STRIPPERGATE—the 2003 scandal in which associates of Rick's strip club in Lake City were accused of conspiring to illegally funnel campaign contributions to three members of the Seattle City Council at a time when the club was seeking a controversial parking-lot zoning change—has become the scandal that refuses to die. Nor, some have argued, should it: The principle at stake in Strippergate goes far beyond the strictly legal (did employees and affiliates of Rick's "bundle" campaign contributions to get around $650 limits imposed by campaign-finance law?), to the most basic concerns about campaigns and how they're funded. Namely, is it fair for one wealthy business owner to exert a greater influence over public policy than you and I, just because that business owner is rich and powerful?
But as long as we're asking that question, some say, we shouldn't stop at strippers and North Seattle parking lots. Vulcan, another company that sought a zoning change from the council in 2003, has benefited far more handsomely than Rick's from policies the council has adopted. And for years the company has rewarded council incumbents who have voted for its policies with generous campaign contributions. A Stranger analysis shows that of the five incumbents who are currently up for reelection (Jan Drago, Richard McIver, Nick Licata, Richard Conlin, and Mayor Greg Nickels), three—Drago, McIver, and Nickels—have received donations that total more than $29,000 from Vulcan, its employees, and other companies that will potentially benefit from city policies in South Lake Union. Vulcan contributions amount to more than $8,000 of that total. South Lake Union property owners and businesses affiliated with Vulcan (such as Parsons Brinkerhoff, a large engineering consulting firm; Foster Pepper & Shefelman, the company's law firm; and Sellen Construction, a South Lake Union–based construction firm) account for the rest.
Of the three incumbents who've received donations from Vulcan this year, Drago and Nickels in particular have been among the biggest city backers of Vulcan's policies. So far, Drago has received $2,800 from Vulcan and its employees, and approximately $7,900 from other companies with interests in South Lake Union; Nickels has received more than $3,400 from Vulcan and its employees, and approximately $10,700 from companies with South Lake Union interests. Neither Conlin nor Licata have received a dime from Vulcan or Vulcan employees so far this year; both have received much smaller totals from South Lake Union companies than their council colleagues.
Since 2003, the city has approved the Vulcan-backed South Lake Union streetcar, signed off on zoning changes that will allow biotech companies to build taller buildings in the area, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure improvements in South Lake Union, and passed several resolutions expressing support for a biotech hub in the area.
The Stranger isn't the only one watching the money flowing out of South Lake Union. Seattle Displacement Coalition Leader John V. Fox, a longtime anti-Vulcan activist who opposes the company's redevelopment plans in the once-affordable neighborhood of South Lake Union, co-wrote an article last week with fellow activist Carolee Coulter calling attention to the discrepancy between the level of attention Strippergate has maintained compared to Vulcan's own political contributions. In the article, published in the Beacon Hill News, Fox and Coulter call for an independent investigation into Vulcan's contributions, noting that Drago sponsored a fundraiser for the Vulcan-backed Build the Streetcar campaign just 10 months before the council approved the 1.3-mile trolley line. "There's more than enough grounds for an investigation on a par with Strippergate," Fox says.
That may be going a bit far. Vulcan's contributions do not appear to have been illegally "bundled"—unlike Rick's, whose owners and business affiliates allegedly funneled money through employees and family members to skirt the city's contribution limits. But they don't need to be. Vulcan, which is privately controlled by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, is one of the largest and most influential landowners in the city, with $2 billion invested in real estate in South Lake Union alone. Also unlike Rick's, Vulcan has hundreds of white-collar employees with an interest in promoting its political agenda. According to campaign-finance reports filed with the city's Ethics and Elections Commission, Vulcan contributions have come from employees at every level—from graphic designers to the president of the company.
