Wanted: Mayoral candidate

[thee]

i seem to recall something about a monotone or a monotail or a mono something or other…

thee

bad memory sometimes…

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[BobLoblaw]

Monofail :-)

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[WSB]

Here is one thing I learned while at City Hall last week.

Some agencies/functions report directly to the mayor and the only oversight the council has is indirect, such as financing those functions.

So the council is NOT directly a check/balance on the mayor in all things. This is a “strong mayor” city — some cities have more ceremonial mayors, and the city is really run by a non-elected City Manager; here, there is no city manager, there is the mayor (and his non-elected deputy, who also has a strong role – Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis is also a West Seattleite, by the way).

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[bcollins]

I’ll take your word that this is a “strong mayor” city. I haven’t seen it. Except for maybe Royer. I think Rice was mayor during good times (kinda) so we don’t remener how stupid it was to put the bus tunnel in…that didn’t work with new buses or trains…as an example.

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[inactive]

Man oh man –

Wistful thoughts of Charlie Royer and his brother, the Deputy Mayor; Wow, that was an era of exceptional local governance.

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[flowerpetal]

I would not be too surprised to see Tom Rasmussen throw his hat in the ring. And Peter Steibrueck; has he made any overtures towards running?

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[miws]

Aw ‘dood! You just brought back a looonnnnnnggggg buried memory, stuffed into a deep, dusty crevice in my brain!

One of the local daily paper columnists of the time, (I’m 99.999999% sure it was the late, great, Emmett Watson) that referred to the fraternal Mayoral team as “Mayor CharlieBob”!

Hmmmm……sounds *suspiciously* similar to a very regular WSB poster……I wonder…….? ;-P

Mike

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[WSB]

BCollins – to clarify, “strong mayor” is an actual description, not my view of this or any administration. I know not everyone is a Wikipedia fan but on quick glance the description here is fairly accurate. I wouldn’t know all this except that my municipal-coverage days go back to radio news in California’s Solano County in the early ’80s (most of the cities there were small and run by full-time city managers, who I spent much more time interviewing than the mayors, who usually got small stipends and had other jobs – around here, Burien has a fulltime city manager and not-full-time mayor, for example).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor-council_government

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[wingme]

Any “D” but Nickels in 2009!

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[Ken]

My criteria (and what many of us thought Greg fit when we elected him)

Transparency in Government. I mean laws that also effect other city agencies as well as whistle blower protection within city agencies.

Not beholden to developers and large downtown landholders. : Who knew he would torpedo the monorail by removing all good funding and financing options?

Transit focused : We cannot let the County continue making all the decisions for mass transit since it is obvious there is no way to change even a little of the focus to getting from one part of the city to another instead of hauling worker bees from the burbs and back.

We cannot expect someone to put West Seattle first, but just a little less bending over backwards to avoid the appearance of favoritism would be nice.

I like Greg personally and worked for his last two campaigns. If no other strong Democrat pops up I suspect I will be working for him again.

If he follows several other cities in working to bring Instant Runoff Voting to the city races I might have to content myself with the full face criticism I get to give him at district meetings and put him back in the number one slot.

I an not going to the ABN position just because of a snowstorm. Remember there are several layers of incompetence in city and county agencies and no mayor can fix or even identify them until they fail massively.

That said, I have a lot of respect for Tom Rasmussen even if his viaduct plan is even worse the the Mayors.

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[HMC Rich]

Give me an “R”. . . . . . Hello? Hello? Any Republican candidates? Ever feel alone?

Man, it is so quiet! I hear crickets.

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[JoB]

show me a republican candidate who is forward thinking about anything other than creating and enriching big business and i will give them a second look.

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[AlkiRagdoll]

Listening to NPR this morning, there was specualation about Licata, Steinbruck, and Sidran. They also mentioned a few others whose names I didnt recognize. The one that stood out to me was Dow Constantine….. I dont know much about him, and am going to do a bit of review of past papers/issues to see… anyone have any comments?

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[mellaw6565]

Sidran – oh, that would be a step up – not!

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[wingme]

any D but Nickels and Sidran in 2009!

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[Jeannie]

I like Dow. Yes, he’s the Elliott Bay Water Taxi hero, but he also has been outspoken on issues such as preserving open spaces and saving Maury Island. The guy’s got a brain, is highly rated by respected organizations, and is a proven vote-getter. And he’s a West Seattle cutie-pie!

On a personal note, I attended a fundraiser about 5 years ago. Most of the politicians I met would look over my shoulder while they were shaking my hand, just to see if there was someone more important and influential they should be talking to. Dow didn’t. He took the time to talk with me.

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[Jeannie]

By the way, HMC Rich, I may not agree with your politics, but your dog is freakin’ adorable!

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[Sue]

Rich, although I generally will vote democrat, I always consider every candidate and will vote for who I think is the best one, regardless of party. I never blindly vote down party lines.

Jeannie, I had a similar experience with Dow Constantine as well and think that he is very approachable – he has posted here on WSB as well from time to time and gets involved. I also had a good experience with Tom Rasmussen – he was speaking at a fundraiser I attended, and I approached him as he was leaving to discuss the work he’d done regarding renters rights in condo conversions – I was being affected by that at the time. Not only did he take the time to talk to me, but he gave me his email and asked me to give him more information, replied to me, forwarded my information to a few people and was able to get me the help I needed. I really appreciated that.

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[SuitsarenotBoring]

I have had the chance to work with Dow on a variety of issues through the years. He studies the issues and genuinely cares about how policy will impact the people he represents. His reputation in the larger government arena is as a conscientious politician who comes to meetings prepared and will work on what is needed. He also hires great staff! As someone who has been political/government staff, this is a big issue for me. Who a politician chooses to represent their office to the community is very important.

Rasmussen also is a great councilmember and I am interested to see what he chooses to do next.

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[WSB]

Following the Conlin “running for council” (not mayor) announcement today, the P-I has posted this story tonight relevant to this thread:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/395175_mayor08.html

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[mellaw6565]

The City Council hasn’t exactly done a banner job either – not sure I would pick any of them as a replacement. We need new blood!

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[CB]

“we need new blood”….2 are brand new and 1 is under 2 years. What do you think of their performance to date?

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[wingme]

Bummer…Dow C. sez he won’t run against Nickels. If he (McCheez) is that intimidating, there’s something wrong in Stepford-ville. I liked it better when we were proud to be rough-and-tumble rugged outdoor individualists. Somewhere somehow we lost our huevos, our chi-chis. Good god, buck up Seattle!

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[bdk206]

“Twas the night before Christmas, and next to the Sound,

not a creature was stirring, all are snowbound.

The Greyhounds quit running, no matter the fare,

And the mail and garbage men said they just

couldn’t get there!

The children were driving Queen Anne in their sleds.

While roofs were collapsing on old people’s heads.

And mamma in her boots and I in my cap,

were stuck in the snow and the ice and the crap.

When at the Home Depot there arose such a

clatter,

I trudged from my car there to see what was the

matter.

A group of sad souls were waving their cash,

They couldn’t buy shovels, those had gone in a

flash.

Tires were spinning and just couldn’t go,

And chains lay broken in the old dirty snow.

Then what did my eyes look over and see?

Eight representatives of SDOT,

with a fat politician so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it was Mayor “Saint Nick”.

More rapid than gun bans his excuses they came,

“To save our environment the roads stay the same!

On Broadway! On Boren! On Yesler and Denny!,

to clear off these roads would cost such a penny!

Sliding down Thomas and over the wall!

The busses hung over and ready to fall!

He still insisted it wasn’t his fault,

as the world’s greenest mayor he couldn’t

possibly use SALT!

Salt is corrosive, could hurt the fish.

(But the Puget Sound’s SALT WATER you

ig norant kish!)

So snowy Seattle continued to stew,

and Mayor St. Nick had not even a clue.

While I stood there astonished, on the adjacent TV sets,

I saw the airport was packed, out of de-icer for jets.

And that others couldn’t get down the roads to the ferry,

And the city decided to close Denny and Cherry.

An accident closed the I-90 bridge,

And people couldn’t drive down Finney Ridge.

Shovels, and salt had just flown off the shelf,

And I laughed when I heard him in spite of myself.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

He tried to convey we had nothing to dread;

He spoke many words, but did little work,

And Seattle knew they should never have elected

this jerk.

Then thumbing his nose at his citizens plight,

he turned to the crowd and exclaimed “we’ve

done right!”,

and then went to his limo refusing to yield,

And left to get solar panels installed at Qwest Field.

But I heard him exclaim, as he skidded past me

“Happy Christmas to all, heck, I give us a “B”

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[Zenguy]

It is not that Dow is intimidated by Nickels, it is that he worked for him and will not run against him out of loyalty. I am sure when Nickels is done he will run and I am sure Nickels will endorse him too.

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[Author]

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