Controversial manager's promotion an error, transportation chief says

The city's transportation chief said Tuesday that she erred in promoting a controversial manager into one of the top positions in her department, and for the first time described his recent transfer to a lesser post as a demotion.

Under sharp questioning by members of the City Council's transportation committee, Grace Crunican reversed six months of public support for former street-maintenance director Paul Jackson Jr. She also acknowledged that she promoted him last year even though she knew he had a problematic management style, some of which was documented in a half-million-dollar discrimination investigation.

Jackson was head of the division that orchestrated a disjointed response to snow clearing that left streets icebound for nearly two weeks in December. The division's snow-removal failure and the $515,000 investigation that described a workplace culture rife with favoritism — real and perceived — has become an issue in the city's mayoral race.

Crunican had previously said that Jackson was transferred to the traffic-management division in May at his request because he didn't want to be "a distraction" as his role in the city's snow response came under increased scrutiny.

On Tuesday, she said, "I demoted him to a position in traffic where he had performed successfully."

Councilwoman Jan Drago, who heads the council committee and is running for mayor against incumbent Greg Nickels, told Crunican that she had growing concerns about the department's day-to-day management.

Drago set a confrontational tone, complaining that information about the department's dysfunction was being "kept from me and the City Council."

Crunican said she was acting on advice from the City Attorney's Office when she hired the MFR Law Group of Mill Creek in 2007 to investigate rumblings of discrimination that had been percolating around the street-repair section for years.

Crunican said the law department came up with the process and the firm. "We had to pay the bill," she said, "but I didn't make the decision."

MFR's investigation eventually morphed into a yearlong human-resources inquiry. The law department and Crunican's deputy received weekly updates on the progress of the investigation, and Crunican said she periodically approved additional spending on what was expected to be a $75,000 inquiry.

Ruth Bowman, spokeswoman for City Attorney Thomas Carr, confirmed that the city's law department recommended MFR to do the work. She said the firm is one of 24 companies the department uses on a rotating basis for various investigations.

Bowman said the expense would be justified if it helped the city avoid discrimination lawsuits.

"If there had been lawsuits, we would have paid so much more," Bowman said.

Bowman said the city is currently defending itself against one discrimination suit involving a city transportation employee.

Drago signaled that she wasn't ready to drop the issue and told Crunican to expect more questions from other council members in writing.

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