(dj danger) I will be attending the the City council vote on Monday at City Hall as this is about the future of all nightclubs (BIG, SMALL, HIP HOP, ELECTRONIC, LATIN, ROCK, ETC ETC ETC) in Seattle.
Seattle clubs are in grave danger! The City Council will meet Monday September 17th at 2:00pm at the Seattle City Hall to vote on Mayor Nickel’s nightlife ordinance. It is key that you contact the city council by phone or email to voice your opinion on this. We just ask that you do it in a professional manner.
If this ordinance passes it will be the final nail in the coffin for many many “clubs” in Seattle. Among many over restrictive regulations this ordinance will call for a separate license for “Nightclubs” (basically any venue with a 200 person capacity that charges cover). This license will be issued by the Mayors discretion, and we all know his opinions on nightclubs! Any violation of the regulations that guide this license and a club could be closed for 30 days at the least or have its license revoked (even a single violation) which then requires them to close their doors for good.
Violations include:
Underage drinking
Fights or Assaults
Over Service
Allowing drugs on premise
Allowing weapons on premise
(While clubs do their best to fight these violations, they cannot completely control them 100% of the time. For decades, technology has given people the ability to create professional quality fake IDs. You can't control two people getting into a fight you can only stop it from escalating. And you can't strip search every patron to make sure they don't have drugs or weapons.)
Essentially this gives the city carte blanch to close establishments at will. Make no mistake they will close clubs! Some of you might be aware of the recent SPD sting operation where over a dozen clubs were cited with multiple violations. Without going into detail most of these charges are trumped up and there is little to no evidence to prove these violations. In fact, most of the arrested nightclub employees were picked at random based on the fact that they worked on the night of the sting. Trust me on this one; it stinks from top to bottom - think entrapment. All of this is to gain favor of the city council to force through this totalitarian piece of legislation. A very fair nightlife ordinance was already passed recently. Mayor Nickels' version is very extreme and seeks to cripple the nightlife & music industry in Seattle.
YOU MUST ACT NOW, MONDAY WILL BE TOO LATE!!!
Follow this link to the City Council contact page and let them know what you think!
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/council/councilcontact_printable.htm
If you'd like to read more about the recent nightlife ordinance (the fair one) as well as Nickels' version, go here: http://seattlenma.org/news/index.php
