=== FILE METADATA ===
Original: /home/solaya/Downloads/OFH/msgs/25-04-24 1st Installment-20250904T073820Z-1-001/25-04-24 1st Installment/32782_Installment_1B_Email_March_21-30__652_/RE_ Items from the Audience - 3_25_25 City Council (7).msg
Relative: 25-04-24 1st Installment-20250904T073820Z-1-001/25-04-24 1st Installment/32782_Installment_1B_Email_March_21-30__652_/RE_ Items from the Audience - 3_25_25 City Council (7).msg
Size: 67072 bytes
Modified: 2025-04-22 09:37:36
Hash: 5dc6c7bfa2daf420f152a673f0c5bbb8
===================

From: City Clerk
To: Seb Choe <1004.seb@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Items from the Audience - 3/25/25 City Council
Date: 2025-03-25 12:30:15.011196-10:00

I have forwarded your comment to the Mayor and Council. Thank you.

 

 

Cheryl Xanthos, MMC

City Clerk, City of Redmond

 

  425-556-2191    cdxanthos@redmond.gov <mailto:cdxanthos@redmond.gov>   www.redmond.gov <http://www.redmond.gov/> 

MS:4NCC• 15670 NE 85th St • PO Box 97010 • Redmond, WA 98073-9710

Notice of Public Disclosure: This e-mail account is public domain. Any correspondence from or to this e-mail account is a public record. Accordingly, this e-mail, in whole or in part, may be subject to disclosure pursuant to RCW 42.56, regardless of any claim of confidentiality or privilege asserted by an external party.

 

 

From: Seb Choe <1004.seb@gmail.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 11:00 AM
To: City Clerk <CityClerk@redmond.gov>
Subject: Items from the Audience - 3/25/25 City Council

 

External Email Warning! Use caution before clicking links or opening attachments.

 

(464 words)

 

Dear City Council,

 

My name is Seb Choe, resident at 15537 NE 106 Way, Redmond, WA 98052. I'm writing in regards to the closure of the Old Firehouse Teen Center (or OFH). I understand that today's meeting does not allow for public comment, but am writing anyways, as there has been inadequate community engagement around this topic, and it is the last week of programs at OFH. 

 

As you are hopefully aware, in just the past few days, as the public has become aware of the City's plans to close OFH, a massive campaign to "Save OFH" has emerged, including a petition with 2,200+ signatures and dozens of public testimonies on the petition itself, on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and beyond. 

 

As a Redmond born-and-raised, OFH alumni (2009-2013) and adult volunteer since 2022, I can safely say the Firehouse changed my life, and provided a sanctuary for me that kickstarted not only my career as a professional musician, but as a community member. I’ve spent my adult life working to reproduce the magic of OFH in other places: NYC, South Carolina, Hawai’i - it’s been the blueprint. Having the autonomy to develop a youth-led culture in a *dedicated space* is priceless, and something that I’ve learned is *extremely* rare not only in the U.S, but across the planet. The current plan to relocate programs to Marymoor Community Center and other locations is not an equivalent or adequate substitute. There is a large group of current teens, parents, and alumni that are open to working with the City to develop an alternative that authentically engages its constituents - be it fundraising to upgrade the building to standards, or finding a replacement venue (that is also in a walkable downtown location).

 

Having earned a degree in architecture at Columbia University, and with 8 years of professional experience in community development, historic preservation, and youth programming, I have participated in many similar processes. The City of Redmond has not engaged the public in a manner that lives up to its own aspirational standards. As a result: I propose that the City:

1.	Commit to halting the closure of OFH until a proper community engagement process has been conducted.
2.	If OFH is deemed unsafe for teen use, commit to providing equivalent square footage of teen programming space in a walkable downtown location (e.g., not Marymoor Community Center).
3.	Make public the architectural survey of OFH, as well as any cost estimates prepared that outline what it would take to bring the building up to standards, as well as the shortfall in annual maintenance costs.
4.	Initiate a fundraising campaign, led by the City (identifying tax funds or applying to grants) as well as community donors, to make an attempt to fundraise this amount.
5.	Put the OFH property lot into a land trust, so that its use is forever designated for community use, and not to be sold to a private developer.

Thank you for considering your constituents' voices in what is a major issue that threatens to diminish the character of our city. 

 

Seb Choe 

Redmond High School, Class of 2013 

 

-- 

(they/them)

sebchoe.com <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsebchoe.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ccityclerk%40redmond.gov%7C5189f19f23e44d15b2c508dd6bc6f0a6%7Ccb894d07355f495fb9c1a2a6d84a7468%7C0%7C0%7C638785226293054461%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DJ%2B%2B0pX7FPMcsenJjueppGMle4QgCKXgTrxj9UZw9KI%3D&reserved=0> 



--- Attachments ---
- image001.gif
- image002.gif
- image003.gif
