HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-15-2020 - RHI - Declaration of Dayabir BathDeclaration of Dayabir "Pintu" Bath
1. My name is Dayabir "Pintu" Bath. I am over the age of eighteen and am competent to
testify as follows:
2. 1 am one of the owners of Renton Hotel Investors, LLC, which operate a Red Lion Inn,
located on 1 South Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057.
3, 1 moved to the United States from India with $20 in my pocket. I have lived in King
County since 1989, and I drove a Stita taxi for the first 6 years. In 1991, I was voted on the board
of directors/vice president of the Stita Taxi Association. I worked hard, saved my money, and
bought my first business in 1995. Slowly, I have grown my businesses and now employ
numerous King County citizens, pay taxes, and contribute to my local community.
4. 1 am the main sponsor for Seattle Summer Sports Club in Kent for the last 10 years. This
is an organization that creates free activities for kids that wouldn't have other opportunities. They
also get free snacks/meals/uniforms at every practice. I currently serve as the President of Sarbat
Da Bhala charitable trust of Washington State. I Personally donate to Children's Hospital, and
Susan B Anthony Cancer Foundation. I am an active member in SOCH Center in Bothell.
5. I am fortunate to be considered a leader in our local Sikh community and enjoy
mentoring young people and other entrepreneurs. Our faith teaches us to constantly give to
others in need, regardless of their financial or other circumstance. This is the reason we hold
weekly food drives in our local Sikh temples during this COVID-19 crisis and weekly otherwise.
https://www.seattletimes.com/scattl a _news/seattle-area-sikh-community-1 eans-on-core-values-to-
help-those-in-need-during-coronavirus-pandemic/
6. Almost immediately after the State of Washington and King County declared their
Emergency Orders in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, our hotel's customer based
completely disappeared because there were severe travel restrictions placed on all non -essential
travel.
7. Shortly thereafter, King County requested us to partner with the County to provide rooms
for some of the County's most vulnerable citizens. When King County approached us to consider
providing resources and housing for the County's most vulnerable homeless population, we
recognized that they were at high risk of contracting COVID-19 if they continued to be housed in
their current facilities. We were asked to lease our property to house certain individuals to relieve
the pressure on existing facilities and slow the spread of the disease.
8. After much deliberation, we decided to partner with King County to provide this essential
service. Our business would benefit from the lease payment during a time when government
orders had severely restricted our customer base.
9. Ever since we agreed to partner with King County, my partners, my employees, and I
have been subject to discrimination, harassment, and vitriol by our neighbors and local
tLRM101
community leaders. We feel like powerful business interests have made a coordinated effort to
demonize my minority owned business and the homeless population I have been asked to serve,
10. My faith, duty, and commitment to my community drove me to agree to help during this
unprecedented time. We had empty rooms; Icing County needed those rooms; and, we could
work with the County and our new guests to create a safe environment for them to survive the
COVID-19 crisis. We thought we were serving our community until we were faced unbelievable
discrimination and harassment from our local community members and leaders.
11. At first, our business neighbors turned on us and accused us of trying to ruin the
community. They made us feel like we did not belong in the Renton community, even though I
have been a member of this community for nearly thirty years. Because I am an immigrant with
an accent, I was made to feel like I am somehow not worthy of owning a business at the same
level as my Caucasian counterparts. Unfortunately, this implicit contempt and bias has also been
expressed by local community leaders as they have been driven to demonize me, my partners,
and my employees.
12. This discriminatory attitude towards me has also translated to harassment by local
agencies. We have worked cooperatively with the Renton Police Department, Renton Fire
Department, and other first responders. We have contributed to their local charity funds and done
everything to support their efforts. Recently, we made a contribution to a local first responder
agency. They outright rejected our donation, and told us to not renew our lease with King
County. Shortly thereafter, this same agency began inspecting our property on a weekly basis,
cited us for code violations that had previously gone unnoticed for years, and is now threatening
shut down part of our business operations. Local government agencies have made me and my
employees feel like we are the "enemy," simply because we agreed to help our community in
their time of need.
13. We tried to reach out to local City of Renton community leaders to explain our
perspective, but we have either been ignored or dismissed because, for some reason, I did not
seek their permission to run my own private business. I can't help but think whether explicit or
implicit racial bias due to my Indian accent or my immigrant status contributes to being
condescended to, dismissed, or yelled at for simply trying to help out my broader community.
14. Now, local City of Renton community leaders have explicitly pressured me to not renew
nay lease with ring County. This begs the several questions:
a. Where will the 200+ homeless people go if we immediately evict them from
Red Lion Inn in Renton? I suspect that they will venture into the local community and risk
increasing the spread of COVID-19. This is even more dangerous as infection rates are spiking
more than the initial spread of the infection.
b. Is it more beneficial to pay $49 per night to house a homeless citizen or
several thousand dollars to treatment in an over burdened health care facility? My hope is
that we choose the most economical and sensible solution.
7133311.1
15. King County and our state is facing an unprecedented crisis, and some of our local
leaders are succumbing to the worst part of prejudices and fear towards the "other," whether it is
homeless people or immigrants. My faith and commitment to my community led me to open up
my business to help those in need.
16. It was under the above described circumstances, we received Findings of Violation from
the City of Renton. We completely disagree with these findings because we have nothing wrong,
17, We leased our property to King County, and the County used it to help the King County's
most vulnerable population.
18. Notably, Red Lion Inn has rented room to customers for several weeks to months in the
past, without any prior objection or action from the City of Renton. Red Lion Inn has continued
to operate as a hotel, under its current business license, without any objection or action from the
City of Renton, until now when King County is trying to help its most vulnerable citizens and
collectively stop the spread of a deadly infection.
I declare under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the above is
true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Signed in _&f N'W A/ , Washington, dated J I , July, 2020.
3ath
7133311.1