By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Members and former members of the Seattle Black Firefighters Association (SBFFA) and the Northwest Association of Retired Black Firefighter (NWRBFF) have filed a lawsuit against current SBFFA President Douglas Johnson and SBFFA Board members to rescind what they claim is the illegal sale of the organization’s property located in the Central Area of Seattle.
The lawsuit alleges that board of directors used tactics to limit who was allowed to vote on whether or not the organization should sell the property that undermined a King County Superior Cour ruling and authorized the sale of the property without a proper vote of all active and retired members, including:
• The Present President and Executive Board’s have made decisions to defy a King County Superior Cour Ruling in January 2024, which restricted the sale of this property unless all active and retired members voted to do so.
• New rules were enacted by the present President and Executive Board, since the Courts initial ruling, to limit members of SBFFA, past and present, and restrict their ability to participate in meetings and elections, and to exercise other rights of membership.
• Retired members, many of whom had purchased the property, were not allowed to vote on the future of the property as the court ruling had ordered.
“This President and its board acted in defiance of a Superior Court Judgement rendered in January 2024, which restricted the sale of this property unless all active and retired members voted to do so,” said SBFFA member Clarence Williams, a member of both the SBFFA and the NWRBFF. “Nevertheless, in-spite of the court’s ruling they went ahead with the sale. We request that this present board reverse this illegal sale of this Legacy Property, known as “The House” in the Central Area. We also want to expose those individuals or entities who may seek to benefit from this sale.
Despite the court’s ruling, the board listed the property for sale in July 2024, and the house was sold in October 2024 for $680,000 – which members claim is well below the market value of the property. In addition, the members are also seeking clarification on where the proceeds from the sale of the property are being maintained and what the funds will be used for if the sale if the property is upheld.
One of the things that is disheartening to many members of the organization, is that, despite ongoing litigation, demolition of the interior of the property has already begun.
Yohannes Sium, the attorney representing retired members of SBFFA, says that he, along with many members are in disbelief that the buyer/investor would do such a thing within a few weeks of the sale of the property.
“I feel deeply hurt and sad that not only was this property been taken from the rightful owners, but that it’s being defaced,” says Sium. “Not preserved in the way it should be by this developer and that makes me sad for my clients and makes me sad for the community. It just feels deeply unfair.”
Williams is equally dismayed that a property that has so much relevance and history to the fiber of both the African American community and the city of Seattle as a whole can be treated in such a way and not be preserved like the historic landmark that it is. He believes that the SBFFA case has a strong legal and moral foundation that should be upheld by the courts.
“We thought we had done everything right and legal according to the law, and the judge had ruled in our favor that retired Black firefighters certainly could be members and had the right to vote and must vote before any property is sold,” says Williams. “But we have an executive board, who are the active firefighters, who are defying the court’s order and going about doing what the court has not ruled. And that’s why we’re appealing to the court to give confirmation on what was said in the lawsuit. So, we feel betrayed.”
Looking forward, retired members of the organization are diligently working to resolve this issue, including the rescinding of the sale. As a nonprofit, according to Williams, “there are certain criteria and guidelines” and have propositioned the Washington State Attorney General’s office to look into the matter.
“We would like to see the sale rescinded, and we have the Attorney General’s office looking at it,” says Williams. “Because it’s a nonprofit organization and there are certain criteria and guidelines, and we feel like they have not met those in terms of what property of nonprofits should have to go through before sale can be commenced.”
Overall, the retired members remain confident that the truth will be revealed, and the property will remain in the hands of its “rightful” owners.
“I feel optimistic because just like I said, we are telling the truth, we are the ones, you can only play games and do underhanded things for so long,” says Sium. “And again, if you read the judicial opinion, you’ll see what we’ve uncovered People involved, the persons who initiated the sell, they’ll be held accountable.”
“So, I’m comfortable to say that the property will be put back into the rightful owner’s hands, whether they tear down the house and we develop it or we take whatever’s left of it and just fix it ourselves, it’s going to be in the right rightful people’s hands,” says Sium.