City Party Crasher Extra: Friends of Seattle Launch
posted by on February 7 at 11:52 AM
I’m sure you’ll be getting reports soon from Erica and Josh about the Friends of Seattle kickoff party. I’m also sure that their reports will be jam-packed full of things like “news” and “journalism.” But you are no doubt wondering: how was quality and the timbre of the party itself?
Well, let me tell you: it was pretty much a Seattle Political Party. People clung to their friends and made small talk in little clots strewn about the room as members of FoS circulated, trying to, you know, git the pawty stawted.
There were some drunken journalists desperately clutching their free drink tickets as though they were diamonds, there were some earnest young kids out to make a difference, and there were some crusty old, been-there done-that types. I would have preferred to see FoS choose a different bar, a bar with more Seattle history, than Twist, which is kind of a mishmash of urban-bland styles, and the “exciting FoS cocktails” were, well, here:
Livable City Lemon DropBud Light-Rail
No-Viaduct Vodka Tonic
Metro-Natural (sic) Margarita
Gin & Sustainable Soda
Presumably they were all out of the Renewable Rye Shots by the time I arrived with my Plus Ones, which is the true shame of the evening.
I kid, but really: the room felt excited. People were happy to be there, and when Peter Steinbrueck
got up to speak, he captured a lot of that giddy energy. He began by commenting on the palpable sense of thrill in the room—“This is something special here”—and he continued by pledging his allegiance to FoS’s goals, and then his speech tore through some important points: he declared that Seattle is “At least 20 years behind when it comes to mass transit,” and when he exclaimed that “We are going to tear down the Viaduct,” there was almost a gasp in the room, before a huge roar of applause. It felt kind of like when Howard Dean first started speaking out against the Iraq War; finally, someone said it to people who believe it and it didn’t sound like progressive pipe-dream nonsense.
The big complaint that I have about the party is that the FoS members who were sent out to fluff the crowd into a frenzy pretty much only had three words as talking points: “urban, livable, sustainable,” before launching into an anti-Viaduct-and-tunnel schpiel. They had literally nothing else.
When approached by a FoS Steering Committee member, I asked a question about density that, I feel, is under-addressed: will there be any safeguards to making sure that all this shiny new mixed-use retail space that’s opening up won’t be handed to chain stores and corporations? In other words, was FoS interested in making sure that mom-and-pop businesses had a chance to thrive in this new, dense Seattle? My FoS member stammered for a minute, said that he thought that it was illegal to discriminate against chain stores—false!—and then excused himself by saying “I think my wife just showed up.”
Likewise, one of my Plus Ones asked another Steering Committee member a question about FoS’s stance on education, and the poor man did everything but fake an epileptic fit trying to get out of the conversation.
Listen, FoS: I’m on your side. Really, I am. I’m all for the goals that you’ve got. As Steinbrueck said in his speech, “I couldn’t find a single issue I didn’t agree with” on your website. But your website only has one issue and a bunch of lofty goals. FoS, you’ve been around for a year now, and you’ve just had your coming out party, and, despite the ridiculously-named beverages, that party was a roaring success. But even as you fight the Viaduct—arguably the most important issue facing Seattle at the moment, certainly the most compelling issue—you’ve gotta form opinions on the rest of the city: Seattle just doesn’t need any more fair-weather Friends.
'twist' sucks...overpriced, yuppie bar
I was also there and pd my $10 to join the org and drink the kool-aid, so to speak. I agree with the Stranger staffer 100%. I also ask: how will this organization be different than others with a similar platform and how will it address the tension between supporting density, advocating for small businesses, historic preservation, etc.? There is a need for informed activism in this city. As with many activist-based organizations, it is what we as members make it. I just hope it doesn't be come a one-issue (viaduct) discussion.
Yeah, right Paul, FoS should be just like every other do-nothing group in Seattle and try so hard to be all things to all people that they broaden themselves into irrelevance.
Aw, c'mon, cut these folks some slack. As girl on the Hill said, this organization "is what we as members make it." If their position on a particular issue isn't nuanced to your liking, then join in and help improve it.
With the current lack of effective leadership in Seattle (Viaduct mess), there's a huge vacuum to be filled. I'm for pitching in and helping; it's much more useful than sitting back and whining.
I firmly believe the FoS is sick of the Seattle process (like you are @3). The group is very focused on smart density and improved transit to deal with the flood of new Seattleites we will have to accomidate in the next 20 years or so. The viaduct is just one issue of many - but the focus is there, and FoS will not be becoming another Allied Arts, etc.
FoS keep attacking your "one" issue. As you know, but Paul doesn't see, it's an issue that cuts across all of your goals. Part of the trick is getting folks to see that.
And like "Tired of the Process" said, we don't need another non-profit that is everything to everyone. We have lots of "sustainability" non-profits in Seattle, but they are on the sidelines because they don't pick an issue, trample it and go on to the next fight with the increased political capital and public credibility.
As Cathy Allen told me once, when you're new you can pick one issue to run on. When you're experienced and one a battle, we might let you have three.
...wish I could have been there...
man, those are some corny ass drink specials.
FoS - um, so, we're behind 20 years on transit ... you got solutions or you just gonna bury us in 40 years of more process?
So Steinbrueck reminded you of Howard Dean, who was...a gross failure. Hmm.
Yeah, I could only hope to fail as well as Howard Dean and become the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. That would totally suck.
Say what you will about Dean, but his campaign changed the tone of national discourse on Iraq--in polite society, it became okay to say that we were wrong. That's what I was referring to here, not the getting crushed by Kerry bit--all of a sudden, it seemed okay to say that neither of the options were acceptable.
Ok here's some issues to bite off that the pols won't touch:
1) Examine how rezoning single family land within urban village boundaries might affect entry-level housing prices given the equivalent of L2-L3 zoning and then take on the NIMBYS in every neighborhood in Seattle - that's enough work for 20 years
2) Industrial lands policies - what should we do with areas like Interbay (and T-46). This are could be cheap land for housing or could support more industrial business, but unfortunately might be OFFICE PARKS that a) puts jobs where there is little transit and b) squanders opportunities for open space
3) Station are planning along Link. Investing $2.1 billion in a corridor with currently little capacity to develop dense housing. Dealing with gentrification and affordable housing issues once that can of worms is opened up
3)Inclusionary zoning - good concept for affordable housing but has many unintended consequences, including making market rate housing more expensive.
4) investing in a streetcar network per SDOT plan; good idea or expensive redundancy
.....
Thanks for coming, Paul, and for bringing your friends. Forgive us for not all knowing about how to deal with chain stores and the crowding-out of local businesses. (See, e.g., planned developments in Pike-Pine and at Goodwill site on Rainier and Dearborn). The article you pointed to suggests one way of doing it. Another important issue is the size of retail spaces in new mixed-use developments. Locally-owned businesses can rarely afford the rents for larger spaces in these new buildings (that's why all the great neighborhood business districts you see tend to have storefronts with much smaller spaces). That's a zoning issue, and we can address it. Anyway, please tell your Plus One that this statement was on our website and was emailed to all of our supporters. We aren't actively addressing schools yet, but hope to once we are better-established. After all, few things are more important to a city's livability than the quality of its public schools. More importantly, it's an issue of justice.
Friends of Seattle reminds voters that their school levy ballots must be post-marked by Tuesday, February 6. If you are not a vote-by-mail voter, please go to the polls. While FoS is currently focused on transportation and housing issues, we remind voters that great schools are far more important to building a livable and sustainable city than are even transit and good zoning.
Wow, already pandering and backpedeling. That didn't take long! Sure to be yet another honest-to-goodness do-nothing Seattle organization in no time at all...
Oh well, the idea was nice while it lasted...
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