Tim Burgess' City View

How to Help Japan and Get Ready Yourself

Quick, trustworthy ways to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Click on logo images below to make a financial contribution to help.

Are you prepared? Make sure you're prepared for a major earthquake or other significant emergency in Seattle by reviewing this check-list of steps to take and supplies to have on hand courtesy The Seattle Times.

The City's Office of Emergency Management has a host of resources available to help you and your neighbors prepare for and cope with natural disasters and other emergencies, including check-lists, preparation training videos, what to prepare if evacuations are ordered, basic firstaid and other useful information.

The City has organized more information on the earthquake in Japan here, including additional charitable giving options, information on how to locate relatives and friends, and much more.

Spontaneous Engagement with Mayor-elect Mike McGinn

Yesterday afternoon I made a spontaneous visit to Mayor-elect Mike McGinn's transition offices on the 60th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower.  Gosh, what a view he has!  I met several of the folks helping Mike with his preparation to take command on January 1.

It was a visit of reciprocity—Mike wandered around the 2nd floor of City Hall last Friday; a very welcome visit that was interpreted as a gesture of collaboration.  Good start, for sure. 

Council to Close Ethics Loophole

The Council released this statement late this afternoon—

Five City Council members announced today they will introduce legislation prohibiting the use of taxpayer money to pay fines imposed by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission for violations of the city's ethics and elections laws.   

Councilmembers Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, and Tom Rasmussen, who serve on the Council’s Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee, which has oversight responsibilities for ethics and elections issues, including the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, were joined by Council President Richard Conlin and Budget Committee Chair Jean Godden in announcing the proposed changes to city law.

Councilmember Sally J. Clark, Chair of the committee, said, "Employees carrying out their job duties should have the full faith and protection of the City behind them.  However, when an ethics violation occurs, no matter how well intentioned the employee may have been, the fine should not be passed along to taxpayers."

Councilmember Tim Burgess, Vice-Chair of the committee, and a former Chair of the Ethics and Elections Commission, said, "Our city has a strong reputation for transparency and openness in government.  We have extremely strong ethics and elections laws.  But I had no idea we had such a gaping loophole that would allow public officials to use taxpayer money to pay a penalty imposed by the ethics commission.  We will quickly close that loophole."

Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, member of the oversight committee, said, "The public should not have to pay the fines of public officials who violate our ethics laws.  We need to make it clear that all public officials will be responsible for their actions.”

Council President Richard Conlin added, “The Council takes its responsibility as stewards of the public trust very seriously and I’m pleased to make local government more accountable by closing this loophole. This change is a clear demonstration of the City Council’s integrity and commitment to uphold that trust.”

The Council will be working closely with the Ethics and Elections Commission and the City’s Law Department to introduce the legislation in September.

Sonics Lawsuit Settlement

The Mayor this afternoon at 5 p.m. announced a settlement of the city's lawsuit with the Sonics.  You can read the Mayor's statement here.  Eight city council members, including myself, signed a letter of endorsement of the settlement earlier today.  (Councilmember Tom Rasmussen is out of the city.)

It's a sad day for Sonics' fans and for all sports fans.  But, when one peels back the emotional layers, the settlement makes very good sense.

First, even if the city had prevailed in Federal Court that victory would have been quite hollow, only two more years of the Sonics playing in Seattle and a great deal of bitterness and hostile relations with the NBA.  After those two years, the Sonics would leave and we would have absolutely no chance of a future team.  The settlement repairs the city's relationship with the NBA and allows the city to maintain the Sonics' name, history, and memorabilia. The settlement protects our historical memories and shifts our focus toward a long-term solution--a new team. 

Second, the settlement puts the city in a good position to snag a future team either through relocation of another team, purchase of a franchise, or an expansion team.  The NBA has agreed to facilitate the city's pursuit of another team. 

Third, the settlement properly reimburses the city for lost rent and other monetary losses caused by the immediate relocation of the Sonics.  The settlement amount is large enough to also pay off all of the outstanding Key Arena debt, plus more.

So, it's a bittersweet day, for certain.  But I believe the city has made a wise, long-term, and fiscally prudent decision. 

New Police Contract

The Council's personnel committee has voted to recommend adoption of the new labor agreement between the city and the Seattle Police Officer's Guild.  I wrote an essay, published in The Seattle Times, that spells out the benefits of this new contract and related ordinances the Council will take up next week. 

Body Count

Just because I know everyone is waiting eagerly for these numbers, here are the city employee position counts by department for 2008 as adopted by the Council yesterday:

Arts and Cultural Affairs  27
City Auditor  9
City Employee Retirement System  15
City Finance Office  40
City Light  1,831
Civil Service Commission 2
Dept of Planning and Development  448
Dept of Executive Administration 254
Ethics and Elections  6
Fire Dept  1,189
Fleets and Facilities  310
Hearing Examiner  5
Housing  43
Human Services  336
Information Technology  217
Intergovernmental Relations  11
Law Dept  164
City Council  88
Mayor's Office  26
Municipal Court  246
Neighborhoods Dept  97
Office for Civil Rights  24
Office of Economic Development  26
Office of Policy and Management  19
Office of Sustainability and Environment  7
Parks Dept  1,109
Personnel Dept  124
Police Dept  1,868
Public Safety Personnel Commission 1
Seattle Center  296
Dept of Transportation  785
Seattle Public Utilities  1,485
Grand TOTAL  11,108

Notes From DC

Here's a little mid-trip update from Washington, D. C.  (Here's an earlier post about my trip.)

I spent most of yesterday at the DC City Hall (photo left).  It's an impressive building, dedicated July 4, 1908, just three blocks from the White House.  Like Seattle, DC has a strong mayor/strong council form of government, but it's also very different.  DC government is essentially a state, county, and municipal government all rolled into one.  Their annual operating budget is $6 billion, more than six times Seattle's; they fund all municipal services, plus K-12 education, and health services for the poor.   

I spent the morning with Councilmember Phil Mendelson, chair of the Council's Public Safety and Judiciary Committee.  The current issues he's wrestling with include police surveillance cameras—there are just over 5,000 of them in DC, including those in public schools—and anti-crime checkpoints in high-crime neighborhoods.  The checkpoints just started last week, and I must admit they are of dubious legality.  Mendelson is working to create alternative crime-fighting strategies, especially for the high-crime districts of the city.  DC has approximately 4,200 police officers; Seattle has just under 1,300. 

I also visited with Philip Eure, director of the Office of Police Complaints.  In DC, individuals with police misconduct complaints can go directly to the police department or to Eure's civilian-led office where civilian investigators will look into the allegations.   This combination of both police and an outside civilian agency investigating misconduct is unusual in the United States.  I favor Seattle's hybrid system with direct civilian oversight of police-led investigations.  But my discussions with Eure are always helpful; it's good to hear differing opinions about how best to maintain police professionalism and accountability. 

Colacurcio Family Affairs

Five years ago during the so-called Strippergate affair I commented that the scheme to corruptly influence our City Council was merely the tip of the iceberg.  Well, we began to get a glimpse below the water line earlier today when federal and local officers executed search warrants at the Colacurcio-owned strip clubs and residences. (Read newspaper accounts of the raids here and here.)

I wrote extensively about the Colacurcio family and their associates beginning early in the 2003 Strippergate case, and later when I urged federal and state officials to look deeper.  The Seattle Times editorial page graciously gave me space to make the case that Strippergate deserved our keen attention.  Here, in chronological order are those essays—

Council Members Should Return Tainted Money—August 5, 2003
My first piece based on campaign disclosure reports, interviews with investigators, and personal memories and records from the 1960's scandals that permeated city government and the police department.

Until Strippergate's Resolved, Rezone Must Be Put On Hold—November 10, 2003
My plea for the City Council to stop consideration of the property rezone until all the facts are known; unfortunately, the Council at the time plunged ahead and granted the rezone despite strong evidence of attempted corrupt influence.

In-Depth "Strippergate" Investigation Crucial to Restoring City's Integrity—September 10, 2004
I was joined in this essay by two previous chairs of the city's Ethics and Elections Commission in calling for a state and federal investigation of Strippergate.  This essay chronicles the flow of illegal campaign contributions against the official time line of Council actions.

Public Deserves to Know Dirty Details of "Strippergate"—July 13, 2005
Former King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng courageously and creatively brought criminal charges against the Colacurcios and their associates following his Strippergate investigation.  The Colacurcious and one of their associates plead guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges this past January bringing the Strippergate portion of what had become a far-reaching and deep city-federal investigation of the Colacurcious to a successful end.

Understanding the Art and Science of Corruption—October 25, 2006
A frequent argument advanced by the strip club industry is that their activities are only about freedom of expression and legitimate adult entertainment.  Strippergate was never about adult entertainment; from the beginning it was a case of public corruption, a common and pervasive occurrence in the industry.  This piece advanced the argument that Seattle's public vote on the 4-foot rule was a good opportunity for city voters to reject those who would corrupt our electoral process. 

St. Petersburg Departure

We spent all day yesterday meeting with St. Petersburg city and port officials, conversing with business leaders, and debating the wisdom of importing Washington State wine to Russia with U. S. Consular representatives. 

St. Petersburg is the fourth largest city in Europe, behind Moscow, London, and Paris.  The city, named after the apostle Peter, has nearly five million residents, an unemployment rate of zero—or 1.5% if the other figure-quoting government official is to be believed.  The economy is booming and there aren't a sufficient number of skilled laborers for the many factories under construction.  Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Nissan, and other auto manufacturers, are hurriedly constructing factories to meet the growing demand. 

Public infrastructure needs are overwhelming—roads, sidewalks, transit buses, all need significant upgrading.  But you can overlook these pressing issues in favor of the magnificent architecture, historic buildings, broad boulevards,  sweeping parkways, and bustling streets.  This is a great city with a long, tragic past, but hope is palatable here.  People are upbeat.  Things are happening.  Let's hope they get it right this time around.

This photo was taken yesterday afternoon in front of St. Petersburg City Hall. 

St. Petersburg Intro

Our Seattle delegation has arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, a city of five million people that celebrates its 305th anniversary tomorrow (Tuesday). 

We met today with Maria Chernobrovkina, director of the American Chamber of Commerce and with attorneys at Baker and McKenzie, a US-based law firm with officers here and in Moscow. 

Today's briefing identified three challenges facing the city—a lack of skilled labor, shortage of workforce housing, and severe port capacity issues.  St. Petersburg handles most of the ocean import/export freight for the entire country and the infrastructure and cargo capacity can't keep up. 

We ran into a class of police cadets yesterday afternoon; most are 17 or 18 years of age and are enrolled in a five-year study program.  Upon graduation, these cadets will become municipal police officers.

We're with St. Petersburg city officials tomorrow.