Trade council fires back over WTO

In a letter to Seattle City Council members yesterday, the Washington Council on International Trade took "strong exception to the series of inaccurate findings of 'fact' and unwarranted and unfair calls for sanctions against WCIT and its President Pat Davis."

A City Council-appointed panel, examining how the WTO was invited to Seattle, had singled out Davis in its bluntly worded report.

The July 30 report concluded that Davis -- who was leading the push to bring the WTO here -- seemed to commit the city, King County and the state to paying all the costs of last fall's conference. To make things worse, the panel concluded that Davis hadn't consulted with the governments before committing their money.

That was a sticky point because Seattle taxpayers were left holding a $9 million bill for dealing with the riot-plagued conference, and the city is still trying to get the federal government to pay its share.

"The panel finds that Ms. Davis and the WCIT made commitments to the United States Government on behalf of the city of Seattle, King County and the state of Washington that they were not authorized to make," the report said.

The panel recommended the city approve some form of "sanction" against Davis and the WCIT.

But the panel and its chairman, attorney Bob Rohan, based their conclusion on a single statement from Davis in a letter to the State Department while Seattle was bidding for the conference. She wrote that the Seattle Host Organization, which included Mayor Paul Schell, Gov. Gary Locke and King County Executive Ron Sims as well as local business leaders, "will cover whatever the final costs are."

Henry Kotkins, chairman of the WCIT's board, wrote that the statement was taken out of context. He noted that the letter also attached a list of things the corporate community was willing to pay for, thereby making Seattle more attractive.

He said the letter was simply an "expression of confidence" that the corporate community could pay its share.

The letter also pointed out that the panel was only to gather facts on how the WTO was invited here, and that the panel went beyond its mission by personally criticizing Davis and calling for sanctions against her and the WCIT.

Rohan was out of the country yesterday and could not be reached.

Councilwoman Jan Drago, a member of the panel, said the letter "shows there are many perspectives and interpretations of this issue."

Privately, council members have said they were uncomfortable with what they saw as personal shots taken in a report that should focus on legislative reforms, but didn't want to censor the citizens on the panel.

Council members have not been seriously contemplating any action against Davis or the WCIT, partly because they don't know what they could do.

Nevertheless, Davis said in an interview that the WCIT board "just wanted to set the record straight."

Additionally, the WCIT said it was concerned about one of the panel's recommendations -- that the city hold a public debate before bringing major conferences here in the future. Davis said that might have a "chilling effect."

P-I reporter Kery Murakami can be reached at 206-448-8029 or kerymurakami@seattle-pi.com