From the Oct 4 – Oct 10, 2001 issue

News

Cutting the Rug

City Axes Vera Project, Leaving All-Ages In Doubt

by Pat Kearney

In yet another example of Seattle's firm non-commitment to local teenagers, the Vera Project--the ambitious city-funded all-ages organization-- has been slashed from the 2002 city budget. Despite a written plea by six members of the Seattle City Council asking to keep Vera's $125,000 annual funding intact, self-described "arts mayor" Paul Schell brought the ax down anyway. To be fair, the economy is wreaking havoc on the city budget and tough cuts were needed. But the cut demonstrates the mayor's priorities and again raises the question Seattleites have asked over and over: Why is it so difficult to support an all-ages scene in this town?

Across the water, Kirkland, Redmond, and Bellevue seem to have figured out how to nurture the all-ages scene. In June, the City of Kirkland spent almost $2 million to build a high-tech teen center, in the middle of its beloved Peter Kirk Park no less, complete with a recording studio, a darkroom, a performance stage, and a computer lab. Redmond and Bellevue, though not as wealthy as Kirkland, also have substantial youth centers. "We have our challenges here," says Kate Becker, director of Redmond's Old Firehouse and a booker for Vera events, "but the mayor and the city have been very committed." If traditionally conservative and uptight communities like Kirkland, Redmond, and Bellevue can muster all-ages support, why can't artsy-fartsy Seattle? The mayor's funding cut has put the all-ages scene in a box--while refusing to provide funding, city hall has also made Seattle's teen dance climate so inhospitable that private clubs and organizations can't support it either.

Unfortunately, the Vera cut shows where the city's priorities lie. Though the mayor and city council can find the money to fund a $73 million city hall and a $23 million aquarium, apparently the teenagers are out of luck. Meanwhile, for other arts organizations and arts-related matters, Mayor Schell has admirably upped the budget. Unfortunately, increased money almost always ends up going to bigger institutions like the Seattle Art Museum.

As critics have repeatedly pointed out, Seattle's laws and restrictions make it difficult to operate a private business that caters to all ages. This is the reason Vera was created as a city-funded project in the first place. Over the years, high property costs, paranoid insurance rates (oh no, your child might die dancing!), tough laws like the Teen Dance Ordinance, and a lack of widespread city council and institutional support have forced successful all-ages clubs (RKCNDY, for example) out of business again and again.

Sympathetic city council members like Richard Conlin and Heidi Wills understood the all-ages predicament when they pushed for $25,000 to help launch Vera earlier this year. Since that time, Vera has consistently sold out shows and met all its youth volunteer goals, impressing private donors like Paul Allen (who recently gave $10,000 to the project). The experiment has worked, and the newly proposed city budget spits in its face.

When The Stranger first reported about Vera, we were skeptical about the concept of a city-funded (and possibly city-influenced) venue. It looks like we were right--the teen scene is at the whim of the city budget. Either the city needs to cough up the funds to continue Vera's operations, or it needs to completely revamp Seattle's club climate and allow Vera and future all-ages venues to operate successfully, without the city's schizophrenic help.

pat@thestranger.com