Hey, um, don't shit your shorts, but this is about to be a straightforward link to a Seattle Times op-ed. I know! Don't tell Goldy; he went home already and he'll never know. I just want to direct some eyeballs to Seattle City Council member Jean Godden's just-released piece on the wage gap in the public and private sectors in Seattle.

Long before the mayor released the report on the gender wage gap at the city, council members knew it was being prepared and were itching to get their hands on it—but who knew what would happen once they did; I wasn't hearing specifics on possible legislative action. Now Godden's out front in calling for new pay equity legislation.

Here's what Godden proposes in her op-ed:

The task force should be bold and innovative in finding solutions both inside city government and beyond, such as ensuring that workforce-development training and apprenticeship programs—programs designed for family-wage jobs—are targeted at and utilized by women. My council colleagues and I should consider adopting elements of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which has yet to pass Congress, to strengthen equal-pay laws.

We should encourage flextime policies that make it easier to balance family obligations with a career. Only about a third of employers allow some of their employees to work from home on a regular basis. We should expand access to child care so that women do not have to choose between higher-paying jobs and taking care of children...

Let’s make information on city employees’ salaries, which are already public record, more easily accessible on the Web so that they can learn what their colleagues are earning and identify pay discrepancies. Maybe the difference is based on years of service or technical certification held by the male colleague, but maybe not.

It’s time to pass an ordinance protecting private-sector employees’ right to discuss salaries. This right is enshrined in federal law, but remedies for workers are an insufficient deterrent. No female employee should fear retaliation from her employer for asking a male colleague about his salary.

I can't wait to see if council can get some substantive work done on the issue while the political drama of the mayor's race roams like a Smoke Monster around City Hall. Fingers crossed.