CITY WEEDS OUT LINK TO HEMPFEST SITE

No, you aren't suffering short-term memory loss.

Yesterday's city of Seattle Internet page really did mix pot with potties.

But while explaining Mayor Paul Schell's stand on installation of
public toilets was a legitimate issue for the Web site, the city says
another item linking viewers to marijuana leaves and an agenda to
legalize pot was high and wide of the mark.

After being posted most of the morning, it was busted by afternoon,
disappearing like a puff of smoke.

Viewers who wanted to see what was happening around town in the
morning were greeted by a highlight at the top of the Web page
touting this weekend's Hempfest 2001 celebration at Myrtle Edwards
Park.

When they clicked it, they were linked to the Hempfest site, a black
page with a shower of multicolored virtual marijuana leaves. After
the cannabis downpour, up popped the Hempfest page, listing events,
speakers and agendas to legalize marijuana happening at this
weekend's celebration at Myrtle Edwards Park.

One photo, presumably from last year, showed two Seattle Police
Department bicycle patrol officers radiating good public-relations
smiles, holding high some Hempfest T-shirts.

Marty Chakoian, director of the city's department of information, was
not amused.

"I thought it was really inappropriate. It implied the city was
endorsing Hempfest, which we are not," Chakoian said.

"The thing that bothered me was not so much that it linked to the
actual Hempfest site itself. But the first thing that people got on
the Hempfest site was (marijuana) leaves and an announcement that the
festival was to promote the legalization of marijuana, which is a
political agenda," he said.

While the city approved the permits to hold the celebration at Myrtle
Edwards Park todayand tomorrow, Chakoian said it can't appear to be
rolled up into Hempfest's political agenda.

Chakoian usually reviews the day's Web page first thing each morning
but had some meetings to attend yesterday and got to it later. He
said his Web manager was supposed to review it in his stead but
didn't pull it. When Chakoian finally saw it hours later, he just
said "no."