From the Jul 19 – Jul 25, 2001 issue

News

Bad Advice

Civil Libertarian Takes Task Force to Task

by Josh Feit

The Special Events Task Force--one of three task forces created by Mayor Paul Schell last winter in response to the Mardi Gras riots--circulated its draft recommendations last week. The recommendations are intended to shore up the existing special events permitting process established in 1991 for everything from Bumbershoot to neighborhood block parties. The goal of the reforms, obviously, is to avoid a repeat of February's Mardi Gras disaster.

Judging from the reaction of local promoter Dave Meinert, the mayor should trash the task force's work. "The task force should be embarrassed," Meinert said after reading the draft. "If these recommendations are put into law, there is no doubt they will be challenged in court." Meinert, who organizes special events himself (like last weekend's jam-packed Capitol Hill Block Party), thinks the recommendations would give too much power to the city--setting up situations where the city could discriminate against certain events.

Meinert's apprehension is based on language buried in the draft's final pages: "If... the Special Events Committee determines that there are... issues that need to be further addressed, conditions can be tied to the permit." The report goes on to list some assessment tools: "Audience Demographic," "Entertainment Genre," and "Media Sponsors."

"That's where I start running into problems," Meinert says. "What, beyond age, makes a difference in demographics? Race? Religion? Political philosophy? Where you live?" Call Meinert an alarmist if you want, but in a city with a history of profiling certain clubs (read: black), he's got a point.

"We've had a mayor and a police chief blame hiphop for killings. Now, the city would be in a position to look at 'entertainment genre'? Obviously, I worry about bias there."

Kym Allen, the staff coordinator for the task force, says there's nothing ominous about the "genre" or "demographic" assessment tools. "It's just knowing your audience. It's not a 'negative' toward your audience. It's to help organizers run a successful event." In the same breath, however, Allen seems to confirm Meinert's fears. She says the assessment tools would help the city "put conditions on the permit."

josh@thestranger.com