The Stranger usually has its tongue pretty far up Judy Nicastro's ass, but not even the Judy fans at this paper thought her upcoming reality-TV experiment was worth a story; at least not the gee-whiz kind of stories filed in the past week by Seattle Weekly, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Seattle Times.
Nicastro breathlessly pitched the story to Stranger publisher Tim Keck months ago. Tim and I had similar reactions to Nicastro's DemocracyLive.org project--a scheme that will use three webcams to track Nicastro's activities in Council Chambers, in her office, and on the street. I thought, "Yeah, anyway, are you doing anything interesting legislatively?" Tim thought: "Wow, that's dopey."
Well, apparently the Weekly and the P-I, and Jean Godden at the Times, think Nicastro's plan is really neat. Last week's Weekly wasted an entire news page on Nicastro's idea, giving Nicastro space to boast about having discussed the project with an interested Bill Clinton (puh-leeze, Judy). The Weekly uncritically pondered the project's wacky implications--quoting Nicastro aide Charlie McAteer at length about opening up government to the "disenfranchised." At the Times, Godden took her cue from Nicastro, calling the plan "a first in government."
Anyway, for the record: Nicastro's plan--masked in BS about "educating and inspiring citizens to get involved in civics and making government more transparent and accessible"--is a tacky publicity stunt. It's the sign of a politician who is either (1) seriously bored with her job, (2) bizarrely self-centered (even for a politician), (3) worried about her reelection chances (Nicastro is up for reelection next year), or (4) all of the above. (Correct answer: 4).
Seattle Ethics and Elections Executive Director Carol Van Noy acknowledges that there is a "promotional aspect" to Nicastro's web idea, and says ethics rules would prohibit Nicastro from doing the webcam in an election year. (Why is using city hall to promote yourself A-okay one year and not another?) No city council members would comment--except Nicastro.
"I'm promoting government," Nicastro says. "And I'm holding myself more accountable and trying to get the public engaged."
Judy, if you want to engage the public, get back to the business of tearing up city hall like you did during your first 18 months in office. You're a legislator, not a TV talk show host. Go to war against Mayor Greg Nickels' irresponsible light-rail plan. Bring legislation on district elections. Reintroduce the low-income housing legislation you passed last year that Mayor Paul Schell vetoed. Fight for the monorail. Get behind Steinbrueck's parking tax. And what the hell ever became of your fight in Olympia against the state law that prohibits local control of rents?
People voted for you, Judy, because we wanted you to do these things; we want you to be a politician. We don't want you to play one on WebTV.
