CounterIntel

Here it is: I have lots of faults and I have made some mistakes I deeply regret.

In my professional life, I reflect on two great failures. Most important, during my extensive coverage of the monorail (nearly 200 articles in six years), there were two articles I wrote where I abandoned the central tenet of journalism: objectivity. In one article, “Weapons of Mass Obstruction,” that ran on September 30, 2004, in the heated run-up to a monorail recall vote, I lost my composure and wrote this credulous sentence: “While the revenue shortfall is a problem, the agency may be able to restructure the 1.4 percent tax and reverse its predicament.”1 I regret my naiveté.

In a second lapse of journalistic judgment—this time in the fall of 2005, when the monorail was about to get spanked in yet another recall vote (it survived the first one)—I childishly blamed Mayor Greg Nickels for the monorail’s problems. In an article with the juvenile headline “Mayor Gridlock,” published on November 17, 2005, I wrote: “I am disappointed that the mayor, who thankfully stood by Sound Transit during its financial implosion, decided to withdraw his important support of the monorail.”2 I regret this blind outburst.

As history now shows, thanks to its revenue shortfall, the monorail project went belly up. In the wake of my poor editorial judgment, my editor had to have a difficult discussion with me. All in all, this remains a humbling and powerful moment in my professional life.

There is also my personal life. Here, too, I am imperfect. First, last week, when no one was looking, I took the last piece of gum from the pack that was sitting on managing editor Bradley Steinbacher’s desk.3 While I eventually owned up to swiping the stick of gum (and paid Steinbacher 25 cents—goddamnit!—when he demanded to know who had pilfered it), I do regret that Bradley took offense.

I apologize for my mistakes and shortcomings. Though not perfect, I hope this week’s difficult and candid column will reestablish any credibility I may have lost with my readers and colleagues.

1. According to a simple review of The Stranger archives, it turns out that what Mr. Feit actually wrote about the monorail shortfall was this: “This means the agency is on track, despite last year’s revenue shortfall, to easily fund the $1.6 billion system.”

2. According to that same review of The Stranger archives, what Mr. Feit actually wrote about Mayor Nickels was this: “So it was, with disingenuous rhetoric and double standards, that Mayor Nickels destroyed Seattle’s best chance for citywide rapid transit.”

3. E-mail interviews with current and former Stranger staffers, including managing editor Bradley Steinbacher, music writer Megan Seling, associate editor David Schmader, and former news writer Thomas Francis reveal that Mr. Feit steals food from desks consistently—and has never paid anyone a dime for it. In fact, he still owes Mr. Francis an entire box of chocolate-chip granola bars.