This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Rep. Judy Clibborn Opposes SODO Arena

Bipartisan transportation leaders in the Washington Legislature say they oppose the proposed Sodo arena.

Washington State 41st District Representative Judy Clibborn (D-Mercer Island) who serves Kennydale, East Renton and Sierra Heights residents and chairs the House Transportation Committee has co-written an Op-Ed piece along with other transportation leaders in the Washington Legislature opposing the proposed Sodo arena.

According to the Seattle Times , Clibborn along with Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee; Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, the ranking minority member of the House Transportation Committee; and Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, the ranking minority member of the Senate Transportation Committee say the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma must be operating at a high level to compete with other regions of the country for business and to export Eastern Washington agriculture.

“A healthy and functioning Port of Seattle is absolutely crucial to the state’s economic well-being and we can support nothing that in any way further impedes operations at the Port of Seattle.”The leaders said they couldn’t support an arena in Sodo “if there is even the slightest risk to our trade-based economy.”

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rep Clibborn's office sent a copy of the letter to Renton Patch on Monday, the same day the Metroplitan King County Council took public comment on the proposed new multi-purpose sports and entertainment facility in the SODO district.

A vote of the King County Council is currently underway. Chris Hansen's spokesperson Peter McCollum says both councils (King County and the city of Seattle) must vote yes to move the project forward.

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No date has been set for when the city of Seattle is set to vote on the proposed $490 million arena in the SODO neighborhood.  

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?