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Citizens review of WTO goes to council tomorrow
Wednesday, August 23, 2000
KERY MURAKAMI
The citizens panel examining Seattle's preparations for the World Trade Organization conference is prepared to make a number of recommendations to prevent another major event from turning into a fiasco.
The group, one of three appointed by the City Council, was finishing its report late last night. It will present it to the council tomorrow.
The panel found that because of shoddy planning, police were not able to juggle the needs of protecting the WTO delegates and the rights of protesters. Police resorted to tear gas and put a "no protest zone" in place to clear downtown of demonstrators.
In the future, the panel said, police should give equal weight to protecting the constitutional rights of demonstrators.
The panel includes a Seattle community college political science professor, a Capitol Hill community activist, a human rights activist, a labor leader and City Councilman Nick Licata.
As part of its examination, the panel also looked at ways to prevent the city from being stuck with a huge bill if it plays host to another international event.
It will urge the City Council to pass a law to make sure an independent economic study is done to assess the cost to taxpayers before the city agrees to a major conference.
The panel said the city should also be willing to cancel events if police find themselves unable to handle a conference.
The panel has already decided to criticize Mayor Paul Schell for not making sure the city was better prepared for the conference.
Panel members have said that Schell should have insisted that either the federal government or trade-dependent corporations pick up more of the costs of holding the conference.
The panel will also criticize Schell for not overseeing police preparations more closely.
Schell has said he wanted to leave police preparations in the hands of law enforcement experts.
But panel member Angela Toussaint, head of the government watchdog group, the Civic Foundation, said, "The mayor's job is to provide oversight and advocate for the city of Seattle. If I'm the CEO of a company, I'm not going to trust in someone three steps down from me."
P-I reporter Kery Murakami can be reached at 206-448-8029 or kerymurakami@seattle-pi.com
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