Two Can Play at That Game!
About a year ago, reporting on the fact that Seattle City Council Member Heidi Wills pulled a 180 to vote down a budget amendment that would've taken money out of Nickels' office and put it in the social services pot, I wrote in this column, "Could Wills' flip-flop have anything to do with the fact that [the mayor's staff] hosted a fundraiser for her this month?"
Indeed, Team Nickels had hosted an October 9, 2002, fundraiser for Wills at the Wing Luke Asian Museum. Grand total for Wills: $3,000 in one night of off-year fundraising. Team Nickels has only done fundraisers for two council members, Margaret Pageler and Wills. Wills went on to be Nickels' key council ally for the rest of the year: chickening out of an initial council challenge to his fire levy proposal, backing his lease lid proposal in the face of council reforms, and even sticking with him when the majority of her council colleagues resoundingly voted against his pal, City Light chief Gary Zarker. (BTW: Pageler toed the Nickels line on these fronts as well.)
I bring up Wills' pro-Team Nickels record and Team Nickels' pro-Wills fundraising now because the same questions are surfacing about the mayor and council members-elect Jean Godden and Tom Rasmussen. Nickels, you see, put together a December 10 fundraiser for Godden and Rasmussen, hosted at Marler Clark's law offices in the Bank of America building ["Influence Peddling 101," Josh Feit, Nov 27].
Despite warnings from Council President Peter Steinbrueck that they'd be perceived as "lapdogs for the mayor," Godden and Rasmussen saw nothing wrong with taking Nickels' fundraising bonbon.
Indeed, neither Team Nickels nor the two incoming council members will acknowledge that the fundraiser seems to be a blatant instance of influence peddling--and as you read this, the Marler Clark shindig has likely already gone down.
How discouraging. I mean, what's left to do to protest this type of unabashed influence peddling? I guess if you can't beat 'em, you should join 'em. So I've decided to hold a fundraiser of my own. Here's the deal: After Godden and Rasmussen report the total money raised from December 10, The Stranger's news team is going to hold its own fundraiser to try to raise an equivalent amount of dough. We will use the money to buy ads (radio spots? bus billboards?) exposing Nickels' brazen influence peddling and Godden and Rasmussen's "lapdog" status. The ads will say something like, "Meet your new council members, Jean Godden and Tom Rasmussen. You voted for 'em. Mayor Nickels bought 'em."
Stay tuned for details on where and when our "Expose the Lapdogs" party will be. Also stay tuned for a report on exactly who showed up at the December 10 Nickels/Godden/Rasmussen event, who contributed, how much they contributed, and what they want.
