The following statement was released today by ILWU Local 19 concerning likely move of Sacramento Kings to Seattle by Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen:
The prospect of an NBA team returning to Seattle is great news, but ILWU local 19 feels that siting an arena in SoDo will adversely impact industrial and waterfront jobs. All alternate locations must be considered.
A team purchase has no effect on our pending legal case challenging the arena’s premature siting in SODO. The issue in the case is whether the city and county complied with public facility environmental laws. The court will likely only care about whether the City and the County violated the State Environmental Policy Act, not whether Mr. Hansen has taken yet another step to site his arena in SODO with public money.
— ILWU Local 19 News Release. Contact Peter Goldman, co-attorney representing ILWU local 19, at (206) 399-0092.