Wills Questions Nickels
Seattle City Council Member Heidi Wills has thrown the latest jab in her scrap with Mayor Greg Nickels. (The pair has been sparring about Seattle City Light's third-tier rate.) Last week, Wills contacted Ethics and Elections Director Carol Van Noy and city council colleague Nick Licata, who oversees ethics issues. Wills was calling attention to a May 17 Seattle City Light letter that went out to over 2,000 City Light customers, which featured a quote from Nickels criticizing the council and Wills' third tier.
Last year Wills created the higher third-tier rate to discourage excessive electricity use. Nickels tried to nix the rate last month, but Wills won the battle, keeping the rate in place ["Wills' Counterproposal," Josh Feit, May 16].
In the questionable May 17 letter--mailed to all third-tier customers--Nickels spelled out his anti-council policy position, criticizing the third-tier rate.
Wills is right to question Nickels' use of Seattle City Light's mass mailing as a political pulpit. However, Wills is no paragon of ethics. Last summer, Wills used Seattle City Light to promote herself and her agenda, outlining her policies in a series of City Light advertisements with her picture plastered on them ["Two Weeks in June," Dan Savage and Josh Feit, July 19, 2001]. JOSH FEIT
New Microsoft Ad Campaign
Microsoft is spending big bucks on a new ad campaign targeting AOL customers. The Redmond software giant is spending a whopping $10 million for an eight-week-long media push aimed at convincing AOL's Internet subscribers to switch over to Microsoft's MSN service. To get the word out, Microsoft, with the help of its PR firm Waggener Edstrom, is using mailers, national newspaper ads, and online advertising.
Microsoft is offering $50 checks and a streamlined software program that automatically switches AOL customer info directly to MSN.
The duel between Microsoft and AOL is a lot like the cell phone and long-distance wars, with each company continually trying to entice consumers to switch services. So far, AOL, with 33 million customers, is winning by about 25 million subscribers. PAT KEARNEY
The New Men of Manray
Three original employees of Manray, Capitol Hill's three-year-old gay video bar, have announced their purchase of the bar. The sale comes just weeks after the grand opening of Blu Video Bar--Manray's biggest competition, with a similar concept and shiny décor--just two blocks away.
New owner Tommy Hendrick pledges to make needed repairs, revamp Manray's concept, and eventually expand. "We're going to turn this place around," he says. AMY JENNIGES
