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Thursday, July 23, 2009

City / Nightlife The Nightlife Guy

Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 10:07 AM

In The Stranger's conference room last Friday, four men who are fighting over one city council seat tried to set themselves apart from one another: Mike O'Brien, Rusty Williams, Robert Rosencrantz, and David Miller. Two others in the race who are also vying for the seat Richard McIver is vacating at the end of this year weren't there: Jordan Royer was sick and Bobby Forch said this week that he no-showed because, "I think I was sick. I can't remember."

We asked them to address our primary interest: drinking at night (and most mornings). Whereas Rosencrantz said, "I don't go out," and added that he believed in giving neighborhoods more authority over where nightlife can and cannot go—yikes—Miller identified a cadre of his supporters who work in the nightlife industry. He supports amending the existing noise ordinance to protect existing clubs from persnickety new neighbors—adding a grandfather clause to allow venues to continue, unpenalized, even if a residential building goes up within earshot (currently the existence of new building can make an old club illegal).

But Miller's real christening in the race came this week: The Seattle Nightlife & Music Association, a leading nightlife advocacy voice in the city, endorsed him. He's also got the blessing of David Meinert, Marcus Charles, Michael Meckling, and Steven Severin.

Sure, this makes Miller groovier than Rosencrantz, but does it give him any advantage? I'd love to think that there is an army of young, drinky folks out there who vote in primaries—who even know we're voting next month—but I wouldn't bet my lunch on it. I'd expect most of them will wake up the next day, having forgotten all about it, and say, "I think I was sick. I can't remember" or something like that. According to a SurveyUSA poll last month, 76 percent of likely voters in next month's primary are 35 years or older—not exactly the nightlife set. Only 24 percent are between 18 and 34. However, with this many candidates in the race, Miller may be able to combine his support from neighborhood types—he was the past president of the past President of the Maple Leaf Community Council—and the "nightlife voters" (however small their ranks) to guarantee a spot on the November ballot.

Comments (10) RSS

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Much love to my homies from Maple Leaf.

Posted by Greg on July 23, 2009 at 10:41 AM

So what popular bars or nightclubs are there in Maple Leaf? Has Miller ever had to personally make any kind of nightlife accomodation?
Another thing you missed about the Night Life crowd is that a lot of them don't live in Seattle and therefore do not vote in our elections.

Posted by Zander on July 23, 2009 at 11:13 AM

Dom - I think you are wrong. The reality is that to win in Seattle, a candidate needs to build a coalition of several interest groups, and the music/ nightlife community is one of the important ones. By itself, the music community won't win a campaign, as no one group will, but we will certainly help and can make the difference, especially in tight races (ask Nickels, who credited the music community in helping him win his historically tight race against Sidran).

SNMA has access to literally hundreds of thousands of people in Seattle and King county, people who we promote to daily, who respond to our promotions. And these people do vote and are active in their communities.

Your assumption that the music/ nightlife community is mostly under 35 is off. I would guess at least half of the music community is over 30. You also refer to a poll of the general population, while I would posit that young people in the music community are more active in their communities and are more likely to vote than their non-involved peers.

In this election, the music community is backing Dow Constantine for King County Executive, Nick Licata, Richard Conlin and David Miller for City Council, and are hugely supportive of Pete Holmes for City Attorney. These candidates will win, and the music/ nightlife community will help them with that.

Posted by Meinert on July 23, 2009 at 11:41 AM

Meinert @ 3) I'm wrong for agreeing with you? You say that "to win in Seattle, a candidate needs to build a coalition of several interest groups." And that's pretty much my conclusion, when I write "Miller may be able to combine his support from neighborhood types—he was the past president of the past President of the Maple Leaf Community Council—and the "nightlife voters" (however small their ranks) to guarantee a spot on the November ballot."

Also, the poll I refer to was not the general population, but likely primary voters. While many folks in the music community may be diligent voters, they will be heavily outnumbered next month by an older, more conservative electorate.

Posted by Dominic Holden on July 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM

Dom - you're wrong when you imply Nightlife voters are small or insignificant.

Posted by Meinert on July 23, 2009 at 12:26 PM

I don't think they're insignificant... but I do think they are a fairly small slice of the electorate in an off-year primary.

Posted by Dominic Holden on July 23, 2009 at 12:32 PM

Dom - and your opinion is based on what? the packed showing at Dow'd Crocodile event? Past results, where candidates we backed have won almost every race? Your bad assumption that the music community is mostly under 35?

I don't think there is any large group voting in the primary that sized up next to the music community makes us look small. And, the music/ nightlife community is not just about the number of votes - it's also about money and the influence. I honestly think Dow jumped to the front of the pack of Dem's in the KC Exec race due in part to that influence. Other Dem's in that race certainly seem to think so.

Also keep in mind that the music community got very active in the last election, so a large number of us are registered in this election and will get ballots in the mail.

Posted by Meinert on July 23, 2009 at 12:58 PM

Well, you're both right about the importance of building strong coalitions and a broad base of support. David Miller has both of those in heaps above the other candidates for Position #8. Heck, I'm a greenie and support him, like Earth Day founder Denis Hayes, because of his understanding of business and how to move our community forward in a healthy and productive direction. I'm also a Democrat and a democrat, and his endorsements by neighborhood groups and almost all the legislative district Democrat groups bodes well for him. And I'm all about weekends, so having labor and the music industry behind him is pretty sweet, too.

All in all it is nice to have someone willing to not just deal with all the interest groups in Seattle, but actually listen to them, hear their concerns, look at all the perspectives, and come up with intelligent and forward-thinking conclusions. And he's a damn hard worker.

Posted by green guy on July 23, 2009 at 1:51 PM