Slog - Comments on Nickels Trivia http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia While it wasn't a $900,000 scam at a tribal casino, it sure looks like Team Nickels had an inside fix of their own going. The latest financial reports from the Team Nickels campaign shows that the winners of a Nickels fund raising raffle (it was a trivia quiz) were all former and current Nickels and city staffers. And the winners are: Nickels's community outreach person, Sharee Pierce, won $100 Gwen Stefani concert tickets. Former Nickels campaigner Katie Kuciemba won $100 credit at El Gaucho. Former Nickels campaigner and current Dept. of Neighborhoods spokesman Peter McGraw and transportation department staffer Tracie... Copyright 2008 Tue, 29 May 2007 11:27:43 -0800 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:04:55 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Essex zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

]]> Essex http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730122 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730122 News Tue, 29 May 2007 11:42:21 -0800 Comment by Gene Scheider Team Nickles owes you no explanation. And big deal, you catch them contradicting themselves or sounding silly. Then we have another party post for your heroic efforts. An effective statement to their behavior might be to forego your pro sports tickets (isn't there a multifield of basketball, soccer, tennis and baseball next to your office?), don't eat at lavish restaraunts (maybe a month on taco bell will give you a taste of the welfare state), and try writing your own musical, update West Side Story for us.
The trickle down from power people like Wolfowitz to Nickles extends to you.

]]> Gene Scheider http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730126 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730126 News Tue, 29 May 2007 11:47:29 -0800 Comment by Brad I am having a hard time understanding the gist of this post...is it just me?

Did Nickels' campaign have a fundraising raffle? And the issue is that some people on his team won the raffle? Not sure there's much smoke here.

]]> Brad http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730138 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730138 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:01:57 -0800 Comment by Will of HA I was there, Josh, and it was a fundraiser. For Nickels. Meaning, Nickel's supporters were the only ones there, meaning all the winners were Nickel's supporters. So it would make sense that Lisa Herbold or Matt Fox would not snag the season's pass for two to Wild Waves. (Not that that was a prize. I didn't pay the minumum contribution, thus I wasn't eligible to win. Also, I had to leave early.)

]]> Will of HA http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730153 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730153 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:23:40 -0800 Comment by Tiz Well, I never heard of it and sure didn't buy any tickets. They were probably the only ones.

]]> Tiz http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730156 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730156 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:24:34 -0800 Comment by Frank The interesting issue is this. Raffles fall under state gambling laws. Not following the rules can result in serious fines. It's questionable if a Nickels campaign could even legally use a raffle to raise money, since part of the law states your organization must have 15 voting members who elect the governing body of the org.

rules for raffles can be found here: http://www.wsgc.wa.gov/newsletters/5-164.pdf

and http://www.wsgc.wa.gov/gambling/raffles.asp

Sounds as if maybe Nickels son ran this raffle. Maybe Frank Colacurcio Sr's son Frank Jr, and Nickel's son conspired here. We should have Richard Lee look into it. Possible connection to Cobain's murder? Did Nickels murder Cobain? Hmmm...no wonder he's anti-nightlife.

]]> Frank http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730161 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730161 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:42:20 -0800 Comment by James Hey, I hosted that night! If there was graft going on, I missed out. Boo.

Here's the deal: a bunch of people who wanted to support Nickels donated $25 each (that's each person, not each team) to play pub trivia.

There were 5 rounds. The team that scored highest in each round won a donated prize -- Stefani tickets, El Gaucho gift card, etc. The team that scored highest at the end of the night also won a prize, which was (as I recall) the Mariners tickets.

Much to my chagrin, Nickels' own team won the night -- though only because Charley Royer's friends don't know sports all that well.

Friends and coworkers of Nickels won most of the stuff because, well, who else donates $25 a person to play pub trivia?

]]> James http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730166 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730166 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:51:28 -0800 Comment by CodyBolt How do you have a Trivia Raffle?

Isn't a Raffle a drawing? Isn't Trivia answering questions for a prize? Can we make this a new show on fox?

]]> CodyBolt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730167 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730167 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:51:49 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Yeah, but raffles are the easiest thing to win. I win tons of prizes, because I buy tix. My guess is his staff realizes these are cool deals and they buy a block of 5 or 6. This both salts the pot - people are more likely to sign a petition with signatures or a list with entered names, and likewise give tips to bartenders and barristas if there is money there - same goes for raffles that have some bought.

So, this is totally unsurprising.

I do expect they do as I do when I win, and donate back items they can't use.

If you told me they won a day spa for a guy and took it, that would be news.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730169 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730169 News Tue, 29 May 2007 12:53:50 -0800 Comment by Just Me Didn't the Stranger endorse Nickles in his re-election bid? Honestly, this sounds more like whining than a real life issue.

Is it just me or has The Stranger gone mainstream with it's media coverage? I mean besides Savage's addiciton to cum?

]]> Just Me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730176 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730176 News Tue, 29 May 2007 13:03:41 -0800 Comment by Team Council I was there, our team won a free pitcher of beer for winning the first round of trivia. Not really a raffle, just prizes for the team that won each round. PS Nobody wanted the Gwen Stefani tickets. I think the Mayor's team won them and tried to GIVE them away.

]]> Team Council http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730179 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730179 News Tue, 29 May 2007 13:07:07 -0800 Comment by Gomez This is like the cherry on the top of the City of Seattle Corruption Cake. This sort of string pulling is their way of life., the Mayor's and the City Council's.

Must be a slow news week for Josh Feit if he's chasing this. I feel like you just told us that bears shit in the woods.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730181 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730181 News Tue, 29 May 2007 13:12:18 -0800 Comment by Frank If liquor was awarded as a prize, then unless they had a special license, they violated state gambing laws. Not a huge thing, but neither was Strippergate, and that ended the political careers of two good City Council people. Last week we had jr. Nickels getting busted for violating gambling laws, this week it's Sr. Nickels. Trends of breaking rules like these typically run much deeper than a small trivia game.

]]> Frank http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730190 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730190 News Tue, 29 May 2007 13:21:31 -0800 Comment by infrequent it is news. if not, it's karma. either way, it's at least a little bit interesting.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730196 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730196 News Tue, 29 May 2007 13:34:06 -0800 Comment by Gomez Cops are picking on black people for no reason around town, while kids in the U District are getting mugged and robbed at gunpoint thanks to inadequate (read: no) police coverage around frat row.

Meanwhile, Josh Feit is hounding the Mayor's office about a rigged trivia raffle.

Great reinforcement of Feit's priorities, infrequent.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730249 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730249 News Tue, 29 May 2007 14:40:09 -0800 Comment by StrangerDanger This story reminds me of the time I was really, really bored.

But less interesting still.

]]> StrangerDanger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730260 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730260 News Tue, 29 May 2007 14:49:48 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Remember folks, Corruption charges only count if you're a female elected official ... at least in Seattle.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730330 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730330 News Tue, 29 May 2007 15:44:43 -0800 Comment by Gomez LOL, Will.

Another thing to think about: Who attended this raffle? If it was mostly Nickels staffers, well then, that's not so much corruption as it is simple odds coming to pass.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730372 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730372 News Tue, 29 May 2007 16:11:59 -0800 Comment by Steak Fan Peter McGraw did not win a $100 credit to El Guacho. He merely mooched off the team that did.

]]> Steak Fan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730376 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730376 News Tue, 29 May 2007 16:18:40 -0800 Comment by Josh Feit This just in: They're all being indicted!

]]> Josh Feit http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730382 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730382 News Tue, 29 May 2007 16:35:33 -0800 Comment by hunh? I'm pretty sure Strippergate was a MUCH bigger deal.

]]> hunh? http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730471 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c730471 News Tue, 29 May 2007 20:20:58 -0800 Comment by Bill MSN I NIIPET
MSN

]]> Bill http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c740504 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c740504 News Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:02:11 -0800 Comment by Bill MSN I NIIPET
MSN

]]> Bill http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c740505 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c740505 News Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:02:26 -0800 Comment by Bill MSN I NIIPET
MSN

]]> Bill http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c740512 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/nickels_trivia#c740512 News Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:04:55 -0800