Armen Yousoufian's Blog

After 30 years in business/investment real estate, I added "citizen activist" to my resume in 1997 when I requested sports stadium documents of King County Executive Ron Sims. After being "stonewalled", I sued, winning more at every stage, up to the state Supreme Court. Documents disgorged by Sims (after 4 years denying they existed!) revealed rigged studies. Sims misled the public on the stadiums. Other issues found me (e.g. Critical Areas Ordinance). Google “Armen Yousoufian” for more.

About Me

Name:
Location: Vashon, Washington, United States

I was born and raised in New York City. I took classical violin lessons for 10 years and studied astronomy. I built telescopes, grinding the mirrors from scratch. I was a nerd! I considered a career in classical violin but chose astrophysics. I majored in Physics at Rutgers University for 2 years, then switched and graduated in mechanical engineering. I moved to Seattle in 1969 to work on missiles for Boeing, got an MBA from Seattle University, and became a business and real estate entrepreneur for over 30 years. In 1997 I became involved in open government activism when I asked King County Executive Ron Sims for sports stadium documents. I was stonewalled. I sued under the Open Records, or Public Disclosure, Act. I won the case in King County Superior Court, but still didn’t get all the documents, nor recovered my legal fees, which the law said I was entitled to be reimbursed. I appealed and won more in the Court of Appeals and the court of public opinion. But I still didn’t get all the documents! I appealed again and won yet more in the Washington State Supreme Court. But I still don’t have all the documents! While that fight goes on I have become involved in new issues.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

August 13 morning program on "Eminent Domain" after "KELO" decision

Armen's note: FYI, the material below is the latest meeting announcement for a small group (20 to 30) of citizen activists who have been meeting monthly on the second Saturday for breakfast and civic and/or political discussion for approximately 20 years. There is always an interesting program and guest speaker(s). I have attended for over two years, have hardly missed a meeting, and highly recommend this group. Many of the meetings have been excellent, with top notch guest speakers from politics, the media, the judiciary, economics, etc.

For those concerned with land use matters, this should be a good one.

The meetings typically last until at least 11 to 11:30 AM, if not nearly to noon.

Armen Yousoufian

From: Kent Kammerer
Subject: Seattle Neighborhood Coalition meeting August 13 "Eminent Domain"
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2005


Imagine you had just come home from work and found an envelope from the
Seattle City Attorneys Office. Inside was a letter informing you that
your family home, located in an area being redeveloped for higher use,
had been designated blighted by the mayor. It would be purchased by
the city and resold to a local prominent developer who just happened to
be a major campaign contributor. He would develop the site for an
alleged higher and better use. Can the city do it?

A recent 5 to 4 US supreme court decision said that private property
could be acquired by eminent domain proceedings if the property was
deemed to be of importance for economic development. Local authorities
i.e. Mayors and City Councils could make that determination.

Rick Aramburu, prominent land use attorney will be our guest at the
next Seattle Neighborhood Coalition meeting August 13. He will
discuss, with us, the many issues involved in the decision. We meet
at 9:00 AM for breakfast at the Greenhouse Cafe, 2205 7th Avenue, Seattle ("Denny Regrade" or "Belltown" area, just a block or two south of Denny Way, attached to a hotel (Days Inn?) on the west side of 7th Avenue). See you there and bring a friend.

posted by Armen Yousoufian | 12:06 AM

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