The Times might buy Pageler's line that Enron and the "perfect storm" of the 2000-'01 energy crisis are to blame. But the auditors didn't. They point to Pageler-era policies of the mid-'90s as the cause of the debt and the shocking 58 percent total rate increase that accompanied that debt.
"The 'Perfect Storm' analogy has been used... to describe the events that led to SCL's heavy debt load," the auditors wrote, "yet its debt has been growing at a significant rate for years.... the trend of an increasing debt load occurred well before 2000." (Long-term debt soared 40 percent to $1.1 billion with Pageler at the helm.)
Specifically, the auditors blame the council's mid-'90s policy of shying away from rate increases while increasing City Light's debt financing--which reached 100 percent for capital projects under Pageler's watch. "The rise in debt can be traced back to the City's policy decisions in... the mid-1990s which loosened the financial policies regarding debt in an effort to keep rates as low as possible...elected officials may have wanted lower rates for political reasons." Ouch.
More damning to Pageler, the audit credits the council for finally having the political courage to raise rates when Heidi Wills, thank God, took over as energy chair: "A crucial factor in lessening the blow was the City Council's willingness to raise rates when needed [in 2000]."
Had Pageler been responsible enough to raise rates moderately in the '90s--rather than allowing things to get out of whack--ratepayers wouldn't have been socked so badly later. And had the Times editorial board been responsible enough to read the City Light audit, voters wouldn't have been snowed so badly during this election.
The Times' disingenuous Pageler endorsement continued: "Pageler does quietwork on unglamorous chores." Quiet? Unglamorous? Pageler is a loose cannon who exploits sensational issues. A day before the Times endorsement, Pageler stood in front of The Sands strip club, where, as far as I can tell, she libeled the place. "Seattle is in danger of becoming a magnet for unwanted behavior," she said, indicting the Ballard club. The Sands oughta file a defamation suit. City records show that the neighborhood around the Sands has substantially lower crime rates than adjacent neighborhoods, or when compared to the city average.
Tuesday is election day.
