No city hall reporters were in attendance at the city council's annual retreat at the Cedar River Education Center near Issaquah last week--not even me. Laid up by a cold, I had to rely on secondhand accounts from my editor (who did go) and council staffers, who gamely stuck by their bosses through two days of trust-building exercises, "defining moments," and mutual, back patting. (As for what transpired during a impromptu lunch meeting between the nine council members, no one will say; no reporters or Seattle Channel cameras were on hand to record the proceedings, making the meeting a de facto executive session.)

Over the course of the two-day retreat, the council identified its "core values" (among standard-issue stuff like justice, love, and compassion were "power," "wealth," and "political expediency"), participated in something called "gracious space" (about which one council staffer said later, "I still have no idea what the fuck it means") and discussed ways to keep the solidarity going "all year long," including legislative department talent shows and a council cookbook. The final verdict, according to at least one council member and one council staffer (who both snuck out of Friday morning's session)? "Worst! Retreat! Ever!"

So it was little wonder that, on Monday, many on the council still looked a little dazed as they listened to the mayor's 33-minute State of the City address, their faces frozen in the kind of blankly acknowledging expressions usually reserved for parental lectures. Only once did a council member react noticeably to Nickels' speech: When the mayor called for "replacing the worn-out, crumbling, and loveable old viaduct" with a $4-billion-plus tunnel, Nick Licata--a holdout for rebuilding the "loveable" structure--allowed a visible (and protracted) grin.

Licata, who reportedly enjoys the highest (70-percent-plus) approval ratings of any council incumbent, may be about to get his first real challenger. Real estate investor Robert Rosencrantz, who finished third by a hair-thin margin in the race for Judy Nicastro's seat two years ago, is back, and sources say he's "99 percent sure" he's going to take on Licata. The popular incumbent, who found Rosencrantz "personable and confident" when the two had lunch last week, expressed some concern at his choice of consultants: bare-knuckle campaigner Michael Grossman, best known for the "Rate Hike Heidi" ads that helped take down former City Light committee chair Heidi Wills in 2003. Grossman insists he doesn't plan on running a "negative" campaign, but Licata, for one, is not convinced. "I think if [Rosencrantz] feels like he's losing, he'll do anything he can to win."

Grossman, it turns out, is also working for Richard Conlin opponent Paige Miller, making Conlin the only contender for his own seat without a campaign consultant; his old consultant, John Wyble, has cast his lot with Casey Corr, and other local consultants, including Cathy Allen and Christian Sinderman, appear to be similarly spoken for. Observers speculate, however, that some of Conlin's multiple competitors may be merely "parking" in the position until other races start shaping up.