Seattle forges ironic alliance

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels created a ruckus this month when he accused local strip clubs — especially Rick's in Lake City — of ties to organized crime.

But despite the mayor's tough talk, lawyers for the city have cozied up to those same strip clubs to fight a common foe: a nightclub owner who wants to open a competing strip club.

The odd alliance comes in a lawsuit filed by local businessman Bob Davis, who won a ruling from a federal judge last year striking down Seattle's 17-year moratorium on new strip clubs as unconstitutional.

Having lost that case, the city is now trying to avoid paying damages to Davis by arguing that he wouldn't have made money even if he'd been allowed to open a strip club.

To bolster their arguments, city attorneys have relied on expert testimony from David Ebert, a longtime manager of Rick's in Lake City and a business partner of owner Frank Colacurcio Jr. The city's attorneys also have listed a manager for Déjà Vu, a downtown strip club, as a possible witness in the case.

The irony has not been lost on Davis.

"I just think it's kind of odd. They're basing their whole case against me on the advice from owners of Rick's ... and then you have the mayor saying Rick's is organized crime," he said.

Marty McOmber, spokesman for Nickels, said the mayor was unfamiliar with the city's strategy in the lawsuit and referred questions about the case to City Attorney Tom Carr. A spokeswoman for Carr said his office would not comment on pending litigation.

Ebert provided the city's lawyers with a long list of arguments for why Davis could not have made money on a strip club, according to documents filed in the federal lawsuit. For example, Ebert argued that Davis would need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to remodel a downtown club, that there wouldn't be enough parking and that he'd have a hard time hiring women to work at the club.

Davis hired his own expert who countered that his club could have grossed $219,000 per month.

Ebert could not be reached for comment. Gil Levy, an attorney for Rick's, said the club decided to cooperate with the city to "generate some goodwill."

Call-in show

"For some period of time there has been an adversarial relationship between the city of Seattle and my client, and we hoped to end that," Levy said.

That cooperation came before Nickels' recent statements linking Rick's to "organized crime."

Nickels first made the allegation during a call-in show on the city's cable channel.

Noting that "the clubs don't make their money off of Pepsi," Nickels said he believed there was "organized crime involved in at least that one club [Rick's] and perhaps others."

In light of Rick's cooperation with the city in the Davis lawsuit, Levy said he was disappointed by Nickels' comments. "We sincerely hope this was an off-the-cuff remark," he said.

When pressed, Nickels said he was referring mainly to "Strippergate," the 2003 scandal in which people linked to Frank Colacurcio Jr. and Rick's allegedly funneled thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to three candidates who were then members of the City Council. Nickels said there also were "other" examples, but he declined to offer specifics.

Ebert was among dozens of Colacurcio associates who gave money during those campaigns, but he has not been charged with any crime in the case.

Criminal charges against Frank Colacurcio Jr., his father, Frank Colacurcio Sr., and two business associates were tossed out earlier this year by a judge. Prosecutors are appealing that ruling.

Moratorium

Davis applied for a license to open a new strip club, Club Shangri La, in March 2004. The city refused to grant him a license, citing its moratorium on new clubs. The moratorium began as a temporary measure in 1988 but was extended every year by the City Council until being overturned by the Davis lawsuit last year. As a result, only four strip clubs now operate in Seattle.

Nickels also has proposed zoning rules that would restrict any new clubs to a small industrial area south of downtown Seattle.

Levy denied that Rick's was cooperating with the city to hamstring a potential competitor.

"If Mr. Davis is able to secure a license and open a club in this city, that would not in any way hurt my clients," he said.

Even though the moratorium has been overturned, Davis has not pressed ahead yet with plans to open a strip club. That's mainly because of strict new rules approved by Nickels and the City Council after Davis sued the city. Those rules include a ban on direct tipping of dancers, requirements for bright lights and a "four-foot rule" to keep strippers separated from patrons.

Although Rick's has argued that Davis couldn't have made a profit on a strip club, the business has been good for Frank Colacurcio Jr. He reported an income of more than $2 million in 2002, according to court documents.

And club owners are spending a lot of money to protect their businesses. They're financing a referendum campaign to overturn the new strip-club rules. So far, they've contributed $586,000 to that effort. The referendum is scheduled for a vote this fall.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com