Kent city officials weigh in on Lingerie Football League

The announcement that a somewhat risque sport will be coming to Kent’s ShoWare Center has drawn a mixed bag of reactions from city leadership.

The Lingerie Football League, which features women in frilly undergarments playing tackle football, will have two matches, Sept. 11 and Jan. 1, at the city-owned arena. The announcement, made last week by SMG, the company that Kent has hired to manage ShoWare, drew a rash of angry responses from local Reporter readers.

Granted, that number of readers is a handful, considering the population size of Kent.

The Reporter ran a front-page story about the event – complete with photos – in its March 14 edition, as well as putting the story on its Web site.

“C’mon City Council, mayor, Kent business owners – is this the image we want for our city?” Kent resident Lora Smith responded in a letter to the editor.

“What’s the point of upscaling our downtown with Kent Station, if we are going to sponsor sleazy entertainment next door?”

Not so fast, say several local elected officials, about jumping on the anti-lingerie bandwagon.

In a phone interview Thursday, Mayor Suzette Cooke outlined what the ShoWare Center is about: show business.

“When we opened the ShoWare Center, we got into show business – and show business runs the full gamut,” she said. “People have a choice of whether they want to buy tickets for this event.”

Cooke, who indicated she probably would buy a ticket “so I can be there to see what everyone’s talking about,” cautioned against assigning values to what constitutes appropriate entertainment.

“People have different values and they see the same through different experiences, and different eyes,” she said. “If we begin to censor things because of a particular set of values, that begins to tread on people’s right of gathering, and some people’s right of expression.”

She noted the impending arrival of another form of entertainment – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Sept. 5 and 6.

“When we get the circus coming to town, we’ve already been told PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is going to be out protesting,” Cooke said, asking where the line should be drawn, when it comes to what constitutes good entertainment.

“It’s a slippery slope,” she noted.

Council President Debbie Raplee said Wednesday it’s not just about entertainment for Kent.

“My personal opinion is we brought and approved the ShoWare Center to bring a wide variety of entertainment,” she said. “Not just to Kent, but the whole south county area.”

As for whether the city should have a say in what the ShoWare Center should bring to Kent, Raplee noted the answer was clear: the city hired SMG to run the facility, and that’s what they are letting the company do.

“We don’t run it, we don’t operate it – it has been turned over (to SMG). There were no stipulations on what kind of entertainment you can and cannot have,” she said.

As for how she felt about women running around in lingerie for a sporting event, Raplee said she didn’t have a personal problem with it.

“Okay, we watch beach volleyball and they’re in pretty skimpy swimsuits,” she said. “These girls have more clothes on than that, and they’re athletes.”

When it was pointed out that players also are chosen for their looks, Raplee noted there are plenty of venues where that is happening already.

“We have beauty contests, and that is based on more than just your intelligence,” she said. “Let’s face it – those women are pretty and I’m okay with that.”

Councilman Ron Harmon, reached Wednesday, suggested the Council revisit its agreement with SMG.

“Truly I think this is in poor taste,” Harmon said. “This is something (the contract with SMG regarding the firm’s control over what goes into ShoWare) we should take a look at.”

At the very least, Harmon said, the company should have warned city leadership about the event, before going public.

“I think something of that (level of) controversy, they should have run it by the administration,” Harmon said. “I support the events at the center, but I think also that we have to be cognizant of good taste, and I just wish they’d have used a little more caution in attracting controversial events.”

Councilwoman Jamie Danielson also said she wished SMG had alerted the Council beforehand.

“I don’t see us going back and redoing the contract with SMG, but in the future it would be nice to talk about some of the controversial things going into Kent,” Danielson said. “I did not know this was on the table until it was announced.”

Danielson also said that while she didn’t want to attend the event, people should see what they want.

“To be honest, I’ve had a lot of people say they’re going to get tickets,” the councilwoman said. “There are those people who just think it’s funny and are not offended by it. It is providing something that some people are interested in. People can decide for themselves.”

Councilman Tim Clark said that while the Lingerie League “doesn’t quite fit the venue of family-oriented entertainment,” he noted it’s not the only ShoWare gig.

“The good news is there’s lots of other entertainment coming through,” he said.

Councilwoman Deborah Ranniger said the Council had better things to do than to get involved with managing ShoWare entertainment.

“The Council does not need to be wasting its time deciding every show that ShoWare puts on,” she said. “As policy setters, we’re looking at bigger issues, like what services do we want to provide our community during tough economic times.”

As to the Lingerie League itself, Ranniger quipped, “Quite honestly it makes me laugh, and we all need a good laugh during these tough economic times. There’s bigger issues than what we are facing right now, than women with lace on their boy shorts.

“I would just encourage people to laugh, take a deep breath, and move on.”

(Councilmembers Elizabeth Albertson and Les Thomas were called but could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.)