When Your Children Live with a Murderer Endorsed by the Family Court

A very worried Trisha Conlon

This bizarre family law custody case is playing out in Seattle, WA.  The unusual facts of the case bring into sharp focus the challenge of putting parents' often-questionable decisions through review by a family court judge.

In 1995 Trisha Conlon married Marine fighter pilot John Cushing, Jr.; a man with a tragic past.  His ex-wife, Kristine Cushing, shot to death their two young daughters, 4 and 8, while they slept in their Southern California home.  This was in 1991, when Mr. Cushing was on active duty in the Marine Corps and Mrs. Cushing, by all accounts, was an ideal soccer Mom.

Kristine Cushing's murder trial featured the now infamous "Prozac Defense"; she was found guilty by reason of insanity and sentenced to a mental institution where she did a nickle, followed by a decade of intensive in-patient style psychiatric treatment.  She was discharged without restriction in 2005.

Meanwhile, John Cushing tried to put the pieces of his life back together.  He married Trisha Conlon, with whom he had two sons.  Sadly yet predictably, the couple divorced in 2004.  Mr. Cushing's next "life-choice" was to re-marry his first wife, Kristine Cushing, the now-excused infanticidal murderess.

Today, Lt. Col. Cushing (retired) lives on Vashon Island, WA with a split-custody arrangement whereby one of his sons lives with him; the other lives with Ms. Conlon.  The brothers reunite during holidays and vacations.  Under this custody arrangement, Conlon eventually became aware that her ex-spouse not only re-married his first wife, but also shared a marital home with her and Conlon's son.

This information was difficult to come by as Mr. Cushing attempted to conceal his family arrangements.  The distance between the two parents provided the necessary cover.  Ms. Conlon, now living in Oregon, resorted to her family law attorney and his private investigator.

Seeking a change in custody to place her son into her home, Conlon brought proof of the Cushing reunification to the attention of the family court in King County, Washington (Seattle), arguing the arrangement was a "change in circumstance" detrimental to her son's best interests.  She lost her case last month; a hearing on appeal is set for next week.

This case is a testament to the lengths people will go in the name of love, marriage, and progenitorship. Many, perhaps most of us, would not make the same decision as the Lt. Col. in this case; infanticide is just a flat-out "deal-breaker".  On the other hand, imagine the love and forgiveness Cushing must have for his first wife to be able to take such a risk.

To the extent that his decision has placed his son in harm's path, it will be up to a family court judge of the King County Superior Court in Seattle to determine what is best for the boy under its jurisdiction.

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The news out of Seattle is that the Dearborn Street project has been canceled due to the economy. This means that the CBA won't go through either, but Puget Sound Sage affirms that "the CBA represents a groundbreaking model for making development accountable to community stakeholders."

On the east coast, there's also been a lot of talk about the new Yankee Stadium, including questions about the jobs being created, the replacement parks that are supposed to built, the economic prospects for all the new high-priced seats, and the odd "home run wind." Check out the Good Jobs First Clawback Blog for more.

More on the Dearborn Street CBA.

(Seattle Times)

The Seattle Times ran an article about the recently completed CBA on Tuesday. The article discusses some of the issues that the coalition faced during negotiations, including internal conflicts about how involved labor groups should have been in the coalition, and conflicts over the suitability of the project for the neighborhood.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels also released a statement on Tuesday regarding the CBA:

“I applaud the parties for coming to an agreement on the Dearborn Goodwill project. This Community Benefits Agreement is a new approach, bringing together the interests of community, housing, labor and business.

“I believe strongly that affordable housing must be an essential part of this project. I will recommend that the City Council require 400 units of housing, including at least 200 units of housing affordable to households earning below 80 percent of median income for rental units and below median income for owner-occupied units. The recommendation will also include a provision that proceeds from the street vacation be invested to benefit the surrounding neighborhoods through open space, transportation projects or other cultural and community facilities.”

Seattle's first CBA

The Dearborn Street Coalition has completed a CBA, following two years of negotiations (see here for background).

Here's a press release from Puget Sound Sage:

Seattle’s first Community Benefits Agreement struck between Developer and Community Coalition

Agreement defines benefits developer will provide to the community in the 10-acre Dearborn Project on the Goodwill site

Seattle—After almost two years of negotiations, an agreement has been struck between the Dearborn Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods and Dearborn Street Developers LLC on a $300-million project, slated to be built on a 10-acre site at the crossroads of Seattle’s most economic and ethnically diverse communities – including Little Saigon, the Central District, the International District and North Rainier Valley.

“This project has come a long way toward ensuring that neighborhood families will benefit from the economic growth this project will bring. More workers will now earn a livable wage and live in affordable housing and the development will better meet the needs of the people who work and live here,” said David West, executive director of Puget Sound Sage, a coalition member.

“For many service workers, the lack of quality jobs and affordable housing are the two biggest challenges of living in Seattle,” said West. “This agreement addresses both problems, moving us towards economic justice for working families.

Sage was joined by neighborhood groups and Little Saigon small business leaders in negotiating key sections of the agreement. The Dearborn coalition is comprised of business, neighborhood, labor, faith, housing, environmental, ethnic and other community organizations, all deeply concerned with how growth and change shape Seattle’s neighborhoods.

“This CBA – the first in the Pacific Northwest – gives community groups like Jackson Place and others a voice in shaping their neighborhoods,” said Maura Deering, a member of the Jackson Place Community Council Board of Directors. “We are glad to have played a role in setting this type of precedent.”

Jermaine Smiley of Laborers Local 242, another coalition member, commented, “Making sure this project provides living wage jobs and benefits is benefit to the entire community, not to mention affordable housing at a time we need it the most.”

“This agreement is a step in the right direction for neighborhoods such as Little Saigon where development pressure is high. The agreement helps balance development interests and neighborhood interests,” said Quang H. Nguyen, executive director of the Washington Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce, a coalition member.

The Dearborn project, with 600,000-square feet of retail and 500 units of housing, is located between South Dearborn and Weller streets at Rainier Ave. Among the items in this unprecedented agreement, Dearborn Street Developers LLC have agreed to:

• Build 200 units of affordable housing in the project, including 50 family units;
• Contribute $200,000 to mitigate traffic impacts in the Little Saigon and Jackson place neighborhoods in addition to the street improvements that the developer will pay for as traffic mitigation immediately around the project;
• Follow fair labor standards by hiring construction contractors that pay prevailing wages and provide health and retirement benefits; and by ensuring that 15% of all work hours are performed by apprentices. The contractors will also participate in minority/women-owned business programs and strive to hire local residents through pre-apprentice programs;
• Ensure grocery and drug stores agree to stay neutral if employees decide to unionize. Janitors, security officers and other employees of the development will be covered by the same labor standards;
• Offer below-market rents on 5,000 square feet of space in the project to community nonprofits at a cost of $1 million;

· Contribute $200,000 for the design of a community center in Little Saigon, and $600,000 over 12 years to support the Little Saigon commercial district;

• Use environmentally sustainable building practices;

The project still needs the approval of the Seattle City Council, which must approve a site rezone and street vacations. The developer will have to pay the city for the street vacations, and the coalition and developer will ask that the City of Seattle invest those funds in neighborhoods around the project.

Seattle Goodwill, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income and disadvantaged people prepare for and secure jobs so they may achieve self-sufficiency, has been housed at Dearborn and Rainier since 1931. Goodwill’s main building was constructed in 1946.

“This agreement is a win for the community, a win for Goodwill, and a win for the developer,” said Goodwill President and CEO Ken Colling. “We are very excited because we have been trying for more than 10 years to replace our worn-out facilities.”

Under the agreement, 200 of the 500 units of housing in the project will be affordable units. Of these units, 120 will be affordable to families making no more than 50% of the city’s median income, which is $32,550 for a two-person household. The other 80 units will be affordable to families making no more than 80% of the median income. The Seattle Housing Authority will build the affordable units.

The project will have tree-lined streets, two interior plazas and open space on the perimeter. The developer will build the project using environmentally sustainable methods, such as green roofs and permeable sidewalks.

Columbia Legal Services Seattle attorney Andrew Kashyap assisted the Dearborn Coalition in the complex work of analyzing and negotiating the Dearborn community benefit agreement.

Community benefit agreements (CBAs) have long been used by community coalitions in major cities in California to improve housing and jobs. The Dearborn agreement is the first fully enforceable agreement of its kind in the Northwest. For more information on CBAs, visit http://www.communitybenefits.org/, the website of the Partnership for Working Families.

Seattle's Dearborn Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods

The Dearborn Street Coalition was formed in 2006 to ensure that development in Seattle's Little Saigon area and neighboring areas will meet the needs of local residents, small business owners and other stakeholders. With over 40 members in the coalition, it has been seeking to negotiate a CBA involving a large-scale retail and housing complex proposed to be constructed at the intersection of Dearborn Street and Ranier Avenue. The development will encompass an old Goodwill building, and the proposal includes a new Goodwill facility, at least 500 units of affordable and market rate housing, and a significant amount of retail space, including two big box stores, restaurants, a grocery store and smaller retail stores (see here and here for details).

The Dearborn Street Coalition has concerns about a number of the project's likely impacts, such as traffic, parking and the effects of the project on unique local businesses, especially those located in the International District and in Little Saigon. Gentrification and the undermining of regional labor standards are also feared. The Dearborn Street Coalition has warned that the high rents likely to be sought by the regional mall will drive out the area's small ethnic businesses. It is also concerned that the retail jobs offered by the new development will be mostly low-paying and/or part time.

In order to address these impacts, the Dearborn Street Coalition and Puget Sound Sage have been seeking to reach a CBA for the community that will ensure the preservation of Little Saigon's character, provide for the development of adequate affordable housing and lead to the creation of accessible, quality jobs. Unfortunately, the developer has not been particularly interested in negotiating. Another organization, Go Dearborn Street!, has also been formed to support the project. It believes that the project, sans CBA, will provide sufficient affordable housing, create a compact, street-scaled urban area, and that "the project could improve the neighborhood's business climate." While this may be true, a CBA would ensure that the community could enforce the developer's promises.

In order to go forward, the project developers need to secure a rezoning to allow large-scale retail stores, in addition to design and environmental approvals. The Department of Planning recently recommended the rezoning from industrial to neighborhood commercial (with a number of conditions), and the City Council will vote on the matter after a public hearing, which will be held on June 9 (see the official notice here).

More information about the project is available here on the city's website, and the draft and final environmental impact statements are available for download here. For news about the Dearborn Street Coalition, make sure to check out their blog.

Update: Puget Sound Sage finalized a CBA for the Dearborn Street project on August 29, 2008. See here and here.

Update: The Dearborn Street project was cancelled in the spring of 2009 due to economic problems. The CBA nevertheless represents a watershed victory. See here.