Seattle releases 8,000-page investigative report on Transportation Department

A half-million dollar investigation into problems at Seattle's Transportation Department was released by the city today, offering the first detailed account of a workplace culture that even the mayor acknowledged was unhealthy and divisive.

The city released a draft summary of the report on May 8, and had been preparing the 8,000-page report for public release since March, when The Seattle Times requested it.

Transportation chief Grace Crunican said she asked for the workplace investigation in June 2007 after hearing "rumblings" about discrimination in the department's street-maintenance division.

Investigators from MFR Law Group in Mill Creek interviewed 114 people and found widespread feelings of discrimination and poor systems for documenting and tracking complaints and discipline.

The investigation also found workplace problems involving Paul Jackson Jr., the former street-maintenance director who was promoted into his job despite documented problems with his management style. Jackson, who had no experiencing directing a winter storm response, was in charge at the time the city bungled its snowstorm response, leaving the city paralyzed by icy streets for more than two weeks in December.

The report was expected to cost $75,000 for "investigative services and legal advice in anticipation of possible litigation against the Department of Transportation," according to a letter confirming the contract. But the city eventually paid $515,000 to MFR, a Mill Creek firm headed by Marcella Fleming Reed.

City records show MRF has conducted some 77 investigations for the city. A spokeswoman for the mayor's office said the total paid to the firm for those investigations is $1.916 million.

The Seattle Times has posted a copy of the report for reader information, comment and feedback.

Susan Kelleher: 206-464-2508 or skelleher@seattletimes.com