In another example of the cozy relationship between Mayor Mike McGinn and green developer Vulcan, a recent email invites business leaders and other “interested persons” to three meetings at Mayor Mike McGinn’s office. Two relate to the mayor’s still-unfunded “Walk Bike Ride” initiative, and one is a briefing on SDOT’s budget.
The odd thing about the invitations: They all came from Dan McGrady, the main lobbyist for Vulcan.
Ordinarily, you’d expect invites to official mayoral meetings—in this case, briefings by SDOT director Peter Hahn and mayoral staffer Ethan Raup—to come from someone at the mayor’s office, not someone who lobbies the city on a developer’s behalf.
Even weirder: As Vulcan’s lobbyist at the city, McGrady—who received $3,150 for his lobbying work at the city between April and June—lists McGinn’s “Walk Bike Ride” initiative among his clients. In other words, McGrady is simultaneously lobbying the city on Vulcan’s behalf in favor of Walk Bike Ride, and working for the mayor to coordinate Walk Bike Ride-related meetings.
McGinn spokesman Aaron Pickus says McGrady is working for the mayor on a “volunteer” basis. “He’s a business guy and he’s coordinating a couple of meetings with the people who are interested in Walk Bike Ride,” Pickus says. Pickus has not returned a message asking why McGrady was also coordinating meetings on SDOT’s general budget situation in addition to Walk Bike Ride.
Additionally, McGrady has informally advised Streets for All Seattle and helped the group set up meetings with business leaders, Streets for All spokesman Craig Benjamin says. Streets for All is pushing the city to fund walking, biking, and transit to the tune of $30 million a year. Walk Bike Ride and Streets for All aren’t officially connected, but Benjamin spoke at McGinn’s Walk Bike Ride kickoff back in May.
Wayne Barnett, director of the city’s ethics and elections commission, says that although McGrady’s work for McGinn is odd, it isn’t an ethics violation, because “he’s not subject to the ethics code,” which only applies to city employees and officials.
Vulcan, the largest property owner and developer in South Lake Union, has long ties to McGinn: The company funded his Great City initiative, its spokesman David Postman volunteered as the spokesman for McGinn’s transition team, and McGinn hired Vulcan community relations manager Phil Fujii as one of his deputy mayors. (Fujii has since resigned and returned to Vulcan).
Neither McGrady nor Vulcan spokesman David Postman have returned calls for comment.
