Three weeks ago, Mayor Greg Nickels delivered some bad news to the city council: To make up what could be a $5 million to $10 million shortfall in the city's 2004 budget, the mayor was putting a funding freeze on the council's pet projects, despite his earlier promise to negotiate with the council to fill in the gap.

The shortfall--the result of a State Supreme Court ruling that said the city could no longer use City Light money to pay for streetlights, forcing the city to make up the difference--blew a $6 million hole in the council's budget. Council members filled the gap with emergency funds and restored $2.6 million in human-services funding by slashing an equivalent amount from the mayor's proposed budget.

Problem solved? Not hardly. Earlier this month, the mayor announced--in a letter to the council--that he was freezing the funds restored by the council until he and council members could come up with "mutually agreeable reductions" in the budget. Translation: Drastic cuts in human services, historic preservation, and neighborhood matching funds. "We have to be realistic and not raise false expectations among these agencies that they're going to get this money," says Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. "It's just simpler that we freeze it." Human-services agencies that were counting on city money to make it through 2004 may beg to differ. ERICA C. BARNETT

Politics of Fundraising

Last month, The Stranger broke the news that Mayor Nickels was hosting a December 10 fundraiser for two incoming city council members, Jean Godden and Tom Rasmussen. According to records filed with the ethics commission this week, the fundraiser brought in $4,575 for Rasmussen, including a gift from Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. (Godden hasn't reported yet.)

The mayor's office says there's nothing un-kosher about rounding up dough for council members, citing the King County Council, where Executive Ron Sims has raised cash for county council colleagues.

Nickels' county council analogy is disingenuous. At the county, you've got a Democratic exec raising money for Democratic council members. They're expected to work as a partisan team. But at the non-partisan city council, there are no party allegiances. In the city hall context, the council is supposed to act as a check on the mayor (something Nickels can't stand).

So, Team Nickels' fundraising strikes us as tacky influence peddling. The correct county analogy would be Democrat exec Sims raising money for Republican King County Council Member Steve Hammond.

As promised, we attended the fundraiser at the downtown law offices of Marler Clark (nice digs). We also promised to hold a fundraiser of our own, where we hope to match the amount raised by Nickels, and spend it on ads condemning Nickels' influence peddling and Godden and Rasmussen's pliant ethics. Stay tuned for our party details. JOSH FEIT