Seattle’s Darkest Day

Last Friday was a pretty dark day for Seattle.  Literally.

In 1996, the University of Washington installed three pyranometers on the roof of one of its facilities in Seattle.  The pyranometers measure the amount of solar radiation (also known as sunshine) that reaches the surface of the earth.  On Friday, the devices registered an output of only a measly 0.37 megajoules of solar radiation per square meter — the lowest recorded daily measurement for the devices since the date of their installation.  The culprits for the dismal results — literally — were the very short day caused by the approaching winter solstice, heavy cloud cover, and heavy rain, too.

I can sympathize with the Seattle residents who cursed the infernal darkness last Friday.  I’m not sure whether we’ve got any pyranometers measuring the solar radiation in Columbus, but if there are, they’d be measuring pitiful amounts these days.  In the Midwest, our winters tend to be pretty gloomy affairs, too.  It’s not that we get a lot of snow — typically, we don’t.  Instead, it’s the unrelenting damp, heavy grayness that makes you feel like you’re living and working under a wet woolen blanket.  When the sun actually shines, all too briefly, it’s a cause for riotous celebration.

There’s a reason so many Midwesterners are snowbirds who head south for the winter.  Sure, they’re searching for warmth, but they’re also on a quest for much-needed sunshine.  Their internal pyranometers are telling them that they need to up their personal exposure to those bright, happy megajoules.

Voting With Its Wallet

Seattle is home to some of the largest corporations in the world, with one — Amazon — growing like crazy and fueling a boom in downtown construction.  But when Seattle politicians decided to impose a tax on large employers in the city to deal with a homelessness crisis, Amazon very publicly decided to pause work on a new downtown office building until after Seattle City Council votes on the tax.

The proposed tax would have a real impact on businesses.  It would be a “head tax” of $500 per employee on approximately 500 businesses that gross at least $20 million annually in Seattle.  For Amazon, which currently has about 45,000 workers in Seattle, the tax would cost more than $20 million in 2018 and 2020, with that tab increasing when the form of the proposed tax would shift to a .7 percent payroll tax in 2021.  Even for a company that is highly profitable — Amazon recently reported quarterly income of $1.6 billion — $20 million a year isn’t chump change.

Amazon typically doesn’t mess with local politics in Seattle, so its pause in construction planning until after the City Council vote has had a real impact.   One City Council supporter of the tax accused Amazon of attempting “blackmail,” but other voices in city hall and in the real estate development community shuddered at the thought that the company might stop its investment in Seattle.  The concern is only heightened by Amazon’s announced search for a new city in which to build a second headquarters — a process that is already underway, in which Columbus and other cities have made the first cut.  Some people are concerned that Amazon might just direct its growth exclusively to the new home of “HQ2,” leaving Seattle in the dust.

Why should large employers, alone, pay a tax to address Seattle’s growing homelessness problem?  Supporters of the tax say that the large tech companies have contributed to the problem by bringing in highly paid workers who have caused a spike in home prices and rents — the median price for a house in Seattle is a whopping $820,000 — and that has contributed to the homelessness problem.  The sponsors of the tax also note that Seattle doesn’t have an income tax or tax capital gains, and claim that the city has few options to raise funds to address homelessness.  It’s curious, though, that the tax would be limited to only  large employers, as opposed to all employers, or that it doesn’t target various forms of real property transfers.  After all, a lot of people have presumably made a lot of money selling property that dramatically increased in value due to Amazon’s growth — why shouldn’t they contribute some of that profit to address the homelessness problem?

The reaction of the City Council member who characterized Amazon’s decision to pause construction as extortionate reminds me of the hubris that caused cities like Detroit to assume (wrongly) that large employers wouldn’t move away — or the story of the goose that laid the golden eggs.  As Amazon’s experience in its “HQ2” search proves, other cities would welcome a large employer that offers thousands of workers high-paying jobs.  The reality is that Seattle needs Amazon more than Amazon needs Seattle.  Does it really want to risk killing the goose?

A Blunt Instrument

As of January 1, 2018, Seattle has placed a tax — it’s officially called a “sweetened beverage recovery fee” — on sugary sodas and “sports drinks” like Gatorade.  Costco, the big box membership club retailer, has responded by placing signs showing consumers the specific impact of the tax on the Costco price for the product — and it’s a whopper.

The Costco signs show that the Seattle tax adds $10.34 to a Gatorade 35-bottle variety pack — the kind you might buy if you were responsible for buying refreshments for your kid’s sports team to consume after a practice.  The price of the product was $15.99, but with the new tax the price is now $26.33.  The tax added $7.56 to a 36-can case of Dr. Pepper, bringing the price from $9.99 to $17.55.  Costco also helpfully added signage to explain the tax-related increase to its customers and remind them that they can avoid paying the additional cost simply by going to a nearby Costco located out of the city limits.  Some customers have told local TV stations they plan on doing just that.  There’s also been lots of social media chatter about the Costco signs and the impact of the tax on prices.

What’s the point of the tax?  Seattle evidently is concerned about obesity, which some studies have linked, at least in part, to the consumption of sugary soft drinks.  Seattle hopes that by imposing a substantial tax on soft drinks and “sports drinks,” it will incentivize people to make healthier choices.  But get this:  the tax exempts sweetened products from certified manufacturers with annual worldwide gross revenue of $2 million or less, and products from certified manufacturers with gross revenue of more than $2 million but less than $5 million pay a much smaller tax.  That exemption is a purely political decision that doesn’t make sense as a public health issue, because the size of the producer obviously doesn’t change whatever the impact of the product might be.  Seattle’s approach also focuses only on sweetened drinks, and doesn’t address products like ice cream, candy bars, “snack foods,” or frozen pizza that might also be said to contribute to “unhealthy lifestyles.”  And, of course, it doesn’t begin to address other issues that contribute directly to obesity, such as lack of exercise.

Other cities, like Chicago, have tried soft drink taxes and dumped them in the face of business opposition.  Costco is providing a salutary service by alerting its customers to the specific cost impact of the tax so they can factor it into their decision-making.  The Seattle experiment, as illuminated by the Costco signs, reminds us, yet again, that taxes are a pretty blunt instrument when it comes to trying to change behavior and achieve broader policies — and that taxes are always going to be affected by political considerations, too.

Amazon Primed

Amazon — that massive, gushing river of deliveries that has fundamentally and forever changed the modern retail business — has announced that it is looking to build a second corporate headquarters somewhere in North America.  Cities like Columbus are jockeying for position and hoping that they get picked to host the Amazonians.

Landing Amazon and its “HQ2” has got to be tempting for just about any city.  You can look at what Amazon has done for Seattle, where its corporate headquarters is located, and see what having Amazon might mean.  Amazon employs 40,000 people on its Seattle campus, it uses an enormous chunk of the available Seattle commercial real estate, and it calculates that, since 2010, it has contributed $38 billion to the Seattle economy.  The proposed “HQ2” is being presented as a similarly enticing proposition for job-hungry municipalities.  It is supposed to create as many as 50,000 jobs paying an average of $100,000, and also produce $5 billion in capital investment in the first 15 years.

As Seattle’s experience demonstrates, these don’t appear to be pie in the sky numbers.  Instead, Amazon has a proven track record of doing what every city wants from a leading corporate citizen — it creates good jobs that are filled by people who pay their taxes and it injects money into the area, which in turn creates jobs at the companies that provide the services that Amazon and its employees need.  Sure, there might be some drawbacks — Seattle real estate has become pretty expensive — but most cities would gladly accept that problem in order to tap into the Amazon river of tax revenue.

Amazon has released a list of detailed criteria that will be applied in its search for the right location for HQ2.  It’s looking for a metropolitan area of at least 1 million people, close to an international airport, with good roads, schools, and mass transit.  Oh, and it also needs up to 8 million square feet of office space.  And the modern world being what it is, we can expect Amazon to look for competing cities to produce packages of tax incentives, tax deferrals, and available development funds designed to entice Amazon as it makes its choice.

Columbus, where several Amazon data and distribution centers have located in recent years, is expected to compete for the prize, and Richard has written about San Antonio’s hope that it wins the crown.   We can expect the big boys, like Chicago and Dallas, to put in significant bids, and struggling cities like Detroit would no doubt see the Amazon initiative as a chance to really turn things around.  And don’t forget that Canada is part of North America; Toronto is said to be interested, too.  In all, about 50 metropolitan areas meet the 1 million population cut-off and would be in a position to compete for the prize.  Bids are due by October 19.

Hey, Amazon!  Come to Columbus!  You’d like it here!

Cranes On The Water

The Seattle waterfront features some enormous cranes used, no doubt, for significant ship repair purposes.  We were far away, so it was hard to determine just how large they were — but from a distance they looked remarkably like their namesakes, flocking to the water and stretching out their necks to drink.

Global Nerd

I’ve always liked maps and globes.  I like the look of them, and I like the way that they can change.  I remember discovering an old atlas in my grandparents’ attic, leafing through it, and wondering about exotic places like the Ottoman Empire that could only be found on an outdated geography book.

I think maps are cool, so I was grinning ear to ear when Kish and I stumbled upon Metsker Maps in Seattle.  What a fantastic store!  It’s crammed stem to stern with standup globes, miniature globes, inflatable globes, wall maps, fold-out maps, ancient framed maps, hiking maps, and books about maps — as well as incidentals like a good pocket compass.

After wandering around for a while with a  kid-like look on my face, I went up to the guy behind the counter and said:  “This is the coolest store I’ve been in in years!”  He nodded knowingly, recognizing that I was just another globe geek who was letting my nerd flag fly.

Under The Needle

Seattle’s Space Needle was built as part of the 1962 World’s Fair and was supposed to reflect the architecture of the future.  Fifty years later, it still looks so much like a backdrop from a Jetsons episode you expect to see a Spacely Sprockets sign on top.  Sure, it’s kitschy, but it’s also kind of cool, and it’s fun to check it out from different vantage points.

SAM, I Am

Yesterday Kish and I visited the Seattle Art Museum — also known as SAM.  It’s located smack dab in the middle of Seattle’s bustling downtown, and it’s worth a visit.

I like going to art museums I’m not familiar with, because you’re almost always surprised.  Sometimes it’s a good surprise, sometimes it’s not.  SAM falls on the positive side of the ledger.  It’s a big, sprawling facility, with all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore.  Every time you turn a corner, you see something interesting.

During our visit, the displays included an extensive and compelling Joan Miro exhibit — boy, he sure liked to paint birds and women! — and a fabulous and beautiful collection of blown glass objects that included numerous pieces by Dale Chihuly.  The museum’s standard collection is impressive and includes an interesting early American section, which blends portraits, landscapes, furniture, and other objects, Italian and French rooms, modern pieces by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, and some whimsical and thought-provoking sculptures, including an untitled piece by American artist Marlo Pascual that featured a ’40s-style glamour shot of an unknown, sad-eyed woman on which a rock had been positioned to look like a hat.

My favorite part of the collection was a large array of indigenous art, including some fantastic masks and costumes and sculptures.  The masks in particular were riveting.  As I looked at the colorful depictions of serpents and wolves, I thought of the strong connection the indigenous peoples felt to the natural world and how we have largely lost that connection in modern America.  Maybe the piece featuring the well-dressed woman with the rock on her head speaks to that, too.

Truthful Signage

In Seattle’s Pioneer Square district you will find arguably the most truthful sign in the United States.  But even though it gave me a laugh, I didn’t go in — free admission or no.

Market Magic

Like many cities, Seattle has a central marketplace.  This one is crammed with flower stalls, meat markets, restaurants, fishmongers, vegetable purveyors, fresh crab on ice, jugglers, ukelele players, and bars.  Needless to say, it’s a beehive of activity.

Long ago, virtually every big city had sprawling central market buildings.  In the last century, many cities tore them down, reasoning that they weren’t needed as people moved to the suburbs and the supermarkets began to rule the food world.  A few cities held on — and they should be happy they did.  Whenever Kish and I visit a new place that has a central market, that’s always a stop on our itinerary, and inevitably the central market is a fun, interesting place that puts the city in a good light.

Sunny Seattle?

Maybe it’s just the sunny blue skies after days of rain and clouds in Vancouver, but Kish and I are liking Seattle a lot already.  Its waterfront area is beautiful, and we relished the opportunity to walk in the sunshine and breathe deep the cool ocean air.

I’ve never been to Seattle before, and I don’t know much about the city.  I understood it rains a lot here, but today it was beautiful and bright.  It makes me wonder whether my knowledge about Seattle is not only embarrassingly limited, but also misplaced.  Could it be that Here Come The Brides also was not historically accurate, and that in Seattle’s early days Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy Bolt didn’t joust with the evil, greed-addled Aaron Stempel over control of the future of the city, while boozy sea captain Clancy chased after Lottie, the tart-tongued tavern owner with a heart of gold?

Oysters, And Oyster Stew

We’re in Seattle, where we are having dinner tonight with some friends we haven’t seen in years.  To get ready for the festivities, we took a walk along Seattle’s beautiful waterfront on a bright, sunny day.  The weather gods were with us.

For lunch we stopped at a place called the Place Pigalle in the sprawling Public Market Center a few blocks from the waterfront.  The food gods were with us, too, because the Place Pigalle was excellent.  When you’re on the coast, you need to seriously consider seafood, and I’m a sucker for shellfish.  When I saw oysters on the half shell and oyster stew on the menu, I decided to double up.

The oysters on the half shell were excellent — fresh, succulent, and served with a tart, vinegar-based dip.  They were the perfect complement to a tasty unfiltered wheat ale.  And the oyster stew was fabulously rich and creamy, with four huge whole oysters lurking just below the surface.  It was a fantastic meal and a great way to start our Seattle visit, and reminded us of what we’re missing in landlocked Columbus, Ohio.

On The Pacific Rim

We’ve finally reached Vancouver after a hard day’s travel that included flights to Seattle through Detroit, a multi-hour drive up the congested Route 5, and an inadvertent foray through Vancouver’s apparently immense homeless\skid row area. But we made it to the Fairmont Pacific Rim, which has a pretty nice view of the harbor and the mountains beyond.

Masked Avengers, Pepper Spray, and High Heels

Saturday night a self-proclaimed superhero named “Phoenix Jones,” who wears a black mask and one of those heavily muscled bodysuits, was patrolling Seattle’s streets with his faithful sidekick, Ghost.  They say they saw a fight, ran toward a group of people, and a melee broke out.  Members of the group claim Jones doused them with pepper spray — which apparently is Jones’ “super power” — and one woman responded by hitting Jones with a high-heeled shoe.  It must have been embarrassing for a superhero to be conked with a stiletto shoe!  And it doesn’t sound like the crowd appreciated the superhero’s intervention, either.

Jones, whose real name is Benjamin John Francis Fodor, was arrested and booked for assault.  A Seattle police officer explained that just because Jones wears a mask and a muscle-bound costume doesn’t put him above the law or give him the right to indiscriminately hose down fellow citizens with pepper spray.  According to the news story linked above, Seattle has a number of “crime-fighting” vigilantes, of which “Phoenix Jones” is just the most well known.  In addition to having a faithful sidekick, Jones also has a Facebook page and a volunteer spokesman, and he’s been trailed by a camera crew recently.  No word yet on whether Jones has a butler named Alfred.

I don’t think I’ll be visiting Seattle anytime soon.

The Breakfast Club Perspective From Seattle

Ajili Hodari is an old friend, workout stud, Seattle stalwart, lawyer, movie reviewer, and general gadfly and man about town. He’s done just about everything — including playing football for the Michigan State Spartans in the 1960s.

Now Ajili has started a blog, called Breakfast Club Food for Thought, that focuses on topics that he and his friends discuss at their weekly breakfast.  If you take a look, you will learn how Ajili and his buddies have broken down topics like LeBron James, food taxes, and how bachelor parties and the slave trade are related.  It’s an interesting read.

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging, Ajili!