Altruism doesnt live in this house.
Altruism doesn't live in this house. OTTO GREULE JR / GETTY

The corporation that owns the Seattle Mariners is pledging to spend $3 million on helping people in King County avoid eviction, according to a press release from the Transit Riders Union. Isn't it great when private companies altruistically donate their money for the public good?

Oh wait, there's actually nothing selfless about this donation.

This measly $3 million comes after the billion-dollar corporation received $185 $135 million in corporate welfare from King County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council. That $185 $135 million could have been spent on affordable housing and the same program that the Mariners are now shelling a fraction of the money towards.

Katie Wilson, the general secretary of the Transit Riders Union, said Mariners are trying to regain their standing after getting a "really shady deal" from the county.

“I’m glad the wealthy owners of the Mariners are trying to buy back the public’s goodwill by funding eviction prevention because this money will help a lot of people. Of course,” she added, “that doesn’t change the fact that subsidizing stadiums is a really poor use of public funds.”

If you want to read more about the corporate welfare the Mariners are receiving I suggest reading our cranky reporting from earlier in the year.

Despite a wave of controversy over the deal, the King County Council voted to spend $135 million on renovating Safeco Field so the Mariners wouldn't have to.

Councilmember Dave Upthegrove had this to say about the deal:

“They have the ability to maintain the ball field while generating tremendous wealth for themselves,” Upthegrove told The Stranger earlier this year. “The only thing that will happen if we fund this is that the owners will make $180 million more dollars.”

Well, guess what, Dave, the Mariners are so benevolent that they are going to give $3 million of that back to help people facing eviction. Here's what Fred Rivera, the executive vice-president and general counsel for the Mariners had to say to the Seattle Times:

“I was shocked and surprised by it... When you look at the costs related to homelessness, the amount of money that people were in arrears is a really small amount.”

How sweet! If only we could allow our democratically-elected government to decide how to allocate resources instead of giving out hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate welfare and then waiting for millionaire executives to give us back pennies on the dollar! It should also be noted that the Mariners will almost certainly be able to claim these donations as tax write-offs, reducing the amount of income that they must pay taxes on.

Oddly enough, today's Seattle Times story makes no mention of the fresh $135 million the Mariners were recently handed. Although it does mention that the Mariners "are a funder of The Seattle Times Project Homeless."

How nice of them.