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NEWS | Property owners rename ex-Weyerhaeuser building ‘The Greenline’ [3]
VOL. 18, NO. 42
M RROR
F E D E R A L WAY
DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
OPINION | Editorial Board: The Mirror’s endorsements for State House [6] Roegner: Kochmar versus Pellicciotti [6] COMMUNITY | World Vision seeks donations to aid Haiti relief [8] NEWS | Federal Way man hits, kills pedestrian on SR-18 freeway [13]
SPORTS | Beamer in first place FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016 | 75¢ after shutout of Jefferson [12]
ELECTION SEASON | LD-30 candidates debate crime, education, jobs at Mirror debate [19]
Federal Way chief of staff under investigation on forgery allegation BY RAECHEL DAWSON
rdawson@fedwaymirror.com
S
eattle-based Summit Law Group is investigating a former city employee’s allegations that city of Federal Way personnel forged his signature. Michael Morales, the city’s Community Development Director from March 2015 to April 2016, said he doesn’t recall signing an Oct. 12, 2015 letter from the city to Heartland, the real estate firm Weyerhaeuser hired to sell their 425-acre property, now owned by Industrial Realty Group. Yet the letter depicts a
pixelated, blue signature Pre-Annexation Zoning that reads “Michael MoAgreement between Weyrales.” erhaeuser and the city, one Titled “Re: Zoning for that is “binding and in full Weyerhaeuser’s Corporate force and effect,” accordCampus Property,” the leting to the letter, the zoning ter is addressed to laws outlined in Jim Reinhardsen, that agreement Heartland’s prinstill stand. cipal and senior While the letter managing director. doesn’t make a In it is an interdetermination pretation of zoning on the types of laws that apply to projects that can Brian Wilson the former-Weyerbe developed on haeuser property – the land – that’s land that is zoned done through an as an Office Park 1 and application process – it’s Corporate Park 1, a unique documentation that the zoning code. The letter city assured outside agenexplains that, because cies that still upholds the of a 1994 Concomitant concomitant agreement,
which many residents have The group has been acquestioned. tively against the construc“In the face of these alle- tion of a fish processing gations involving a crucial warehouse since the city zoning determination, we received the project apbelieve the City Council is plication in August. obligated to protect In fact, it was the Weyerhaeuser in a Mirror article Campus and city by about that very immediately enactissue that Morales ing a moratorium said he became on the acceptance aware of the letof additional ter. building permit Federal Way Michael Morales applications and by Mayor Jim Ferrell suspending action was quoted in an on the Preferred Aug. 25 Mirror Freezer/Orca Seafood article titled, “Federal Way permit application,” said residents protest Preferred members of the Save the Freezer, Orca Bay Seafoods Weyerhaeuser Campus project proposal.” group. Ferrell said in the article,
“When they were talking about selling the land, one of the most important things was the concomitant agreement that was passed by the City Council 22 years ago. It stays with the land. I think that was our legal interpretation and that was the interpretation of Heartland and IRG, and Michael Morales, as late as last fall in October, basically said that.” Confused, Morales filed a public records request asking for more information. He also sent an email to residents who oppose the Preferred Freezer/Orca Bay Seafoods project, and [ more WILSON, page 11 ]
Redondo Boardwalk re-opens after 2 years Knife-wielding man died Saturday in officer shooting
BY JASON LUDIG
editor@fedwaymirror.com
The Redondo Boardwalk re-opened this week after storm damage forced it to close for repairs for nearly two years. The popular walking spot was ruined by a storm in November 2014, when gusty winds and a high tide sent waves crashing over the boardwalk with enough force to knock out parts of the seawall in some residents’s yards. It was also closed for four years following a heavy winter storm in 1990. After the latest closure, city of Des Moines officials opted to repair it with concrete decking panels designed to withstand “large log damage” and high wave pressure. The new water side pilings, reinforced with pipe sleeves then filled with concrete, are also expected to hold
BY JASON LUDWIG
editor@fedwaymirror.com
The Redondo Boardwalk in December 2014 (left) after suffering storm damage that would close it for almost two years. The repaired boardwalk (right) re-opened this week. Contributed photos up against future storms. “With support from the Federal Highway Administration, the Washington State Department of Commerce, the Transportation Improvement Board and the Des Moines City
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Council, the Boardwalk has been restored and is now open to the public,” Des Moines City Clerk Bonnie Wilkins said in a release. The release also thanked Legislative District 30 lawmakers
FEDERAL WAY (253) 838-2424 1515 SO. 344TH ST.
Sen. Mark Miloscia and Rep. Linda Kochmar for securing $1.5 million of the $4.7 million needed for the boardwalk’s repairs in the June 2015 state capital budget.
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Two Federal Way police officers opened fire on a knife-wielding assailant Saturday while other officers helped his family members escape what started as a domestic violence call, according to police. The alleged assailant, a 21-year-old Hispanic man, was killed. In a statement released Saturday night, Federal Way Police Department spokesman Stan McCall said officers responded to a domestic violence call at a mobile home park in the 3000 block of South 288th Street at about 5:40 p.m. The incident reportedly involved two brothers, one armed with a knife, as well as other family members who had locked themselves
in a room and feared for their safety. “After officers arrived, they assisted family members as they escaped out through a window,” McCall said in the statement. The suspect “was armed with knives when he confronted police officers, who were outside in containment positions. The assailant made a statement about wanting to die, and then he moved toward the officers. Two officers responded simultaneously by firing their weapons. Medics pronounced the assailant dead at the scene.” As is standard procedure, the two officers who fired their weapons were both placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
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