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PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Extra Fizz: City Staff Cuts, Worldchanging.com

Morning Fizz   January 25, 2010 at 10:43 am Morning Fizz

Editor’s note. Since we do the Fizz in the early AM, we’re a little fuzzy. Inadvertently left out two items this morning’s edition:

1. Mayor Mike McGinn’s proposal to lay off or reclassify around 200 senior-level city staffers (those classified as management or “strategic advisors”)  may have one major unintended consequence for mid-level city managers.

Because layoffs in city departments are based on seniority (i.e., city employment contracts don’t allow departments to lay off their most-senior staff without cause), senior staff and strategic advisors are far more likely to be recategorized into lower-level positions than laid off. In cases where those positions are already filled, the top-level manager will displace the mid-level one. That’s one reason so many mid-level managers showed up at last week’s Civil Service Commission meeting to protest McGinn’s proposed cuts.

It also means that the cuts won’t go as far as they appear at first glance toward reducing the $40 million general-fund shortfall (a shortfall that, as we mentioned Friday, half the proposed cuts don’t even address), because they’ll hit mid-level management the hardest while preserving top-paid longtime city employees’ jobs, albeit under different titles.

(Incidentally, if you’re interested in hearing what city hall staffers themselves have to say about the proposed cuts, check out the comments thread on our original post, where a number of city employees weigh in on McGinn’s announcement.)

2. Worldchanging’s Alex Steffen gave two talks in November (one of them introduced by then-Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn) about how cities like Seattle can and should lead the way toward sustainability, starting by setting citywide carbon neutrality as a goal. Both talks are now online and available on Worldchanging.com.


  • Bryan Glynn

    What employment contracts do non-represented City employees have? Civil Service employees have certain protection under Civil Service rules, but aren’t many of the employee’s McGinn is talking about “exempt” from Civil Service and therefore “at will?”

  • Bryan Glynn

    What employment contracts do non-represented City employees have? Civil Service employees have certain protection under Civil Service rules, but aren’t many of the employee’s McGinn is talking about “exempt” from Civil Service and therefore “at will?”

  • Bryan Glynn

    What employment contracts do non-represented City employees have? Civil Service employees have certain protection under Civil Service rules, but aren’t many of the employee’s McGinn is talking about “exempt” from Civil Service and therefore “at will?”

  • straightarrow

    The comment thread related to city employee comments above doesn’t work.

  • straightarrow

    The comment thread related to city employee comments above doesn’t work.

  • straightarrow

    The comment thread related to city employee comments above doesn’t work.

  • Love my City

    Praise – some senior staff remains. Feared too many brand new campaign reward people.

    Whew …

  • Love my City

    Praise – some senior staff remains. Feared too many brand new campaign reward people.

    Whew …

  • Love my City

    Praise – some senior staff remains. Feared too many brand new campaign reward people.

    Whew …

  • Joe

    Answer to Bryan: No. The title Strategic Advisor is not an “at-will” position. (While there are many legitimate complaints about City Hall, being Tammany Hall and having the ability to appoint dozens of friends and cronies to jobs isn’t one of them. It is a Civil Service system.)

    The term ‘exempt’ gets tossed around to mean more than one thing -

    Some exempt empoyees are at will, e.g., department executives, many of the staff in the Mayor’s office, etc.

    The term ‘exempt’ is also used to mean that some employees are exempt from union representation.

  • Joe

    Answer to Bryan: No. The title Strategic Advisor is not an “at-will” position. (While there are many legitimate complaints about City Hall, being Tammany Hall and having the ability to appoint dozens of friends and cronies to jobs isn’t one of them. It is a Civil Service system.)

    The term ‘exempt’ gets tossed around to mean more than one thing -

    Some exempt empoyees are at will, e.g., department executives, many of the staff in the Mayor’s office, etc.

    The term ‘exempt’ is also used to mean that some employees are exempt from union representation.

  • Joe

    Answer to Bryan: No. The title Strategic Advisor is not an “at-will” position. (While there are many legitimate complaints about City Hall, being Tammany Hall and having the ability to appoint dozens of friends and cronies to jobs isn’t one of them. It is a Civil Service system.)

    The term ‘exempt’ gets tossed around to mean more than one thing -

    Some exempt empoyees are at will, e.g., department executives, many of the staff in the Mayor’s office, etc.

    The term ‘exempt’ is also used to mean that some employees are exempt from union representation.

  • Bryan Glynn

    Joe: Thanks for the response. I used the term “excempt” in the sense of “exempt from civil service.” I understand that employees who were appointed or promoted in accordance with the Civil Service system, have certain rights under that system. If any significant number of the employees slated for lay-off have such rights, I agree that the layoffs could be disruptive and care is called for.

  • Bryan Glynn

    Joe: Thanks for the response. I used the term “excempt” in the sense of “exempt from civil service.” I understand that employees who were appointed or promoted in accordance with the Civil Service system, have certain rights under that system. If any significant number of the employees slated for lay-off have such rights, I agree that the layoffs could be disruptive and care is called for.

  • Bryan Glynn

    Joe: Thanks for the response. I used the term “excempt” in the sense of “exempt from civil service.” I understand that employees who were appointed or promoted in accordance with the Civil Service system, have certain rights under that system. If any significant number of the employees slated for lay-off have such rights, I agree that the layoffs could be disruptive and care is called for.

  • J.S. Mill

    Why doesn’t someone actually ask the City’s Personnel Department how many “exempt-from-civil-service” positions there are in City government? I don’t have an exact figure, but there are probably hundreds of City employees who can be fired for no reason whatsoever.

    And these positions include not only Department Directors and Mayor’s staff, but also economists, civil engineers, some electronic mapmakers, and many other positions where hiring and firing should be based on merit and diversity considerations rather than political affiliations.

  • J.S. Mill

    Why doesn’t someone actually ask the City’s Personnel Department how many “exempt-from-civil-service” positions there are in City government? I don’t have an exact figure, but there are probably hundreds of City employees who can be fired for no reason whatsoever.

    And these positions include not only Department Directors and Mayor’s staff, but also economists, civil engineers, some electronic mapmakers, and many other positions where hiring and firing should be based on merit and diversity considerations rather than political affiliations.

  • J.S. Mill

    Why doesn’t someone actually ask the City’s Personnel Department how many “exempt-from-civil-service” positions there are in City government? I don’t have an exact figure, but there are probably hundreds of City employees who can be fired for no reason whatsoever.

    And these positions include not only Department Directors and Mayor’s staff, but also economists, civil engineers, some electronic mapmakers, and many other positions where hiring and firing should be based on merit and diversity considerations rather than political affiliations.

  • rank and filer

    I work for the city in a union position. My co-workers already found out LAST YEAR that they were losing their jobs. They are rank and filers, not fancy dancy strategic advisors, mismanagers or head-in-the-clouds execs. They do the front line work.

    The majority of cuts under Greg were indeed front line workers in some of the lowest paid positions around. In some departments they hit people of color (concentrated in lower paying positions of course) harder than their white co-workers. It also hit older workers and ailing folks in a not so veiled attempt to get folks to retire or die (one of the employees laid off subsequently did die).

    So pardon me if I have absolutely NO sympathy that the top dogs who protected their asses under Mayor Greg now find them exposed under Mayor Mike. Now you know how it felt when you cut the rank and filers.

    And remember, the admins and the warehousers and the other Jane and Joe workers losing their jobs March 2 don’t have your fancy resumes to hit the streets with.

  • rank and filer

    I work for the city in a union position. My co-workers already found out LAST YEAR that they were losing their jobs. They are rank and filers, not fancy dancy strategic advisors, mismanagers or head-in-the-clouds execs. They do the front line work.

    The majority of cuts under Greg were indeed front line workers in some of the lowest paid positions around. In some departments they hit people of color (concentrated in lower paying positions of course) harder than their white co-workers. It also hit older workers and ailing folks in a not so veiled attempt to get folks to retire or die (one of the employees laid off subsequently did die).

    So pardon me if I have absolutely NO sympathy that the top dogs who protected their asses under Mayor Greg now find them exposed under Mayor Mike. Now you know how it felt when you cut the rank and filers.

    And remember, the admins and the warehousers and the other Jane and Joe workers losing their jobs March 2 don’t have your fancy resumes to hit the streets with.

  • rank and filer

    I work for the city in a union position. My co-workers already found out LAST YEAR that they were losing their jobs. They are rank and filers, not fancy dancy strategic advisors, mismanagers or head-in-the-clouds execs. They do the front line work.

    The majority of cuts under Greg were indeed front line workers in some of the lowest paid positions around. In some departments they hit people of color (concentrated in lower paying positions of course) harder than their white co-workers. It also hit older workers and ailing folks in a not so veiled attempt to get folks to retire or die (one of the employees laid off subsequently did die).

    So pardon me if I have absolutely NO sympathy that the top dogs who protected their asses under Mayor Greg now find them exposed under Mayor Mike. Now you know how it felt when you cut the rank and filers.

    And remember, the admins and the warehousers and the other Jane and Joe workers losing their jobs March 2 don’t have your fancy resumes to hit the streets with.

  • Read This

    Layoff Process Slowed Down — no layoff plans to be submitted by departments

    The mayor has slowed down the process of laying off strategic advisers/managers/executives. He cited two factors: 1) that the budget deficit is growing and additional cutbacks will be needed midyear and 2) “unintended consequences.” In other words, the people chosen to be laid off will simply bump other people who will actually be laid off.

  • Read This

    Layoff Process Slowed Down — no layoff plans to be submitted by departments

    The mayor has slowed down the process of laying off strategic advisers/managers/executives. He cited two factors: 1) that the budget deficit is growing and additional cutbacks will be needed midyear and 2) “unintended consequences.” In other words, the people chosen to be laid off will simply bump other people who will actually be laid off.

  • Read This

    Layoff Process Slowed Down — no layoff plans to be submitted by departments

    The mayor has slowed down the process of laying off strategic advisers/managers/executives. He cited two factors: 1) that the budget deficit is growing and additional cutbacks will be needed midyear and 2) “unintended consequences.” In other words, the people chosen to be laid off will simply bump other people who will actually be laid off.