President Obama and I shared a ...
A police officer guards the street outside the Westin Seattle with hoards of motorcycles and officers behind him / Deborah Lynch
Seattle was abuzz when we arrived last Wednesday night for my husband’s conference just ahead of President Obama’s Friday afternoon arrival. We knew in advance that our visit would coincide with his because my husband’s boss is the president of the organization that was holding the conference and he was supposed to have stayed in the presidential suite at the Westin Seattle. Then, the Westin called apologetically telling him they needed his suite for – ahem – the real president, as in POTUS. He got downgraded.As a mere tagalong to the conference, it was kind of interesting to be an observer of all that comes with a presidential visit. The day before his visit, blockades went up along the streets to limit parking and keep streets empty. The night before he arrived at the Westin, a metal detector appeared in the lobby separating the two towers of the hotel. Then, the police began to arrive. Truly I saw more police than I have ever seen in one place. They traveled in pairs. Some had dogs. Some guarded entrances. Some stood by barriers that were put up in the roads surrounding the hotel. Several blocks each direction around the hotel were blockaded to traffic. The street in front of the hotel was a parking lot to police motorcycles. City buses blocked entrances to the street.
A city bus blocks the street outside the Westin Seattle / Photo by Deborah Lynch
Part of me wanted to sit in the lobby and wait, but no one knew the arrival time, and since I was in Seattle for only two full days, I didn’t want to waste it inside waiting. So, I went on a food tour of Pike Place Market (maybe tomorrow’s blog). I met a friend for lunch. I stopped by the Westin and he still hadn’t arrived. I asked the barista at the hotel coffee shop if she hoped to serve him a latte. “No way,” she said. “I did serve him the last time he was here and it was crazy.”I went shopping. I was walking up Pike Street back towards the Westin when I looked up to see crowds in front of me. I saw car after car after car parading by two streets up and people waving flags and honking horns. The motorcade had arrived. I increased my speed back towards the hotel. One block away, I got stuck. Pedestrians were not allowed to cross. Up ahead in front of the Westin, I could see the motorcade pulling in.Police surrounded the Westin and I could see a crowd move as one towards the front door. Soon, we were allowed to cross. Outside my South Tower to the Westin, I spied the president of my husband’s organization. I called out jokingly, “There’s the president.” The people standing nearby responded by looking and pointing his way. He shushed me.I didn’t get to see Obama, but his presence felt very real. It was exciting. His barista was my barista. You can’t get much closer than that.
President Barack Obama waves while boarding Air Force One on Saturday morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (Sy Bean / The Seattle Times)
His visit did make me wonder who pays for all those police officers. So, I did a little searching. I didn’t find anything specific about the cost of his Democratic fundraising trip to Seattle, but I did find that in 2012 when he visited New York City on a fundraising trip, the New York Post reported that the agency that runs JFK airport said it cost more than $100,000 for extra security there. Two vacations to Oahu in two years by the Obama family cost the city of Honolulu more than $270,000 each time. A Honolulu council member said she had asked the federal government to reimburse the city, but was told the fed does not reimburse. Earlier this year, the mayor of Pittsburgh noted that it’s actually taxpayers that foot the bill for police protection when the president comes to town.That some of these presidential trips are personal (vacation) or political (fundraising) might take the sheen off a presidential visit for many communities. I guess I’m glad I got to experience the pomp in Seattle rather than say, Hershey!
Works Consulted
Delano, Jon. “Extra Police For Protests and Presidential Candidate Visits Costs Local Taxpayers.” CBS Pittsburgh. CBS Local Media. 14 April 2016. Web. 27 June 2016.“Live updates from Obama’s visit to the Seattle area.” The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. 24 June 2016. Web. 27 June 2016.Margolin, Josh. “Obama’s New York visits cost millions.” New York Post. NYP Holdings. 1 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 June 2016.Remadna, Brent. “Obamas’ holiday vacation costs more than $277,000 in police overtime.” Khon2. LIN Television Corporation. 6 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 June 2016.