Yes, the seemingly never-ending battle continues, and your help is still needed. After a meeting last week where more reasonable ideas were set forth, a few council members and the mayor seem intent on rolling back the progress made.
You have a voice. Use it, or be ready for the closure of your favorite rock club. Above and beyond being able to go out and listen to great music live, that means it will be that much harder for your band to book shows, and your friends who are bartenders, waitstaff, barbacks and doormen are going to be out of work, too. Worst of all, you and others won’t be able to wander into a club any given night and discover your new favorite band. That’s one of the biggest advantages of living in a city, especially Seattle — for a city with a century of amazing musical heritage, these proposals are particularly alarming and draconian.
Here’s the message that’s making the rounds, with suggestions on how to speak up and stop these pointless proposals:
Voice your opinion to the City Council!
Last Thursday, the City Council’s Neighborhoods and Economic Development committee passed a reasonable package of new nightlife rules which creates an advisory board, requires some nightlife businesses to develop security plans, and adds additional enforcement staffing for the city. This package can be viewed at http://www.seattle.gov/council/issues/nighlife_ord.htm.
However, a last minute push by Councilmembers Jan Drago and David Della has put the mayor’s license proposal back on the table. The new proposal can be viewed here (http://seattlenma.org/downloads/prpsd_ntlf_lic_ord.pdf). This new license, combined with the new rules the committee has already passed, makes this new package as extreme – if not more – than what the mayor proposed. In addition, the council is working on a new noise ordinance which has yet to be made public, but is expected to be voted on next Thursday, August 16. The council is now contemplating even more regulation than the Mayor proposed!
Here is what we need you to do:
* Contact the members of the city council and tell them you support the package that the committee has approved and we don’t need a license. They should just vote on what they have in front of them NOW and move on.
* Please contact the City Council today! Councilmembers email addresses are listed below.
* Attend the Monday, August 13th 2 PM City Council meeting and testify. You will have only two minutes, and they limit the total time allotted for public comment so sign up early!
* Attend the Thursday, August 16th, 6 PM meeting of council’s Neighborhoods and Economic Development Committee at the Highpoint Community Center – 6920 34th Ave SW. Testimony will be taken at the beginning of the meeting.
* Forward this email to your friends and colleagues asking them to voice their support of nightlife in Seattle. Neighborhood activists and the Mayor have been pounding on City Councilmembers these last few months. Our voice needs to be heard! Contact the councilmembers today!
Seattle City Council:
Sally Clark – sally.clark@seattle.gov
Richard Conlin – richard.conlin@seattle.gov
David Della – david.della@seattle.gov
Jan Drago – jan.drago@seattle.gov
Jean Godden – jean.godden@seattle.gov
Nick Licata – nick.licata@seattle.gov
Richard McIver – richard.mciver@seattle.gov
Tom Rasmussen – tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov
Peter Steinbrueck – peter.steinbrueck@seattle.gov
Real Low Vibe 