Seattle Times: Drago tries to distance herself from Nickels

Publicola had a live blog during the City Club's mayoral debate last night. It is an interesting look into journalistic preferences.

Here is mine: Jan Drago is Greg Nickels' runningmate. She can say whatever she wants, but she has been on the city council for 16 years, 8 of that was clasping hands with Greg Nickels.

Her only major endorsement — from the Alki Foundation — is shared with Nickels. Democratic districts have rejected her as an insider. The Stranger alternative newspaper featured a drawing of Nickels last week, and to capture Drago's likeness, the artist used the same drawing — with a bow in its hair.

Her opponents have seized on it.

"She brings some different dynamics and different elements into the race (in that) she's seen as being another longtime incumbent," said former Sonic James Donaldson, the candidate who in some polls is tied with Drago for third place.

Drago (pronounced DRAH-go) has been elected four times to the City Council, serving 16 years. She has been Nickels' ally on major initiatives. If the two disagreed in public, it was often over who should get credit for a project they worked on together.

Drago said she and the mayor worked together "because it takes a mayor and a council working together to make the big accomplishments on projects."
Read the rest of the story, Seattle Times: Drago tries to distance herself from Nickels

As for Donaldson . . .
The thinning of the pack has Nickels, Drago, and now Donaldson out of the running for my vote.

James Donaldson, the former Seattle Sonic, is the only candidate [for Mayor of Seattle] who is against using tax money to refurbish KeyArena to hopefully lure another NBA team to town. Also, Drago was the only candidate to say she was against electing City Council members by district instead of the current system of city-wide elections.
SeattlePI.com Seattle mayoral debate highlights

I kind of knew this, he said it about a year ago on KJR, and I had to guess he was either thinking that the entire time, or was awash in the loss of the franchise, now you know, and so do I.

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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Today in Losing Propositions: "Drago exaggerates role in tunnel project"

This is from the Seattle Times Newspaper Editorial:

Mayoral candidate Jan Drago overstated her role in getting the downtown tunnel approved. If she wants to improve communication between Seattle and Olympia, she should be more accurate about what she actually accomplished.
Seattle Times Editorial: Mayoral candidate Drago exaggerates role in tunnel project

Ok, just so I have this right; the Seattle Times is chastising mayoral candidate Councilwoman Jan Drago for claiming too much credit for a viaduct replacement project the majority of Seattle did not vote for, that the state legislature chose to saddle Seattle for all of the cost overruns on. Umm, ok.

Last Spring she did testify in Olympia for the Tunnel project. I watched most of that on TVW.

Months before she stood next to Greg Nickels when the deal for the tunnel was announced, her contribution was committing Seattle to another Streetcar line to run from Alaskan Way on up the the empty KeyArena with no funding source to make it happen.

She stood next to Ron Sims, Sims' added bus service to add one million ridership hours was depending on car tab tax that never happened.

She stood with Governor Chris Gregoire who stripped away support for the added bus service hours after Ron Sims announced that he was leaving his position as King County Executive to become the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This Tunnel is, even by its supporters, a negative experience, 7 years in the making, following the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake.

Why anybody would think exaggerating their involvement in that mess is nuts. It says more about the fantasy one must live in to think this is an issue to campaign on than it does about mayoral attributes. She is a better communicator than Greg Nickels, and this pile of manure is her claim to fame, really?

It is no wonder a guy that looked to be a long shot, James Donaldson, is polling almost on par with Drago. Between Nickels and Drago's shared history, I guess James Donaldson should be seen as a potential mayor, and not as an "also ran".

A new KING 5 News poll has Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels leading challengers Jan Drago and James Donaldson, with the other candidates trailing the field.

The survey results:
Nickels: 24 percent.
Drago: 15 percent.
Donaldson: 14 percent.
The poll released Thursday showed that 26 percent of respondents were undecided.SeattlePI.com: Poll: Nickels leads Seattle mayor's race

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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Crosscut.com: The Viaduct issue looms in Seattle races

McGinn push-poll helps him pull votes from Jan Drago (see the referenced story below).

The poll tested how the Viaduct issue plays in the Seattle Mayor's race. At the outset it asked the poll takers who they planned to vote for in that race, getting these results: Nickels 20%, Jan Drago 19, James Donaldson 11, Mike McGinn 10, and Joe Mallahan 7. Then it explained, negatively, the Viaduct issue, particularly the city's being on the hook for cost over-runs, and pointed out that only McGinn opposes the tunnel option. Knowing that, the pollster says, now how would you vote in the Mayor's race. The results changed dramatically: McGinn 29, Nickels 21, Drago 12, Donaldson 6, Mallahan 4.

Those figures help explain why McGinn works the Viaduct issue and its financial liability into nearly every remark, and why Drago can't really tout one of her signal achievements and differences with Nickels. Drago, alone on the City Council, favored the deep-bore tunnel idea years before it seemed a plausible alternative to the streets-only solution or building a new viaduct; and she was an effective negotiator to get the idea enacted once cost estimates had dropped enough to make it a contender.

Crosscut.com story on the viaduct polling data.

Drawing a point from Nickels on this issue does not sink him, but it does sandbag Drago, good enough if you want to get to the final two and have a chance to broaden the debate after the primary.

In some ways this gets back to Drago pushing downtown centric infrastructure. Try push-polling there three words, Drago-Allen-Trolley. Fact is that in the "other" Seattle, where many voter actually live, where snow piled up, we can not find money to pay too much to clear roads, but we can find plenty of money to run the trolley and streetcars.

On the north end development is defined as site searching for a new jail (gosh, thanks, but, no thanks). On the south end they are trying to curb gangs at the cost of a self-cleaning toilet.

Any subject McGinn, or any other candidate wants to go after Nickels with will hurt Jan Drago just as much, if not more (judging by the referenced poll).

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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Copy and paste, finally!

Seattle Times News flash: Jan Drago drives a Honda Accord

SEATTLE - Glad Jan Drago cleared that up, because I thought all this time she was driving a Trolley to Seattle's economic oblivion.

Turns out to be a Honda Accord.

I was close.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2009252267_news_flash_jan_drago_drives_a.html

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

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Jan Drago-ing out announcement to run for Mayor of Seattle

SEATTLE - Is how one announces that they are going to do something reflective of how they would actually do the activity? I sure hope not, but, maybe yes.
Jan Drago has constructed a poll that has her favored over incumbant mayor Greg Nickels. Is this her idea of inclusion or concensus in decision making? I hope not.

Does rumormonger-ing your own intent to act for three months show the governed how you decide something? I hope not.

Does pushing the big business gets anything they want agenda make you a better mayor because you would be nicer about being a "bully" make you a better choice than Greg Nickels? I think not.

Voters that vote against Greg Nickels are not going to vote for the same thing with a new face. Are they? I hope not.

Read another Seattle Times story about Jan Drago getting ready to announce a run for mayor, right here.

Have a great day,
Mike Baker
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Seattle Times: Mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan touts leadership skills

SEATTLE - Mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan had a "get to know the candidate" interview with the SeattleTimes. What is most disappointing about the interview is that it was published in a Saturday edition of the newspaper. This is printed in one of the least read newspapers of the week, and on a rare sunny Spring day. Even the people that have the newspaper delivered are less likely to read it.
Conversely, a story about potential mayoral candidate Jan Drago's push-poll results showing her beating incumbant mayor Greg Nickels has gotten a lot of play all week in the local media. Even as it turns out that the poll is complete crap (poll takers were given positive statements about Drago and then asked if they like her, not kidding) the initial story got headlines early in the week.

To the substance, he is for the tunnel and the 20 cent plastic bad tax.
The tunnel is just about a moot point now. The bag tax is more about the tax than it is about the bag. There are positive ways to change the consumption of plastic bags if that is really the intent, for example, partner with local businesses to fund a free re-usable bag to be sent to every residence. In exchange the companies get their logo tastefully displayed on the bag (and delivered to every home). That would make a difference without slapping somebody's hand for forgetting to bring a bag to the store, but, it is not about that, is it.

He has a point about the mayor being uninvolved in making sure the December snow removal went better than Mr. Nickels assumed.

Mr. Mallahan is running on style points, and managerial tactics, in comparing himself to the current mayor. Is that enough to beat Nickels? Maybe.

BTW, One person commenting in the newspaper's online section stated that Mr. Mallahan's Prius must be used if he drives it. Quite true, and I'll point out that it is possible to be an even green-er Prius owner if you buy it and don't touch it, much like Nigel Tufbel's foam green Fender 6-string, "Don't touch it! Don't even point at it!".

Read the Seattle Times story here!
Have a great day,
Mike Baker
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