Boring & self-serving
With the exception of "Bombs away" by Geov Parrish, I found Seattle Weekly's coverage of the move boring and self-serving ["Bye-bye Boeing," 3/29. Is the departure of Boeing executives worthy of six (last count) articles in a single issue of a weekly!? I have lived in Seattle for 15 years and don't know anyone who is upset about the move, cares much about the move, or identifies their city with Boeing HQ as much as the Weekly seems to.
The local media is doing their classic insta-news creation shtick via a negative feedback loop (e.g., news: "Hey everyone, the economy is slowing"; news readers: "Oh my god, the economy is slowing"; news: "People are worried about the slowing economy and the impending recession"; news readers: "Oh my god, we're heading for a recession").
I am begging the Weekly to dig a bit deeper and harness the talents of their writers by delivering news that is challenging, thought-provoking and, well, NEWS. Your Web site banner reads "seattleweekly.com—the smart alternative." Granted that the word 'alternative' is abused by more than a handful of marketing graduates these days, but this longtime reader has grown to expect higher standards from the Weekly.
ALLEN WINDSOR
SEATTLE
Stinky
If Marc Gartin is your "hero of the day" for funding the Admiral district parking garage after the city "dropped the ball" [News Clips, High/Low, 3/29], those City Hall ball-droppers should be heroes of the decade. Mr. Gartin owns many properties around the garage, so his decision to finance its construction is hardly proof of his generosity. Indeed, in retrospect his unwillingness to finance it in the first place—thereby leading the neighborhood to push for public funding—stinks to high heaven. Those who come away smelling sweet include the five brave City Council members who (literally) didn't buy it [see 4th and James, p. 11 this issue], other opponents of this type of public financing (such as the Green Party of Seattle), and the city staffers who identified this project as a turkey from day one. Now that the city won't be shelling out tens of thousands of dollars in interest payments on Mr. Gartin's behalf for the next 40 years, perhaps it can afford some well-deserved salary increases.
TARA PEATTIE
VIA E-MAIL
Interesting & beautiful
Your newspaper was inaccurate when it said I wanted to run for mayor [News Clips, High/Low, 3/29]. The fact is, I am running for mayor.
I was involved with the monolith project, as you know. That was brought about by a community, for a community, and such events and ideas are indicative of my campaign spirit: grassroots support for interesting and beautiful projects to improve and enliven our community. I don't want my past exploits and successes to cloud my current interests. I don't want to appear to be resting on my laurels here. What is a monolith if it doesn't bring about more events and situations of kindred spirit?
I take this election serious, as serious as one can after his fraudulency, the Resident of the White House, George W. Bush, dangled his chad into office.
CALEB SCHABER
SEATTLE
Secret spy
The "Rule of the gamers" article [3/29] refers to Chris Taylor [later in the piece] as [Chris] Carter. Unless this is some secret spy code language, this is in error.
BARTOSZ
VIA E-MAIL
Eds. note: It was some secret spy code language. April Fools'! It was an error. Sorry, Chris, Bartosz, and any other confused persons.
Giant eyesore
Is it true that the Experience Music Project is to be no more? I read the article in this week's Weekly [News Flips, "EMP says sayonara," 3/29], then mentioned it to friends, and they were under the impression that it is a giant April Fools' hoax. Please tell me that that giant eyesore is leaving.
EDDIE LLOYD
SEATTLE
Eds. note: That giant eyesore is leaving. April Fools'! It was a giant April Fools' hoax.
Too embarrassing
Is there really any need for three city-appointed task forces to study the 'causes' of Seattle's Mardi Gras riots [see "Study it to death," p. 18 this issue]? The conclusion they'll come up with is already apparent—that alcohol and public celebrations don't mix; so ban them. Forget the fact that other cities around the world manage to host such events without major violence or property damage.
Success stories—as in New Orleans, where I spent this year's Mardi Gras—are not what the current city administration wants to hear. They're too embarrassing. Better to blame the events themselves and pretend that leadership consists in banning things rather than effectively planning for them and handling them wisely. This kind of bunker mentality, along with the conceit that the citizens here are more like children than responsible adults, is what brings this city down and makes it less livable.
RUSSELL SCHEIDELMAN
SEATTLE
Blaming the victim
Thank you, Geov Parrish, for reminding us that the death the Seattle Police Department must answer for is bicyclist Joel Silvesan [Geov Parrish, "A preventable tragedy," 3/8]. I've heard the police don't like to use their sirens and warning lights because motorists freak out and stop in front of them! Since no one was injured by the flying bicycle or the police car it forced onto the sidewalk, they can try to blame the victim.
