From the May 22 – May 28, 2003 issue

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Steinbrueck Faces Formidable Challenger

by Erica C. Barnett

Peter Steinbrueck has an image problem. As head of a city council that's voted to ban circus animals, quibbled over the exact wording of a resolution supporting U.S. troops in Iraq, and supported the breaching of Snake River dams, he's everything the business community (and the Seattle Times) loves to mock. Instead of working to combat that image, Steinbrueck, a Naderite who has advocated endlessly for low-income housing, has only fanned the flames, refusing to answer questions at a recent candidate forum sponsored by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and acting--in the words of Cathy Allen, a veteran political consultant--"surly, arrogant, [and] in everyone's face." In short, he's a prime target for someone interested in turning the spotlight on the council's wacky, liberal image.

Is Rudi Bertschi that someone? The longtime energy consultant and husband of former Insurance Commissioner (and Maria Cantwell opponent) Deborah Senn talks tough, accusing Steinbrueck of "doing stupid things" as council president. Exhibit A in Bertschi's anti-Steinbrueck litany is the council's vote to sell the city's interest in the Centralia coal plant "for the sake of political correctness"--a decision that cost Seattle millions and didn't make the atmosphere a single smog particle cleaner. Exhibits B, C, and D are circus animals, Iraq, and Snake River dams--the three pillars that support the chamber/Times case against the current council. "[Steinbrueck] has a great deal of responsibility for the failings of this council," Bertschi says. "I think that makes it fair game for me to run against his record of leadership, or lack thereof."

The timing for a backlash may have never been better. "When you've got a council with a critical mass [approval rating] of under 50 percent, it just says, 'Gentlemen, start your engines,'" Allen says. "When you're in that situation, you're not going to run against an individual--you run against the entire council."

Bertschi--a gray-haired, soft-spoken 56-year-old who looks a bit like your junior-high science teacher--knows what it's like to be under fire. As board president of Energy Northwest--formerly known as the Washington Public Power Supply System, or WPPSS--Bertschi helped the foundering agency limp back from the biggest municipal bond default in history. Also, in 2000, Bertschi paid a $1,200 fine for violating federal election law in his wife's campaign against Maria Cantwell.

Bertschi seems, if nothing else, a throwback to the mid-'90s rubber-stamp downtown establishment council. His top priority is making the city more business-friendly, by allowing more intense development, easing permitting requirements, and lifting the lease lid that limits the amount of land the University of Washington can lease in its vicinity. In Northgate, Bertschi thinks "we've dawdled too long" weighing neighbors' concerns about a planned redevelopment. "I think we need to find the sweet spot between letting private enterprise take risks and tying their hands," Bertschi says. "My inclination is, let's think about things that would grow the economy, because that's where the city's [tax] money comes from." (Steinbrueck has not taken a position on the lease lid, and has been skeptical about the Northgate redevelopment.)

Bertschi is also critical of Steinbrueck's controversial proposal to tax commercial parking, which could have added up to $18 million to the city's waning coffers. "The problem with that strategy is that there's not a wall around the city that keeps businesses in," he says. Rather than pay to park downtown, people will drive to places like Bellevue, where parking is free, Bertschi says. (Studies have not supported that contention.)

Bertschi's no-nonsense, pro-business rhetoric is likely to play well during an economic downturn, when people are loath to support policies that might scare businesses off or add more to the sky-high cost of living in Seattle.

For his part, Steinbrueck couldn't sound more pleased by the challenge. "It's actually breathed new life into my campaign," Steinbrueck says. "This will make it easier for me to raise money." Can he be beaten? The conventional wisdom for years has been that Peter Steinbrueck can't lose, but few today are willing to bet on that. In three days of phone calls, Bertschi raised $10,000 in pledges, and an endorsement from Washington State Representative Ed Murray.

barnett@thestranger.com