Residents lose a vote in South Lake Union

(Editor's Note: This story has been changed since it was first published to include reference to Noel Franklin, development officer for the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. Franklin had tied Diane Masson in earlier voting and was selected over Masson on a tiebreaker vote by the board of South Lake Union Friends and Neighbors on Tuesday.)

The neighborhood group representing the South Lake Union area is being attacked by a former board member after she was not voted to another term.

Diane Masson said Tuesday that the 13-member board of South Lake Union Friends and Neighbors now has only one member representing neighborhood residents. The board includes Lloyd Douglas, president of the Cascade Neighborhood Council.

The board did not reappoint Masson on Tuesday night to either of two at-large positions on the board.

Masson, marketing manager for Mirabella, an upscale retirement development going up in the neighborhood, had served on the board for two years. She said she had "ostracized" the rest of the board by opposing the idea of considering large height limit increases in the area.

Also Tuesday, the group recommended the city examine three alternatives in deciding whether to allow taller buildings. Two of the alternatives would allow residential buildings of up to 400 feet.

Masson voted for the alternatives, but said she only did so because she had won some concessions. For instance, the alternatives call for smaller height increases around the Cascade area than in the rest of South Lake Union. The board will now lobby the city as it considers the zoning increase.

Corey Digiacinto, communications manager for The Seattle Times, and Kent Irwin, facilities director for the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, were voted onto the board Tuesday. Both companies have offices in the neighborhood.

In addition, Noel Franklin, development officer for the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, was also elected to the board. She and Masson had tied in vote among neighborhood stakeholders for a third board position in April. On Tuesday, the board cast a tie-breaker and selected Franklin.

Franklin, a Native American woman, has worked with arts and other non-profit organizations. She is working with the foundation to build the Northwest Native Canoe Center in Lake Union Park. That a Native American is involved in determining South Lake Union's future is historic, she said.

Still, after being turned down three times to remain on the board, Masson argues that the board is an "old boys and girls club," made up of interests that stand to profit from future development in the area.

However, Jerry Dinndorf, co-chairman of the board's policy committee, called Masson's complaints "sour grapes."

The board has a diverse membership, with representatives from the Cascade Neighborhood Council, the neighborhood's nonprofit community center, and the nonprofit Morningside Academy, he said.

Much of South Lake Union is made up of businesses, so he said it's to be expected the group has more business representatives than residents. But as the neighborhood grows, he said, the board probably would gain more resident members.

He disputed the idea that board members voted as a block, saying at least one vote during the elections was tied. And he said the idea of minimizing the effect of development on Cascade was shared by several board members and was not solely championed by Masson.

But Douglas, of the neighborhood association, agreed with Masson about the election, saying: "I think it was a way to limit the nondevelopment voices on the board. You can't ever be sure, but that's what I suspect."