Jan Drago and Joe Mallahan are asked what they think of the job Tom Carr's been doing as city attorney (Dom's take on that subject is required reading). Also discussed: the nightclub sting Operation Sobering Thought and police presence in Belltown and Pioneer Square.

What do you think of Tom Carr and the job he's doing as city attorney?
DRAGO: He is too political as a city attorney. He is…well, he's Greg Nickels’ personal attorney, and Nickels and Carr have politicized the city attorney's office.

So you’re supporting Pete Holmes?
DRAGO: I don't know what I'm doing in that race. I'm not happy with either choice, frankly.

What’s your opinion in this, Joe?
MALLAHAN: I have chosen not to...

Answer difficult questions? Characterize Tom Carr’s tenure as city attorney.
MALLAHAN: I think Tom Carr has been somewhat heavy-handed, and—again, he holds an elected position, so it's really not very germaine to…

He's part of the administration…
MALLAHAN: Sure, sure, again, but I have made a decision not to comment…

Well let's ask this then, because it's directly related to Tom Carr and the mayor. Operation Sobering Thought, what were your thoughts on that?
MALLAHAN: I don't know what Operation Sobering Thought is.
DRAGO: I'm not sure that I do either.

That's the nightlife sting…
DRAGO: Oh, the nightlife…oh, that was way over the top. I mean, absolutely. And let's go back to the whole nightclub thing. That was the mayor's proposal, they were heavy-handed, it was politicized, and it was the council, and it was really Sally [Clark] and I, because I had a lot more experience than she did, that put together the package that the council then passed, so clearly I was not happy with that. Now, politically the mayor's come back, and he's done all this other stuff trying to repair the damage that he did on the nightlife stand.
MALLAHAN: You know I think with regard to nightlife, and certain other art forms that people like to peg as sort of inducing bad behavior, the key is just simply to make sure there's appropriate security personnel and on the streets. That means police officers. I'm on the record and I'll restate that I believe we need to move as quickly as possible to 605 uniformed police patrol officers on the streets. We’re at about 500 right now, and neighborhood policing, strategic planning calls for 605. That would cost us about $10 million, and I'm quite confident that those $10 million can be found in efficiencies in city government. We have $125 million in consulting contracts in city government, and my experience with consultants is that they run roughly 4-5 times as much money as internal expertise. We need to have internal expertise in the city and not be relying on unaccountable consultants who, uh—so anyway…

Do you know what we’re talking about though, this Operation Sobering Thought?
MALLAHAN: Well we…

There were raids on 15 different nightclubs…
Mallahan: And we also changed operating hours, right?

No. Nothing to do with operating hours.
MALLAHAN: Oh, I thought we did.

No, there were undercover stings at 15 different bars, arrested a bunch of bouncers, club employees—
DRAGO: Jailed them.

Jailed them. And then zero convictions that came out of it. It was just overzealous things—like, they took a bouncer who hadn't been working that night, and jailed him for something he wasn’t even there for.
MALLAHAN: What I'm more referring to, there's a bunch of movement toward, you know, anti-hip-hop, and zoning codes around what kind of entertainment can happen when and where. And my, so I guess I'm off-topic, but to me again, if Belltown, Pioneer Square, and the like had adequate police personnel, it wouldn't be an issue. I mean, other big cities…

Do you think that that precinct is understaffed right now?
MALLAHAN: I do, yeah. I said I think the worst-staffed precinct is the South Precinct. Its geography grew and the head count didn’t change. I think Downtown and Belltown are poorly staffed. And I also think the University District seems to have completely inadequate staffing.

What is it about the South Precinct that makes you think it's understaffed right now?
MALLAHAN: Well, again, gang violence and crime generally is more of a problem in the South Precinct than the East Precinct, and specifically, the data are very clear that the geography grew dramatically and the head count didn't change. Also, when I talk to police officers and ask them, you know, "Hey, is there overstaffing somewhere?," they’re pretty universally "No, we’re not overstaffed anywhere, but South Precinct is a problem."

Previously: Part 1 (Nickels and McGinn debate the tunnel); part 2 (Nickels is asked about his unpopularity); part 3 (Mallahan names the one thing he's done for the environment: he's eaten it); part 4 (Jan Drago is asked about charisma and whether she really has more of it than Nickels); part 5 (Donaldson, Nickels, and McGinn on nightlife and their favorite places to drink).