Bush School loses out on MLK Elementary bid

It may come as a bit of a shock to some Seattle taxpayers to learn that the School District, which is currently asking voters to approve a new $48 million tax levy, is planning to turn down several million dollars that it could have realized from the sale of the Martin Luther King Elementary School site in Madison Valley, located just on the doorstep of Madison Park (3201 E. Republican Street).

As we reported this summer, the school was closed in 2007, and the District later decided to declare the property “surplus” and sell it. Bidders submitted proposals to the District earlier this year; and it now appears that the lowest bidder will be declared the winner, meaning that the Seattle Public Schools will walk away from millions of dollars that it could have obtained by accepting the highest bid. Moreover, some neighbors of the MLK site express concern that the winning bidder does not have funds either to make needed structural upgrades to the building or to operate the property once it takes possession. When you add to all of this the fact that the winning bidder is a church which is getting the money to buy the property from State taxpayers, you have the makings of a controversial situation. Curiously, this story has not been picked up by the media, other than the neighboring Central District News blog, which covers Madison Valley.

This is where the situation stands today. On Wednesday evening, the Seattle School Board is expected to accept the recommendation of the Superintendant that it approve a $2.4 million sale of the MLK site to the First African Methodist Episcopalian Church (FAME), located at 1522 14th Avenue. This is in spite of the fact that the highest bidder for the property was the neighboring Bush School (3400 E. Harrison St.), which had submitted an offer valued by the District at between $3.0 million (to purchase the building) and $5.6 million (the net present value of a proposed 99-year lease of the site). Bush and a second bidder, Citizens for a Community Center at MLK (CCC@MLK), a non-profit group which bid $2.5 million, thus lost out to FAME, a tax-exempt religious organization which is benefiting from $2.4 million in funding by the State legislature in support of the purchase. By approving the sale to FAME, the School Board will be accepting a $3.2 million discount from the real value of the property as determined by the market.

But is there more to the story than this? An insight into the District’s thinking is provided in the Superintendant’s recommendation to the Board, which states that the First AME Church bid should be accepted “because the value of keeping the building available for support of youth education and social services creates an intangible benefit to the community which outweighs the financial gain offered by the higher-priced [Bush School] proposal.”

The School Board’s standard for the sale of the school was originally established as “the highest bid wins, unless one or more firms meets [sic] requirements for Youth Education Center or providing social services.” If a bidder agreed to devote 50% or more of the building space to support youth education or governmental or social services, the Board allowed for that bid to receive “special treatment.” School staff estimated that FAME proposed to use 60% of the site for “youth education activities,” the Bush School (which planned to tear the building down) proposed allowing community use of their new soccer field for a minimum of 1,000 hours per year, while the CCC@MLK said it would devote 54% of the total space to youth services and another 19% to social services. The District’s staff quantified the “value to the community” of having FAME control the space as $50,000 per year, versus $23,000 for the CCC@MLK proposal, and $20,000 for the Bush proposal.

One of the issues raised by the proposed sale to FAME is the fact that there is a statutory requirement that the School District achieve at least 90% of “fair market value” if it permits a community organization to acquire school property. Because there is a recent appraisal of the MLK property valuing it at $2.4 million, the staff concluded that the sale to FAME meets the statutory requirement.

The School District’s position is that the value of the property is set by the appraisal and not by the bidding process. The clear implication of this point of view is that the Bush School was willing to pay a huge premium over what is a “fair” market price for the property. Bush, incidentally, originally offered $3.7 million for MLK, and the net present value of Bush’s initial long-term lease proposal was pegged by the School District at $9 million. Bush later revised its offer downward as a result of several factors, including “changes in the competitive landscape of the property.” Meaning, presumably, the fact that other bidders were publicly known to be offering far less.

When the FAME offer was first submitted this summer, a question initially raised by school staff was whether or not a sale to a religious organization violates statutory or constitutional requirements. Ron English, a lawyer with the District who was the principal staffer for the MLK bidding process, concluded, however, that “there is no prohibition against public agencies doing business with religious institutions, only that they not be given preference.” He told us that “the selection criteria were neutral in that regard, so there is no problem.”

Bush School seems to be accepting its apparent loss with good grace. Frank Magusin, Bush’s Head of School, when asked about the apparent outcome, said "we are disappointed by the recommendation to sell the property to First A.M.E. Church, since we thought our proposal provided the greatest overall benefit for the district, the immediate neighborhood, and the broader Seattle community, while at the same time offering much needed support for our educational program." He adds, however, that if FAME acquires the MLK property, “we will welcome them to the neighborhood and hope to find ways to work together with them to support their youth education programs.”

CCC@MLK, meanwhile, has protested the District’s upcoming sale of MLK to FAME. Adrienne Bailey, President of the group, said she believes “there was impropriety and hypocrisy” in the School Board’s process. The staff’s analysis of the FAME bid was flawed, she said, and the CCC bid was “scrutinized to a higher standard than anyone else’s bid.” The bottom line from her point view is that the “District is choosing the lowest bidder with the least amount of services.”

The Madison Valley neighborhood group had been hoping to create a community center in the space, offering lifelong learning classes, community meeting space, "an incubator work space for small and grass-root groups and organizations," a computer center, a public playground, and services for youth, families and veterans. “We’re bringing quality and we’re bringing collaboration with other major institutions, such as Bastyr University and Spectrum Dance,” she said.

What FAME promised the School District is an array of youth and adult programs, including dance and fitness classes, sports programs, educational classes and workshops, daycare, and “other community activities.” The District gave the nod to FAME at least in part because of its greater emphasis on youth programs. Bailey, however, believes that the programs FAME has offered are not as well developed, documented, or thought out as CCC@MLK's. She wants to be able to have both groups present their proposals to the full School Board in an open meeting “so the public can see what is fully being offered with documentation." In her opinion, FAME does not have the "money, resources, or expertise" to be able to operate the building once it takes possession.

Did the District do any analysis to determine the likelihood that either of the competing groups (CCC and FAME) had the resources to be able to bring the school up to seismic standards, maintain the building,and pay for the operations of the facility once in control of it? The answer from School District staffer Ron English is “we did not do a separate analysis.”

It is unlikely that Bailey’s group will get the chance to make the hoped-for presentation to the School Board at its Wednesday session. The Superintendent denied the CCC@MLK appeal earlier this month, paving the way for the Board to act. “I felt they were saying give up and go away,” Bailey told us.

Some MLK neighbors, meanwhile, have expressed concern over the potential negative impact on neighborhood property values of having FAME operate its programs at the site. One resident recently emailed her neighbors expressing the view that "FAME brings nothing to the neighborhood, whereas the Bush proposal brings a much needed playfield and playground." Another neighbor, also in a broadside email, questioned whether the Board's acceptance of the FAME offer might "violate a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers." But as one MLK neighbor admitted, there may also be socioeconomic and racial tensions that play a role in the some of the opposition to FAME's sudden arrival in the neighborhood.

Is the sale to FAME a foregone conclusion? Probably so. Blogger Melissa Westbrook (Save Seattle Schools), a long-time observer of the School District’s modus operandi, has this to say about the situation: “The CCC[@MLK] said that ‘the district analysis was flawed.’ That would certainly not be the first time that has ever been said about staff analysis. However, as we know, the Board has never gone against anything that the Superintendent has recommended, so I’d say it’s done.”

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[Editorial aside: we attempted to get FAME's take on the situation but were told by the Church that only the Pastor, Carey Anderson, was authorized to speak to the media on the subject. He did not respond to our requests for comment.]

Area community center unlikely

The Central District News, a neighboring blog, reported last week that the Seattle School District had received four bids for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School site located at 3201 E. Republican Street. There are a couple of reasons why this story may be of interest to residents of Madison Park, even though the school, which closed in 2007, is a couple blocks south of our community.

For one thing, the Bush School, which is contiguous to the MLK School site, is apparently the top bidder for the property. Although the School’s main buildings are—like the MLK School—in Madison Valley, Bush’s Gracemont Upper Campus actually is located in Washington Park, so I think we can legitimately claim the Bush School as one of our own.

Another bid for the site has been submitted by a group of community activists, Citizens for a Community Center at MLK (CCC), which is the second reason the story could be interesting from the standpoint of Madison Park. Right now there is no community center located anywhere within the area, unless you want to count the Miller Community Center (330 19th Avenue E.) on Capitol Hill, or the Montlake Community Center (1618 E. Calhoun St.) as “within the area.” If the Madison Valley activists have their way, there would be a community center located practically on Madison Park’s doorstep.

However, it looks like it is just not meant to be. The CCC’s bid to purchase the site for $2,400,000 is 36% lower than the Bush School’s $3,750,000 bid. Two other bidders, Hamlin Robinson School (a non-profit private school for children with learning disabilities) and the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, each have lower bids than The Bush School. All of the bidders also provided the school district with proposals for renting the property, with The Bush School offering significantly more than any of the others.

The district, of course, is not obligated to take the highest bid; but given the Seattle Schools’ budget problems, the school board would certainly come in for some justified criticism if it didn’t take the money and run. Additionally, it is not clear that either the CCC or First AME actually have the cash in hand at this time to back up their bids. So it looks as if the idea of a community center for the area may just be one of those pipe dreams you hear about.
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