Notes
Opinion piece by Charlie Chong, former Seattle City Council member and chairman of the Pike Place Market Constituency, satirically exposing manipulation tactics used in Seattle city government public meetings. Chong describes how city officials use predetermined outcomes in public processes: sending obscure meeting notices, excluding opponent priorities, using ‘feeders’ (undisclosed proponents), divide-and-conquer small group tactics, open house formats to suppress organized dissent, three-option framing (the used-car sales strategy / environmental-impact-study system), pre-selected group chairs controlling reporting, and writing public recommendations before meetings occur. References Matt Fox (University District Council), Seattle history, ‘Skid Road’ by Murray Morgan, and Roberts’ Rules of Order.