There is no greater symbol of Mayor Greg Nickels' dominance at city hall than the city departments--those heavily staffed and funded municipal bureaucracies like the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) or the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) that Nickels famously wrested away from the city council early in his term, and now uses to ram policy down the council's throat and prevent the council from generating policy of its own. In an added touch of symbolism, Ă  la Chairman Mao, Nickels even renamed departments to highlight his authority. The name changes, obviously, carried no practical value. (What's the big dif between the former Seattle Transportation and the new and improved Seattle Department of Transportation?) But the symbolism was lost on no one: Nickels was staking his claim. These are mine!

So it's hard to miss the latest round of symbolism at city hall as Council Member Peter Steinbrueck attacks Nickels' power centers, the departments. Here's what veteran council member Steinbrueck has had to say about the work of departments lately: Steinbrueck accused the city of obstructing the monorail project, saying, "I'm more concerned by the chokehold.... SDOT, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle City Light--every one of those can obstruct the project"; re: the mayor's policy shop, Steinbrueck said, "Institutionally, I have little confidence that anything's going to change at OPM [the Office of Policy and Management]. Either we accept that OPM is really there to serve the mayor or we pull the plug [during budgeting]"; and finally, re: the parks department's sports field plan, Steinbrueck lectured, "There has been no evidence to date from the department of parks of future commitments to fill the [funding] gap."

Steinbrueck may appear to be challenging city departments, but really he's challenging the mayor. For many observers the message is clear: Steinbrueck, perhaps the best-known politician in the city (thanks to his famous name), is getting ready for next year's mayoral election.

"I love it. It's interesting that when you stand up to the status quo, people start speculating about ulterior motives," Steinbrueck says. "The mayor has established a real division between the legislative and executive branch. Well, if that's what he wants, that's what he'll get."

In the past month alone, Steinbrueck has set up a slew of high-profile policy standoffs with Nickels' departments: He's challenging the mayor's Magnuson Park designs, he's reworking the mayor's $103 million Family and Education Levy, and out of nowhere, he's even become a monorail advocate, getting in SDOT's face to challenge what many see as Nickels' efforts to sabotage the monorail.

Taking up the battle for the monorail--Steinbrueck now has monorail agency renderings prominently displayed in his office showing off plans to nix one lane of traffic--the council member is challenging SDOT orthodoxy that says Second Avenue cannot lose a traffic lane to make room for monorail columns. Bah-humbug, says Steinbrueck, who argues that saving a bike lane and moving the columns a few feet farther away from Second Avenue buildings should take priority over saving a lane for traffic. As Steinbrueck points out, the monorail is a public transportation project--so the tradeoff of losing a car lane makes perfect sense. "All we get is whining about traffic [capacity]," Steinbrueck says in a pointed dig at SDOT, "but damn it, this is supposed to be about public transportation."

SDOT isn't the only agency Steinbrueck is sending back to the drawing board. Just last week, Steinbrueck took over a parks committee meeting, calling the mayor's plan for 11 lighted sports fields at Magnuson Park "imprudent" and "arbitrary," and telling parks department head Ken Bounds: "I don't think we're going to approve of this without conditions." And then in a direct shot at the department: "There remain unclear impacts.... So far, no one has produced evidence to this council that there's a commitment to do the work. I am not going to rely on promises." Ouch!

And then there's the mayor's Family and Education Levy--a major initiative Nickels hopes to pass and then tout during 2005. Steinbrueck is challenging it big-time. Following up an April 5 letter to the mayor that denounced the proposal for leaving out vital early-learning dollars ["Nickels' Dunce Cap," Josh Feit, April 15], Steinbrueck commandeered a council meeting on the levy last week by bringing in a UW child development expert to school Nickels folks (the aforementioned OPM, specifically) on Steinbrueck's latest concern--the mayor has nixed $1.1 million in middle-school support.

While Steinbrueck is certainly providing a check on Nickels' power, a reality check may be in the offing for Steinbrueck. The heavily funded Nickels, with $106,000 in the bank at last count--and support from high-rolling developers, labor, and the Democratic Party faithful--will be hard to beat in his reelection bid. If Steinbrueck puts his name on the ballot for mayor in 2005, he may find Nickels a tougher man to fight than his departments.

josh@thestranger.com