Peter Steinbrueck has been making himself scarce.
The former member of the Seattle City Council disappeared for a
month, ignoring reporters’ calls, then reemerged mysteriously at a
Belltown cocktail party last weekend, where he announced to anyone who
would listen that he has not decided whether to run for mayor.
Despite the fact that politicians like to disguise their intentions for
as long as possible, I believe him: Steinbrueck hates dialing for
dollars, his family reportedly doesn’t want him to run, he isn’t sure
if he wants to make an eight-year commitment (“Which is what it ought
to be,” he said—a swipe at Mayor Nickels’s attempt to win an
unprecedented third term), and he never had a real opponent in eight
years on the city council, a seat he won twice with overwhelming
majorities.
Nonetheless, Steinbrueck can win—and more easily than he
thinks. Here’s how:
(1) By uniting Nickels’s enemies. Steinbrueck—perhaps
uniquely among Seattle politicians—has the ability to unite both
wings of the Anybody But Nickels camp: left-wingers who support both
protections for trees and increased density near transit stops,
and conservative Old Seattleites who feel abandoned by Nickels and his
downtown-centric policies.
(2) By being a real person, not a cardboard-cutout frontman
for a political machine. Although he first got elected on a just-folks
“Seattle Way” platform, Nickels has increasingly dissociated himself
from regular people, hiding in his seventh-floor City Hall office and
leaving most day-to-day contact with the press and the public to Deputy
Mayor Tim Ceis. In contrast, Steinbrueck is open, accessible, and on
good terms with the press—a huge asset when running against an
entrenched incumbent.
(3) By articulating a vision of Seattle that’s both green and
affordable. Affordable-housing advocates have tried to marginalize
environmental advocates as opponents of low-income
people—portraying them as elitists who want to force everyone in
Seattle to live in tiny, expensive “shoebox” apartments.
Steinbrueck—a true environmentalist who also understands that
density is greener than single-family sprawl—is one of the
few politicians who can bridge the gap between affordable-housing
activists and Seattle’s environmental movement.
(4) By running a truly grassroots campaign. Other potential
Nickels opponents have been intimidated out of running by Nickels’s
fundraising machine. But the Nickels juggernaut isn’t as formidable as
it appears. Nickels has less than $200,000 on hand, and many potential
donors have already maxed out. If anyone can run a truly grassroots
campaign—that is, one based on word of mouth and widespread
dissatisfaction with Nickels—it’s Steinbrueck, an experienced,
popular politician who offers an alternative vision for Seattle’s
future.
Oh, and if Peter doesn’t run, my boss is going to. 
Run or don’t run, Peter. I like Peter, but this middle school crush thing is getting old. There are other candidates out there who are more quietly deciding if they will run as well, so it won’t be the end of the world if he doesn’t run.
No incumbent of any elective office deserves a free ride, and political discourse and the public interest are not well-served when incumbents go unchalleged. The decision to run for office- time-honored and noble- is guaranteed to turn your life upsidedown. One should be sober-headed going into it, have a purpose beyond ego and ambition, and know something about what you’re in for!
Peter is a petulant pecksniff, a sanctimonious hypocrite. “True environmentalist,” my ass. Peter lives in single-family home in the north end, just like a suburbanite. As a councilmember, he drove more miles than any other.
Peter is not executive material. He loves Seattle process. He much prefers to dither and vacillate (your word). In other words, nothing will get done. Imagine Peter attempting to manage the snowstorms, which were a challenge for Nickels.
ECB, you need to give up pushing his candidacy. While you covet a role like Robert Mak’s in a Steinbruek administration, Peter would not consider you now, given what happened yesterday.
Peter is a petulant pecksniff, a sanctimonious hypocrite. “True environmentalist,” my ass. Peter lives in a single-family home with a yard in the north end, just like a suburbanite. As a councilmember he drove more miles than any other.
Peter is not executive material. Peter loves “Seattle process.” Seattle much prefers to dither and vacillate (your word). In other words, nothing will get done. The requirement of an executive is decisiveness and action. The last thing Seattle needs is a “visionary.” Let the council be the visionaries.
ECB, you need to give up pushing his candidacy. While you covet a role like Robert Mak’s in a Steinbrueck administration, he’d be foolish to consider you, given what happened yesterday.
Peter was on the Council for 10 years, not 8 years. He ran 3x not 2x. First elected in 1997 to fill a 2 year term. Ran for reelection in 1999 and 2003.
Peter was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 1999 and 2003. He was in office for 10 years, not 8 and he ran 3x not 2x.
You’re a thief.
Erica,
Please be more specific when you use the term “affordable housing advocates”. While John Fox has been at odds recently with the environmental camp (and increasingly isolated as you brilliantly pointed out), local non-profit housing providers and the statewide housing advocacy group have worked toward common environmental goals through building green and supporting transit oriented communities, one of the top 2009 enviro legislative goals.
The Housing Development Consortium has partnered with Futurewise,the Cascade Land Conservancy, Transportation Choices Coalition and looks forward to working with more allies in the environmental community.
Erica,
Nice article on Steinbrueck. Thanks.
Quick question: On your recent story about the Times violating the law, by converting over PI subscribers. You said about the Times spokeswoman:
“Mackie says she’s looking into the contract issue”
Did she ever get back to you? (I know the Attorney General’s office was contacted today.)
If you call the Times to cancel the wait was 15 minutes this morning. I had to hang-up because my break was over.
Erica, don’t let up on them until they obey the law!
Regardless of where he lives, he did fight to make sure developers set aside money for low income housing when Nickles was raising the height limit. Nickels did too, but Steinbrueck asked for a whole lot more, and he got it. Nickles asked for ten dollars per square foot but, since Steinbruek and company haggled, that ended up being something around eighteen dollars. Am I remembering that correctly? Did he, or did he not, fight for affordable housing? That seems far more important to me than where he happens to live. Plus, he fought against giving money to the Sonics AND he wasn’t trying to shove a tunnel down our throats the way Nickles does. So, yeah, for his pro- mass-transit stance I think he does deserve to be considered an environmentalist. Besides,the person who criticized Steinbrueck never mentioned what kind of car he drives.
Mike McGinn for Mayor