Cranking up the intrigue at Seattle City Hall

Usually, Seattle City Hall is no place for drama or excitement. Council members spend their days calling for studies on the mundane topics du jour or tinkering with the land-use code and budget. Ho hum. Humdrum.

But suddenly the place is abuzz — a nine on the City Hall 10-point excite-o-meter! Two events — an unexpected open seat and a vigorous battle for council president — have joined to make for real intrigue in the second-floor hallways of our sparkling new home for city government.

When Councilman Jim Compton announced he was leaving his job mid-term, dozens of hopefuls began inquiring about an opening free of the drudgery of months of hard fund-raising and campaigning. The vacant seat has become the government job equivalent of the Oklahoma Land Rush.

At the last mid-term opening, more than 100 people came forward to be interviewed; a similar response is expected this time.

Seattle needs a new council member ready to go, ready to stand up to a sometimes overbearing mayor, to confront big transportation issues like the Alaskan Way Viaduct, to usher in careful spending of a budget surplus.

Council members select a new colleague by voting among themselves — five votes is magic. The newcomer must stand for election in November 2006 and again in November 2007. For the moment, the big question is whether to appoint a caretaker until the next election or elect a council member who will compete to keep the job.

The caretaker approach is for wimps. Elect a sturdy new member with potential to serve a long time. Two elections in two years should be sufficient initiation rites. Every year matters for the city.

The surprise opening dovetails with the sometimes ordinary biennial battle for council president. A strong council president can control the agenda, the flow of legislation, key committee assignments, fill in for the mayor at times and succeed him if something should happen to him.

The council quietly but unofficially chose its new leader a few weeks ago, Councilman Richard Conlin. This is how it often works. A council member, usually one with seniority, emerges. Colleagues providing early or key votes of support are awarded choice committees to chair.

Councilwoman Jean Godden thought she had verbal agreements for five votes, but Conlin outfoxed her and persuaded Councilman Peter Steinbrueck to back him.

Then Conlin, perhaps ill-advisedly, rushed out a press release announcing his presidency — before a single official vote was cast. The voting in public can't take place until Jan. 9.

With Compton, one of five members supporting Conlin, leaving Jan. 6, and with Councilman Tom Rasmussen, another Conlin backer, on vacation part of January, Conlin could be down to three votes. Rasmussen may change or cancel his vacation to participate.

Even if he returns early, the newest council member may have to break a 4-4 tie and cast the deciding vote on president, which automatically cranks up the heat in the process.

The betting person says the next council member will not be a white male because the council is light on females (seven men, two women) and light on minorities (two). Put it this way: In this politically correct city of ours, it will be an uphill fight for a middle-aged white guy.

One nutty school of thought says the new appointed member should not be someone who ran recently and lost. This makes my head hurt. Why not? A former candidate is someone who really wants to serve, a person willing to invest tons of time and money to do so.

The maneuvering is fluid but front runners are: Darryl Smith, president of Rainier Chamber of Commerce, who has run once before; Robert Rosencrantz, who has run twice and brings business and housing experience; plus half to two-thirds of the Seattle legislative delegation to Olympia. Eric Liu, a young author and former speechwriter for President Clinton, has also been mentioned.

For council president, Godden would make a better choice than Conlin, who is too slow, plodding and indecisive, especially on important transportation matters like the viaduct.

In many ways, the tussle between Conlin and Godden boils down to independence from Mayor Greg Nickels. Conlin and his cohorts would buck him more often, and I support that idea. But Conlin as an individual is too much of a navel gazer to lead even a mild insurgency. The congenial, consensus-builder Godden is the better pick.

Joni Balter's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is jbalter@seattletimes.com