Saturday's Rock and Roll Bake Sale, a party for embattled City Council Member Richard Conlin, featured cakes and cookies and a giant box of Krispy Kremes, all piled onto the pool table in the smoky, unscrubbed eastern quadrant of Linda's, which was repurposed for the kid-friendly mid-afternoon event. The goodies, which also included a table covered with frosted cupcakes and plastic pots of icing, ranged from bargain basement (the Krispy Kremes, hastily labeled "Kerri Harrop made these" in Magic Marker) to deluxe (a white cake in the shape of a house made by musician/author John Wesley Harding and bought by rumpled man-about-town Ben Exworthy for $175).

The small crowd of hipsters and music-industry activists wasn't the kind of big-money group that ordinarily populates political events; many bought nothing more than a $2 cookie, or a $5 cupcake. But in a race where all four major candidates are running neck and neck (King County Council Member Dwight Pelz, who raised $18,000 in April, leads the pack with $104,000; but former mayoral spokesman Casey Corr had the best month, bringing in $28,000 for a total of $93,000) every dollar counts. Whether everyone will stay in Conlin's race remains an open question: The latest scenario circulating at city hall has Pelz dropping out to run against incumbent Richard McIver, prompting landlord Robert Rosencrantz to leave that race to run against Nick Licata. Conlin, who was waylaid by the opening of City Hall's new plaza, and arrived halfway through his own event, offered no theory on the rumors.

The plaza's grand opening, which featured bands, poetry readings, and 300 free umbrellas (for children), was reportedly almost interrupted by protests from unionized city workers, who are mired in negotiations over the rising cost of health care. An aide to City Council president Jan Drago reportedly asked King County Labor Council President Steve Williamson to have a word with union representatives about their alleged plans to picket; on Monday, Williamson told me that while he did "put some calls in to the local," he didn't specifically ask them to call off any protest. Union representative Natalie Kaminski acknowledges that the union talked about a possible protest, but says "there was never any formal plan" to stage a picket line. Williamson, however, confirmed that the KCLC has opted to withhold its endorsements in city council races because of the ongoing contract negotiations.

Mayor Nickels' proposed downtown height and density increases, which Nickels' office hoped would go before the council sometime this month, now won't be heard until summer. The reasons given for the delay vary, but all center on the city attorney's office, which is taking longer to look over the 250-page rezone than the mayor's office had anticipated. Some on the second floor speculated that Nickels wanted to send the legislation to the council on a fast track, forcing council members to consider the controversial upzone quickly. City Attorney Tom Carr, for his part, called the back-and-forth "standard," adding, "It's 250 pages of legislation. It's going to take us some time." ■