Paige Miller is a slight woman with a schoolteacher's haircut, large, squarish glasses, and a predilection for prim cotton turtlenecks. She is also, as city and county officials learned Monday, a woman accustomed to getting her way. Pitching her plan to extend the waterfront streetcar at back-to-back city and county council meetings, Miller rebuffed council members' questions in a tone of practiced condescension. After dodging questions from former reporters Jim Compton and Jean Godden (representative quote: "Another reporter asking the question for the third time, and the answer, Council Member Godden, is the same: I cannot give you a precise number"), Miller turned her attention to council Transportation Chair Richard Conlin, whom she is challenging in the September election.

But if Miller was unwilling to talk specifics, Conlin was more than happy to push her buttons. Conlin, whose own streetcar briefing was upstaged by what he calls Miller's "surprise" presentation, arrived laden with handouts helpfully detailing "key issues" with the streetcar, including the cost of moving underground utilities, the impact of putting the trolley through a park, and the effect Miller's proposal would have on a proposed International District extension.

Four hours later, Miller's proposal received a similarly skeptical reception at the county council, whose transportation chairman, Dwight Pelz--another contender in the crowded Conlin race--short-circuited her presentation with a chart outlining how much Miller's "gift" could cost the cash-strapped county. The upshot? A steep $9.5 million, plus the $500,000 annual cost of operating the 1.2-mile line. As one county observer put it: "Paige doesn't understand that she's going to have to convince suburban Republicans to pay for a streetcar in Seattle." And that's a lot tougher than convincing your friends on the port commission to support your campaign stunt.

Of course, it takes more than promises to win an election: It takes cash, and, if recent campaign filings are any indication, a shitload of it. Last month, Conlin, Miller and former mayoral staffer Casey Corr brought in more than $23,000 each, with Corr leading the pack at $29,000. In the words of another 2005 contender, council incumbent Nick Licata, "They're taking off like gangbusters."

Licata, whose own reelection bid remains unchallenged, just returned a $650 check to Seattle attorney Gil Levy, who represented Frank Colacurcio in the 2003 "Strippergate" fiasco. Licata says that despite Colacurcio's insalubrious history, he's "a little disturbed" that the contribution has been so controversial. "It's nothing compared to [Paul Allen's] Vulcan, and they get everything they want."

A short-lived rumor, announced at a neighborhood meeting this weekend, that former city staffer Jim Diers was running a write-in campaign for mayor was dashed on Monday, when Diers said unequivocally that he "is not interested" in running against Greg Nickels. "Clearly, if I was going to run I would just put my name on the ballot." Diers' abdication leaves Nickels without a credible challenger--and more than $200,000 in the bank.

barnett@thestranger.com