Original post here.

From the Olympian this morning I read that retail space is again part of the plan for our new city hall. Crap-o-la.

Here is the letter I just wrote to the city council and the port commissioners:

I was under the impression that the port was no longer insisting that retail be part of the city's city hall development on East Bay. Is the port requesting the 4,000 square feet of retail space, as I understood earlier, to make sure the new city hall is an 18 hour development?

If so, I don't think retail is the only option, shopping is not the only activity that provides foot traffic after 5 p.m. Just on the surface, stores in the same building as the city hall is unseemly, I would rather see the space be put to a civic, rather than commercial use.

I would be able to understand the logic of needing to rent commercial space as a way to defray the costs of the building, but my understanding is that isn't the case.

Thanks,
Emmett O'Connell