Last week, FLanked by City Councilmember Nick Licata and Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, Mayor Greg Nickels announced plans to expand the work of the city's Joint Assessment Team, a group of regulatory officials that inspected 85 downtown clubs for safety, permitting, and tax violations late last summer. The mission of the JAT, according to Nickels spokeswoman Marianne Bichsel, is to "get all the departments together to work with club owners to identify problems," such as blocked fire exits and overcrowding, that threaten public safety. "We want a vibrant nightlife, but we also want a safe nightlife," Bichsel said.

But some club owners worry that the JAT's real mission is to crack down on nightlife, not make it safer. "There is a problem with safety at some clubs," says Mirabeau Room co-owner Dave Meinert, a frequent critic of the mayor, "but how is this dealing with it?" Among dozens of more serious violations, Meinert notes, the JAT's October 19 report included numerous problems that had nothing to do with the safety or security of club patrons, including expired "amusement-device permits"; failure to use sequentially numbered tickets; and undercollection of the city's 5 percent admissions tax.

Bichsel, responding to criticism that the JAT is conducting raids, not ensuring public safety, said the mayor's office "actually got very few complaints" from club owners and patrons during the JAT's eight-week initial run. Licata, who says the JAT "needs to rein back on some of the pettier violations," says he was reassured by Nickels's creation of a "nightlife and neighborhoods" task force that includes club owners and neighborhood representatives. Licata hopes that task force, which has no direct legal authority over the JAT, will "serve as an outlet for any concerns the clubs may have about the performance" of the assessment team. Bichsel says the JAT will decide where to focus its efforts next "in the next month or two," and should move out of downtown and into a new neighborhood shortly thereafter.

IN OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS

UNIVERSTIY DISTRICT: The Blue Moon tavern continued to make its case in front of administrative law judge Christy Cufley this week that the city had unfairly turned down its liquor license request as retaliation for the tavern's refusal to sign a 32-point Community Good Neighbor Agreement ["Mooning the City," by Amy Jenniges, November 3]. The Blue Moon has had just two liquor violations in the last 23 years. Asked why they were targeting the Blue Moon—a spot with no record of community complaints, as U-District Council President Matt Fox was planning to testify at this week's hearings—the evasive mayor's office passed the buck to the city attorney's office. However, a February 17 e-mail obtained by The Stranger from City Attorney Tom Carr to Assistant City Attorney Ed McKenna makes it plain that Nickels's office explicitly signed off on the Blue Moon challenge. "[Deputy Mayor] Tim Ceis approved the decision," Carr wrote. "Will you present it to the SPD and try to get it out ASAP." WOODLAND PARK: Skatepark advocates were excited to hear that plans are moving forward to complete the new skate facility in Lower Woodland Park. Councilmember Richard Conlin is asking the city for the remaining $250,000 needed to complete the project. Given that Seattle Center's skatepark is closing and moving to a yet-to-be-identified spot, Woodland and the under-construction Ballard skatepark will temporarily have to serve as the only two spots for the skaters in the entire city.

Fortunately, Councilmember David Della has also proposed a resolution that would draft a comprehensive skatepark plan—enabling the city to implement several skateparks throughout town instead of going through the process skatepark by skatepark, which means more money and time.

The $100,000 plan calls for an independent consultant to oversee the project—thrilling news to skaters who've been frustrated over the years by the parks department. (The parks department, which traditionally oversees skateparks, has a track record of de-prioritizing skateboard bowls by fitting them into broader park development plans.) The consultant will not be part of the parks department.

The plan also sets up a "Skatepark Advisory Commission" which will include everything from a landscape-architecture professional to someone from the parks department, someone from the department of transportation, and five at-large members who will be drawn from skateboarding advocacy groups, parents, and skaters themselves. —Josh Feit and Sarah Fischer