Sit tight on search for new chief

Well, that was good of him.

Outgoing Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels checked in with the two men angling for his office recently, and asked if they would mind if he launched a police-chief search committee to be in place before the November election.

The department is now headed by Interim Police Chief John Diaz, who took over in May after former Chief Gil Kerlikowske was called to be President Obama's drug czar.

Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn told Nickels to go ahead and start searching. If the 24-member committee is a good one, McGinn said, it will do its job no matter who's mayor.

But candidate Joe Mallahan told Nickels to hold off, saying he didn't want the search for a new chief to get tangled up in campaign rhetoric.

So, of course, it did.

McGinn called a press conference on Friday at the Central District intersection of 23rd and Union (nice choice) to criticize Mallahan's preference. Mallahan responded by calling McGinn's move a public stunt. And so it went.

From what I can tell, Diaz is doing just fine. There's some grumbling from the police union, but when isn't there?

I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why not let Diaz hold the line even after the election, then see how he does with the new boss, the new policies and priorities?

Because that's not the way things work in Seattle politics.

We'd rather form a search committee and talk, talk, talk to every gathering that isn't just waiting for the next bus.

We'd rather spend money we don't have to find that ideal person who we believe will spit-shine the streets, unify the force and tuck us all in at night.

And if they don't? New search.

A new mayor doesn't have to mean a new police chief.

When Nickels came in, Kerlikowske had the stink of former Mayor Paul Schell — the man blamed for not preventing the deadly Mardi Gras riot at Pioneer Square in 2001 during which Kristopher Kime was beaten to death.

Nickels promised to put Kime's death certificate on the wall of his office. It was meant to be part memorial, and part intimidation for Kerlikowske, a little "I got my eye on you" from the top of City Hall.

And after some tenuous weeks during which Kerlikowske's wife held off on ordering window treatments until she was sure they were staying, Nickels calmed down and so, for the most part, did the SPD.

Diaz has managed to keep things that way, according to Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, who heads the public safety committee.

"He is doing a good job," Burgess said yesterday. "And those who suggest that somehow the police department is in trouble and isn't being led properly because we don't have a permanent chief, that is just not the case."

It would cost $100,000 to find a new chief, Burgess said, "and that's on the low side."

Besides, he said, the best candidates aren't going to apply for the job until after the election.

"Waiting until after the November election is not a problem," he said. "We should just cool our jets and do it correctly."

The only reason to search for a new chief now would be to line the pockets of some consultant, and rattle the culture of the SPD.

I wouldn't mind the latter, especially if one of the candidates is Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick. I'd pay to see Kirkpatrick walk through the SPD halls — not exactly Tailhook, but surely not a place where women have been treated well.

Last month, the SPD lost Assistant Chief Linda Pierce, its highest-ranking female. Her husband told Seattle Times reporter Steve Miletich that Diaz is part of a "good old boy network" running the department. And three sources told Miletich that Pierce believed the department had mistreated females and failed to retain them in the higher ranks.

If true, then it's something that Diaz should answer for — and that Nickels allowed to continue.

And it's one more reason why we should sit tight and let the new mayor come in with the power to make change.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

And what will Mack do now?