Seattle 'CHOP' Zone Causing Billion-Dollar Investment Firm To Abandon City, Move to Phoenix
Democratic mayors and governors have shown little concern for their business communities amid the coronavirus outbreak and nationwide urban civil unrest.
That’s a broad brush to swipe, but it’s hard to make a case that Democrats have done anything other than apply a double standard to lawful activity versus anarchy in the name of protest.
Lockdowns were chosen over sensible measures to protect the health of the vulnerable in March, April and May.
In fact, near the end of June, Seattle, Washington, is considering reverting back to phase one of Gov. Jay Inslee’s reopening plan after a spike in cases, KOMO-TV reported.
That’s kind of hard to believe, especially when you see mobs of anarchists occupying the CHAZ/CHOP zone in large groups.
Washington’s Democratic leaders have ordered businesses closed or barely opened, but have also allowed protestors, rioters, looters, shooters, thieves and vandals to walk around with apparent impunity.
It’s easy to see how a business-savvy person could catch a case of the blue-state blues and want to move on.
Mayor Jenny Durkan’s “summer of love” is quickly becoming the summer of loathe.
Why stick around and operate a business in an area where commerce is scowled upon and police officers are restrained from protecting you?
One billon-dollar company has had enough of Seattle’s lawlessness and is going south.
KTAR-FM reported that one investment company is relocating, and it is specifically citing the unrest in the Emerald City as its reason for doing so.
“The unrest that has taken place in the city of Seattle … there is really is not a downtown business community today,” Cole Smead, the president and CEO of Smead Capital Management, told the radio station.
Smead managed $1.58 billion in funds as of May 31, and it will soon be doing so in conservative Arizona, where the cost of living is lower and the business environment is much friendlier than lawless, shut-down Seattle.
“We’re hearing rumors of 40-story buildings that will be only 20-percent occupied by October,” Smead said.
“My biggest concern for Seattle was what the business community is going to come back to, and what kind of businesses are going to come back for customers,” he added.
The financial expert noted that he expects his employees to find a better quality of life away from the Pacific Northwest.
“My colleagues can pick the socio-economic rung of life that they want … live their lives, build their households and have a family if they’d like,” Smead said.
“Where we’re coming from just wasn’t like that.”
It’s too early to tell if Smead is leading what will become a mass exodus of businesses seeking the sanctuary of sane cities that encourage lawful and civil behavior and welcome business.
But at least one business owner made it clear he would leave Minneapolis for good after his business was sacked by looters during riots in that city earlier this month.
Kris Wyrobek, president and owner of 7-Sigma, Inc., which makes precision rollers for high-speed printing systems, will never trust Democrats in Minneapolis again after they let his business burn.
It’s likely that Smead and Wyrobek are not alone in leaving behind the Democrats who forgot about them. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where more business-savvy people won’t follow suit and seek a new start.
With Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Durkan running interference for gangs while still oppressing companies with draconian lockdowns on business, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more of that city’s companies looking for greener pastures in the desert — or somewhere far away from any place with a Democratic majority.
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