Friday, October 26, 2007

"They pour a whole lot of concrete here...for boondoggles and white elephants."

Who buys property in a seller's market - especially this one? Real estate is cyclical. The only reason for the District to purchase property is if they have no alternative.

But the District had alternatives. They could have waited for a down turn in the market, which has arrived, or they could have sold the Cedar Valley property to Raskin and taken advantage of inflated prices. He made an outrageous profit, why couldn't the District? After all, the District owned the street frontage.

Scriber Lake High could have been moved to Old Melody Hill. It is leased, but just how much money is the District making from their on-going investment the building's systems?

And what about the old administration site on Alderwood Mall Parkway? It’s been on the market for years and there still isn’t a ground-lease. Why not concentrate on marketing that parcel? Or build a high rise with retail on the bottom floor and District offices on the upper floors? The offices could be leased later when a more suitable property is found.

Why not wait until the Lynnwood High School property is ground-leased and real money starts coming in?

The District seems to have taken the same stance of many government agencies. Spend now and let future tax payers live with the consequences.

Claire Olsovsky, MA (Biology), MS (Environmental and Occupational Health)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have alot of questions. For me they only beg more questions. Who is, or what is, Raskin? What is his, or its, relationship to Nick, Marla and each of the board members? Do any of them have stock in this company? Will the Edmonds School District buy some property from me too?

Anonymous said...

Claire: Your posting makes perfect sense; the District has property that is not being used and the old Administration site sits empty, while they just keep spending without much thought, obviously. I wonder if the King and Queen know the seller and got a pay-back!

Anonymous said...

I hope the press is getting a hold of this stuff. Just one of these things might not be enough to get them interested, but the number and the seriousness of district actions will surely get more than a passing glance from the media.

Anonymous said...

If the public only knew...... I am on a journey to educate as many citizens, tax payers, former colleagues at ESD #15, about the ESD Weblog plus I paid a visit to a local newspaper recently. Time will certainly tell when this will "come to light" in the right places - I just hope it comes "IN TIME", before any more tax payer dollars are spent unwisely. This is a serious matter.

Anonymous said...

If the public only knew...... I am on a journey to educate as many citizens, tax payers, former colleagues at ESD #15, about the ESD Weblog plus I paid a visit to a local newspaper recently. Time will certainly tell when this will "come to light" in the right places - I just hope it comes "IN TIME", before any more tax payer dollars are spent unwisely. This is a serious matter.