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Thursday, July 30, 2009

City Number of the Day: $16,000

Posted by Bryan T. Bissell on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 8:15 AM

(A) The amount Greg Nickels has spent on all his television commercials in July.

(B) The amount Greg Nickels has paid his spokesperson since the beginning of his campaign.

(C) The amount Greg Nickels spent on a new suit, entertainment for party-goers, catering, and rental space at the Westin Hotel for his campaign kick-off/fundraiser in June.

(D) The amount Greg Nickels paid the Westin Hotel for that morning's catering and rental space alone.

Answer's after the jump.

(D) It's the amount Greg Nickels paid the Westin Hotel for that morning's catering and rental space alone. That's absurd.

Source.

Comments (18) RSS

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Absurd? Not at all. I'm planning a wedding and that sounds about right.

Posted by sepiolida on July 30, 2009 at 8:19 AM

Now, if he'd paid his spokesperson only that much, *that* would be absurd.

Posted by sepiolida on July 30, 2009 at 8:22 AM

Absurdity would be proven if the Westin fundraiser made him less than $16,000. But I kind of doubt that's the case.

Posted by gloomy gus on July 30, 2009 at 8:37 AM

Secret answer E: The total amount Drago has raised
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

Posted by sepiolida on July 30, 2009 at 8:41 AM

I agree with 1. Not bad at all. I help with our annual fundraiser for a nonprofit and for all the food, service, and corkage fees, it is going to run us about $35K. But the event is going to raise $350K.

Posted by Nick P. on July 30, 2009 at 8:41 AM

Have you ever rented a space at a nice hotel and had it catered? That shit ain't cheap.

Posted by giffy on July 30, 2009 at 8:49 AM

What's the big deal? That sounds like market rate to me. Anything less might have amounted to a potentially problematic campaign contribution.

Plus, it was a high profile event that certainly garnered a return worthy of the $16,000 investment.

Posted by oneway on July 30, 2009 at 9:37 AM

please find something else to write about. like, another subject, b/c politics ain't your bag.

$16,000 for a campaign kickoff breakfast that probably netted 60-70k and brought in a ton of possible gen election donors is money well spent.

Posted by dacoach on July 30, 2009 at 9:48 AM

Write, y'know, what you know, y'know?

Posted by RonK, Seattle on July 30, 2009 at 9:58 AM

If I had told myself last year I'd be considering reading publicola to see what Erica C. Barnett is writing about, I would have punched myself in the face. But why punch yourself in the face, when you can just read slog?

Posted by RL is too lazy to log in on July 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM

Greg Nickels alone could eat $16,000 worth of pastries.

Posted by DOUG.

on July 30, 2009 at 10:26 AM

By the way, has Greg Nickels' son paid his $90,000 restitution to the Nooksack Casino? And, if so, where did he get the money?

Posted by DOUG.

on July 30, 2009 at 10:29 AM

It's not absurd.

What is absurd is he didn't get it all donated to the campaign - sign that they're not doing that well ...

I like Mike.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on July 30, 2009 at 10:32 AM

16k sounds reasonable, too bad the catering food at the Westin is bland, boring, and played out.

Does anyone else agree that the Westin is one of the ugliest hotels in the city?

Posted by Chaosbound on July 30, 2009 at 10:42 AM

I've done events there, and that sounds about right. Remember, he's catering to a different crowd than us who'd happily set up our buffet with dumpster dived day old vegan pastries from Madison Market.

Posted by badempire on July 30, 2009 at 11:09 AM

this story makes you look like a real rookie covering politics.

Posted by West Seattle Waiter on July 30, 2009 at 11:25 AM

@ Will, money paid to union workers at a union hotel. That worked well for him and his union endorsements. he got his monies worth and the campaign made a good move. He also has over 2000 people who have donated to his campain.

Sign McGinn's campaign isn't doing well, he has no money at all.

Posted by Justsaying on July 30, 2009 at 11:55 AM

It all depends on what was being paid for. A suite to host 16 people ($1000 per person) is ridiculous, a large space to host 1000 people ($16 per person) sounds cheap to me. I'm sure the real number falls some where in between. Nickels has been at this for a while, so I doubt it is money is ill spent.

Without the head count (not the head tax, seperate riduculous issue) there is no context for the cost.

Posted by Queegmire on July 31, 2009 at 2:55 AM