Pub. Note: We called on the members of the MARKETING IMMORTALS pantheon to send messages of concern to all nine members of the Seattle City Council and Mayor Jenny Durkan in regard to a city beset by a perfect storm of problems, as reflected in the cover collage. The idea was triggered by this first email from Bill Hoke, who suggested that we enlist the support of his fellow IMMORTALS as well.
This automatic response to my email from Council President Lorena Gonzalez was typical, and not encouraging, as the council works remotely at a time of great urgency: “My office is currently teleworking, due to COVID-19. We are receiving a higher than usual volume of emails and phone calls and apologize for the additional time it will take to respond. We appreciate your understanding and patience.”
Below, Bill’s message is followed by mine, those from our star columnists, Ted Leonhardt, Rick Stanton and Don Riggs and the other responding IMMORTALS—especially the wise words from new IMMORTALS inductee Jean Godden, who’s a council alum. Your comments are welcome, too, in the box provided at the end of the post.
P.S. Please take particular note of Ted Leonhardt’s proposed “three steps,” and let us know your thoughts about the effective—though controversial—Israeli solution to stop rioting, looting and arson at the end of the post. And below that is the link to a sign of the times in downtown Seattle, the story about the grand reopening of Pacific Place—now with just 21 of its 50 pre-renovation tenants.
———
Bill Hoke: We live on the Kitsap Peninsula and used to regularly travel to Seattle for business meetings, the symphony, shopping, the Market and to meet friends. None of our family and friends feels safe in your new Seattle now. Apparently Amazon doesn’t either. Please let us know when it is safe to return.
———
Larry Coffman: Many of my friends across the country are calling with the same question: “What the hell is happening in Seattle?” And, of course, my long-time local friends are even more incredulous. Frankly, I have no answers for either group.
Ted Leonhardt: Dear Seattle Governing Community. Goal: We must get the 12,000 or more homeless people off the streets and into housing. We must do this now. We must do this to make the streets safe for them and for all of us. We must do this to give those left on the streets an opportunity to get back into the mainstream economy.
I grew up in Seattle. My father wrapped packages for Sears in the ’50s and ’60s. My mother didn’t work. We had a nice home on Beacon Hill.
Seattle is one of the most prosperous cities in the world. The current prosperity has made housing unaffordable and doesn’t employ everyone. Amazon, Microsoft and the other giants have provided wonderful new jobs for many people. These are great companies. We’re lucky to have them. Minimum wage used to be enough to pay for a modest apartment or even a small home. Not anymore.
Here are three sensible and doable action steps. Step one. Turn every vacant hotel into housing. Get the hotel and real estate giants to manage them. Step two. Provide entry-level tech training for everyone who doesn’t have a job. Get the tech giants to manage and pay the housing and training costs. Step three. Make Seattle the city where the world’s tech industry hires the most entry-level employees. Do this now.
———
Rick Stanton: I spent 40 years of my life’s career, advertising and design, with offices in and around downtown Seattle. Western Avenue, First Hill, Pioneer Square, 4th & Pike Building to name a few neighborhoods my agencies called home.
I retired in 2015 and I recall walking out of my building to two guys shooting up at 4p.m. under the windows of Ben Bridge on 4th. Then there was the guy who bull-rushed me on Marion after lunch with friends, in broad daylight Seventeen years of Tai Chi came in handy for me, not so much for the idiot who threatened to kill me if I didn’t give him $20.
It finally got to the point that when I ventured into Seattle I carried pepper spray. Now, here we are, anarchy, violence and property destruction is the new rule of the day.
And you want to cut police funding in half? That’s encouraging.
I’ve lived on Bainbridge Island for 34 years, and as inept as our city government has been during that time, thanks to you, we are not the worst city government in the state.
Between commercial rent, city and state taxes, lunches and dinners with clients, life celebration and other events I have spent millions in Seattle, while creating jobs.
I don’t feel safe in Seattle anymore, nor does my money. It’s been a year since I spent a dime in your disgracefully managed charge, and it will be a lot longer if things stay like they are.
Way to go city council, mayor and other accomplices. You should be ashamed of your let-Rome-burn mentality and run out of office on a rail. Doing the right thing does not mean doing nothing. Shame on you. Shame on you for breaking Carmen Best’s spirit and dedication. Cowards all.
And one certifiable lunatic. Guess who?
———
Don Riggs: I am a Seattle native who moved to the Eastside at age nine. I spent a 55-year broadcasting career, mostly working in Seattle while living in Bellevue. I never felt unsafe in Seattle, even when stepping over sleeping street people to open the door to our studios in the Fix-Madore building at the Market. My time on the air was spent singing the praises of Seattle and occasionally pointing out areas needing change. I attended numerous concerts and sports events in the city. I came into Seattle for work and pleasure. Now I do neither, and have no desire to. I’ve seen a Council cave in to pressure from a very small group of criminals whose main goal in life seems to be to set fires and break windows The city’s response—to cut the scope of police services—shows me city leadership is paying attention only to the squeakiest wheels, giving little or none to the people who thought they were being served by local government. You may be getting other letters from my friends in media, because we really care about Seattle and its future. While some of us may not live in the city, much of our life has happened there. No, I did not vote for the mayor or any members of the City Council. Would I if I could? What do you think? So there is no doubt: I’m disappointed.
———
Jean Godden: Like many Seattle residents, I, too, have received letters from family and friends who live elsewhere wanting to know, politely put, “What in hell is happening in Seattle.” Unfortunately, I am afraid that members of the Seattle City Council—at least the majority of council—have been taking irresponsible actions in an attempt to respond to protestors’ cries to “Defund Police.” Seven of the nine council members rashly promised 50 percent reductions in police funding.
Much of the problem, I believe is that councilmembers—aside from Public Safety Chair Lisa Herbold, a long-term aide to councilmember Nick Licata, and Councilmember Kshama Sawant, a Socialist Alternative Party member who always votes to cut budgets—are relative newbies, subject to rookie mistakes.
Part of the problem is that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, council members have been inaccessible. They meet virtually and listen to zoomed remarks from persistent commentators who sign up to speak, beginning at 8 a.m. When one listens in, you hear mainly from those who are either connected to protest marches or to private non-profit organizations that stand to gain funding from diverted police budgets. The council lives in a Zoom bubble.
The council quickly discovered it couldn’t take 50 percent of the remaining 2020 police budget. Members decided to defund where they could, without consulting with Chief Carmen Best or the mayor’s office. They introduced little-considered amendments. Eliminated were the Navigation Team, used to clear illegal homeless encampments and help some find shelter, the horse patrol, the SWAT team, the harbor patrol, public affairs staff and travel and training budgets.
Then to save a few more millions, they slashed the salaries of the chief’s command staff. They also proposed a 40 percent slash in Chief Best’s salary, something council members apparently recognized too late as a bad mistake. They changed to a 6 percent reduction, but it was too late. Chief Best, obviously disrespected, announced her retirement, effective Sept. 2. The optics were worse than awful. The council was pushing out the first African American chief—a 28-year veteran who could have been helpful in reforming the department and recruiting a diverse force.
It was no surprise that cooler heads, like the Rev. Harriet Walden of Mothers for Police Accountability, were highly critical. Rev. Walden called the council’s action “Anti-Blackness.” Other leading members of the African American community also were disparaging. Rev. Aaron Williams of the University Presbyterian Church said the move was “on the wrong side of history.” Mayor Jenny Durkan accused council members of acting like “mini police chiefs.”
As a former council member, I am disbelieving and saddened by this council’s actions. I see shameless grandstanding and possible covert political motives. I believe that, individually, council members are capable of better and ought to apologize, as Herbold later did.
In recent days, Chief Best has been urged to reconsider retiring by some backers, although it seems doubtful that she will do so. I can only suppose that voters will be making their displeasure known, as the Seattle Times recently urged. I’ve heard from prominent community members who have written off those council members who voted for the drastic and ill-conceived police cuts. One voter told me, “I’ll never vote for any of them again.”
———
Dave Remer: We are debating at the margins what is obvious at its core. How can “somebody call the cops” be a controversy now? Why does it seem nothing is being thought through to its logical end? Seattle has long been considered one of America’s great cities. Ask about that imprimatur today. Friends and family far and wide are asking me almost daily, “What the hell is happening in Seattle“?
———
Rod Brooks: Have you all completely lost your minds? The way you are “leading” the city is both disappointing and irresponsible. It’s way past time for you to wake up and do the jobs you were elected to do. Clearly you aren’t reflecting the wishes of your constituencies.
For the last 20 years of my career I made Seattle home base. Sure, there were issues, but I was never afraid to walk the streets or to enjoy the many experiences that were available. I spent a lot of money in your city and never thought twice about it. It was worth it and I enjoyed what I was getting. Today, I’m retired and I’m staying away. My visits into Seattle are limited to required medical care. Not exactly a big draw and certainly not enough to sustain a robust and vibrant city economy. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to visit there. We’ve told countless friends to stay away and make their travel plans elsewhere.
I had the privilege of overseeing one of the great advertising campaigns that our region of the world has experienced. We talked about the many profiles that exist in the great Northwest. It was fun and people related to Blue Tarp Camper, Super Long Coffee Orderer, Sandals and Socks Guy, Relentless Recycler, and all the rest. Today, the profiles wouldn’t be so cheery. Can you imagine?
Hey Seattle City Council… We’re not like you at all. You’re VERY different!”
———
Sue Brush: “Since moving to Seattle from Ohio in 1972, I’ve embraced the city and enjoyed living in West Seattle, Queen Anne, Fremont, Madison Park and Magnolia. Today, the pride of place and sense of safety and security I so cherished is gone. Shame on you for letting our beautiful city deteriorate so quickly. On top of that, your ineptitude regarding the West Seattle Bridge is completely irresponsible. Tear it down NOW and begin rebuilding. Bring bavck our beautiful, safe city! You owe it to those of us who used to love calling Seattle home.“
———
Dick Paetzke: What good would a petition do? As a matter of fact, whom would you send it to? To the people who are causing the problem—the mayor, the city council, all the Democrats who’ve spent years creating the mess? Or maybe to the university “educators,” who have abandoned that role to become indoctrinators and preach outright damn foolishness to the unformed minds of the still child-like victims they are about to launch into our social structure?Obviously none of them give a rat’s-you-know-what about what you think; because it is not what they think. They relish stuff like this Black Lives Matter, peace, love, LGBTQ and homeless “rights” nonsense because it allows wallowing in emotional nonsense that makes them somehow feel “in the right,” productive and benevolent, and—above all—better and wiser than everybody else. Idiocy is not without its rewards.
———
ISRAELI SOLUTION: Want to stop riots, looting and arson and save hundreds of millions in damages to American cities? Here is the perfect solution. Israel has developed an extremely effective, physically harmless and inexpensive method to disperse crowds….IMMEDIATELY. This ingenious and highly effective method is called “Skunk Water.” (see video below).”Skunk Water” smells like, well you know, and is delivered through fire truck water cannons. It not only sends the crowds of rioters running but will send them home for a long shower and a change of clothes, too. It also takes them some time to burn the clothes they were wearing—by that time the urge to riot could be considerably diminished! No one will continue rioting smelling like a skunk, nor will anyone want to be around anyone who smells like a skunk. In this age of COVID-19 virus, “Skunk Water” has the side benefit of encouraging social distancing among the rioters, too.
