OLY 2012: The Future Looks Like Astroturf

author : WIP News Service topic : Astroturfing | Downtown Olympia | Development

by WIP News Service

When you hear the words “grass roots,” do you usually think of lobbyists, along with marketing and salespeople, gathering together to pave the way for wealthy developers? Or do you think of someone with a petition on a clipboard, ringing doorbells and sitting at a table at community events, soliciting donations in a coffee can and trying to spread the word and involve anyone who will listen? Nobody interviewed for the article about the future of downtown (see article above) had heard about Oly2012, a supposedly “grass roots” organization, until the Olympian started talking about how it was going to save downtown.

“Olyjulah!” was how the Olympian’s editorial praising Oly2012 began, using an infelicitous neologism which may even have offended the dead fish unlucky enough to end their corporeal existence wrapped in that page. “The new organization…will counteract the municipal nihilists who have dominated the discussion for years with their status quo, no-growth mantra,” the editorial continued, “giving us …[a] downtown where some visitors are afraid to walk the streets at night and other patrons complain they cannot find a vacant parking stall during the day.” Dire indeed, what nihilism has wrought. Everyone knows that large cities where growth has been encouraged are much safer and offer abundant free parking.

In reality, Oly2012 appears to be the brainchild of six business executives and lobbyists, none of whom live downtown, and mainly consists of a website funded out of pocket. To “join” Oly2012, Olympians are encouraged to sign up for their email list. There are no open meetings scheduled, but subsequently, “members” receive email encouragement to contact the city council, encouraging them to vote in ways that will “help the city of Olympia, Washington achieve its goals to move downtown in a positive direction.” What, specifically, a “positive direction” may entail remains to be seen, although Oly2012 recently sent out an email encouraging “members” to contact the Port of Olympia and the city council, to urge them to vote to relocate the Children’s Hands-On Museum on a toxic clean-up site which is likely to be underwater in a few years.

While Oly2012 has no official position yet on rezoning the isthmus, members of the Oly2012 Steering Committee acknowledged to the Olympian that they are “leaning toward it,” and their website touts the advantages of “a more concentrated residential housing and commercially developed downtown.”

Is the work of Oly2012 grass-roots organizing, or is it astroturfing? (“Astroturfing” refers to public relations efforts which strive to create the appearance of having arisen spontaneously amongst ordinary people, rather than tactically, by interested parties. Kind of like when people with connections to development businesses write letters to the editor saying how nice it would be to have a lot of tall buildings on the isthmus.) No clear links are apparent between developers looking to move in downtown and the “Steering Committee” calling the shots at Oly2012, although Oly2012 founding member Cheryl Duryea owns the downtown clothing store Juicy Fruits, which stands to profit from having more upscale shoppers downtown, and increased property values. Yet suspicions are aroused as to the nature and motivation of this group.

Oly2012 is not a registered corporation, non-profit or otherwise. It apparently announced its existence at a meeting with the Olympian‘s editorial board, an unusual way, perhaps for a grass-roots organization to spring into being. The Olympian announced that the group had no fundraising plans, but in response to an email query about whether they accepted donations, Peter Stroble replied that “We are all ears!”

Adding to concerns about the direction downtown Olympia may be taking and the impact this will have on its residents is the fact that while the Astroturf is growing rank, the organization which should be promoting the interests of current downtown residents, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, is failing to thrive, despite plenty of manure. ‘Pretty much everyone who started or was involved with the DNA formation is no longer involved because of the self-appointed leadership of one particular person, who won’t seem to stop, and who undermines the interests of the residents, especially around issues of downtown development,” said one former DNA member, who asked not be identified. The DNA’s president, David Scherer, is employed by the development and property management group, Deskoba. A current member of the DNA reports that “David just sent out a mass email encouraging support of Oly2012.” A number of DNA members have questioned if supporting Oly2012 really supports their interests, and there has been some dissent expressed on the DNA mailing list, where every email is moderated by Scherer.

When it comes to promoting interests of the people who currently live downtown, many of whom are middle or low-income, at present there is a gaping hole. Says the disgruntled former DNA member, “I had hoped when it formed that the DNA would be one of those neighborhood associations that protected the rights of the residents and improved living conditions for the people downtown. But, as it turns out, it really seems to be more like a little ODA [Olympia Downtown Association, a group of merchants] that supports development interests, and then has a street fair every year.”

Some downtown residents have expressed concern that while the DNA does essentially nothing, Oly2012 will send representatives to City Council meetings, claiming to represent their entire mailing list. “Are they going to show up and say we have 2000 members and this is what our members recommend, when actually, they don’t seem to hold meetings, and policy positions seem to be made without input from the ‘grass roots?’” questioned one woman who was uncertain whether it would be a good idea to join or not. Others wonder whether the current residents have any role to play in Oly2012’s vision for downtown, or whether Oly2012 has been formed to represent the interests of another class of people. On Oly2012’s website, support for current downtown businesses and encouraging the development of housing downtown are expressed as two of the organization’s goals, which rather closely mirror the goals of the Olympia Downtown Association. No mention is made of the people who already live there. The Oly2012 website does refer, however, to the 2007 municipal election as a mandate for change: “Our 2007 local election signaled the community’s support for leaders who are passionate about downtown and ready to tackle tough local issues.”

But was the 2007 election really a “mandate for change”? Did people vote for Doug Mah because of his attractive “passion”? Did voters believe his vision for Olympia matched their own? Or did they simply refuse to vote for Meta Hogan because they disapproved of her smoking habit? Few Olympians would disagree that they want to see downtown move in a “positive” direction – but there are as many visions of what that would be as there are citizens, and Oly2012, far from being a grassroots organization, seems to be a small, monied minority, eager to promote their vision of downtown Olympia as an upscale shopping and residential district to a receptive City Council