Only One Dealmaker

Jesus, Ivan. The person who gave me the item gave me the wrong info. Calm down.

Jesus, Ivan. The person who gave me the item gave me the wrong info. Calm down.

“Two Democratic district organizations, representing the 43rd District (Capitol Hill, the University District, Wallingford) and the 34th (West Seattle, Vashon Island) may approve resolutions supporting a six-lane 520 bridge with light rail later this month. The transit-heavy proposal has the support of all three 43rd District representatives in the state legislature, as well as Mayor McGinn and City Council member Mike O’Brien.”
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Wrong again. There is no such resolution in the 34th. Please stop making shit up.

Ivan: PC must have mixed it up with the six-lane bridge with light rail that will be coming to your back yard on Vashon.

“Ceis again: 'I think Dwight realized that he was going to get ‘promoted’ one more time and he was going to be running the coffee cart at City Hall.'”

That's kind of funny

As for the resolutions – I have generally been opposed to resolutions that just state how a District feels. I've seen the resolution that is to be considered by the 43rd, and O'Brien's office has done an excellent job in including an action item. I just hope that this resolution weaves its way throughout the local Districts, and can gain support from the County.

While I personally don't really care if it's light rail or BRT (okay, I prefer BRT – it's cheaper and easier to make changes to), it's not just a matter of making it easier for buses to get across (which would be good – people are more likely to take buses if they're not getting caught up in HOV traffic), it's also good for jobs.

People who get paid well drive buses. People who live in Snohomish County, King County, Pierce County work for Metro. While BRT would create very few jobs, I do think that if more folks got used to taking a bus to the Eastside for work, they may be more willing to take a bus downtown for shopping or a movie or some business of that sort, thereby increasing demand, and helping keep jobs safe, and/or creating new ones (and better transit throughout the city).

Either way, I hope this resolution passes in the 43rd, and also finds its way to Snohomish and Pierce Counties. We all have an interest in the bridge and its replacement. In the 43rd, I would venture a guess we do not want or need anything larger than six lanes. Ever. In Snohomish County, their commuters don't need six lanes of cars offloading on 405 or I-5, making Ship Canal and the 405/520 interchange bottlenecks even worse. In Pierce County…well, I don't know much about Pierce County. And Tacoma is in Pierce County. And I hate Tacoma.

Drago is an idiot. She's was on the Seattle City Council FOREVER, but somehow never noticed that King County has been promoting anexations and incorporations of urban unincorporated FOREVER??? Incredible. I hope she retires peacefully after someone is elected by the people of her Seattle district to represent them in the next election.

Sounds like we are lucky to be rid of him! Nice work McGinn!

And keep on not involving the City Council in your plans. It'll work out well. Promise!

Number 1, she noticed. she knows more aboiut the issue than you do, I promise.

Number 2, It's not a case of “King County has been promoting anexations and incorporations of urban unincorporated FOREVER.” King County, like every other county in the state, is required by LAW — the state Growth Management Act — to annex unincorporated areas that are contiguous to cities wherever possible.

The 43rd obviously has the most at stake in the SR520 project, but I can't help feeling that if the plan had light rail (or BRT) in it, that the Montlake CC wouldn't find lots of reasons to oppose it.

I would venture a guess that there are going to be some neighborhoods that will never be happy with the replacement. I'm not naming names, of course

Exactly, that's why I think that LR/BRT is a red herring. The bridge, as designed, is structurally capable of carrying LR. Planning (including engineering, permitting, and funding) for connecting LR to the future UW station will take years (even without the inevitable bloodshed in Montlake). We are currently getting a feeling for the efficiency of LR planning on the east side: it takes time. We could start planning for light rail (or BRT) on the bridge even as bridge construction gets underway. But as I said, this issue is being (mis)used by our 43rd district delegation and mayor.

In the Dwight Dively reception story, the name of the event organizer and longtime Dively aide, Lisa Peyer, was misspelled (it's not Pyer). Otherwise, good reporting on an event that many would say is inside baseball but really speaks volumes about the bush league way this city is being run by McGinn and his acolytes. And, by contrast, the classy way Dow Constantine has taken control at King County.

While I'm confident that Dwight Dively is a nice guy, intelligent, and good at his job, this has become spectacle being used by those who oppose McGinn or have other reasons to highlight his departure.

Can we be done with the crocodile tears? Elections mean changes, and that there is a shakeup at City Hall is to be expected. We are in difficult times, and difficult choices are being made. Is McGinn making the right or the wrong choices? Nobody can know at this time, as it will take time to see results.

I am disappointed that McGinn seems to have backed away from his proposed changes, not because he didn't believe in them, but because he seems to be attempting to assuage discontent.

But, again, that discontent is largely rooted in sources that are outside of a specific desire to see McGinn succeed. 1) Establishment people who are nursing wounds from a tough loss, 2) City employees who are fearful of losing their jobs, and 3) Media outlets who want to stir controversy in order to drive readership.

Message to McGinn: Forge ahead. This entire controversy is insider baseball. What the public wants to see you do is to make tough decisions and to stick to them.

The public wants McGinn to make tough and effective decisions. Few question his passion or intelligence, what's missing so far is effective leadership. He needs to stop alienating those that he must work with in order to be effective (including city staff, establishment types, and others).

Pete…one can't judge yet whether McGinn's leadership is effective or not, and relying on the reports of those who fall on the wrong side of that leadership, or on other who are seeking to gain status by zinging McGinn is misguided.

It's just much too early to be judging McGinn's leadership.

@Timothy, can you further enlighten us with your estimate of just when it would not be “too early to be judging McGinn's leadership”? No lower resolution than a quarter (of a year) would be useful please – thank you.

BRT on the bridge should be relatively easy. I doubt there would be stops in the middle, and as long as the mid-highway stop on the West side is preserved (or transit only off/onramps to the UW transit center included on this side), all that should be necessary is a dedicated lane for transit. Keep two general purpose lanes in each direction, one transit only lane in each direction, and be sure to include a bike lane.

Ensure that the bus lanes are on the inside, keep the bike lane on the south side, and *bam!*, as much mitigation as possible to appease Montlake for noise concerns.

I don't think that light rail is feasible at this point not only because of the shit storm that Laurelhurst and Montlake would create, but also the massive cost constraints, and the lack of ready capacity to take the light rail. Of course, I'm sure there would be people that would readily disagree with that last bit, but that's just my opinion.

But BRT – hells to the yes. Get Dow on board, get Metro to get their shit together, and hammer out some sort of compromise over time if that's what it takes (have the lanes be bus only from 7am to 7pm, or only during rush hour, etc).

Or perhaps they have someone in the 34th who is planning on submitting, but hasn't reached the point where Ivan would know about it. Districts all have messed up rules, and whatnot. Did you manage to get a copy of the 34th's reso?

Timothy may not, but I will!!!

I think that for the first six months, we all have every reason to make judgments on specific actions, and how he is going about certain things. This is especially true with a mayor that has no real political background, and has a staff that, while it has some awesome members, doesn't have many folks who are used to the rough and tumble of local politics (even if it is really wussy around here).

After six months, I think it is safe to say the direction of his administration is either negative, positive, or at least not messing anything up.

At a year – pass or fail. Of course, the big grade doesn't happen until the end of year four.

@Timothy, it sounds to me like you're either missing the point or simply repeating how McGinn would like to spin what's happening. The reality is, he's not only alienated “insiders” like Dively (who had unprecedented support and respect within the public and private sector – that kind of trust and effective leadership can't be easily replaced), the way he's gone about trying to implement his changes has been clumsy and poorly executed. He's trying to operate like an outsider still in campaign mode who needs to come to his senses and start leading. His numbers on financing his ideas have been dodgy, his approach amateurish and he's just about completely lost the trust of those who are there to work for him. Nickels brought a lot of change with him (ask the council) but he also hit the ground running with a smart, effective plan with smart effective people.

Erica, come on now, don't you know that Ivan is all seeing and all-knowing? Such people never calm down.

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Timothy – as one watching from the inside and out, his leadership can be judged. I understand people had high hopes for him to bring a different kind of effective leadership, but just his handling of the finance / budget shake ups alone show his poor judgment and unwillingness to bring in the right kind of people. He's basically swapped out key leadership at the city for those at the county who oversaw their spiraling budget. I saw the proof will be in the pudding – we in Seattle can slap those in King County a high five as over the next 4 years our finances plummet and the county begins it's rise back to fiscal stability. What does he have to do for your to admit he's not doing a good job?

Thank you Michael! You see, we folks lacking your unique perspective don't have the clarity of vision that you do. So understanding that the Mayor can mess up to nearly any degree until his sixth month in office and until then be immune to judgment is a comfort. We sans-culottes especially look forward to seeing his staff members that are worthy of our “awe” in action.

Timothy, I too am a McGinn voter and supporter, and yes, I too want “change” in City Hall. But a discerning eye is needed to distinguish what needs changing, and what's working fine and doesn't need changing.

What we critics are saying is that Dwight was an element, a critical element, in City Hall that didn't need changing. I get the distinct feeling that nobody in the mayor's office understood what Dwight contributed, nor the depths of the respect he had built up over the years. Not to mention the institutional memory that he possesses and people in the mayor's office don't.

Among the mayor's list of 46 rules of conduct, they didn't include: “First do your homework.” Nor ones that read: “Don't embarrass the mayor” and “don't let the mayor embarrass himself.”

I hope McGinn's making changes to avoid future mistakes of this magnitude.

I'm glad to hear that my “unique” (I would call it perfect) perspective is helpful for you. (and in case you are being snarky in a “eff you” kind of way, I don't think anyone would be able to call me a “fan” of the new Mayor, and I was an ardent supporter of Mr. Mallahan).

How shall I judge McGinn? By policy and ability to move those policy decisions forward.

Nitpicking every hire and fire is pointless, and as I've stated, is being driven by agenda likely more than it is being driven by dispassionate critique. Wailing and gnashing of teeth over who McGinn chooses to have on his team misses the point entirely. Is he winning games? You can't judge that yet, especially in an environment where you have so many who want to see him fail: 1) Establishment, 2) Fearful city employees, 3) City Council Members who want to run for Mayor or who want to grab more power, 4) media establishments who want to generate controversy to drive readership.

I'll agree with or disagree with McGinn on specific policy issues. I'll judge him on his ability to implement policy decisions, or, perhaps, even on his ability to be a pain in the ass to forces who I think are moving Seattle in the wrong direction. McGinn will fail at implementing some of his ideas not due to an inability to lead, but to a coordinated effort to stymie him from other forces. My hope is that he'll develop enough leadership skill to move enough policy forward that he'll have a positive impact on the City.

But, really, my next opportunity for judgement will come in 3 years, when I get to support my choice for the NEXT Mayor.

Perhaps we can get back to discussing policy. Seawall? Tunnel? 520? Etc. Do you support or oppose McGinn's efforts here? That's the meat of discussion I'm interested in, and which seems to be lacking in the places where I like to read about it.

“My hope is that he'll develop enough leadership skill to move enough policy forward that he'll have a positive impact on the City.”

The problem – he shouldn't be developing leadership skills at this point. All of these decisions about hiring and firing that have been discussed in the interwebs that you call “nitpicking” are very valid, and indicate a void in leadership that is fine if you're willing to keep the smart kids around for awhile, but wholly unacceptable if you're going to make hiring firing decisions that can have extensive, long-term negative impacts on the city. Dively is the biggest example of that.

As was previously pointed out, we swapped a very talented, smart, and respected budget director, who helped craft city budgets that, while they have deficits now, are nowhere near the level (per capita) as that of the State or County. We swapped this man for a buddy of Bushnell/Haugen, who happened to do the exact opposite level of competent work at the County.

The Bushnell/Haugen fiasco, and Mr. McGinn's “it's no big deal” attitude about convictions, and initial statement indicating that he didn't want the man to depart (following the reporting of his ongoing inability to tell the truth) shows a troubling willingness to trust untrustworthy people. This calls into question either Mr. McGinn's character, or ability to be smart enough to know who to and not to hang around with.

The 200 employees thing was a blunder in that he set an artificial number of people he wanted to lay off, targeted a title because it gained some political points, and said he wanted to go after these folks to help the general budget. Then produced a list of departments that aren't funded by the general budget.

The seawall proposal showed a complete lack of political competence, and pissed off a City Council that is ready and willing to take over city business.

All of these things matter, because they have a great effect on whatever policies he tries to push forward. Coming out of the gate and being politically wounded this much will make it difficult for him to effectively push any agenda. Hell, his obsession with town halls has managed to even annoy the Stranger, and their “McGinn can do no wrong” attitude.

Of course, we're only two full months in. Maybe this is all just a ruse to lower expectations. As long as there are no more major personnel eff-ups (a la Dively), and he doesn't do anything to significantly hurt the city, all will be well. And I really don't think he will.

3. McGinn pulled the “vote” idea out of his ass.

If you are planning on having a vote to take land you might want to inform the current responsible entity. He is the City of Seattle Exec, not the Mayor of King County.

wrt: Ross Hunter's bill giving a tax break for data centers.

- The bill states: “It is the legislature's intent to encourage immediate investments in technology facilities that can provide an economic stimulus, sustain long-term jobs that provide living wages, and help build the digital infrastructure that can enable the state to be competitive for additional technology investment and jobs.”

- This is basically BS. Data Centers provide very few jobs once the construction is complete, compared to, say, engineering centers. The “digital infrastructure” is one very big internet “pipe” and does nothing to promote, say, high-speed internet to homes or access for under-served areas.

- I wouldn't like to guess at Ross' motivation, but giving tax breaks to Data Centers won't achieve the results that the bill claims.

Bummer

Let's have a vote on funding LR on 520 ASAP.

That reminds me of something I was saying back during the election, about how I wasn't sure what office he was running for.

He wants better public schools…ahhh, school board!

He also wants more buses…hrmmm…County Exec?

And no tunnel replacement for the state highway…oh, Governor!

Turned out I was wrong…he was running for mayor the whole time.

Okay…I suppose it isn't all that clever, but I had fun with it.

Dixy Lee McGinn simply does not have the capacity to be an Executive elected official. President, Governor and Mayor. If McGinn was a council member or state rep — he would be called “quirky” “passionate” “rides a bike to events”… But running 11,000 employees, being the public face to a region and not having a staff that is competent either puts real fear into the fiscal stability of the govt. As well as becoming a face of the Democratic party or enviros.

The enviro community better beware that he will be the face of an elected enviro and putting the movement back decades. It is the matter of only weeks before the national press gets on board here and then it will get really bad… Gov Patterson bad.

We just suffered the worse Presidency in modern history because we had someone who was not an Executive — “i govern by gut” — we don't need GWB of the left as Mayor of Seattle.

Given all that Dwight has done for this city, the City Council is not likely to quickly forget how shabily he was treated by McGinn. McGinn has to get legislation through the Council to reorganize Finance and some other agencies. I doubt that will be a slam dunk.

Policy relies on competent staff to carry it out. This thread is all about examining whether his policy actions are already undermining stated policy goals. Feel free to tut-tut us, but don't mind if nobody takes it too seriously.

I judged him, then I voted, then every poor element I saw in him came rolling out over the past 2 months.

3 years, 10 months to go.

Timothy — Conceding, in your words, that Dwight Dively, “is a nice guy, intelligent, and good at his job,” is akin to saying Willie Mays was adequate in center field. I'm not in the hagiography (look it up) business but Mr. Dively was nationally acknowledged as an all-star in municipal finance administration. That's a fact.

Sure, winners have perks and they're entitled to bring in their own team. But it seems there's a consensus building among fair-minded observers of the Seattle civic scene that 1) having the new team chosen in major part by the mayor's confidant who's revealed as a convicted felon and serial liar, and 2) losing, as part of this personnel shuffle, not just another bureaucrat but an expert that any government would die to have, are not little excusable flubs on the first day, but errors of judgment whose magnitude is probably measurable on the Richter scale.

To suggest that the fuss over Dively is sour grapes by a cadre of bureaucrats; that it's pointless nitpicking by a bunch of soreheads who wish McGinn ill; is so wide of the mark that it grossly diminishes the modest portion of your response that has some merit — that it's early days in a four-year administration of a mayor who won a convincing victory and we'll know more about the pros and cons of the McGinn Administration in 2012. Indeed we will.

Sure, Erica. How gauche of me. I forgot that accuracy in journalism is for the old farts and the little people, not someone who's as cool and hip and edgy as you.

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Ivan's a jerk, but it seems hardly out of bounds to complain about the lack of accuracy of a reported item.

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Resolutions have to be submitted in advance and posted in the newsletter to be on the agenda. Our March newsletter is up on our Web site, http://www.34dems.org/Docs-2010/Newsletter-Marc…, and no such resolution is in it.

It has nothing to do with being all-seeing or all-knowing. It has to do with paying attention. I do. You don't. So I'm not at fault for your ignorance.

What editor?

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Fat:

You're correct on both counts.

Comment has been deleted by Erica C. Barnett. (Response to spam comment that has also been deleted.)

Timothy – There has been, and I expect there will continue to be, ample opportunity to discuss policy. Erica has posted on nearly every announcement McGinn has had about the seawall or 520 and the Council's reaction to it. Plenty of policy to discuss. No need for whining.

This post, however, was about a McGinn personnel decision. Shockingly, the comments are about… McGinn's personnel decisions. Almost as if the content of the comments somehow mirror the content of the post. Coincidence?

Dwight Dively has been the most well-liked and respected City official, bar none. To suggest that those who are despondent over his loss need to “get over it” is ludicrous. According to Benaroya Hall, 350 showed up to honor Dwight (Erica's article cited around 200). It is ill-advised, not to mention ignorant, to discount a man with a group of supporters like that. Dively's fierce supporters include at least four former Mayors, all Councilmembers he has ever served under, other government officials, well-known people in the business community, attorneys, state legislators, key staff at several universities, his students fromt he Evans School and, yes, a whole lot of people on the inside whose trust and respect he has earned over his twenty-two and a half years at the City. Unfortunately, if Mayor McGinn left office tomorrow, he could easily hold his going away event on the 7th floor of City Hall as there wouldn't be a need to accomodate many more poeple than his existing staff. I am hopeful that hizzoner begins to recognize that his lack of prior government and management experience are hurting him and that he needs experienced people on his side. He must begin to provide some stability to the quickly crumbling structure that he has almost single-handedly dismantled in just three months' time. Mayor McGinn must get over his pride and arrogance and begin seeking help and advice from those who have some knowledge about an issue before moving forward with bad information(e.g., the Seawall ballot measure fiasco). There are many who would be happy to help if shown a modicum of respect and trust. Had McGinn come into office with an open mind and left his arrogance back at the campaign where it belonged, he would have realized he had much to learn and that there's no shame in that. Under such a scenario, I suspect the City would not be mourning the loss of Dwight Dively now. It is Dwight's departure that should, and will be, McGinn's shame that will continue to haunt him for as long as he reamins in office.

Mayor McGinn personifies the ideal of environmental restoration. You don't like his way of disrupting a totally corrupt city hall, but that too is necessary for progress in the environmental movement. He has a record of success in parks, sidewalks and transit initiatives. As mayor, he's holding up incredibly damaging highway projects. If you had half a brain, you'd know better. You're no environmentalist. You're a West Seattle waiter waiting while the environment is in a downward spiral. You may continue to wait and DO nothing if you prefer. It's a free country. You have the right to be stupid. McGinn is a hero. He will run for Governor.

sweet-zombie-jesus Wells! for a moment try objectively to consider what you just wrote in contrast to the vast majority of local opinion. “totally corrupt city hall”? you've no clue what the word 'corruption' means if you think dull and boring seattle comes anywhere near that. the only acceptable alternative interpretation is that you're a McGinn staffer; and as such, -quick-: what are rule #11 and #38?

Y'all are acting like Jesus just ascended into heaven or something. If you had an event for Charles Manson with free food and a cash bar during working hours you're going to get city employees to show up. And of course his secretary is going to say something nice about her boss. She's probably worried about who'll be her next boss.

It sounds like a big old liberal lovefest with the usual suspects (labor leeches, Democrat party bosses, rank and file city clowns) all looking for a handout.

This continues to be tedious, and actually, seems to detract from a genuine appreciation of Mr. Dively, instead using him and his departure as a political game of gotcha.

Mr. Dively may very well be the Lord and Savior of City Budget planning, but that point is entirely irrelevant. If he wasn't a good match for the McGinn team, then he wasn't a good match.

A sports analogy, if you'll allow: The 2005 Seahawks had a great season, going 13-3, and losing in the Superbowl. One of their core strengths was the receiving team. Hasslebeck was able to move the ball around to multiple players.

In 2006, they brought Deon Branch on. He was a superstar receiver who expected to get a lot of passes. Arguably one of the best players in the NFL, he was a terrible match for the Hawks, and his presence disrupted the flow of Seattle's passing game.

The point being, it doesn't matter how great an individual is if they don't fit the team well. We elected McGinn to do a job, not to retain specific individuals. McGinn has made decisions, but we won't know if those decisions are right for quite some time.

Anything more than that at this point is politics, and ugly politics to be sure.

I should have narrowed my charge of corruption to SDOT directors and department heads. I know enough about that field to base corruption charges. City Council can be charged with corruption because they know enough about transportation projects to know better. Add development departments because of the deal-making behind closed doors.
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City Hall employees are numerous and only the few at the top are privy to the answers why Seattle's failing public process leads many people to conclude corruption. I'm not anti-government. I always say it's business control over government that's the problem.
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I'm not a McGinn staffer, not employed in government or with any firm hired by government. I know enough about transportation planning to conclude Grace Crunican failed despicably. The plans she oversaw for the new Alaskan Way, Mercer West and the Deep-bore tunnel are absolutely atrocious and must be stopped. I'm furious that Seattlers refuse to consider various options for these mega-projects and outraged that the powers-that-be (WSDOT, SDOT, City Council, mainstream news) undoubtedly mislead the public into approving roadway projects that inevitably produce a worse traffic nightmare. Mayor McGinn is Seattle's wake-up call and people had best listen to him.

Truthteller, although there's no shame in being a “secretary,” the person you refer to in your comment was actually the very competent and well-respected Director of Administration for the Department of Finance under Dively and an active member of his executive team. From what I understand, she has little to worry about in terms of her next job as word has it there are a number of departments hoping to swoop her up because of her solid reputation, knowledge, and experience. It goes without saying that she won't be welcomed to the seventh floor of City Hall though as experience seems to be looked upon there with contempt.
Timothy, your point is well-taken in terms of your sports analogy. I don't think it fits in this case, however. When you have a proven player already holding the position who everyone you talk to has said “no matter what you do, don't touch Dively,” it would have made sense to at least wait and see what the hooha was about before making a change for change's sake. Especially when it comes to the City's finances, which is incredibly complex. Of course it was the Mayor's right to make such a decsision. It's unfortunate it was a really stupid one, made at the direction of a convicted felon and liar (aka Haugen/Bushnell). I am hopeful that lessons have been learned and that we can all move forward from here for the good of the city. Time will tell.

“Harrumph. How dast anyone question the authority of the establishment. Off with their heads.”

Seattleboy…you probably wouldn't like my opinion about the Bushnell much either. Another story that was essentially manufactured in order to promote the interests of those pushing the story. Again, your speculation entirely misses the point. Bushness was a political strategist for McGinn; his strategy either worked or didn't, and pointing to the Dively story as evidence of it's failure is simply circular logic, per what I've expressed above.

Again and again and again, many here are using insdier baseball tidbits to ding McGinn for their own purposes, and nobody has yet made a link to anything tangible regarding the actual job of Mayor, what he's hired to do. And, you can't, because it is WAY TOO EARLY to be crying the crocodile tears that are turning Publicola into wet newsprint.

damn typos.

“Gerry Johnson, from the law firm K&L Gates: “There has been a revolving door of so-called ‘deciders’ at the city, but there has only been one dealmaker, and that is Dwight Dively.” Yeah Gerry, that was one hell of a deal when the City had to pay you $73 million for a $50 million parking garage at Pacific Place. All us lucky Seattleites remember You, Norm Rice, Sue Donaldson, Marthat Choe, Margaret Pageler, Jan Drago and Dwight “the dealmaker” that put that one together. And of course the baseball park that we had turned down, did Dwight help you on that one?

Timothy you are correct that there are insider tidbits being dropped and you should pay attention to them. McGinn listened to Bushnell over Dively and that was his first mistake. The outcome for McGinn was not positive in those instances. Did McGinn learn from that? There was no evidence that he did. McGinn continued to defend Bushnell even after his resignation. What does that say about McGinn's ethics, judgment, or gullibility?

What if the problem with the team is with the coach and not the players?