Another Suit Filed To Stop New Stadium

A longtime opponent of publicly financed sports stadiums and other government projects has filed suit to try to prevent construction of a new baseball stadium for the Seattle Mariners.

Frank Ruano, of the Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park, filed the suit Friday in Kittitas County Superior Court. He said King County officials and the state attorney general were formally notified Tuesday. The stadium would be located in King County.

Ruano is seeking to mount a petition campaign for a statewide

referendum on a measure approved by the Legislature last month to finance a $325 million retractable roof ballpark. The King County Council has voted to raise taxes on hotel rooms, rental cars and ballpark admissions to implement the plan.

Emergency legislation like the stadium plan can’t be petitioned to referendum unless a judge decides no emergency existed, assistant state attorney general James Pharris said.

Also pending is a lawsuit filed Oct. 23 in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia by Citizens for Leaders with Ethics and Accountability, a group based in Tacoma.