Donaldson copied parts of plan from Sacramento mayor

Seattle mayoral candidate James Donaldson rolled out a 32-page plan of his ideas for Seattle last week. He called it, "James Donaldson's Plan for Seattle."

But parts of Donaldson's plan are copied verbatim from a similar plan released last year by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who, like Donaldson, is a former NBA player.

Donaldson's campaign consultant, Cindi Laws, said she modeled the plan after Johnson's.

"People make these assumptions about athletes being dim ... so I looked at how it had been done," said Laws. "Kevin broke out of the pack by issuing a policy-heavy plan."

Laws said the similarities simply show that Donaldson knows a good idea when he sees one.

"I don't offer anything that hasn't been seen or heard," said Donaldson. "I pick and choose among many different plans and ... this is a culmination and compilation of a lot of those ideas."

For example, both have a section called "Cracking Down on Crime." Johnson's Sacramento, Calif., plan says, "As mayor and leader of this city, one of my primary responsibilities is to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. I will reduce the trend of the last seven years and reduce crime significantly. We can do this by working together as a community."

Donaldson's says: "As mayor and leader of this city, one of my primary responsibilities is to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. Violent crime is up more than 10% over last year, and home invasions up starkly. I will reduce the trend of the last few years and reduce crime significantly. We can do this by working together as a community."

Johnson's section on education begins: "Sacramento's mayor should play an important role in the education of our children, using the visibility and influence of the office to create change and progress."

Donaldson's sentence is exactly the same, except the word "Sacramento" is replaced by "Seattle."

There are several such examples throughout Donaldson's plan.

Donaldson is among the top challengers to Mayor Greg Nickels, who is seeking a third term. The other leading candidates in the Aug. 18 primary are T-Mobile executive Joe Mallahan, City Councilmember Jan Drago and environmentalist Mike McGinn.

Johnson is a friend and supporter of Donaldson. He was elected last November. Johnson's spokesman, Joaquin McPeek, said in an e-mail that Donaldson contacted Johnson to ask for advice and that their campaign staffs had corresponded about strategy.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and there's no copyright on good ideas that make government work for all of us," McPeek wrote.

Laws said the campaign borrowed not only from Johnson's plan but from other cities, including Denver, Baltimore and Portland, local think tanks and nonprofits, and studies. Laws pointed out that Johnson's nine-page plan was much shorter than Donaldson's.

"If there's a good idea, it's like, well, cool, let's use them," Laws said. "We weren't paying a consultant or anything, so we looked a lot at what we could borrow."

Donaldson's plan does not attribute ideas or language to Johnson or anyone else.

Donaldson named a few ideas off the top of his head that were his originally. For example, he wants to organize monthly gatherings for youth to hear inspirational speakers. He also proposes a lower tax rate for startup businesses in the city, giving them two years to work up to paying the full tax rate.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com