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News & ArtsThursday, April 2, 2009
City Why Is the City Suing Gay Pride?
Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Lips are mum on why, exactly, the city needed to file a lawsuit last week against Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP), producers of the annual gay pride parade. Of course, by all accounts, SOaP is over two years delinquent on a debt for using Seattle Center facilities, which the city operates, for a post-parade festival in June 2006. The group paid about $10,000 of its bill; it still owes the city $125,000, according to the lawsuit. But SOaP organizers said they have tried to work out a payment agreement with the city, even offering just under the amount requested by the city attorney’s office, and yet the city filed the lawsuit anyway. When I asked the city attorney’s office why it didn’t accept the offer, I got a bizarre set of answers. First, Senior Assistant City Attorney Thomas Castagna, who had been negotiating the debt and filed the suit, said he couldn’t talk about it. Then the city attorney’s office’s public information officer, Ruth Bowman, said, “We do not talk about pending cases. Sorry!” So I pointed out to City Attorney Tom Carr that the city has repeatedly commented on lawsuits before a judge hears the case (such as this one and this one). “We are the collection lawyers on this one. You have to talk with Seattle Center about the negotiations,” Carr wrote in an email. “The call on what is sufficient comes from the client, which is why you should talk to Seattle Center.” Not so, says Seattle Center. Seattle Center forwarded the debt to the city in April 2007. “After we send the file to the city attorney’s office, it is up to the city attorney’s office to decide how to proceed with that case,” says Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust. At that point in the payment negotiations, she adds, “We make no call at all.” A follow-up email to Carr asking why the payment negotiations failed has not been returned.
But SOaP hasn't backed up its claim that it made a reasonable offer to pay off the debt and avoid the lawsuit. When I tried to reach SOaP president Eric Albert-Gauthier, who I spoke to last week, I got his voicemail repeatedly and no call back. He said he would let me know how much SOaP offered to pay (which could indicate whether a payment plan would have been sufficient and negate the need for a lawsuit). A few days later, I heard back from SOaP board member Jon Mejia, who joined the group last November and had limited knowledge of the case.
Mejia confirmed—to his understanding—that SOaP has been negotiating with the city attorney’s office, not Seattle Center. But he didn’t know how much the group had offered to pay. He did say this, however: “I am looking for some sort of joint statement [between the city and SOaP] that we can put out to the press shortly." But he also says focusing on SOaP's financial problems misses “the bigger story.” In Seattle, he says, “gay pride doesn’t get the same kind of support as the parade in San Francisco.”
Sorry, SOaP, you may feel like you’re not getting the sort of public support that gay pride receives in San Francisco, but it's hard for us right now. We want to be champions of our gay pride parade. But public support comes with accountability and public transparency. “I think they made their mistake when they ceased to pay anything and they ceased to communicate about it,” says Daoust on the debt to Seattle Center. “Calls weren’t getting returned and the payments stopped.” Given that history—which has, for right or wrong, resulted in a lawsuit—I’m sure few people feel confident about giving their money and support to a group that hasn’t honored its debts, hasn’t asked for help when it needed it, hasn’t been forthright about what happened, and has no clear vision for rescuing itself from its current troubles. At SOaP's current rate of payment to the city ($10,200 over 33 months), it would take the group over 30 years to pay off its debt.
But there is some hope for SOaP in its new blood. Mejia, who works professionally as a consultant for food and beverage companies, says SOaP is working out a deal with Barefoot Wine & Bubbly. He says the company will create a drink, sold in bars around town, which directs a percentage of the proceeds toward paying down SOaP’s debt.
And the city would likely happily support gay pride if they actually solicited for donations in a more assertive way. I am not going to go out of my way to give them money, but if I walk by a donation bucket on my way in and someone asks me to throw something in (ala most festivals) I will happily do so.
But, honestly, gay pride in Seattle is just not that important of an event anymore. Its much less a political statement and more of a nice parade and a party and its hard to get people to support that outside of when they are actually attending.
Tom Carr is suing to make a rep as the hard ass - in his re election campaign.
As the city attorney he should have said to all concerned to wait a bit, see what the committee pays after this year's event, push them to do a big payment, and then get on a real schedule for the rest of the debt.
Of course, Carr decided to sue.... when such action was not needed at all. Shit, what a lame approach by the "city attorney."
Remember the group has a 25 year history of paying its bills, ONE bad year. They are all volunteers, thus low overhead. And the produce a high quality big time parade, all to their credit.... and the event pumps millions in tourist and local spending for the weekend.
And the city can agree to a ten year schedule, Pride is not going away soon, just gets bigger and bigger.
Pride Vampire
They owe the money and they say they can offer most of it so fucking pay that amount already.
And the Seattle Center saying it's Tom Carr's call is totally unethical too.
Hey Carr: you're not the client. You're the lawyer. The client, not you, gets to make the decisions.
And everyone: the reason people don't talk in public about what they offer in settlement is that blows apart the evidentiary privilege protecting their settlement negotiations. Just like you don't talk in public about what you said to your doctor priest spouse lawyer unless you want to give up the privilege.
The reason their claim to have offered a big fat payment is bullshit is because if they could do that they should pay it already.
Giving the group the chance to run up another $125,000 in costs as advocated by Mr. Vampire above is totally lame, too.
What they haven't paid one year and they get to do it again ? WTF?
I don't know who's dumber, SOaP for not becoming a 501(c)3 and paying to have an Ex Director to manage the March or the GLBT citizens for not bothering to help when they know full well help is needed.
The debt WAS incurred as part of the move cause Seattle Center is expensive contrasted to the free park they used to use (40.00 fee).
Now the Stranger is getting raggy - I think the term is fair weather friends.
All the Pride Committee needs is some time. I would say 5-6 years. No big deal except to the drama queens at the Stranger and the city attorney, it seem.
Seattle's big Parade/March Pride event is 30 years old and going strong, growing each year. As an event they are perfectly poised to pay the debt.
SOAP no longer uses Seattle Center, the debt is decreasing not increasing. They have been in the black since the year of the debt, get a clue, your post is babble.
Tim Carr? Homophobe.
Dominic Holden? Homophobe.
If they really are in the black, why aren't they servicing the debt?
sorry
Why pay off a debt for an organization that clearly hasn't worked on paying the debt off themselves?
Hopefully there are more cheat parade organizers in other states, the more that get checkmate the better off the families will be.
No more holding neighborhoods and families with children hostage so that a bunch of grown up pervs can show off in public. Cheers!
Why create positive awareness for an organization that hasn't made any good faith efforts to repay this specific debt in the past 2 years, despite being "in the black"?
Also why is SOaP unable to do this awareness themselves?
they HAVE made payments - called good faith - and any business owner would love to have payments over time rather than bankruptcy and dead dead accounts payable .. again, get a clue.
Why didn't they communicate that to their creditors? Non communication doesn't qualify as "Good Faith"
SoAP is paying $100 per month toward the outstanding debt to the city. (look at the financial reports.)
SoAP is attempting to provide some, nominal cover for their ass against the repercussions of paying nothing.
In the typically weak-ass, that’s-so-fucking-Seattle way SoAP is communicating to the city that they don’t agree with the outrageous price tag that Seattle Center charged them for the festival (thankfully, Egan is handling the festival now) and that SoAP has no intention of paying the full amount. Further, as one of the primary summer tourist events in Seattle, SoAP feels the city should contribute to the tax-generating event that helps fill the city’s coffers.
In typical, weak-ass, that’s-so-fucking-Seattle fashion, the City Attorney has decided to raise the stakes by taking an aggressive legal posture with SoAP in order to gain leverage in recovering the debt. His pathetic, O-so-short-term-thinking, political strategy is based on the naive calculation that the current, budget crisis will somehow cover his ass while he attacks a prominent, gay organization. He's also forgotten that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
The city attorney has made an error in judgment.
As to the assertion by some commentators that SoAP should simply tap the community for funds, well, you don’t know SoAP, and you certainly don’t know Seattle.
Seattle is much better at forming exclusive, social cliques; it doesn’t really do community very well except in its marketing and advertising to those who’ve yet to learn the difference.
Though SoAP’s bylaws provide for a general membership, SoAP doesn’t really have one. In fact, SoAP’s Board of Directors comprises the whole of their membership. As such, they don’t really have anyone they could ask for help or funds. Unfortunately, recommendations that they attempt a membership drive or recruit new members have always fallen on dismissive ears or have been met with self-righteous indignation and whining complaints that the community should come to them, not the other way round. So, their self-made predicament garners less sympathy from those of us who’ve offered our help to them.
Regardless, the city should agree to eat part of the outstanding debt and set up a repayment plan with SoAP for any, remaining balance. The city benefits in many ways from this annual event and the reputation it gains from hosting it. If Seattle really wants to find a way out of its budget crisis it might focus on how to grow its tax collections and debt settlements rather than attempting to bankrupt one of its primary tourist draws and marketing assets.
If somebody wants to step in and fix it they would be a hero...but only if this organization gets put to bed forever.
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