What's Your Agenda?
You know how sometimes you fight with your boyfriend or girlfriend about something small and stupid--"It's your turn to do laundry..." "I want to rent this movie..." "We always hang out with your friends..."--when what's really bugging you is actually something big and important? There's probably a psychological term for this (um... cognitive transference??). Well, whatever it's called, it's what I witnessed at the May 12 Seattle City Council briefing when a tiff broke out between council members and mayoral staffer Mary Jean Ryan. A crew of terse council members read Ryan the riot act because her department (the Office of Policy Management, which coordinates city departments around mayoral and council priorities) had been leaving the council out of the loop.
After Ryan's OPM update, Council President Peter Steinbrueck asked a sarcastic question, chuckling: "Everyone satisfied with the working relationship?" The bitchfest began. Steinbrueck pointed out that Ryan's OPM update was two months late. Council Member Jan Drago lectured Ryan on the difference between informing the council and involving the council: "There's a huge difference between being informed about what the plan is and being involved in the development of that plan." Council Member Richard Conlin chimed in: "I'll second that... the [OPM] ordinance says, 'develop an annual work plan based on a joint city council/mayor policy.'" His voice lilted upward. "So... um... did we get that [plan]?"
"If [a council member] needs to add an item or a direction to [OPM's] agenda, I just want clarification," Nick Licata added rhetorically, "to see if you need anything formal."
Like the fight about the laundry, the council tantrum was obviously about something else. Sure, OPM has shortchanged the council, but the larger issue bugging Steinbrueck et al. is this: Nickels has taken over city hall. Nickels' priorities dominate the city agenda. The council is irrelevant. And that's what council members were actually upset about.
I've got news for the council. It's not a process issue--you can waste all the time you want scuffing up Ryan for sidestepping the process. It's an ideas issue. The reason the mayor is setting the agenda isn't because OPM is leaving the council out of the loop. It's because the council isn't pushing its own ideas. Nickels is simply filling the vacuum. The council isn't going to get the agenda back by bitching about process. It's going to get the agenda back by having one.
For better or worse, Nickels has specific ideas: develop South Lake Union, lift the lease lid, fix potholes, repair Seattle's firehouses. Peter Steinbrueck, Jan Drago, Richard Conlin, Nick Licata: What are your specific ideas? I'm not talking about responding to Nickels' South Lake Union plans with newspaper editorials. What's your vision for the city? Stop complaining about the process and put your vision on the table. I've heard you guys complain that you don't have enough staffing to generate policy. Well, you're in charge of the budget. Fund a damn legislative staff increase.
Mary Jean Ryan ain't the problem, Peter. The council's lack of an agenda is.
