For a couple years running, The Stranger's news staff has started the year by identifying local politicians, trends, and people that we think are headed for a flameout in the coming months when measured by the proverbial 15 Minutes of Fame meter.
In our January 2005 "14th Minute" roundup, for example, we predicted that, despite the monorail's November 2004 victory at the polls, monorail Executive Director Joel Horn was doomed. Check. We also predicted that "Nickels opposition"âat the time being stoked by loud activists like John Foxâwould fizzle. Check. Heck, as if we'd nominated Al Runte ourselves, we wrote, "Look for loopy, illegitimate, self-important candidates to fill a role that will be largely perfunctory in 2005."
We obviously know what we're talking about around here. If you show up on this list, you should be nervous.
State Republican Chairman Chris Vance. In the wake of Paul Berendt's resignation, the spotlight is currently on the state Democratic Party and Berendt's likely successor, Dwight Pelz. But the focus will shift to the Republicans later this year when their current state chair, Chris Vance, resigns, taking a lower-profile gig. (That court case in Chelan County just didn't work out as planned, and the voter-challenge fiasco was an embarrassing follow-up.)
"Consistently Progressive Local Voices." Seattle Weekly columnist Geov Parrish, anticipating that his boilerplate lefty column won't survive the New Times takeover at the Weekly, has lamented that his absence will eliminate the only "consistently progressive local political voice" in Seattle's newspapers. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the arrival of the Phoenix-based New Times chain does not equal the death of the Weekly. The Weekly is already part of a New Yorkâbased corporate-media chain (with a track record of heavy contributions to George Bush)âso, as a financial model, there's really no dramatic change taking place here. If Parrish does lose his job, as he predicts he will, he can't really blame it on the corporate super state. More to the point: New Times will actually make the consistently progressive (i.e., predictably orthodox) Weekly a better paperâespecially if the paper stops being "consistently progressive."
The Seattle SuperSonics. After the Sonics make their pitch for $250 million-plus in stadium handouts next month, Seattle will wise up and be the first city in America to reject the NBA's business model, which relies on public subsidies. That's good news. Studies show that pro sports don't help local economies.
Hot Housing Market. Watch for home prices to stop rising this year. I'll tell you why: Last year, we killed the best hope for inner-city mass transitâand there's no sign that help is on the way (just more people). This makes living in places like Queen Anne, an egregious example of an overpriced neighborhood, less valuable.
Some other things in their 14th minute: The idea that the viaduct tunnel option will only cost $4.5 billion; the idea that getting light rail to the U-District will only add $1.5 billion to the current $2.6 billion price tag; the idea that George Bush is dumb, and that Dick Cheney is smart.
