Judy Nicastro--who some argue was already vulnerable because she alienated her base with a vote against the housing levy --made a fool of herself over Zarker. Nicastro's weird last-minute chicanery raised red flags about her political skill and credibility ["Inept Nicastro," Josh Feit, March 13].
The Zarker vote also cast an ominous shadow over Council Member Heidi Wills. As the council's energy chair, Wills looks bad no matter how you slice it.
Zarker got booted because Seattle City Light was a mess, raising rates while stumbling under a $1.7 billion debt. Energy chair Wills, in a paltry minority, supported Zarker's reconfirmation. Pick your interpretation: (a) As the energy chair in the minority on this key vote, Wills didn't enjoy the confidence of her colleagues on the issue she's supposed to be in charge of. (b) By voting to keep Zarker rather than acknowledging the facts of the damning independent City Light audit, Wills selfishly covered her own ass. An indictment of Zarker's leadership is a de facto indictment of Wills' leadership, a fact Wills highlighted by chickening out on the vote. (c) Wills doesn't have the chutzpah to stand up to Greg Nickels.
I'm not the only one who thinks Nicastro and Wills are vulnerable incumbents; so far, Wills and Nicastro have drawn the most viable opponents in the coming city council race.
The pack--call them the lady-killers--have their work cut out for them, though. Despite Nicastro and Wills' shortcomings, both women are fierce contenders. Nicastro has an off-the-cuff rabble-rousing appeal that sparkles on the campaign trail; Wills is a fundraising star (she's raised $84,000 according to the most recent elections office reports) with hefty Democratic, enviro, and establishment support.
Meet the would-be lady-killers:
Kollin Min (challenging Nicastro; raised $32,000).
Thirty-six-year-old Min has a serious resumé, doused with the liberal stints Seattleites dig. The guy graduated from Yale and UW law school; he was an environmental lawyer at Preston Gates & Ellis, led the anti-I-200 campaign, parlayed that civil rights effort into a policy gig with state House Speaker Frank Chopp (D-43), and--until recently--worked as campaign director for Cascades Conservation Partnership, an environmental outfit. Oh, and he's also good-looking, articulate, earnest (if not a little ideologically predictable), and lucky--having married a woman from serious Hollywood money four years ago. Min, the son of middle-class Korean immigrants, is now, by his own guilty admission, "rich." He alerted me that Jack Nicholson and Jane Fonda might show up on his finance reports.
Min says Nicastro grandstands without the legislative knack for compromise, pointing to Nicastro's housing levy vote. (Nicastro was against the levy because she thought it dedicated too much money to homeownership over renters' assistance.) "To sink the entire levy over that issue is ineffective leadership," Min says.
David Della (challenging Wills; raised $23,000).
Della, 48, also has a fat resumé. He was deputy chief of staff for Mayor Norm Rice, executive director of the state's Commission on Asian Pacific Affairs, chair of Seattle's Human Rights Commission, and he's currently director of community affairs for United Way of King County.
Unfortunately, Della talks in unimpressive generalities about "leadership," "vision," "bringing people together," and "economic opportunities." He's also reluctant to say where he stands on issues. Instead (and not altogether unwisely), he routes most questions back to Wills and Seattle City Light. "She wasn't paying attention," he says. "No utility goes into debt $1.7 billion overnight. This is a core issue, and it's an example of bad leadership."
With the backing of some key Seattle Dems--like Representative Ed Murray--Della could whittle away at Wills' institutional base. But he needs to be less reticent on the specifics.
Darryl Smith (challenging Nicastro; raised $13,000).
Smith, a 40-year-old neighborhood busybody from Columbia City, doesn't have the formal credentials of Min or Della, but he's got something those guys are sorely lacking. While Della is vague and Min comes across as a bit too polished, Smith is on-point and loaded with infectious exuberance and a personable human touch. This will make him hard to beat on the campaign trail.
Smith's history of successfully organizing his Columbia City neighbors makes it plain that his charm and energy are a force. As chair of the Columbia City Revitalization Committee, Smith was a key ingredient in the mid-'90s renewal of Columbia City. That stint led him to chair the Seattle Planning Commission's neighborhoods committee.
During his tenure on the planning commission, Smith became frustrated with what he calls the "haphazard and shitty schizophrenia" between the comprehensive neighborhood plans and city code.
But don't write Smith off as just another neighborhood crank. While he's obviously ĂĽber-sensitive to the neighborhood set, he's not a provincial NIMBY. "I'm not opposed to development," he says. "We're a city, and we need to grow up. I'm all for density where it's appropriate. Including Columbia City." Meanwhile, Smith's gut tells him lifting the lease lid in the U-District is a good thing, and that partnering with Paul Allen in South Lake Union is an "amazing opportunity to do something fabulous," like building a mixed-use community.
Robert Rosencrantz (challenging Nicastro; raised $20,000).
Rosencrantz, a landlord with four Seattle buildings, is way too coy about articulating his vision. (Give me one idea, Robert! Just one!) And he's likely to spook voters because he acts and speaks exactly like Crispin Glover. You can't count out a landlord, but he seems like a footnote at this point.
