1. We're not usually ones to put much stock in press releases, but we couldn't help noticing this afternoon that Let's Move Forward, the pro-tunnel campaign, has a new campaign co-chair---ex-council member and onetime mayoral candidate Jan Drago.

Drago has some pugnacious words for her former political opponent: "“This referendum fight is Mike McGinn up to his old tricks: delay, delay, delay. We pay City Councilmembers to make decisions. They made the decision to build a tunnel and a wonderful new waterfront to replace the crumbling Viaduct. Let’s stop arguing and start building.”

CLARIFICATION: The Washington Restaurant Association called us this morning to apologize and say their report on McKenna's comments about paid sick leave was "erroneous." They have withdrawn the comment from their site and took full responsibility for the error.

Heather Donahoe, Public Relations Coordinator for the WRA, says after our Fizz item on Attorney General Rob McKenna's meeting with the WRA went up this morning quoting her newsletter saying McKenna would go to bat to fight a proposal in Seattle to mandate paid sick leave, she got a call from McKenna's office saying that her WRA report had misquoted McKenna. While McKenna did talk about paid sick leave, McKenna's office told the WRA he did not say, as the WRA newsletter reported: “We’ll look at it, and see if there’s some way we can help reinforce the WRA’s position, maybe by asking them to withdraw the proposed rulemaking” in reference to paid sick leave.

Donahoe explains that the paid sick leave conversation led into a separate discussion about a dispute between the 9th District Circuit Court and the National Labor Relations Board involving tip pooling—the practice of dividing tips among staff rather than by who specifically earned it. The NLRB has indicated it is going to issue a rule contradicting a recent court ruling that said tip pooling is A-OK. Donahoe says her newsletter report inaccurately attributed McKenna's comments about proposed NLRB rulemaking to a preceding conversation about paid sick leave.

Additionally, Donahoe says her newsletter report inaccurately stated that McKenna told the group he "would explore the possibility of his office’s assistance" on the paid sick leave.—Eds

2. While controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was busy passing legislation overturning Milwaukee's paid sick leave law this week, Washington State Attorney General, and likely GOP candidate for governor, Rob McKenna, was busy meeting with the Washington Restaurant Association, telling them he would use his office to help fight a proposal for paid sick leave in Seattle.

According to a report from the WRA newsletter, McKenna met with restaurateurs this week to offer his advice and his services fighting the proposal.

...you’ve certainly got your work cut out for you in Olympia, not to mention in Seattle now with this new proposal for mandatory paid sick leave” McKenna told the group, explaining that he would explore the possibility of his office’s assistance. [pullquote]We’ll look at it, and see if there’s some way we can help reinforce the WRA’s position, maybe by asking them to withdraw the proposed rulemaking.—Rob McKenna[/pullquote]

“We’ll look at it, and see if there’s some way we can help reinforce the WRA’s position, maybe by asking them to withdraw the proposed rulemaking.”

McKenna exhibited a clear understanding of industry, recalling his own days as a teen working at McDonald’s.

“If one of us was sick, we’d just trade out shifts,” he said. “It worked out well that way.”

McKenna urged the operators to take a coalition approach in responding to the the sick leave proposal, recommending that the industry “get big fast” by linking arms with other employers and demonstrating how this idea could be detrimental to the city’s economy...

“I hope policymakers in the state of Washington and the City of Seattle stop taking that for granted,” he said, recommending that the business owners make stronger efforts to humanize the industry. “Let (policymakers) hear from your employees. Demonstrate the jobs you’re providing, and put a human face on what you’re doing in your business.”

Earlier this week, of course, WRA President and CEO Anthony Anton wrote a Cola ThinkTank op/ed arguing against the paid sick leave proposal.

3. Contribution of the day: Yesterday afternoon, former city council member Judy Nicastro maxed out ($700) to Dian Ferguson, the former public-access TV director who's running against incumbent city council member Sally Clark.

Nicastro has been almost totally uninvolved in local politics since leaving office, logging just one contribution---$50 to Rusty Williams, a candidate for the open seat in 2009 that was ultimately won by Mike O'Brien---since Jean Godden defeated her in 2003. We've got a message in to Nicastro.

4. Fizz got hold of a couple emails from opponents of density around light rail stations in Southeast Seattle yesterday, all of which accuse the city council of  proposing "elimination of the two gas stations on McClellan, new buildings 125-feet tall, up-zoning of the Lowe’s site for multi-family development, and more subsidized housing around the station area."

The actual proposal---as city council member Sally Clark sighed to Fizz earlier this week---is to eventually upzone the area to between eight and 12 stories, and to rework traffic patterns on MLK and Rainier to make both arterials safer for pedestrians. "We're not trying to get rid of your gas stations, we're not trying to get rid of the Lowe's," Clark said.

Sadly, we weren't able to report on a meeting of the Mount Baker Community Club last night about the proposed zoning changes, but we're hoping Seattle Transit Blog (which hinted they might be in the area) will come through later today.