But the retreats are hardly nefarious pow-wows where important policy is hammered out in secret. In reality, council retreats are pretty harmless (and dull) stuff. The most devious thing I witnessed at the council's 2000 retreat in La Conner, for example, was Peter Steinbrueck's behavior at a late-night card game.
This year's January 31 meeting in North Bend, however, is worthy of public anger. It's not that it's so far away (one and a half hours each way). It's what'll be going on there that's troubling: This year, the city council is paying local political campaign consultant Cathy Allen $6,020 to advise council members on press strategy. Not only is this a grossly inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars (Allen will basically be teaching our city council members the art of spin), but the council members are potential clients of Allen and her company, the Connections Group. Indeed, Allen has already done at least $60,000 worth of campaign work altogether for current Council Members Jim Compton, Margaret Pageler, and Richard McIver.
Paying for the services of campaign consultants is something politicians are supposed to do with their own campaign funds, i.e., money they raise from supporters--not tax money collected from all city residents, supporters and foes alike. Do you think Richard Conlin is a lousy city council member? Well, the city council is spending $6,000 of your money so Allen can help Conlin spin things like his recent vote against a hygiene center for the homeless.
Additionally, during the seminar Allen is scheduled to present findings on "who got quoted, which media strategies were employed by council members to promote the council's agenda.... We will be reviewing coverage carried in the Seattle P-I, The Seattle Times, the Weekly, and The Stranger... how many press releases were sent out, how many press conferences were held, and how successful were these efforts?"
A couple of council members find the agenda disturbing. "We do not see how the hiring of any campaign consultant for purposes of enhancing the council's image benefits the public," Council Members Nick Licata and Judy Nicastro wrote in a January 28 letter to Council President Peter Steinbrueck. "Public dollars should be spent on providing services and benefits to the public, not analyzing 'who got quoted,' and 'how to become more effective at communicating a message.' Because this is a questionable use of public funds, particularly when campaign consultants may approach us as candidates to hire them for future political consulting purposes, we believe this practice should be avoided in the future."
For now, both Licata and Nicastro say they're going to skip the session on Thursday, January 31, the day when Allen will be presenting.
Both Licata and Nicastro say Allen per se isn't the issue. It's the idea of paying a political consultant to lecture a bunch of incumbent politicians that muddies the ethical waters. "This is an improper use of public money," Nicastro says. "Because public money should go back to services for the public--not for elected officials to learn how to spin to get better media press in order to keep their jobs." Nicastro adds, "Political consultants have a clear conflict of interest in taking public money from elected officials who they then ask to hire them to run reelection campaigns."
Licata agrees. "Sure, as elected officials we're supposed to communicate with the public," he says. "The question is: Are we learning how to communicate, or are we learning how to get publicity and how to spin info in the best possible light? This is a seminar on 'how [to] win elections.'"
And the city's taxpayers are footing the bill. Cathy Allen didn't return our call by press time. Council President Steinbrueck would not comment for this story.
Judging from a January 29 P-I article by city hall reporter Kery Murakami, Steinbrueck and the council don't need much help spinning the press. Unbelievably, Murakami's story on this very matter, which quoted Steinbrueck at length, failed to mention the blatant conflict of interest or note the protest letter from Licata and Nicastro.
