General Manager Doug Dixon of Pacific Fishermen Shipyard oversaw men who shoved Councilmember Mike O’Brien during an afterparty celebrating the opening of the Nordic Heritage Museum Friday evening.
Dixon admitted to overseeing the alleged assault on O’Brien, telling the Seattle Times that they shoved the District 6 Councilmember because he supports completing the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail:
“We have a conflict with Mike O’Brien because of his efforts to put a bicycle path here and do some other issues that hurt the maritime-industrial area,” he said.
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“We told him if he didn’t leave he would be criminally trespassing and he didn’t leave, so we had to forcibly remove him,” Dixon added. “We told him finding his wife had nothing to do with him being there or not.”
O’Brien’s take is pretty much the same as Dixon’s. He told the Times he agreed to leave as soon as he found his wife, which is by no stretch of the imagination justifiable cause for violence. This is classic juvenile bully behavior. Except this isn’t middle school gym class, it’s our city leadership. From the Times:
When the gala ended, the museum’s director “told the crowd we were welcome to attend an event two blocks away,” said O’Brien, who represents Ballard and supports the trail plan. The council member was having a conversation at the after-party when shipyard General Manager Doug Dixon told him to leave.
“He had two to four other men with him,” O’Brien said. “I told him I would leave but I was going to find my wife first. I started to look for my wife, and at some point a minute or so later, someone from behind grabbed me by the shoulders and proceeded to shove me towards the gate and out the gate as I continued to look for my wife, who I was unable to find.”
O’Brien added, “I want to be clear — I was physically thrown out of this event because of the policies I advocate for.”
There should be a loud and resounding condemnation of Dixon’s actions from our city’s political, labor and industrial leaders. An elected official cannot be physically assaulted for any reason, but especially not due to a policy disagreement. That is a dangerous precedent to set in our city, especially at a time when many city policy debates feel near a boiling point.
The apparent assault comes just days after a group organized to disrupt a nearby town hall about the employee head tax by yelling down any city leaders or neighbors who tried to carry out public comment. Councilmember O’Brien is a primary target of the group, which opposes proposed solutions to homelessness that O’Brien has championed.
Councilmember O’Brien is a special public servant who champions bold action on many issues from safe streets to affordable housing even in the face of angry constituents. It takes bravery to face and listen to yelling and anger pointed his way last week. But that is part of an elected official’s job, and he doesn’t shy away from it. I find that admirable.
But physical assault is totally different.
When Central District activist Omari Tahir-Garrett assaulted then-Mayor Paul Schell during a 2001 event, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Schell’s injuries were certainly much worse than O’Brien’s, but assault on an elected official of any kind must be taken seriously.
Worse, Dixon is not some regular Joe worker, he is in a serious leadership position at a major business. When he oversees people shoving a city official, what message does that send to everyone who works there? His actions here require consequences, and his peers need to step up and make sure everyone knows that getting physical is not the appropriate way to voice a policy disagreement.
It’s also worth noting that Pacific Fishermen Shipyard already won a big compromise when trail advocates and some major nearby businesses agreed to a compromise route that would go via Market Street rather than the more direct route passing directly in front of the shipyard and other waterfront businesses along NW 54th Street. This was a significant concession on behalf of trail supporters, but it was supposedly the key to finding a deal industry leaders could agree to. The city and trail advocates are still pursuing the compromise route even though some businesses, including Pacific Fishermen Shipyard, went ahead and sued anyway.
Trail advocates and O’Brien are being more than fair to appellant businesses, considering they could have dropped the compromise when the lawsuits were filed. But that olive branch was met with a shove.
There is a lot of irony that this shoving happened during an after party for the opening of the Nordic Museum. Guests of honor for the opening included Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who famously bikes her children to school via Copenhagen’s world-leading network of safe bike lanes. The Burke-Gilman Missing Link project is about connecting a trail that is safe and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities to bike to and through Ballard. The trail would pass directly in front of the Nordic Museum, and plans would integrate it into the entrance plaza, a truly fitting homage to Nordic bike culture.
Sweden, another nation the museum celebrates, is the home of the Vision Zero philosophy for safe streets. Vision Zero states that traffic injuries and deaths are preventable, and streets that see injuries should be redesigned to be safer. On average, two people per month are injured to severely while navigating the Missing Link that they require an ambulance response. The Missing Link trail is the solution to these injuries, which is why supporters have been working for decades to get it completed. Councilmember O’Brien has been a true champion for the cause.
This might be a good time to take a second to call (206-684-8800) or email ([email protected]) O’Brien’s office and thank him for his leadership.
Opponents of the trail have nearly exhausted their legal avenues for fighting the trail. A group, including Dixon’s Pacific Fishermen Shipyard, have filed an appeal challenging the city’s Environmental Impact Statement, a massive document studying every inch of the 1.4-mile trail connection. They already lost one such appeal, so King County Superior Court should be their final chance to stop it. As of now, the city’s project website still lists a fall 2018 date to begin construction.
Comments
55 responses to “Shipyard manager admits he had men shove CM O’Brien over his support for the Missing Link”
When and where did the appeal get filed? Haven’t seen that reported.
WAIT WAIT WAIT! This is the biggest part of the story! When TF did this lawsuit get filed and why has nobody reported it? TOM, WTF?
It was filed in February when I was on leave. Case 18-2-04988-1 in King County Superior Court. I haven’t read the whole 85-page complaint doc yet, but so far seems like they are throwing everything at the judge to see if they can get anything to stick. We’ll see.
ARRRRGH! Thanks for the update, I hadn’t seen anything anywhere about the continued appeal toKCSC. I know you’ll keep us informed. This has to be their last gasp! Thanks!
The content of your article does not support that O’Brien was “shoved” or “assaulted”.
Intentionally lying in your headlines does not seem a good way to promote your views.
You didn’t read very carefully. “someone from behind grabbed me by the shoulders and proceeded to shove me towards the gate”
After he was asked to leave, he was trespassing – how is this any different than him being removed by security.
This article is so bias it very well could have been security. Not saying I support O’Brien or not – if you trespass don’t get surprised when you get removed.
Also O’Brien claiming he was removed for his political stances isn’t fair, he was asked to leave because of his political stances, he was removed because he refused to leave after being lawfully requested to do so.
I did read the article carefully. Its unclear if you did.
The headline claims the *business owner* admitted to something. The quote you provided was not spoken by the business owner.
In addition, removing a trespasser by reasonable force is both legal under Washington state and in no way qualifies as “assault”.
You really need to read more carefully. It says “manager,” not “owner.”
Telling your employees to assault a government official for business purposes: sounds like a tidy little racketeering case. What do you think, Mayor and former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan?
I just wrote Mike O’Brien thanking him for his outstanding leadership on getting the Ballard Missing Link completed. I also encouraged him to file assault charges against Doug Dixon and his henchmen. Physical assaults on public officials, reporters, and other citizens just because the exist in society are becoming all too common and must not be tolerated. The only thing that will get a bully like Doug Dixon’s attention is forcing him to open up his pocket-book and pay, along with a few months in the slammer!
I would say Mike O’Brien is the worst council member ever if it weren’t for the fact that Sawant is also a council member. He deserves to be kicked out of every private venue – the man is an idiot and a tool.
I think he should have left when asked to leave.
I also think they should have kept their hands off him, but few of us would consider this an “assault.”
I certainly won’t be thanking O’Brien for his ‘leadership.’ I am flat out of patience with O’Brien, as anyone who bikes the Burke-Gilman on a regular basis should be. I counted the number of ‘homeless encampments’ I passed in Ballard on my commute yesterday and it was over 35. Filth, squalor, needles, cartons of urine, campfire in the woods near UW, and piles of rotting trash all along the trail from Fremont to Ballard. Pathetic leadership from O’Brien.
I think he should have left when asked to leave.
You must not have a significant other. If someone asks me to leave, you can bet I’m going to make sure I have my wife with me before I leave.
…piles of rotting trash all along the trail from Fremont to Ballard.
I bike and run the BGT every day, year round, from Ballard to Fremont. There was a pile of garbage near the Fred Meyer recently, that was gone after a few days, not enough time to “rot”. The rest of your comment is a bunch of sensationalist claims and I’m going to guess that you are either a shill for Dixon or the tiny minority that is the Ballard busy-bodies that does not even get close to representing Ballard as a whole.
You cannot be serious. “…a pile of garbage…”
Ridden past the canal park lately? The RVs had piles of junk, trash, and urine bottles out adjacent to the trail all winter and early spring. They moved recently, but a new crew seems to be settling in. Their trash is currently in numerous stolen shopping carts. In sections along the south side of the trail between Fremont and Ballard there were piles of blankets, clothing, tarps, and food refuse rotting (yes, rotting) all winter. Along 8th ave the bike lanes are at times obstructed by RVs, their junk, and their stolen bikes. The area behind Fred Meyer had over 15 RVs parked along with all their crap outside all winter long. There is an established campsite behind tarps and fences near 8th Ave and the BGT. Just this morning a guy fropm that spot dumped his cart full of trash at the end of the trail and then hopped on a OFO bike and rode straight into traffic on Leary.
Call me all the names you want, it’s clear to anyone willing to look around that O’Brien’s policies have not served Ballard or users of the BGT well.
Well, YMMV. Yes, there are homeless and yes garbage piles pop up, no one argues that, but they get cleaned up within a few days, if somebody actually bothers to report them. Your sensationalist comment makes it seem like it’s some dystopian wasteland full of rotting mounds of garbage. That is not my experience, riding and running every day, year round, for well over a decade.
Add to that that you and the rash of commentors on this blog (did you guys coordinate your invasion?) seem to think that O’Brien is actively causing the homeless crisis, completely ignoring that this is a nationwide crisis caused by years of bad policy. Between cuts to homeless housing, addition recovery and mental health services due to 40 years of tax cuts to the wealthy (they said something would trickle down, and here it is!), shielding of drug companies from responsibility due to the fentanyl epidemic and a somewhat shaky recovery from the worst recession in our country, we are seeing the results.
Despite what you seem to think, O’Brien isn’t some magician that can wiggle his nose and make the problem go away. There have been many proposals for solving the problem, including Urban Rest Stops, low or no income housing, safe injection sites, etc, but the Next Door crowd comes out of the woodwork and shouts extremely loudly until the proposals are withdrawn. Then they return to yelling about the problem that they are helping to perpetuate.
You can trash O’Brien all you want. You can even try to get him defeated in the next Council election, but the problem is way bigger than him, Ballard, Seattle and even Washington. Until you acknowledge that, you and your like are just noise.
How do you propose to deal with the homeless? Mike and others on the Council are doing their best to find solutions, all of which are going to be painful to some in one way or another.
After he was asked to leave, he was trespassing – how is this any different than him being removed by security.
This article is so bias it very well could have been security. Not saying I support O’Brien or not – if you trespass don’t get surprised when you get removed.
Also O’Brien claiming he was removed for his political stances isn’t fair, he was asked to leave because of his political stances, he was removed because he refused to leave after being lawfully requested to do so.
At a Ballard community meeting just months ago, Mayor Durkan gave Doug Dixon a special forum to speak in front of others for no other reason than he is a known opponent of the Missing Link. I think that was a mistake. Dixon has now surrendered any credibility as a leader of the Ballard community and a hefty fine — if not jail time — is warranted.
Leadership, seriously? Whenever I ride along Burke-Gilman I feel like I ride around a dumpster. I don’t care for missing link if the rest of the Ballard has turned to shit, thanks to our great leader.
Granted it was handled horribly.. the ending of the article “thank Mike for the great job” is absolutely insane. I know bike people think they rule the city (I counted many bicycles running a stop sign by greenlake today and yesterday combined) Mike has not been the voice of the people and never will be. I hope bicycles get hit with a tab fee to help pay for their lanes and signs devoted to them.
Reminder that despite the vocal white tantrums he won with a huge majority and will probably win again.
+1
I have seen an unbelievable amount of anti-O’Brien comments the last few weeks/months, including, “Mike O’Brien doesn’t represent Ballard!”
Hey everyone: he won Ballard by 61%. If you don’t think he represents “your Ballard,” you should run against him for city council. Maybe you can beat him.
You might want to look at RCW 9A.16.020, which defines the lawful use of force in Washington. I don’t see anything in that statute that lets you use force on a person just to stop a simple, non-malicious trespass. Indeed, clause 4 seems to indicate the contrary; you can use an appropriate level of force to detain someone on premises, not to remove them. If you think someone is trespassing, call the cops.
So the anti-bike trolls have arrived in force… We must be doing something right. As for the homeless encampments and garbage, we are all to blame as this is another sign we are failing as a society.
The only missing links are in O’Briens and Sawants brains. They both need to be shoved out of office by the voters.
While I do NOT support O’Brien’s position on homelessness, I strongly support completion of the missing link. I have been to several meetings over the past 20 years concerning the trail and there is near unanimous community support for completion of the trail. This section would have been completed years ago if not a small opposition with money, willing to sue the city just to delay. For the most part the opposition has lost in court, but they have been successful in delaying the inevitable trail, all while costing the taxpayers lots and lots of money.
As far as Dixon, his actions should be criminally investigated, and if appropriate, he should charged with a crime. While I have not personally met him ( I don’t think) I have lost all respect for him and his company due to his childish behavior. Grow up Mr Dixon.
Hi, Tom. I’d like to respond to this part of your piece, “The apparent assault comes just days after a group organized to disrupt a nearby town hall about the employee head tax by yelling down any city leaders or neighbors who tried to carry out public comment.”
What happened was not the result of one group’s strategy. It was a spontaneous act of civil disobedience because Councilmember O’Brien chose to advertise a Town Hall yet would not allow anyone to speak, for or against. The people in that meeting erupted into yelling “let us speak!” After the council members changed the format to direct testimony, people on both sides of the issue spoke. This type of civil disobedience has occurred across the country regardless of political persuasion when members of the power elite would rather not face their constituencies. The people in that room were protecting your right to speak in a Town Hall, even if you were not there that day (I was.)
Secondly, please do not stamp everything Councilmember Mike O’Brien does with your “star councilmember” seal of approval. He may be your perceived ally in bike issues, but he may with his combined actions be damaging what you treasure most. (I’ve been car-free and bicycling or walking for 10 years, part of the Greenway movement and Family Cycling in this city. I’m for completing the Missing Link and have provided testimony to that effect.)
Your current positioning of blanket support risks bringing down the bicycling movement. Let Councilmember O’Brien be responsible for his actions. Let your members agree with one thing and disagree with another. They have a right to do that.
I would like to see more penetrating analysis of why the city is wasting our transportation money in mere months. I would like to see you question Councilmember O’Brien in his current role of Chair of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee about cost overruns and abject failure of a variety of transportation projects. I know he is not entirely responsible, but I think this community is responsible for questioning the way government is wasting important opportunities to improve transportation infrastructure.
As much as I disliked reading about that altercation at the after party of the Nordic Heritage Museum opening, I’m not talking about it. Why? Because it’s something for the two parties involved to work out between them. It is their business. In my opinion, politicizing bad behavior is in itself bad behavior.
Thank you for your hard work to benefit us bicyclist and walking folk.
It’s pretty sad that the bike trail and the homeless are linked so clearly. One–homeless people camp on and next to the trail, bringing all the problems associated with homeless encampments. Two–CM O’Brien is heavily involved in both issues. And three–both issues have dragged on forever with no solution in sight.
O’Brien has supported the idea of homeless camping in Seattle Parks–a position that has been roundly criticized by many citizens. The Burke-Gilman Trail is a park, and homeless people are camping along it. I don’t see how extending the trail–which nearly everyone supports–but allowing homeless camping–which nearly everyone is against–can possibly be reconciled. It’s only a short step for the few opponents of the trail extension to claim it will just be another place for homeless encampments, and win the day.
Yours is a thoughtful and good point. It is true that Seattle outspends and underdelivers compared to any other similar sized city with respect to transportation and homelessness. The city council, SDOT, and the mayor (especially the former mayor that left a huge mess) need to be held accountable for that. That being said, O’Brien is the only city council member that was opposed to Bertha. He is the only one that actually rides his bike for transportation. He can’t solve our problems or account for SDOT’s complete ineptitude by himself. Right now he is the only city council member that I would vote for again in a heartbeat.
With respect to the whole Nordic museum deal: I wasnt there but it doesnt sound like outright assault. It does sound like Mr Dixon being a tremendous dick. Whereas I have never known O’Brien to be anything other than friendly, polite, and articulate, even to the the people that disagree with him.
The Council should take any deals or agreements for the Missing Link and throw them out the window. Put the trail back on 54th, where it belongs.
The Obstructionists have had 30 years to act like adults and have failed for 30 years, even resorting to violence and tantrums after they got a deal that’s a win for them and a loss for Seattle. Why are we still negotiating with these spoiled children?
Yes, put the trail back on 54th!
Mike O’Brien added the missing link at the expense to commerce in the area. That access road is the same one used by the maritime businesses there whose livelihoods will be directly impacted because of this. The link could’ve been moved a block or 2 away but no, Mike and the merry band of bikers decided to just do it here, directly affecting commerce, not that they care. This on top of the wacko head tax would make anyone want to shove him out. And please snowflakes, get over the assault stuff. My goodness.
What’s the evidence that the missing link will affect commerce? Lakeside Sand and Gravel has done just fine next to the Burke-Gilman. These complaining business are just takers.
Just another piece of drama from the epic saga of the missing link. Bummer this is taking away from the opening of the Nordic Heritage Museum.
Turn Ballard Ave into a one way with protected bike lanes and pedestrian crossing. Build it and lets all move on.
Oh look, the Reddit thread libertarian keyboard warrior mobs have shown up to self-aggrandize their myopic worldview and display their lack of reading comprehension. Great. City CLOWNcil, amirite? LoLZ.
He was on private property and was asked to leave. He refused. He was booted out. End of story
He was on private property with an open invite for anyone that had been in attendance at the Nordic Museum.
He had every right to be there, as everyone else.
Being singled out and removed is wrong, and under certain circumstances, could be illegal.
Mike O’Brien knows what Pac Fish and the maritime industry thinks of him. The party was at Pac Fish. Doug was the host of that party and it was for people who donated 100k to the Museum. Those donors more or less are directly or indirectly involved with the Maritime Fishing industry. They see eyeto eye with Doug. Doug is much much closer to the Scandinavian community than Mike O’Brien will ever be.
Mike showed unbelievably bad judgement showing up there. A place that couldn’t be more anti O’Brien. He could have done the classy thing and not shown up. The only people who were upset that the O’Briens were not at the party were the O’Briens. If you are surprised or upset that he was kicked off private property (at a place where he is loathed) than you need to understand a little bit more of what’s going on in our district.
The City gave $850,000 to the Nordic Museum through the Office of Arts and Culture. Mike O’Brien was representing this institutional major donor. This was not a personal party, it was on behalf of the museum. I can see why O’Brien would expect that the host would set his political views aside and be gracious.
I hope this action is met with appropriate (legal) consequences because I do not want others to get the idea that this kind of behavior is tolerated.
P.S. If this were a private donor who was forcibly ejected from the major donor party, I have a feeling that any remaining pledge payments would not be forthcoming. I hope the City (and others) will refrain from any additional support of the Nordic Museum until its management fully addresses this issue, as they have not currently.
He was kicked off private property where he wasn’t welcomed.
Doug Dixon’s pull with the Donors of the Museum
\__________________________________/
Mike O’Briens pull with the Donors of the Museum
‘ ‘
Not only was Pac Fish full of 100k+Donors. All of them to a person did not want O’Brien there.
O’Brien knew that walking into there
No one should be surprised at what happened next.
> He could have done the classy thing and not shown up.
Doug Dixon could have done the classy thing and figured out a way to disagree without being disagreeable. He also could have done the classy thing by agreeing to O’Brien’s reasonable request to find his wife before leaving. I have no problem with anyone who is frustrated with O’Brien but if we’re having a Contest of the Classy, Doug Dixon loses hard.
Based on all of the bad funding-related news we’ve heard over the last month or so, can we realistically expect the missing link to start construction as designed later this year?
Note that until recently, the city’s missing link webpage listed a price tag of $15M for the project: $12.5M for construction + $2.5M for the EIS process. When the updated plans were released in October, I mentioned that the cost estimate seemed impossibly low, given the proposed design. The estimated cost remained at $15M even at 90% design earlier this year.
The price tag has now quietly jumped to $26M, nearly doubling the previous estimate. Was that new estimate determined using our newest understanding of typical SDOT project costs, or was it developed during the Kubly era of over-promising and under-delivering? Where will the money come from?
I’d be very surprised if Durkan didn’t announce a “pause” on the missing link as well.
Probably reflects changes to the design, like running the trail down Market and reconfiguring the intersection near 24th and the railroad tracks.
I wonder if it would be cheaper to run the trail down 54th. There’s an apartment building going up on the property where Twice Told Tales is currently located. I’m sure residents will need access via 54th.
After what has happened this week, I have no sympathy or respect for the marine industry represented by Dixon. Businesses like his don’t care about residents and home owners in the area.
Doug Dixon, Pacific Fishermen Shipyard, the stooges shouting down elected city officials at public meetings, and the trolls on this page are helping the USA move from democracy to populism into fascism.
Shipyard manager and workers were acting like classless goons. Bullying tactics designed for one reason only – to be threatening. Classic bullying tactic. Straight out of childhood. And absolutely childish.
Pathetic.
Traffic won’t ruin this city – nor will housing prices, nor bike lanes, nor cars, nor anything else. Petty, small-minded tribalism will end it.
Strange to see all these comments supporting physically assaulting council members whose stance on issues you disagree with. And particularly strange to see them on this blog.
Speaking of the issues, I for one appreciate O’Brien’s support for bike infrastructure and advocacy for real solutions to the homelessness crisis. The data consistently shows that homelessness is very strongly correlated with high rent and that sweeps are expensive, inhumane, and don’t work.
Surely the person of a tribune on official duties is sacrosanct. These ruffians had no class, style, or grasp of the law.
If all these comments stating that Nordic Museum donors support this kind of behavior at their party are true, it makes me seriously reconsider renewing my museum membership.
Perhaps the Museum itself is not taking sides, but I have serious misgivings if easy access to the Pac Fish parking lot is more important to them than the ability of my family to safely ride to the museum.
Exactly. If your “friends” are belligerent obstructionist dickwads, I have better things to do with my time and money.
While we’re here…I’d like to extend a warm welcome to our visitors coming from MyNorthwest.com. Welcome to Liberal Snowflake Land! We hope you enjoy your visit here…and who knows? Maybe you’ll learn something. Hell, you might even end up hopping on a bike. If SBB can succeed in that, we can call this article a resounding success.
I don’t support violent political behavior like pushing someone out of an event but Mike O’Brien deserves to be shoved out of office by voters he owns Ballard’s increasing crime rate and exploitation of taxpayers to fund wasteful programs including overpriced bike lanes which screw both drivers and cyclists out of hard earned money. RECALL MIKE O’BRIEN!
“The apparent assault comes just days after a group organized to disrupt a nearby town hall about the employee head tax by yelling down any city leaders or neighbors who tried to carry out public comment. ”
Readers, the opposite is the case. Councilmember O’Brien never intended to allow people to speak in a town hall format. Once the organizers agreed to public spoken testimony, the yelling subsided. Hence the “let us speak” signs.
Michael Snyder, your quote, “The price tag has now quietly jumped to $26M, nearly doubling the previous estimate.” This is what we need to focus on. Those of you who think Councilmember O’Brien is a friend of the bicycling community should look hard at runaway budgets and ask yourself what he might have had to do with that. I support bike infrastructure, but understand that support will fade away when costs double and quadruple. Please follow this issue closely in the upcoming months. Thanks.