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Sometime next year, King County hopes to open subsidized housing in a former La Quinta Inn & Suites in Kirkland near the Bellevue border 鈥� just 75 feet from Eastside Preparatory School鈥檚 more than 500 students.

But documents shared with The Dori Monson Show by Gary Horcher of 成人X站 7 News reveal King County paid at least $28.3 million for the 121-room building 鈥� even though the 1.83-acre property鈥檚 assessed value is barely 40 percent of that at $12.7 million.

That just adds fuel to the fire for attorney Mark Lamb, who represents the parent/neighbor group Keep Kids Safe. The group is fighting the shelter plans, claiming the City of Kirkland and King County violated the state鈥檚 Opening Meetings Act by securing this property last year while denying local residents any voice in the matter.

鈥淭his news is incredibly critical to our case,鈥� Lamb told Dori and his listeners Wednesday. 鈥淭hey are trying to use a loophole to deny the public any role in the process.鈥�

The loophole? Shutting the public out of talks regarding this site would protect the purchase price. King County鈥檚 argument, according to Lamb, 鈥渋s that if it got out, the price would skyrocket.”

鈥淏ut clearly,鈥� Lamb said, 鈥渋f you鈥檙e paying more than double the assessed value – over $30 million in all – that argument falls apart. The idea that they needed to conceal this for as long as they did is absurd.鈥�

Kirkland Mayor Penny Sweet declined an invitation to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

When Keep Kids Safe organized to fight the deal, Lamb said, officials were holding behind-closed-doors talks with no notice to local neighbors and parents for more than a year. By keeping the talks 鈥渟ecret, they were able to avoid robust discussions鈥� about more effective site locations for homeless people,鈥� he added.

鈥淭here are a number of amazing non-profits doing wonderful work with the homeless on a deeper level鈥� 鈥� including treatment programs, Lamb said.

Locals become frustrated, even angry, when loosely managed shelters are 鈥渇oisted鈥� on them, Dori pointed out. Locally, tens of millions of dollars are being spent on homelessness 鈥� more than $100,000 per homeless person. And yet, Dori said, when 鈥渨et鈥� shelters allow drug- and alcohol-abusing vagrants to continue their behaviors, it brings with it the theft needed to sustain the drug use.

Lamb and Dori also questioned another aspect of the seemingly excessive price for the La Quinta Inn & Suites.

鈥淚f King County is paying double the assessed value, who is getting this money?鈥� Dori asked. 鈥淒oes this become a gift of public funds 鈥� which is 100 percent illegal?鈥�

Records show the seller is CPLG Properties, LLC, a corporation registered in Delaware with a Texas mailing address. CPLG Properties is active in hospitality businesses.

Dori told listeners he doesn鈥檛 blame CPLG Properties if they can get someone to pay way more than double the value of their property. 鈥淚 do blame Dow Constantine and King County government because it鈥檚 their job to protect taxpayers,鈥� he said.

However, Lamb and Dori questioned another aspect of the seemingly excessive price.

鈥淚f King County is paying double the assessed value, who is getting this money?鈥� Dori asked. 鈥淒oes this become a gift of public funds 鈥� which is 100 percent illegal?鈥�

鈥淏oth the Council and City staff, at our direction, have been transparent in this process and will continue to be,鈥� Kirkland Mayor Penny Sweet wrote in a statement. 鈥淎s we have stated from the outset, we will conduct additional, robust public outreach to help ensure that community concerns are addressed in the agreements between the City and the County.鈥�

Editor’s note: 成人X站 Newsradio has reached out to the Kirkland mayor and council for comment on the sale price of the La Quinta Inn & Suites property.聽

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.