City Blethen’s Porsche
posted by December 10 at 13:10 PM
onEmployee parking space rates over at the Seattle Times are going up from $50 a month to $62.50 starting next year. That’s a 25 percent increase.
On a reporter’s salary. Ouch.
And what makes it hurt even more is this: Publisher Frank Blethen’s 2008 Porsche Cayenne AWD 4-door Turbo has started showing up in the parking lot.
Listed base price: $81,859.
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $93,700.
Photo courtesy of news intern Brian Slodysko before he was chased off the lot by security.
Comments
That's a bargain compared to a few blocks south at City Hall. The market rate at City Hall and SMT is about $200 a month, city councilmembers included.
that is one fugly car.
Josh: You don't want to ask how much more the publisher of the Stranger makes than you -- or Savage, for that matter.
At least the Times pays its reporters a decent wage with decent benefits, unlike your rag
What kind of moron buys a Porsche SUV?
Or a Mercedes SUV? Or the Cadillac Escalade?
Rhetorical.
I think thats a hot car! Esp. the color. Rarr.
How small of a penis does a $90,000 car compensate for?
$62.50 a month - sounds like a bargain.
What are the other local monthly rates?
How much do those reporters make?
Is a 60 cents per workday increase a true life altering charge to them?
Is it just the $90K car that's got your goat?
Are you supposed to be a reporter?
You were expecting Frank to slide into work aboard Rosebud?
Hey, Frank's downscaling. He used to drive a Range Rover. Gas prices, you know!
At least he's not flying his chopper there.
Color me obtuse, but I'm not sure I get your point. So the publisher drives a Porsche SUV. So what. One would presume that the publisher of a large city newspaper would make enough money to drive such a vehicle.
Am I missing something more?
@11,
Yes. You are.
Amelia, you make me Rarr :)
Meanwhile, the Seattle Times continues to talk out its ass about global warming and how "we really should do something about that, as long as it doesn't affect our extravagant lifestyle in any way at all." Aren't there any buses from Mercer Island to Seattle, Frank?
Is this a real news story or just sour grapes from Josh?
Josh, please tell us why anyone other than a bitter Stranger employee or a Times' reporter cares about this.
The Porsche Cayenne is an abomination. The whole idea of making an SUV was a violation of everything Porsche ever stood for.
I'd pay $280 a month to park at my workplace in Chicago if I didn't take the el every day. Perhaps parking in Seattle does need to be a bit more expensive to give a nudge to transit?
@15 because the people at the top are always overpaid and the people at the bottom always get screwed? He could, in lieu of giving his reporters raises or buying that car, pay for the increase for 7500 of his employees for a year.
How can he afford this? He's been claiming that the Times isn't making any money, thus his reasoning for breaking up with the P-I.
Hey Feit,
I may be on vacation, but I TOTES pitched this story a few weeks ago, via a disgruntled Times reporter.
Just sayin.
xo from BCN,
ECB
@19: Executives always get paid big bucks for running their companies into the ground. Then they deploy their golden parachutes just before impact. It's capitalism at work!
At least Frank and The Stranger can agree on ONE thing: Building light rail outside Seattle is a waste of fucking money.
Regarding the Cayenne, perhaps Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson put it best when he said, "I mean, just look at it!" before refusing to drive it another inch.
serious on the, who gives a sh*t front, if parking is expensive for "reporters salary's" don't drive.
The boss drives a 90k$ stupid car? big deal I would expect him to drive a 300k Mercedes.
The boss makes more money than the employees, news at 11.
Not my taste in a Porsche. Have owned one, years ago, god, almost scared me to drive it cause it went so fast so soon.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz - so a rich family likes expensive new cars, news in America?
Doesn't it just kill ya when someone pays that much for a fucking car?
What's the value per space of the land that lot sits on, compared to what it would sell for on the market? Surface parking in that area is getting more and more wasteful as real estate goes up. And if they built a garage, it would be even more -- even adding a floor or two to new office construction to allow parking floors below adds at least $100 or so per space per month, amortized. It's eminently fair.
I assume they subsidize bus passes.
The boss drives an expensive car -- how UNUSUAL. Not.
That is fucking cheap parking; no wonder he drives the Porsche. I pay $240 for downtown Seattle parking. ps. The Cayenne is a Toureg is a Q7, with modifications. All pretty ugly, but whatevers.
Yes, the Times subsidizes bus passes and the majority of my coworkers take the bus, myself included. It's a screamin' deal: I buy one tank of gas per month (if that) and my insurance rates are next to nothing.
Well, the Chevy Volt, a plug-in electric car, is a bit more than $90,000 as I recall ...
You can lock your bike in that same lot, in a fenced bike cage, for free. I hope more people opt to bike to work, rather than drive, at the Times.
Guess I won't buy the Seattle Times anymore. Bleth (I call him Bleth) doesn't need my dough.
TWO BUCKS A DAY?
fuck, i work in the wrong part of town.
Interestingly, the Times did boost the cost of parking but provides annual bus passes for about $150. The idea is to get people using public transportation rather than driving into town.
Hmmm. Isn't that something you and your cohorts would support, Josh?
@34 et al,
I don't have as much invested in this minor Slog item as you seem to hope/imagine. (Encouraging bike riding sounds great, though.)
Then why waste the keystrokes, Josh? I've worked for other newspapers who had ostentatious publishers too. But that's because I've always worked for major metropolitan dailies (starting sophomore year of college) and not a free bar-ad tab with a major chip on its shoulder.
it's awfully lame to have to pay for parking, if you HAVE to use your car for work. so, i think the reporters and probably a number of the sales staff at the times have a valid complaint about paying for parking. otherwise, i'm not sure what the big fuss is about.
ps - blethen is a douchebag publisher, and that porsche, well, it's a douchebag car. so, i'm not sure what the big surprise is about there, either.
@37 - Most reporters don't have to drive.
Josh, how about a posting that compares a photo of Dan Savage's $1,000,000+ home to whatever hovel you can afford on your Stranger salary (or are you another trust fund kid?).
savage is a national treasure, sort of like bob novak or valerie bertinelli. didn't you see the colbert show dammit? of course savage has an expensive house.
Gee, maybe if some of you whiners got off your fat, lazy heinies, and wrote two or three moderately successful national best-sellers, you too could afford to buy a nice house.
Ah, but that would involve actual work and productivity - sorry, mea culpa. Continue with the snarkage.
@36: Dan earned the money for his many dream homes; Frank inherited the family business.
Congrats to the Times for doing something right for transportation.
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