Wanted: candidates, not weenies

Insiders will blame the early campaign cash racked up by incumbents, a primary in August rather than September, the lack of a huge scandal, the cheery economy. Perhaps.

But the fact that three Seattle City Council members appear to be running unopposed or with only nominal opposition this fall reveals a discouraging ennui overtaking our city.

Two years ago, big-name challengers came forward and offered a vigorous debate in council elections. This time, with four incumbents facing re-election and an open seat vacated by Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, a surprisingly small number of top-level candidates has emerged.

When did City Council become a boring or lesser job? Where are the highly-skilled policy wonks, or even more down-to-earth firefighters and small-business owners ready to bring middle-class sensibility to the council?

Violent crime is edging upward. The middle class is being priced out of the city. Yet, there is no sense of urgency. This is a rubber-stamp council.

I have no grand quarrel with the three council members running so far without substantial opposition: Councilwomen Jean Godden and Sally Clark and Councilman Tom Rasmussen. Clark was appointed to fill a vacancy last year from a field of 100 candidates, then ran and won on her own last November.

Rasmussen is an earnest council member who delivers such things as emergency assistance for low-income residents who fall behind paying their water bills and cameras at red lights to catch red-light runners.

With Steinbrueck moving on, Godden will have the highest name familiarity — name recognition gained after years of writing in the major daily newspapers.

Godden's opponent is Joe Szwaja, a high-school teacher and Green Party activist, who is not considered a stiff challenge. He ran for Congress years ago against Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, and got 20 percent of the vote.

Szwaja is a thoughtful guy, but an inflatable Herman Munster could run against McDermott and get more than 20 percent. Godden can run on the fact that she led the way in lowering City Light electrical rates by 8 percent.

But nobody deserves a free ride. These jobs open every four years. Each council member should have to prove worthiness for another round.

The biggest problem with the incumbents is they do not push back sufficiently on Mayor Greg Nickels. The best example occurred in the debate over how best to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. All three were in the amen chorus for the mayor's effort to force a ridiculously overpriced tunnel on an unwilling public. You want to talk about pricing out the middle class? Try a tunnel with an unlimited price tag.

Where was the critical thinking? Where were the checks and balances? Only 30 percent of voters favored the tunnel. Council members should have a sense of the civic pulse. They should have known they were pushing something the public didn't want.

Clearly, stronger candidates are flocking to Steinbrueck's open seat. Look for attorney Bruce Harrell, who has represented small businesses and individual workers, and Venus Velázquez, a public-affairs consultant, to make it to the finals. An open seat is often the safer bet.

Another explanation for the non-election election says some of the best candidates are sitting this one out, waiting for 2009 when seats held by Councilwoman Jan Drago and Councilman Richard McIver are expected to open because of retirements.

An even better analysis of what is going on may best be summed up as the "weenie factor."

In 2003, three challengers came along amid the Strippergate scandal and wiped out three incumbents, making it look oh-so-easy to grab a council seat. Strippergate was the unpleasantness that flowed from improper meetings and sketchy donations to certain council members from advocates of Rick's strip club, which was seeking a zoning change at the time.

Rasmussen beat "the rock," council stalwart Margaret Pageler, who had nothing to do with the scandal. Godden beat Judy Nicastro, who was front and center in the imbroglio, and Councilman David Della, who does have an opponent this fall, beat Heidi Wills, who also got caught up in the mess.

The challengers of '03 made it look easy. But in 2005, three candidates with plenty of campaign cash and name familiarity to spare spent a pile and got nowhere. That scared off would-be candidates this year.

Running for council shouldn't be a cakewalk. Blaming an early primary is absurd. If you can't figure out when the primary is and when to launch a challenge accordingly, you shouldn't bother.

A-list candidates, if they are out there, have until the end of filing Friday to make this a real election. Our city deserves to know what budding politicians and thinkers of tomorrow have to say and offer.

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