From the Mar 10 – Mar 16, 2005 issue

News

In The Hall

by Erica C. Barnett

The sudden departure of deputy monorail director Anne Levinson--a petite, unprepossessing administrator whom even political enemies praised for her ability to "make things happen"--was the genesis for an unusually instantaneous (and audible) buzz at city hall last week. Not half an hour after Seattle Monorail Project board member Cindi Laws distributed SMP director Joel Horn's letter announcing Levinson's departure, rumors were already flying about whether Levinson had been asked to leave.

Some of the talk was facetious: One council member, steering a cup of herbal tea across the tidy council break room, whispered conspiratorially: "I heard she was fired - pass it on!" Others, though generally inclined to believe the agency's official explanation, were bemused by the awkward timing of Levinson's departure, which comes at a time when negotiations between the SMP and its sole bidder are stalled. Levinson has been criticized within the SMP for failing to win legislation that would let the agency extend its bonds longer than 40 years. And some on the board felt Levinson and her staff could be less than forthcoming when board members didn't share her views. Still others speculated, without evidence, that Levinson had leaked information about contract negotiations to the press.

Levinson's boss Horn chafed at intimations that Levinson was asked to go. "I think people who want to spin all kinds of conspiracy theories are full of bull," Horn said flatly. On Friday, Horn remained ambivalent about hiring a replacement for Levinson, although Laws noted cheerfully that her duties "are more than filled by the exceptionally well-qualified staff" who served beneath her.

On Monday, landlord Robert Rosencrantz jumped into the sparsely populated race for the council seat occupied by Richard McIver--a move that leaves the eight-year incumbent (and lone black council member) vulnerable to the same formidable candidate who almost took down Judy Nicastro in 2003.

Rosencrantz--a lanky, pale 49-year-old whose milky-lensed glasses conceal an alert and penetrating stare--says he chose McIver because "he hasn't shown up with the drive and energy it takes to get the job done"--a reference to the 32 council meetings Rosencrantz claims McIver has missed in whole or part over the past three years. As sound bites go, Rosencrantz' is apt: City hall staffers joke that McIver nods off during council meetings; and his frequently combative questions, which often erupt after lengthy periods of silence, can appear to have little relation to what the council just discussed. Rosencrantz' consultant, Michael Grossman, used a similar strategy to take down McIver's former colleague Heidi Wills in 2003 (see ratehikeheidi.com), criticizing the then-City Light committee chair as a do-nothing legislator who fiddled while the electric utility burned. For his part, Rosencrantz vows to run as a "positive candidate" with a "positive message." It will be interesting to see how far his consultant steers the formidable council challenger from his upbeat path.

barnett@thestranger.com