The Seattle City Council hasn't had a primary communications director ever since the August departure of Laura Lockard, a council spokeswoman who seemed to act largely as a strategist for undermining Mayor Mike McGinn and fabricating the appearance of support for things like the council's legislation to punish panhandlers. Since then, former county elections spokeswoman Megan Coppersmith has been doing a one-woman show (free of the divisive drama that defined Lockard). But now, the council is looking for someone new to run their communications bureau.

The city posted a job offer today, so I want to make sure that everyone sees it here (this is the job description). The winning applicant will earn up to $105,000 a year and is tasked first and foremost with "Develop[ing] and implement[ing] strategic annual media action plan." And by that, I think the council is saying it wants a strategist who will behave like Lockard—who was basically a mini-me drama queen for Council Members Richard Conlin, Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, and Jean Godden—who champed at the bit to freeze transit funding and other perfectly reasonable parts of the city hall agenda. Now they're hunting for someone who will shrewdly present the council as a unified body of adults in the room, even though they've proven to be the biggest, most petulant babies when it comes to crying to the press when they don't get what they want. I hope they don't hire another Lockard—another person who puts theatrics and territorial infighting before good policy—but I think that's what we'll get.