Will the lease, written by and for the Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA), really be a lease, or will it, for all intents and purposes, be a deed, transferring control of the park to a private corporation? It surely will not be a lease like the documents with which most of us are familiar.

To most of us, the word “lease” refers to a document that grants temporary custody of a house, an office, a car, or even parking lots, from the lessor to the lessee, in exchange for market rate payments compensating the owner, the lessor, for his temporary loss of control over his property.

This time, the word “lease” means something quite different. The rent will certainly not be market rate. It will be a nominal amount, sufficient only to meet certain legal definitions, but of no material benefit to the city budget. The difference between this nominal amount, and the market rate for this property, is intended as a gift, from the citizens of Mercer Island to a private corporation. The gift is given in the expectation that the corporation will do good deeds worthy of losing that valuable parkland.

More importantly, the lease period of this “lease” will have to be much longer than any prudent landlord would grant if he ever hoped to get his property back. Renters, lessors, do not invest tens of millions of dollar building permanent monuments on land over which they do not expect to claim perpetual rights similar to those of an owner.

It seems logical then, that in order for this “lease” to work for MICA and its mortgage holders, this “lease” must make the city’s commitment irreversible. It must be binding upon all future elected officials, and upon us, the citizens whom they represent, no matter what second thoughts we may have about surrendering our most priceless piece of downtown real estate held in common.

One thing should be clear. The city’s relationship with MICA will need to be quite different from it’s relationship with the Mercer Island Thrift Shop, another non-conforming use that occupies a much smaller portion of the park. The Thrift Shop is owned by the city. It exists at the whim and pleasure of the people of Mercer Island and the Thrift Shop’s neighbors. The Thrift Shop is a popular operation, and an important net contributor to the city budget, but if it ever fails to enjoy the support of the people of Mercer Island, and their representatives, the City Council, it is a rather perfunctory matter for any future council to take back that property, fire the employees and convert that land back to park space, or to whatever new use pleases the taxpayers.

Such a scenario, of future public officials exercising control over public property on behalf of the citizens they represent, will be out of the question for any park that is controlled by a private corporation, even if the documents granting such control is called a “lease.”

There has been little or no public disclosure and informed discussion of the terms under which parkland will be permanently and irrevocably placed under private control.

For instance, what will happen to public control of parkland beyond the specific limits demarcated by the lease? It would be prudent for MICA investors to exert some control over activities, structures, security, lighting, parking, hours of operation and noise control in the rest of the park because these things could have an impact upon the operation of the arts center, and vice versus.

I do not expect the legal custodians of MICA to fail to include “lease” provisions that limit the public’s rights to sponsor or permit any activity that might conflict with MICA, and its need to sell seats.

My concerns are not accusations of skullduggery. They are merely an expression of second thoughts about what the word “lease” really means in this case, and what it means when public officials permanently surrender control of public property, even for the most noble of causes.

Shouldn’t the owners of the park, the citizens of Mercer Island, have a better understanding of all the permanent ramifications of this grand plan before it is cast in concrete?

Patrick Daugherty

Mercer Island