Recent startling news indicates that Margaret Pageler dislikes her new role as a regular city council member. (Pageler used to be the city council president, until her liberal council foil Peter Steinbrueck took over that position.)

The Stranger has learned that Pageler recently applied to be CEO and president of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce; had she gotten the job, she would have left the council. Unfortunately for Pageler and Seattle progressives, she didn't land the gig. Steven E. Leahy, who has served as the chamber's executive vice-president since 1992, got the job. According to chamber spokeswoman Karin Zaugg, there were 92 applicants and "it was very competitive." Pageler reportedly made it to the final round before losing out.

Pageler aide Linda Stores confirmed the story, as well as Pageler's willingness to split. Stores explained Pageler's interest in leading the chamber of commerce, the city's powerful business lobby, by telling us, "Margaret believes that economic reinvigoration needs to take place."

Honestly, it's not clear how three-termer Pageler thinks she could do a better job reinvigorating business (read: promoting downtown interests) at the chamber of commerce than at the city council. A power player since her election in 1991, Pageler has teamed up with council cohorts like Jan Drago in helping to funnel nearly $100 million to downtown business in the form of city-backed loans, special grants, and direct spending in the mid-'90s. Pageler was also a guaranteed "yea" vote on former City Attorney Mark Sidran's slew of "civility laws" aimed at cleaning up downtown--i.e., the poster ban, no sidewalk-sitting, no aggressive panhandling, and the proposed noise ordinance.

With a year and a half left in her term (she was reelected in 1999), Pageler's colleagues and the public should certainly be asking questions about her investment in her current job. JOSH FEIT

Power In Numbers

In case there was any doubt that people were interested in the monorail, a recent TV special on KCTS Channel 9 should clear it up.

The station's Thursday, February 21 broadcast about the planned monorail line and the Elevated Transportation Company (ETC) brought in over 750 calls and 200 e-mails, surprising the KCTS staff. "So many e-mails came in, our server crashed," says KCTS spokesperson Pat Mallinson.

The show was rebroadcast on the afternoon of Saturday, February 23 at the Portage Bay home of monorail initiative I-53 author Peter Sherwin, during the monorail campaign's kick-off party, where close to 50 people squeezed into his living room. PAT KEARNEY