Dear Mr. Mayor and members of the Federal Way City Council, I’ve been following some of the discussion about the Performing Arts and Event Center and feel there definitely needs to be a limit on the financial support the city provides. We don’t need further projects that are not self-supporting.

I feel it is pretty irresponsible of the council to approve the project when there was feedback from neighboring towns regarding the financial responsibility that would fall on the shoulders of the citizens as the center is getting established. For the numbers to show that we would be losing money for the first few years, unless there was a lot of additional private funding, is not a wise move in my way of thinking. We really do pay a lot of taxes already; it would be appreciated if the taxes wouldn’t go up for a building that I may never be able to afford an entry ticket into.

I think you should seek private funding to support this endeavor and support a law that limits the city’s obligation to $100,000 a year. If that really was a truthfully accurate statement from the council, then there’s no fear in backing it up with a law. If it was untrue, then it makes sense why our leaders are so hesitant to support this. Our essential services should take precedence over performing arts. The event center is a great idea, but we need to count the cost prior to beginning the project and then panicking because the money ran out. Thank you for reconsidering this.

Laura Johnson, Federal Way