The following letter was also sent to Kirkland City Council members.

Minions of Lobsang and Tamara Agassi Dargey recently descended on Lake Washington Boulevard to hang huge banners on a newly-erected fence on property the couple leased from Luella O’Connor proclaiming “Mixed-use Project Coming Soon.”

When asked about the banners, Dargey’s banner-hangers responded that Potala was going to be built and the city supported it. Is this true? If not, what are you going to do about it?

This hideous project is still going through a court and a hearing process. It is not even close to being a done deal. The Dargeys do not have a building permit; and according to Washington state law, they are not vested in this project – whether they call it Potala Village, Kirkland Aqua, or Lob and Tami’s Rabbit Warren on the Shore.

What’s going on here is an in-your-face offensive (in more ways than one) campaign to intimidate, steamroll and deceive the people of Kirkland – and to hold the city of Kirkland complicit in their deed. Is the city complicit in this PR offensive? Did anyone on the council, in the City Manager’s office, attorney’s office, the Planning Department know Dargey was going to hang these banners?

Was explicit or implicit approval communicated to anyone on the Dargey team? That is what these banners imply. If the city had absolutely no part in this, do you not feel it your obligation to tell that to your constituents and take action to tell the Dargeys to back off and remove the banners, which make a false claim not only for the Dargeys but also for the city of Kirkland, and a mockery of our legislative, legal and hearing processes? I do.

One can hang up a sign saying they just had a cheese danish with Jesus if they want, but is the city going to allow these signs to remain hanging on Lake Washington Boulevard, announcing the coming of the Dargeys’ 100-143 unit apartment/commercial complex, made possible by the city of Kirkland?  What is the city’s response?

Robin Herberger, Kirkland

Editor’s Note: Herberger said city officials later told residents they are unaware of the banners and they have since been removed.