Developer Mike Cohen Background

Mike Cohen wants to pull a fast one on the taxpayer dime at his $1 billion Point Ruston project.  As the South Sound has learned from previous Jobs with Justice messages, Mr. Cohen’s track record is evasive, anti-worker, anti-community, and doused with grinchy behavior. 

Mr. Cohen can easily afford to behave better.  He is selling $2 million condos while paying 7 times less in land costs than Downtown Tacoma.  He could become a civic leader without too much sacrifice.  He’s made millions of dollars building luxury condos with government welfare from Rick Talbert’s Tacoma City Council and from mcmansion sprawl projects in the South Sound. 

Instead, Mr. Cohen is hostile to community leaders who request to explore common ground.  Recently Mr. Cohen failed to appear at scheduled appointments and share promised information.  Rather, Mr. Cohen hired 2 public relations firms and an expensive team of lawyers.  He has coordinated with the City of Tacoma to use our tax dollars to hire attorneys from Seattle and attack with procedural technicalities.  Only our community’s democratic activity will break Mr. Cohen’s injustice.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
November 10, 2008


Background Information

Mr. Cohen has become a prime example of a broken property development system.  He is one of the developers climbing over each other in a greedy rush for special treatment and tax-dollar funded subsidies.  In the last few months, Mike Cohen has?

  • Demanded that Tacoma extend the 8 year property tax break to his isolated Pt Ruston.  Even the developer advertiser News Tribune feels this is going too far.
  • Manipulated Tacoma city managers to expedite construction and skip steps that responsible developers must take.
  • Influenced Talbert's Council to enact fishy laws that exempt Pt Ruston from legal Shoreline protections while holding other property owners to the statewide standard.
  • Pursued special city and state subsidies to build Point Ruston infrastructure while whining about JwJ calls for responsible practices

Creating chaos and chronyism in government land use plans, Mike Cohen and his Master Builders Association are ruining our quality of life.  JwJ and allies have tried talking with the City Council and with industry leading developers.  But so far, Cohen's influence with the help of Rick Talbert is blocking a more full democratic debate by Council members.