West Seattle snow aftermath: Mayor requests ethics review

(WSB photo taken in Admiral District, 12/21/2008)
Followup to the Seattle Times investigation of last December’s snow response and the suggestion that West Seattle got preferential treatment: The mayor’s office just sent a news release saying he’s asking for an ethics review of the Transportation Department – read on:

Mayor Greg Nickels today requested an Ethics and Elections Commission investigation into allegations that preferential treatment was given to specific neighborhoods during the December 2008 storm.

The Seattle Times reported on March 19 that managers at the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) instructed crews to clear sidewalk landings and bus stops in West Seattle, where Nickels and other senior staff live.

SDOT’s internal reports show crews were dispatched to similar duties in other neighborhoods. However, an investigation by the Ethics and Elections Commission will determine whether there were inappropriate operational decisions that violated the ethics code.

“Let me be clear: If I learn that anyone acted improperly or unethically, there will be discipline and consequences,” said Nickels. “The people of Seattle expect every employee to uphold the highest ethical standards and I will not accept anything short of that. We will demand answers to these management questions because the public must have confidence in the people charged with improving and carrying out our city’s snow response plan.”

Here’s more information about the Ethics and Elections Commission.

AlkiRagdoll March 20, 2009 (3:52 pm)

What a joke — clearly whomever is believing that Mayor HalfDime cleared his own neighborhood, didnt see the rest of the AdmiralWay or Alki area. I dont want this idiot as mayor… but WS was not treated more favorably… otherwise i would not have been stuck at home.

Dailycommuter March 20, 2009 (4:17 pm)

Oh, please. Now hizzoner will take charge and ferret out any malfeasance and ineptitude at SDOT. Where was this take-charge spirit when much of the city was at a stand-still? Where was the leadership in this city during the 2 weeks when streets were clearly impassable? If an Ethics and Elections Commission investigation finds that preferential treatment was given, what will be the consequences? A fine? And who exactly will pay that? — SDOT managers responsible for the operational decisions, or will it ultimately be paid by the City of Seattle?

julie March 20, 2009 (4:22 pm)

My question would be why were they clearing bus stops since #1 the mayor doesn’t take the bus and #2 the buses were not running.

JanS March 20, 2009 (4:24 pm)

oh, please…are they serious? did they try to drive around here? did they try to take a bus out of or into WS at any time? I mean an on schedule bus. Were they over here walking our sidewalk? Ethics violations? Seriously? We got preferential treatment? What a waste of city money that we don’t have….

If that’s the the power that our mayor has, if that’s the “preferential treatment” that we got…no thanks…give it back…

Molly March 20, 2009 (4:27 pm)

All I have to say is people were snowmobiling on my street.

D.C. March 20, 2009 (5:28 pm)

Whew! I can only imagine what it would have been like if we *hadn’t* received preferential treatment!

S March 20, 2009 (5:30 pm)

And skiing down the hill on 35th Ave SW from up at the water tower down to SW Morgan St. I wouldn’t know if the Mayor’s street got special treatment as I wasn’t able to go anywhere by Bus or by car.

I realize that Seattle isn’t known for “It’s Snow”, but they knew the storm was comeing.. all the weather people were saying it was going to be a doosie… and they did NOTHING to really prepair for it. They had BETTER be ready for it next Winter, even if we get just rain. Better prepaired than Sorry. This city is just NOT a snow kinda place.

Kris March 20, 2009 (5:32 pm)

Still so curious as to how the reaction from the city on so many levels. As a for instance, the mail, UPS or fed ex didn’t come in my neighborhood for seven days due to the unplowed roads. I wonder how insulated our mayor and city council was during this time to think that this was not a problem.

WSB March 20, 2009 (5:50 pm)

That was discussed during one of the hearings we covered. The city council wasn’t insulated but claims that there was no formal channel for their feedback to get through because all the departments report to the mayor. SDOT’s boss, meantime, was out of town part of the time but says she was on the phone; when she was here, she testified at a later hearing, she said she could get around with her 4×4 and so they thought they were meeting their goals. Here’s that story, from the Feb. 20 hearing:
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=14397

S March 20, 2009 (5:57 pm)

Too bad she doesn’t realize that not EVERYONE has a 4×4… nor could some of us even get a 4×4 out of some our driveways. Here at my apt bldg., we had people who live up the hill at the end of the alley, parking and leaving their 4×4’s in our parking lot because they thought.. “OH! I have 4 wheel drive! I can handle this!” and then got stuck.

Save Our Streets Seattle March 20, 2009 (6:53 pm)

Fire Crunican by Monday! Fire Mayor McCheese in November! This is disgusting!

MrJT March 20, 2009 (7:15 pm)

Why have we heard nothing from Grace Crunican? Do people realize that she makes $189,000/year ? For that kind of money one would hope that she may have something to say about how SDOT operated.

NOPE. NADA. Is she even in town?

I noticed that she still hasn’t taken her Christmas wreath down. FIRE HER, lets move on with someone that at least knows what month it is.

CB March 20, 2009 (8:40 pm)

It was a 20 year snow storm. What did people expect? Do we really want to invest in millions of dollars of snow removal equipment? Come on folks, it only happens 2 or 3 times in a lifetime. I think we can learn to live with a little snow.

homesweethome March 20, 2009 (8:55 pm)

Ethics review – total waste of funds when this has nothing to do with ethics and all to do with policy and its so totally straightforward. Seattle had a no salt policy and some sort of directive not to plow down to the street. An ethics review won’t change or fix that. Let’s move on and if more money is to be spent, how about negotiating some fixed price contracts for snow removal services with a 10 year cap on the fee amount.

MrJT March 20, 2009 (9:41 pm)

It’s about all the lies told by SDOT. Why can’t Grace Crunican just come out and say that she was not here and doesn’t have a frigging clue what was going on in this city. She doesn’t need to because she has a lapdog named Greg. Good luck to him getting re-elected supporting this type of management.

Kayleigh March 21, 2009 (5:57 am)

I don’t see an “ethics” problem. I see a “competency” problem.
.
Try thinking like people who are paid to do their jobs, rather than thinking like politicians who don’t want to work very hard but want to polish their images.

JayDee March 21, 2009 (8:12 am)

This Seatimes article says it clearly: It was not a 20-year storm event.
http://tinyurl.com/dln48y
–
So even if it wasn’t a 20-year snow event, it was certainly enough to paralyze the city–the neighborhoods and downtown. The failure was communication and leadership. I am not arguing for millions in new snow equipment — Use what we have be it plows, people, or the Internet. If the Seattle Times expose is correct, up to half our plows weren’t even being used during the snows. When the plows were running, they were operating willy-nilly and there was no plan to keep major arterials open, nor even a clear idea of what to do to communicate with their departments or citizenry. The leadership failure starts with the Mayor on down, including Grace Crunican, Metro, and SPU (garbage). If Grace had simply logged onto WSB during those 9 days, she would have learned more about the state of the City than relying on the seemingly incompetent managers in charge of running the plows.
–
Rather than call for an “ethics inquiry” and ritual wrist slapping, the Mayor should call people on the carpet, figure out what happened, and fire staff if need be. I’d also ask for him to take responsibility, but it isn’t Christmas anymore.

Save Our Streets Seattle March 21, 2009 (10:25 am)

I don’t think the issue is MORE plows. The issue is actually USING the ones we do have. There were enough plows. The problems were no salt, Grace “I’m On Vacation” Crunican, and Mayor McStupid. We don’t NEED any more plows. We need salt and leadership. The salt we’ve got. The leadership is on vacation (permanently).

Sorry, comment time is over.