Although Bruce Harrell has long been regarded as the weakest link on the Seattle City Council, he's only getting his first challenger today. Brad Meacham, a former chair of the Municipal League, sent a letter to the city filing to run for Harrell's seat this fall.

Foremost, Meacham, 37, blasts Harrell for blithely supporting the deep-bore tunnel. "He has been a proponent and gone along without asking many questions, saying let's sign the contracts and go full steam ahead," he says. "That's certainly not the way I would have voted. I would have never agreed to the tunnel plan without more oversight."

In a statement, he adds,"My opponent cut a bad deal, and should be held accountable for throwing taxpayers under the bus.”

Meacham's consultant is politico John Wyble, who apparently thinks that an anti-tunnel tack is one successful means to wedge onto the council.

Harrell also gets criticism as an ineffective chair of the council's energy committee, which oversees Seattle City Light. The utility, a company owned by the city, has raised rates twice in the last year. And Meacham says that Harrell has failed to establish a long-term plan. "We cant just do it shooting from the hip," he says.

On other policy differences, Meacham—a board member of the Richard Hugo House—is reticent to make further distinctions, saying, "I need to dig a little deeper."