The Federal Aviation Administration's 1997 approval of the THIRD RUNWAY at Sea-Tac Airport: There were other decisions involved with the third runway project (many of them in court, as opponents worked to stop the airport's controversial expansion). And there are still more to come, as the third runway has yet to win the approval of the state Department of Ecology. Wrote the Weekly's Roger Downey: "Although better planning might have helped the Port avoid some regulatory roadblocks, no amount of prep work could have affected the biggest difficulty: the problem of fitting the third runway onto a site too small by nature to contain it." The third runway continues to languish in the environmental review process—stalling the massive expansion, which is still opposed by many nearby neighborhoods.
The 1997 election of Seattle MAYOR PAUL SCHELL: Faced with the pro-development, "world city" rhetoric of Port Commissioner Schell and the neighborhood NIMBY image of activist Charlie Chong, Seattle voters chose Schell. In the last four years, we've gotten the development—although the World Trade Organization protests represented far more international notoriety than voters had expected (or wanted). Wrote James Bush of the onetime developer: "Paul Schell is applying for the job of chief executive officer of Seattle. If you buy into the 'run government like a business' argument, he has the best credentials."
PETER KUHNS
Hiring Lenny Wilkens led to Seattle's peak sports moment.
Related Content
More About
The 1998 decision to bring the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION conference to Seattle: The city found itself the subject of international news coverage as thousands of protesters poured into the city in late 1999 to protest the ill effects of world trade agreements. The Weekly was the first local media outlet to predict that the free traders might be overshadowed by their critics. Wrote Geov Parrish: "Opposition to [WTO] will almost certainly be the largest anti-free trade protests ever held on U.S. soil." He was right; "another Seattle" is now civic shorthand for an out-of-control situation, and Northwest radicalism (ࠬa Eugene's anarchist community) is higher profile than at any point since the Wobblies and the Seattle General Strike. The $9 million bill for policing the WTO has also given city officials a new attitude about welcoming such events without strict cost sharing.
The decision by police to not confront rioters at the 2001 MARDI GRAS: The tragic death of Kris Kime, a 20-year-old attacked for coming to the aid of another assault victim, was the low point of several days of disturbances in the Pioneer Square area. The outnumbered police force drew harsh criticism for hanging back as violence swept through the Mardi Gras crowds. Catching much of the blame was Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, wrote the Weekly's Nina Shapiro. "The new chief's handling of Mardi Gras raises serious questions about his leadership, asked perhaps most loudly by his own rank and file."
The 2000-2001 decisions by stock purchasers that DOT-COM STOCKS WERE OVERVALUED: When the Nasdaq exchange plunged in April 2000, many Seattle start-up businesses found themselves passing out pink slips and dismantling computer systems. In a mini-industry that had made many millionaires during the first several years of good times, the shake-out was a shock. "The inherent advantages of e-commerce seemed so certain that dot-com business plans invariably promised not just to carve out a profitable niche but to dominate their market segment," wrote the Weekly's Gianni Truzzi. "Dot-coms ruled the Nasdaq because they were expected to rule the world."
