SEATTLE — Three City Council members who were entangled in controversy over Rick’s strip club have voted in favor of rezoning some property next to the club to allow parking.
Neighbors had demanded that the three council members — Judy Nicastro, Heidi Wills and Jim Compton — abstain from voting. They still voted Monday, providing the votes needed to pass the rezoning that ended the tenures of Nicastro and Wills on the council.
Nicastro and Wills were defeated last week in re-election bids tarnished by the scandal involving campaign contributions and lobbying by supporters of the strip club’s rezoning request. Compton also accepted contributions and was lobbied, but won re-election.
On Monday, the council voted 5-4 to approve the rezoning from residential, to allow parking. Next, the council is expected to vote on conditions for using the lot for parking.
Monday marked the fourth time the full council had voted on the rezoning issue since June.
Before the vote, Nicastro, Wills, and Compton read prepared statements responding to demands that they abstain from voting.
The statements noted that they have revealed that supporters of the rezone lobbied them.
Each has paid varying fines for failing to reveal the conversations before a previous vote.
Each also returned campaign contributions connected with the club.
The three said they would make their decision based only on the record, and that they were able to consider the matter in a fair and unbiased manner.
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