But despite the potential for political fireworks, the group--which soon grew to nearly 10, including Council Members Tom Rasmussen and Nick Licata, possible Licata challenger Robert Rosencrantz, and me--held its electoral ambitions in check. Mostly. Dwight Pelz, responding to fellow Conlin opponent Paige Miller's comment about the location of Corr's table, couldn't resist quipping: "Is there anyone at that table whose last name isn't Corr?" And Rosencrantz, now rumored to be considering a run against Richard McIver, wore a button emblazoned, "I'll do anything to win!" The button was a barbed reference to a comment Licata made about Rosencrantz in this column last week. Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur also put in a brief appearance; she sat at a nearby table, and left early.
Rasmussen, whose quiet, almost mousy presence made him easy to miss on Saturday, is proving himself a loud political contender in another forum: the ongoing battle with Mayor Nickels over the homeless hygiene center. Rasmussen, joined by what looks to be a majority of his council colleagues, favors putting the center at the private Morrison Hotel in Pioneer Square. The mayor favors a city-owned spot near the International District.
The hygiene center battle has made unlikely allies of frequent opponents Licata and McIver, who appear to be among a minority leaning toward the mayor's proposal--though for very different reasons. While Licata likes the fact that the city-owned site would be under governmental control, McIver says the location would show that the city respects "promises we've made to Pioneer Square" to limit new homeless services in the neighborhood.
Mayor Nickels, who spent much of last week's state of the city speech effusively praising the Seattle police department (and proposing funding for 25 new cops), made no mention of firefighters during the speech's half-hour duration. The potent dis didn't go unnoticed; on Monday, a representative of the Seattle firefighters union, which has proposed an initiative that would force the city to increase firefighter funding, noted pointedly that if "keeping our neighborhoods safe is a top priority for [Nickels]… investing in the fire department will help him accomplish that goal."
by Erica C. Barnett
