Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

x close
The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Afternoon Jolt: Freeman Quits Pro-Rail Bellevue Business Group

Jolt   February 7, 2011 at 5:02 pm Afternoon Jolt

Today’s winner No. 1: The Bellevue Downtown Association.

Kemper Freeman—the Bellevue megadeveloper and longtime opponent of light rail to the Eastside—has resigned from the Bellevue Downtown Association, the Bellevue business group, where he served as a member of the board.

The reported reason for the split: The BDA has consistently supported light rail through downtown Bellevue. With Freeman’s departure, the organization is no longer headed by the Eastside’s loudest anti-light rail voice.

BDA spokesman Patrick Bannon said the group had agreed not to release Freeman’s resignation letter, which Bannon described as “brief.” He said he would characterize Freeman’s rationale as “concern over the focus and direction of the organization.”

Freeman has not returned a call for comment.

Today’s winner No. 2: Light rail.

Update: The Seattle Times ran a longer story on Freeman’s departure late Monday night after this piece ran.


  • transit geek

    Know this about Kemper Freeman. He will not go easily or quietly. It will get very ugly in Bellevue before it gets better. We are seeing the last act of a Shakespearean drama in which the chief antagonist will lash out and sink to his dismal bottom in one last wretched lunge to kill progress and the blu-ing of the east side.

    To wit: he bought and paid for a city council majority hell-bent to nick East Link to death with a thousand paper cuts; he tried – and failed – to get a slate of anti-transit conservatives elected to east side legislative districts last fall; he used his considerable wealth to do what few mere mortals could: petition directly to the state supreme court to keep Link off I-90; and is covering his bets on that one by lining up Tim Eyman to run another statewide initiative aimed at hobbling Link under the guise of protecting state gas tax revenues.

    Do not expect this man to give up. And do not, by any means, declare light rail a winner. Kemper leaving BDA means only one thing: he just dropped his gloves and the fight is about to start.

  • http://spifflines.blogspot.com/ John Bailo

    While you label Mr. Freeman “anti-rail” you neglect to mention the great work he has done in promoting BRT, or Bus Rapid Transit. Even today, we are just now getting RapidRide lines installed around King County.

    Who is to say that he is not bigger “transit” advocate because he has favored (for two decades) a system that is cheaper, more easily implemented and perhaps right-sized to the community it serves.

  • http://spifflines.blogspot.com/ John Bailo

    While you label Mr. Freeman “anti-rail” you neglect to mention the great work he has done in promoting BRT, or Bus Rapid Transit. Even today, we are just now getting RapidRide lines installed around King County.

    Who is to say that he is not bigger “transit” advocate because he has favored (for two decades) a system that is cheaper, more easily implemented and perhaps right-sized to the community it serves.

  • Barleywine

    That is one nice Shakespearean comment.

    But Kemper is smarter than you and I put together.
    If he’s quitting it’s not because he failed but because he succeeded.

  • Barleywine

    That is one nice Shakespearean comment.

    But Kemper is smarter than you and I put together.
    If he’s quitting it’s not because he failed but because he succeeded.

  • Anonymous

    I went to Bellevue Square last Sunday for the first time (with the kids). The 550 makes it really easy. I had mixed feelings of course but it apparently has the only LEGO Store in the Northwest, though it was disappointingly small compared to the one in Chicago.

  • transit geek

    Well, he ain’t dumb. But I wouldn’t credit his intellect THAT much. He’s just richer than most, so he has the wherewithal to assert and impose his ideological agenda on others to a vastly disproportionate extent compared to most people.

    Who else has the sheer dollars to hire a former Supreme Court judge to take his personal case against light rail directly to the highest court in the land? Was that the smartest use of several thousands of dollars? I suppose time will tell. But neither you nor I could have opened our wallet and bankroll a lawsuit against his last skyscraper.

  • transit geek

    Well, he ain’t dumb. But I wouldn’t credit his intellect THAT much. He’s just richer than most, so he has the wherewithal to assert and impose his ideological agenda on others to a vastly disproportionate extent compared to most people.

    Who else has the sheer dollars to hire a former Supreme Court judge to take his personal case against light rail directly to the highest court in the land? Was that the smartest use of several thousands of dollars? I suppose time will tell. But neither you nor I could have opened our wallet and bankroll a lawsuit against his last skyscraper.

  • Barleywine

    That’s what I’m saying.
    If he’s out, he’s out because he’s done did what he wanted to do.

    He’s not out because he was beaten.

  • nice spin

    Kemper hasn’t done crap for BRT and has nothing to do with Rapid Ride. The only thing he has ever done is pretend to support buses as a justification for more freeway lanes. Currently he favors GP lanes on an expanded 405 instead of HOV/HOT lanes that benefit transit.

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeszi Joe Szilagyi

    Love to see that resignation letter “wikileaked” to Publicola, for the good of the region.

  • Anonymous

    “We are seeing the last act of a Shakespearean drama…”

    Hopefully this will end just like one of those plays – with the title character dying an ugly death at the end.

  • Anonymous

    “If he’s quitting it’s not because he failed but because he succeeded.”

    As in ‘my work is done, I’m outta here?’ Pu-leeez.

    If that were the case, he’d have sent out a copy of his resignation letter attached to a press release.

    As they say, don’t let the door hit you…

  • Natehc

    He has done nothing for BRT. He just brings it up to make people not like rail.

    Recently, he opposed the Mountlake Terrace freeway station. Last time I checked, that’s a BRT facility.

  • Iguana

    No fan of Kemper myself, but as far as malls go, Bellevue Square is certainly a lot more ped / walk friendly than Northgate, Southcenter, or the monstrosity down in Pacific. Once inside at say Macy’s, it encourages you to walk to your other shopping destinations, unlike for instance Southcenter where you feel you need to drive from one end to the other. Just sayin. Could it be that Bellevue has actually reached a level of urban activity where fixed route transit might really thrive?

  • AF

    I have read the resignation letter and no I won’t leak it. It did not mention transit, light rail or anything like that. Why must people speculate the worst?

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeszi Joe Szilagyi

    When all you hear in the press about someone (“transit is socialism”) is the worst, you tend to assume the worst.