Investigation
The Seattle Police Department and King County Prosecutor’s office
are investigating a Washington State assistant attorney general for
alleged fraud and identity theft related to an adult hookup
site.
Earlier this month, according to a police report, a woman (unnamed
in the report) told police that someone had been impersonating her
online and had arranged sexual encounters using her name and phone
number. Between December 25, 2006, and May 15, 2008, the
woman says she received between 25 and 30 phone calls from people
looking for sex.
The Stranger is not naming the man, as no charges have been
filed. Kristin Alexander, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s
office, says the office knows about the investigation but has not put
the employee on leave. Alexander also says it does not appear that any
state computers were used to connect to the hookup site. JONAH
SPANGENTHAL-LEE
Mitigation
A developer and a neighborhood group have reached a deal to move
forward with a 10-acre big-box development, anchored by a
Target, at the south end of the International District. The Dearborn
Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods, which includes more than 40
neighborhood and labor groups, appealed the development’s permit in
June.
Under the agreement, Dearborn Street Developers will build 200
units of affordable housing onsite, and will spend
$1 million
on traffic mitigation, commercial district improvements, and designs
for a community center. Construction workers will also be paid
competitive wages.
“The two biggest problems that working families in this community
face are a lack of affordable housing and not enough quality jobs,” says David West, director of the labor-advocacy nonprofit
Puget Sound Sage, a member of the co-alition. “We think we’ve come up
with an agreement that fits both those issues.” DOMINIC
HOLDEN
Relocation
Earlier this year, the city council set aside $350,000 to assist
tenants making less than $42,000 a year who were displaced by a recent
wave of condo conversions. In May, Mayor Greg Nickels snagged more
than $200,000 from the fund to shore up a budget gap at the city’s
Human Services Department (HSD), and the city enlisted Seattle
nonprofit Solid Ground to distribute the remaining $100,000.
According to data released by HSD this week, Solid Ground only
managed to distribute a total of $2,631 to four households.
Solid Ground also received $2,295.
The city has repeatedly claimed there simply weren’t enough
displaced tenants in need of the money. However, given that more than
6,000 rental units have been converted to condos since 2004, it seems
highly unlikely that only four households would have been
eligible for the program. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE