They're all whores. The only thing surprising is that they sell out the public for so little. But they won't be on the council forever so a good paying job promised for when they need one has a lot of value.
Also, if The Stranger really cared about the substance of this issue rather than the optics and narrative they would actually take the time/expense to send a reporter to the event. I attended one day of a Suncadia annual retreat when I covered city government for a suburban newspaper. It was as dreadfully boring as you'd expect, but a good window into individual council members' views on big picture issues of governance. There's a good argument to be made that elected officials meeting 100 miles away from their constituents is a violation of the spirit (if not the letter) of the Open Public Meetings law, but the histrionics about it being some Illuminati gala is childish.
I imagine itās a nice break for our council members from their daily routine of constantly dealing with whining groups of moochers demanding all levels of publicly funded ass wiping services for āvulnerableā communities who apparently never learned to wipe their own asses yet seem to think that somebody else's responsiblity.
To your objection about using taxpayer funding to cover the travel expenses - would you prefer that private corporations had paid their way? The entire point of public funding for travel is to remove the rather obvious conflict of interest.
The Stranger needs to get a real.reporter to cover the city beat.
@8 & 10 - You both said it correctly. Little Ansel is just trying to get clicks on his story. Bad writing and a little drama are this kids hallmarks. If people weren't leaving The Stranger in droves, they might consider firing little Ansel. Lord knows they should - he drags the bar down for this publication.
To a Stranger reporter I'm sure $1,350 seems like a fortune, but it's pretty minor in a city budget. So are the campaign contributions. Really, it's not about the money.
Now if you want to argue that City Council members are way too cozy with big business interests I wouldn't disagree. But this is a silly example to make that argument.
Is their any other civic group organized by labor or neighborhood people who could generate this level of attendance by this many City Council members? This far away from Seattle? And on the City's nickel? The answer is clearly No.
@9 well, she wasn't there and apparently neither was the Stranger, so no. I mean, of course it's possible, but this article and her accusation are at this point nothing but conjecture.
I like and support Sawant, so I'd like to see her be better and more substantial than this. Unfortunately I can't hold out as much hope for the current state of the Stranger's city reporting.
I'm usually pretty critical of Ansel's stories, but credit where it is due, this story raises an important issue (the cozy, to the point of unseemly relationship between corporate types and politicians). More like this Ansel. And you can dial down the red-faced anger/sarcasm tone even a bit more. The facts speak for themselves.
It's an interesting story, certainly worth exploring. But it's based on a faulty premise; that business is bad and that business is bad for the people of Seattle. It's not. Business and economic development are a part of a City's functioning, a vital, important part. Ansel can't accept that. In his mind all business is the enemy, therefore this retreat is, de facto, evil. It's not true.
Burgess, with the help of the Gates Foundation crafted 1B. The Chamber of Commerce paid for 40 individuals to go on a prek junket.
1B's campaign had $150.00 until the endorsement period had essentially ended.
After major endorsements were obtained, 1B's campaign began being funded by those that funded charter schools and support the corporate model of education.
Burgess is running for an at-large position. Keep your eyes on his campaign funds. I'm confident you'll see the same supporters of charter schools fill his campaign chest...Bezos, Ballmer, Christopher Larson, Matt Griffin, Jeff Raikes and alike.
@5 good luck getting the stranger to talk about eb5, I've posted about it on multiple threads but since it doesn't go with any of their current narratives they never buit up. Weird that "journalist" so close to Vancouver can't reconize this.
I have my own reasons for not liking the CoC.
Join the National Federation of Independent Businesses, you'll be better served.
http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profi…
Also, if The Stranger really cared about the substance of this issue rather than the optics and narrative they would actually take the time/expense to send a reporter to the event. I attended one day of a Suncadia annual retreat when I covered city government for a suburban newspaper. It was as dreadfully boring as you'd expect, but a good window into individual council members' views on big picture issues of governance. There's a good argument to be made that elected officials meeting 100 miles away from their constituents is a violation of the spirit (if not the letter) of the Open Public Meetings law, but the histrionics about it being some Illuminati gala is childish.
The Stranger needs to get a real.reporter to cover the city beat.
Now if you want to argue that City Council members are way too cozy with big business interests I wouldn't disagree. But this is a silly example to make that argument.
I like and support Sawant, so I'd like to see her be better and more substantial than this. Unfortunately I can't hold out as much hope for the current state of the Stranger's city reporting.
1B's campaign had $150.00 until the endorsement period had essentially ended.
After major endorsements were obtained, 1B's campaign began being funded by those that funded charter schools and support the corporate model of education.
Burgess is running for an at-large position. Keep your eyes on his campaign funds. I'm confident you'll see the same supporters of charter schools fill his campaign chest...Bezos, Ballmer, Christopher Larson, Matt Griffin, Jeff Raikes and alike.
The city's plan is P20; a research project that will track toddlers until they are 20 years old. So much wonderful data to store in Microsoft's CLOUD!