The Mayor Speaks

Congratulations! Mike Seely’s article [“Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” Nov. 1] is hilarious, as are the calls from his colleagues trying to confirm various aspects of the story.

Ironically, my daughter took me to La Rustica for my birthday (Aug. 7), but being a Monday it was indeed closed. As we walked away from the shuttered glass door, I thought I heard a favorite Johnny Cash tune coming from the direction of the kitchen. Off we headed to Vince’s, where Dean Martin serenaded us with “That’s Amore”!

Now that’s entertainment!Greg NickelsMayor of Seattle

The editors respond: As our good-sport mayor makes clear, last week’s cover story, “Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” was indeed a parody—a satirical take on his efforts to toughen the rules governing Seattle nightlife. The only certifiable facts in the story were: (a) La Rustica is a hidden gem of a restaurant and should be frequented by every living Seattleite, and (b) Billy Ocean was and always will be a formidable musical talent.

While we feel surprised and honored that the piece was taken as gospel by many readers and members of the local news media, who flooded the mayor’s office with public disclosure requests and ethics complaints, we ask you to please call off the dogs. Let the record show that the good mayor has not been indulging the aforementioned R&B superstar’s Shetland pony fetish on the taxpayers’ dime. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by what one high-ranking mayoral staffer has termed “the City Hall musical version of War of the Worlds.” Wayman Tisdale’s manager has also been duly notified.

Scary Tale

Please tell me that “Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm” [Nov. 1] was a wonderful piece of Halloween fiction by Mike Seely. If it’s not fiction . . . then this town is in a lot more trouble than I had ever imagined.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Ben SchroeterSeattle

Great Read

Holy crap. This [“Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” Nov. 1] is the best thing I’ve read in I don’t know how long.

Shauna Crawford

Seattle

November Fools’ Day

I had to check my calendar and make sure it wasn’t April 1. Excellent journalism [“Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” Nov. 1]. If Mike Seely ever wrote a book, I’d like to get a copy.

Tom MehrenSeattle

Crazy but True?

If the story that you offered about Mayor Quimby hosting outrageously expensive smooth-jazz concerts on the city’s nickel [“Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” Nov. 1] is true, then . . . then . . . I don’t know what to say, it’s so crazy that it must be true. I mean, we’re talking Kim Jong Il crazy, lock up the kids and fuzzy animals crazy.

Although it does put the whole idea of a tunnel dug in what amounts to a bog in clearer focus.

Doug StaleySeattle

Not the Real Story

I am appalled that Mayor Nickels thinks it’s okay to bring his favorite entertainers to Seattle for what are essentially private concerts that are funded by taxpayers [“Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” Nov. 1]. I am also appalled that the Weekly can report this story without a more critical examination of the implications of the mayor’s “nightlife policies.”

Where is the Weekly‘s “investigative” reporting, or some analysis of what this story really means? When an elected official can host private concerts for his friends, at the public’s expense, and no one even bats an eye at how wrong this is, your paper’s ignorance of the “real” story is an indication of how corrupt our political system has become.

Clinton J. MillerSeattle

Ripped Off

Greg Nickels’ “Quiet Storm” is an obvious rip-off [“Greg Nickels’ Quiet Storm,” Nov. 1]. Inviting big-name entertainers to a little West Seattle bistro, La Rustica, for his entertainment isn’t promotion of the arts. The people are being robbed and abused of their tax money by Nickels to satisfy his own tastes and personal aggrandizement.

The money taken out of the city budget to pay for this should be immediately repaid.

Jim McMahanSeattle

Larsen voter for Life

Nice piece on Rick Larsen [“Congressmen for Life,” Nov. 1]. I recently had some communication with his office about supporting the ban on the wild horse slaughter for foreign markets. (I have a daughter in 4-H.) Mr. Larsen personally responded to my e-mail and voted for the ban. He responded in a timely manner and was pretty nice. He’ll continue to get my vote. I also like what he is trying to do for the environment. I could see him becoming a long-termer.

Larry GilmoreMarysville

Uptight isn’t Right

Whoever this idiot is that’s scribbling this mindless drivel [Ask an Uptight Seattleite, Nov. 1] should be congratulated on perfectly capturing exactly what’s wrong with so many of the morons in this town; he’s condescending, self-righteous, and wrong, wrong, wrong. What kind of an idiot claims “there is no real rule for a four-way stop”? This is exactly what causes so many needless accidents in Seattle—people not knowing the rules of the road and assuming that being “considerate” has anything to do with proper driving. It’s all spelled out in the Washington Driver Guide, p. 40: “At an intersection where there is no stop sign, yield sign, or traffic signal, drivers must yield to vehicles in the intersection and to those coming from the right. At a four-way stop the driver reaching the intersection first, goes first (after coming to a complete stop). If more than one vehicle arrives at the same time, the vehicle on the right goes first.” Please stop printing this column if it’s going to continue spreading misconceptions that will cause traffic accidents.

Scott HillShoreline

Clueless Columnist

Wait a cotton-pickin’ minute! There is a very clear rule for what to do when two cars arrive at a four-way stop simultaneously [Ask an Uptight Seattleite, Nov. 1]: The car on the right has the right of way. No wonder so many drivers in this town seem clueless; even noted newspaper columnists don’t know the rules of the road. It’s perhaps time to renew drivers’ ed in our schools. Perhaps drivers would learn useful tidbits like a red light means STOP, not depress the accelerator and see if you can make it through the intersection without getting smacked, without a police officer catching you in the act, and while ignoring the five pedestrians you nearly killed. Perhaps also they’d learn about the two-second safe distance rule when following another vehicle. That’s two seconds, not feet. Actually, WSDOT recommends four seconds.

Gene HawkridgeKenmore

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