Morning Fizz
The Top Campaign Guru
1. A string of emails between city council members and staff for the city's Office of Intergovernmental Relations reveals that the mayor's office did not send his 2011 legislative agenda to the city council until around 10:00 yesterday morning---fully half an hour after the council's weekly briefing, whose posted agenda included consideration of the city's legislative agenda, began.
McGinn has expressed surprise and anger at the fact that the council is using as its starting point an agenda that was crafted by the council, not the mayor; ordinarily, the mayor proposes a legislative agenda and the council amends and adopts it.
McGinn, unlike the council, wants city lobbyists to prioritize pushing the legislature to remove the tunnel cost-overruns provision and to ban assault weapons, among other differences.
Although City Council president Richard Conlin does appear to have bypassed the ordinary process (kind of a tempest in a teapot, as we noted yesterday, given that the council and mayor have been working together for the past several weeks to reconcile their well-known differences over the agenda) another part of the ordinary process is that the mayor typically sends the council a draft agenda in October, and certainly not in the middle of a well-publicized meeting to discuss the agenda.
2. Teeing up 2012 already? U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell has hired a new State Director.
Chris Gregorich , the current Executive Director of the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee—the top guru when it comes to campaign messaging, recruitment, and fundraising for state senate Democratic candidates—will replace Chris Endresen as Cantwell's local director, heading up Cantwell's work in the state. The job includes running Cantwell's day-to-operations, but really it's about putting the pieces in place for her reelection campaign. (Endresen left Cantwell's office, which has notoriously high turnover, in May.)
Under Gregorich's lead, the Democrats only lost four seats in the state senate during this year's red wave, coming out with a five-seat advantage, 27-22. (It had been 31-18.)
The SDCC hasn't named a replacement for Gregorich yet.
3. Add another name to the list of potential city council contenders next year: city transportation department staffer Bobby Forch, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat vacated by former council member Richard McIver in 2009. Forch, like his fellow 2009 contender Dorsol Plants, is rumored to be considering a run against Position 1 incumbent Jean Godden, who is running for her third term.
4. The US Senate advanced sweeping food safety legislation yesterday that gives the FDA the power to order food producers to recall their products (currently, all recalls are voluntary) and increases safety and record-keeping requirements.
PubliCola asked Seattle food-safety guru Bill Marler ---he's the guy who won the infamous Jack in the Box e. Coli case---for his take.
Marler said: "I am hopeful that with risk-based inspections by the FDA and a more focused surveillance by the CDC, we will see fewer foodborne illness outbreaks and fewer illnesses."
5. The PI.com reported late yesterday that two City Light employees have sued the utility, alleging that they were passed over for promotions because they complained about anti-gay discrimination against them. The two employees lost a discrimination suit against City Light in 2007.
McGinn has expressed surprise and anger at the fact that the council is using as its starting point an agenda that was crafted by the council, not the mayor; ordinarily, the mayor proposes a legislative agenda and the council amends and adopts it.
McGinn, unlike the council, wants city lobbyists to prioritize pushing the legislature to remove the tunnel cost-overruns provision and to ban assault weapons, among other differences.
Although City Council president Richard Conlin does appear to have bypassed the ordinary process (kind of a tempest in a teapot, as we noted yesterday, given that the council and mayor have been working together for the past several weeks to reconcile their well-known differences over the agenda) another part of the ordinary process is that the mayor typically sends the council a draft agenda in October, and certainly not in the middle of a well-publicized meeting to discuss the agenda.
2. Teeing up 2012 already? U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell has hired a new State Director.
Chris Gregorich , the current Executive Director of the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee—the top guru when it comes to campaign messaging, recruitment, and fundraising for state senate Democratic candidates—will replace Chris Endresen as Cantwell's local director, heading up Cantwell's work in the state. The job includes running Cantwell's day-to-operations, but really it's about putting the pieces in place for her reelection campaign. (Endresen left Cantwell's office, which has notoriously high turnover, in May.)
Under Gregorich's lead, the Democrats only lost four seats in the state senate during this year's red wave, coming out with a five-seat advantage, 27-22. (It had been 31-18.)
The SDCC hasn't named a replacement for Gregorich yet.
3. Add another name to the list of potential city council contenders next year: city transportation department staffer Bobby Forch, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat vacated by former council member Richard McIver in 2009. Forch, like his fellow 2009 contender Dorsol Plants, is rumored to be considering a run against Position 1 incumbent Jean Godden, who is running for her third term.
4. The US Senate advanced sweeping food safety legislation yesterday that gives the FDA the power to order food producers to recall their products (currently, all recalls are voluntary) and increases safety and record-keeping requirements.
PubliCola asked Seattle food-safety guru Bill Marler ---he's the guy who won the infamous Jack in the Box e. Coli case---for his take.
Marler said: "I am hopeful that with risk-based inspections by the FDA and a more focused surveillance by the CDC, we will see fewer foodborne illness outbreaks and fewer illnesses."
5. The PI.com reported late yesterday that two City Light employees have sued the utility, alleging that they were passed over for promotions because they complained about anti-gay discrimination against them. The two employees lost a discrimination suit against City Light in 2007.
