Hutchison slams Constantine at King County executive debate

What do you get when you put Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison in a room full of lawyers?

A feisty debate in the race for King County executive, with Hutchison the clear aggressor.

In the one-hour joust hosted by the King County Bar Association, the former KIRO-TV news anchor and self-described "outsider" repeatedly jabbed at County Councilmember Constantine for the county's budget problems.

"All I can say is my opponent was head of the (council) budget committee two years ago," she said. "We're not seeing the fiscal discipline we would demand in our families and business."

Hutchison said she would "clean house" and cut into the fleshy "midsection of government."

When Constantine argued that he would reform county government if elected, Hutchison asked what he was waiting for. He "could have an impact now," she said, and "his ideas should've been imposed."

On the few occasions Constantine fired back, Hutchison seemed to get in the last word.

At one point, Constantine stressed his experience in government, saying, "It's good to talk about waste, fraud and abuse in the abstract, but I'm the one who looked employees in the eyes" and told them he wanted to eliminate their jobs.

Hutchison replied: "I don't want his experience." She went on: "There is experience that leads to success and experience that leads to failure."

She then cited her role in stabilizing the budget of the Seattle Symphony when she chaired its board.

The debate — just the second between the two — suggested problems for Constantine in four televised debates coming next month: How does he talk about her lack of government experience without calling into question his responsibility for county problems, such as a projected $110 million budget shortfall over the next two years?

Constantine was measured, detailed and articulate in his comments, noting he had a specific nine-point plan to cut up to $75 million in spending.

Hutchison was punchy and populist.

She said she respected county employee unions for getting "gold-plated" benefits because it's the job of unions to deliver rewards to their members. But she faulted county officials for not being tougher at the bargaining table.

When it comes to negotiations, she said, her approach would be "shake hands, butt heads, shake hands." The county's style, she said, has been "shake hands, then hug."

She also flayed Constantine and county officials for not acting sooner to protect the Green River Valley from a damaged dam and possible flooding this winter.

Constantine stressed the county has been "doing real work" with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal officials to forestall flooding.

But Hutchison accused him of putting politics above public safety. Constantine used funding for a county flood district as a bargaining chip, she said, to get council members to support ferry service for his West Seattle and Vashon constituents.

Constantine, who has disputed similar accusations by council members and primary election rivals, did not respond.

The two candidates did agree on a number of issues, particularly about the courts and justice system.

Both said they would maintain funding for public defenders and legal aid for civil cases. Both said they would keep security screeners at the Fourth Avenue entrance to the County Courthouse, because cutting those positions would cause unacceptable delays for jurors and others entering the building.

Both said they would support alternatives to incarceration, such as diversion programs for some drug offenders and mental-health patients.

Constantine noted he had "actually done the heavy lifting" with Councilmember Larry Gossett to launch such diversion programs.

He said accomplishments like that were one reason that supporters as diverse as the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Club had endorsed his campaign.

"They cover the political spectrum," he said. "But they understand me to be someone who can work with them in earnest to solve problems."

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com