Mayor Mike McGinn has been silent for more than two days now about a medical marijuana patient raided at gunpoint by the SPD, for what turned out to be two plants grown in full compliance with state law. The Seattle Police were clearly violating the spirit—and some of the letter—of both state law, which allows medical grow operations, and city law, which makes frivolous pursuits the department's lowest priority.

Where's our outspoken mayor—the mayor makes a speech and sticks to his guns on transit, on infrastructure projects, on the waterfront, on parks, on museums, on budgets, on virtually every other issue in the city?

Where's the mayor stand on an innocent sick man being taken down by SPD at gunpoint?

When McGinn announced John Diaz as his pick for Seattle Police Chief in late June, he made this pledge to the city: "I believe [John Diaz] can take a very good department and make it a great department... and ultimately I'm the one responsible for this decision and I'll be held accountable for it."

Less than being accountable, McGinn's spokesman (who normally ballyhoos the latest agitprop daily) has avoided calls, finally shooting out a brief email that says, "the mayor will discuss with the department about how this incident fits in to our city's policy that marijuana enforcement is our lowest priority." In other words, McGinn commits to nothing more, so far, than announcing how police justify dubious behavior—that it's a low priority but nevertheless a priority. But let's talk about the city's other priorities for a minute: resources are strapped. City and state law are clear that people like Will Laudanski, who have a little pot under a doctor's care, aren't criminals. What constituency is arguing that we should bust sick, law-abiding citizens for two plants with a two-week investigation involving at least six highly paid police? McGinn needs to show us where he stands on this issue—what his priorities are—because silence is complicity.

McGinn's lack of diplomacy on other issues has been costing him friends at City Hall. And running for cover with his last bastion of support at the police department won't help—not when when the police department is run by his appointee. Before his appointment and then afterward, Chief Diaz has overseen the department during the infamous "Mexican piss" head-stomping, the killing of an apparently innocent carver, the escalation of violence from pedestrian encounters, and an ever-growing number of pot arrests. McGinn has stuck by the department's side when he should use his authority to make change. By seeking cover with the police department again, McGinn looks as if his convictions about social injustice exist only when they further one of his other agendas.