The agenda for Wednesday night’s (April 26, 2023) Quiet Skies Puget Sound (“QSPS”) informal meetup at the Quarterdeck in Des Moines – including discussing how local elections matter for airport noise and pollution issues, as well as a review of last week’s bombshell filing of a class action lawsuit against the Port of Seattle – took an unexpected turn with the surprise appearance of Port of Seattle Commission senior member/former President and 2023 candidate Fred Felleman.
Felleman’s appearance led to some vigorous debate with organizers Steve Edmiston and Sheila Brush, including a back-and-forth exchange on the Port’s ongoing refusal to release a non-redacted copy of the Port’s increasingly infamous “Ramboll Report” (download/read it here) a highly-censored internal Port document that contains still-unreleased information about the public health impacts from airport noise and pollution.
QSPS shared at the meetup that so far, at least 47 citizens have filed public record requests for an unredacted version of the Ramboll Report, which has not yet been released.
An initial noteworthy moment was that when Felleman first entered the meeting, he mistakenly thought that participants were involved in the recent class action lawsuit. Edmiston clarified that that was not the case – none present were or are yet involved.
While the assembled citizens appeared to disagree with Felleman and the discussion was sometimes intense, at all times exchanges were civil and respectful, and the citizens thanked – and applauded – Felleman for his appearance.
Video
Watch edited highlights of the exchange below, as filmed by Scott Schaefer (running time 21-minutes, 16-seconds):
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