Arena backers launch massive anti-Port Twitter campaign
Aug 13, 2012, 9:17 AM | Updated: 11:26 am
The war of words between the Port of Seattle and backers of a new arena is heating up.
Arena supporters have launched a massive blitz on Twitter, posting links to a number of stories critical of the Port Monday in what organizers say is an effort to counter a “smear campaign” by arena opponents.
Brian Robinson with Arena Solutions.org, says the new effort is aimed at countering a series of ads running in The Seattle Times opposing the arena.
“We don’t believe they have any factual basis, so since we can’t afford newspaper advertisements the way they seem to be able to, we’re taking it to Twitter and we’re putting out facts about the Port of Seattle that people should know if they want the Port to be guiding public policy in the city,” Robinson says.
The series of tweets link to stories critical of among other things the Port’s environmental record, financial management salary for Commissioner Tay Yoshitani and a side job in which he receives $230,000 per year, which Robinson calls “grossly inappropriate.”
“If you do a little research on the people involved there’s really much more reason to question their statements than there is the arena developers and the people who’ve been very upfront and very consistent,” Robinson says.
A Seattle City Council committee is expected to vote Wednesday on the arena proposal, prompting Robinson’s group to step up its efforts ahead of the meeting.
Robinson is also critical of a recent mailer sent by union members criticizing the arena, arguing it threatens to bankrupt Seattle Center and put jobs at risk. The mailer calls out King County Councilmembers for voting in favor of an agreement to finance the new arena.
