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Monday, October 10, 2005

Too Mean

Posted by on October 10 at 16:21 PM

I thought I’d pile onto my “too mean to Nickels” colleagues today, with a great anecdote from a West Seattle neighbor who’s fed up with the mayor.

At this very moment, Seattle’s Ethics and Elections board is determining whether Nickels broke the ethics code by sending out an eight-page mailer earlier this year, trumpeting his accomplishments. West Seattle Neighbor spoke to Nickels’ staff not long after she received that mailer—she thought it was suspect, not to mention a waste of money. While she hasn’t been called to testify as to her conversations with Nickels’ staffers, she did make a point of letting the ethics folks know what transpired:

I wanted to let you know that I did leave a message for [Director of Ethics and Elections] Wayne Barnett, letting him know about the telephone exchange I had with the assistant in Greg Nickels office who informed me that the piece in question was actually produced by “Neighbors for Nickels.”

Marco Lowe called later to correct and insist that the piece was not a campaign piece, that it was produced by city staff as a means of “being accountableā€¯ to city residents. But he was not then accountable enough to call back with the cost of the piece, as he said he would, even though I left him a message a week later to remind him!

Oh, and I should mention that West Seattle Neighbor’s frustration with Nickels is a big part of the reason she’s moving to Renton. “I still draw in my breath every time I think about the fact that I will no longer have a “Seattleā€¯ address, but I sure do like Renton’s mayor better!!”