The following letter was e-mailed to the Seattle, WA mayor’s office

on Dec. 28, 1999.

Dear Mayor Schell:

Your decision to cancel the celebration at the Seattle Center is

without doubt the dumbest knee-jerk reaction I have seen on the part of

any mayor in a major city in the USA. Furthermore, your continued idiocy

that allows the elitist group from Portland to proceed with their celebration at

the Space Needle smacks of political corruption. What should be good for

the general public should also be good for everyone, regardless of their

financial capability. If you are to quiet the Seattle Center, the entire center

should be dark, and no celebration of any kind, for anyone.

My wife and I, along with a group of friends, were planning to come

to Seattle for this celebration. Care to reimburse us for our airline and

train tickets?

In 1998, after being fed up with Seattle, King County and state

government, we moved here.

Our decision was wise, as it turns out. Washington state, county and

city government is just as inept as ever, if not worse, particularly

concerning your recent WTO disaster. Seattle government stinks worse than ever.

Richard L. Neuschaefer

Kalispell, Mont.