what is public deliberation?

first, thanks everyone for all the emails supporting our letter to mayor nickels--and in particular thanks to those who are publicly supporting the cause by adding their names to the letter. others interested in supporting the effort can submit their names here.

thanks also for the comments both here and over at urbnlivn. these lively comments are in fact part of how i would define "public deliberation." as noted in various comments, our purpose in posting an open letter to the mayor is motivated by the need to have this discussion in the public realm. the city has a venue for public participation in urban development, but this is precisely the venue we were excluded from.

so what is public deliberation in seattle's design review process? and how should it work? the DPD envisions a "Design Review Triangle," which is built on "the concept of an equilateral triangle, with the three major stakeholders -- the citizens of Seattle, the project applicant, and the City -- given a voice in the process."

the key phrasing here is "citizens of Seattle," "equilateral," and "given a voice in the process." as noted in our letter, this process did not work for us. as citizens of Seattle, Cosmo pre-sales buyers were systematically excluded from the meetings (reference letter and timeline). once the 1918 8th Ave design changes were approved and permitted, our only recourse would have been to back out of the Cosmo purchase agreement. by doing so we would lose a 5% deposit.

however, even if we had been invited and participated in the design process, it does not appear that our voice would have been considered. and for all who have commented about this being an issue of views, this is NOT about views! it's about privacy, light, and aesthetics--each of which is significantly impacted by putting a giant building 16ft outside your window.

presumably, the design review board is meant to represent citizens of Seattle in this three-way relationship. but as the design review record shows, there was little to no representation of citizens of Seattle who are impacted the most by the 1918 8th Ave new/revised design. as greg points out in his smarter neighbor blog, this representation does not appear to demonstrate an equilateral relationship.

so, back to the question at hand, what is public deliberation in this context? well, the DPD version does not seem to accommodate a productive dialog between the primary parties. our hope is that we can help facilitate a more inclusive dialog by addressing our issues online. and in doing so that mayor nickels will be persuaded to facilitate an equilateral triangle discussion, where Seattle (cosmo) citizens are included among the three major stakeholders.