Wednesday, May 27, 2009
City Seattle Mayor Straw Poll
Posted by Eli Sanders on Wed, May 27, 2009 at 10:42 AM
It's official. Jan Drago is in. By my count that makes seven candidates now vying to be mayor of Seattle, with no clear Slog frontrunner among them. Until now. Speak, o' Slog mob, of your favored person to lead our sacred citadel.
Who do you like for mayor?
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3
Nickels is still the most capable candidate. That may be more of a comment on the field than on Greg, but it is a fact.
9
Weeks have now passed and McGimm seems as wimpy, inexperienced and silly as he did on the first day of his campaign launch.
Voter appeal for him except to some hard core dreamers is zero.
Drago could win. Drago vs. Nickels will be the most exciting race in 50 years.
The mud, oh the mud. And money.
Get out of the way, folks, going to be mean and bloody.
Voter appeal for him except to some hard core dreamers is zero.
Drago could win. Drago vs. Nickels will be the most exciting race in 50 years.
The mud, oh the mud. And money.
Get out of the way, folks, going to be mean and bloody.
10
Drago totally unimpressed me with her myopia during the snowstorm when she said that it wasn't all that difficult getting around with her 4X4! We need a no preference option or at least a music scene friendly candidate.
11
can someone please explain to me the appeal of Jan Drago? I can understand people wanting to change things up at City Hall, but I don't understand how Drago, with her 16 years on City Council, fits into some sort of sweeping, transformative vision.
12
Neo-realist @ 10 - How can someone "unimpress" you? Was your pre-comment state one of "generally being impressed", only then to be robbed of it? If so, you'd be back at square one - not impressed, but not disappointed, either. Just sort of neutral. Is this what you're trying to say? Or do you just get mixed up sometimes?
13
Drago has been Nickle's go to gal on the council, she has basically sided with him on every significant issue during his 8 years in office. She also has the charisma of a doorstop.
14
Expect Paul Allen and other non-resident recipients of corporate welfare from the city to cream their pants if Jan Drago were elected mayor. Pay no attention to her former assistant who now works full-time for Vulcan as its head lobbyist for Allen's subsidy demands in South Lake Union.
16
McGinn is the only candidate with a true vision for Seattle and a huge number of enthusiastic volunteers. Drago is not popular enough to win. I did a quick poll of my neighbors last week asking how many Seattle City Councilmembers they could name and Drago didn't come to anybody's mind. Try it!
17
@16 nailed it. McGinn has a real vision, understands what it will take to get this vision implemented and has a growing base of dedicated volunteers. Drago and Nickels? Come on, we can do better than this.
18
Expect Paul Allen and other non-resident recipients of corporate welfare from the city to cream their trousers if Jan Drago were elected mayor. Pay no attention to her former assistant who now works full-time for Vulcan as its head lobbyist pushing Allen's subsidy demands in South Lake Union.
19
Professor smarty pants Gordian @12, how about disappointed in Drago--She reeks of City Hall hackery and myopia.
20
if overhauling seattle's internet infrastructure and taking over seattle public schools are two of the three key pieces of his "vision", then he is doomed to be never taken seriously. period. i'm as big of an environmentalist as the next guy, but this dude either needs to revamp his list of priorities real quick or else be prepared to gracefully exit after the primary in August.
21
@20 We mustn't take for granted that Seattle or the Puget Sound region will continue to attract and grow companies like Amazon or Microsoft just because it has happened in the past. If we allow Seattle to fall behind in information technology, and/or a well-educated work force, we will end up like Detroit.
Other cities and countries are already ahead of us and if we want to continue attracting high-paying jobs in Seattle, we need to have the kind of information infrastructure that will allow us to compete globally.
Other cities and countries are already ahead of us and if we want to continue attracting high-paying jobs in Seattle, we need to have the kind of information infrastructure that will allow us to compete globally.
22
@21 i can appreciate the long-term vision and recognize that some other countries have faster internet than we do. But Seattle's internet is no worse than any other US city and is nowhere near being bad enough to scare off industry. This issue is on nobody's radar but McGinn's. Most importantly, it's not on voters' radars and frankly it makes him look kind of loony.
And nobody has explained how a city government (who apparently even has a hard time plowing snowy roads) will run a school system better than education professionals. Other cities have tried this with very lackluster results. So strike two for Mike.
And nobody has explained how a city government (who apparently even has a hard time plowing snowy roads) will run a school system better than education professionals. Other cities have tried this with very lackluster results. So strike two for Mike.
23
@22
The progressive Center for American Progress has written about mayoral control here:
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/0…
And Obama's Secretary of Education supports the idea.
The real issue, though, is not whether the school district should be run by the mayor's office or an elected board. The point is that the mayor's office is a bully pulpit and a seat of power, which the mayor can use to the city's benefit. Look at Nickels. He chose to actively work within a regional government (Sound Transit) and lobby on a state project (the Viaduct replacement) for the things that he thinks are important.
What about schools? Nickels has done nothing for them. He has been content to let them flounder and has chosen instead to lobby Olympia and marshal $930 million of city resources for HIS priority---a $4 billion tunnel. We should do better:
http://mcginnformayor.com/2009/05/champa…
The progressive Center for American Progress has written about mayoral control here:
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/0…
And Obama's Secretary of Education supports the idea.
The real issue, though, is not whether the school district should be run by the mayor's office or an elected board. The point is that the mayor's office is a bully pulpit and a seat of power, which the mayor can use to the city's benefit. Look at Nickels. He chose to actively work within a regional government (Sound Transit) and lobby on a state project (the Viaduct replacement) for the things that he thinks are important.
What about schools? Nickels has done nothing for them. He has been content to let them flounder and has chosen instead to lobby Olympia and marshal $930 million of city resources for HIS priority---a $4 billion tunnel. We should do better:
http://mcginnformayor.com/2009/05/champa…
24
Here's McGinn's explanation of the connection between the tunnel and our schools:
http://mcginnformayor.com/2009/05/champa…
http://mcginnformayor.com/2009/05/champa…
27
Writing in Peter Steinbrueck. Or myself. This field is WEAK WEAK WEAK.
McGinn needs to serve on Council first.
McGinn needs to serve on Council first.
30
McGinn may have a vision but he comes off like a single-issue twit and has no significant financial resources behind him. Enthusiatic volunteers don't count for squat. This is a terrible group of candidates from top to bottom, which is why Nickels likely cruises to victory again. Why would anyone want to vote for Drago? Up until yesterday she was Nickels' biggest fan on the Council. There isn't a dime's worth of difference between her and Greg Nickels.
31
sigler is the single best candidate to unify the city and create concensus among those who hold differing points of view.
32
it's a toss between sigler and donaldson. i like both a lot and they seem like solid leadership material
Mcginn is a nice guy but doesn't seem to have any concrete plans. i met them all last week
Mcginn is a nice guy but doesn't seem to have any concrete plans. i met them all last week
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