News
Cola Candidate Ratings: City Council Position 3
Sticking with our commitment to be a more objective and balanced source of news (yep, this “liberal” site is the site that broke the story about the trickery of Democratic consulting firm, Moxie Media), we’re doing things differently this year than we have in the past. This year, we’re not going to tell you how to vote. Exactly.
Inspired by the even-keeled Seattle/King CountyMunicipal League, which ranks candidates based on skill, experience, and policy acumen rather than on ideology, we’ve been digging in to candidate resumes and doing interviews to come up with our own ratings.
In other words: We don't really care where a candidate stands on the tunnel. (OK, Erica does, but that didn't factor in to our ratings.) Instead, we’re grading the candidates on: Resume; Knowledge of the Issues; and Their To-Do List & Ability to Get it Done. We’ll also be issuing Bonus Points and Demerits.
Our scale: Exceptional; Above Average; Acceptable; So-so; Unimpressive; Unacceptable.
As for non-candidate election season stuff, including Ref. 1, we’re going to cut through the campaign rhetoric on both sides to tell you what this vote is actually about (and we don’t mean the arcane language on the ballot), and then we’ll break down the best and worst arguments on each side.
Our first batch: Seattle City Council.
Bruce Harrell challenger Brad Meacham
City Council Position 3
Bruce Harrell (incumbent)
Resume: Acceptable
Harrell has a lot of ideas---body cameras on cops, computers for poor kids---but little follow-through. His "Great Schools" initiative, in particular, seems like a smokescreen: Essentially, the city will sign low-income kids up for discounted Comcast service as a condition of Comcast's merger with NBC. Before joining the council, Harrell was an attorney in private practice.
Knowledge of the Issues: Acceptable
Harrell's tendency to ask aww-shucks, I'm-just-a-regular-guy questions at council meetings sometimes seems like cover for a lack of preparation (for example, you would think the head of the technology committee know that you can't get viruses through emoticons; you'd be wrong). In his four years in office, Harrell has acquired a Richard McIver-esque reputation for asking questions at council meetings that seem to demonstrate he hasn't read the briefing materials.
To-Do List and Ability to Get it Done: Acceptable
Harrell's opponent Brad Meacham points out, rightly, that Harrell hasn't done much on the council, missing numerous meetings and failing to pass much substantive legislation.
Bonus Points
Harrell's commitment to race and social justice seems both sincere and effective. In addition to being a dynamic presence during the recent police shooting crisis, in 2010 he sponsored legislation that requires the city to consider all proposals through a "race and social justice lens," so that departments don't just, for example, provide sensitivity training but consider racial equality and social justice in everything from contracting to hiring to outreach and public engagement.
Demerits
He has a well-deserved reputation for inaccessibility. Indeed, Harrell was the only candidate who---after numerous reschedules and repeated requests---did not show up for an interview with PubliCola.
Brad Meacham
Resume: Above Average
Meacham has headed up the Seattle/King County Municipal League, worked as a reporter and editor, and is active in his Columbia City neighborhood. He's also lived all over the world, including Japan---life experience that could benefit the sometimes-parochial City Council.
Knowledge of the Issues: Above Average
As a challenger, Meacham's pitch is largely limited to critiquing his opponent's record, which he does with great specificity---criticizing Harrell's "Great Student Initiative," for example, as "essentially signing kids up for Comcast" when he should be making "high speed internet the City Light of the 21st Century"---but he also talks knowledgeably about district elections, police accountability, community policing, and zoning.
To-Do List & Ability to Get It Done: Acceptable
Meacham's to-do list is specific and forward-thinking: He wants to upzone the areas around light rail stations, promote alternatives to driving, partner with business to put high-speed Internet in more neighborhoods, and reprioritize neighborhood policing. He also opposes the deep-bore tunnel. Although we worry Meacham's full-speed-ahead style may put him in conflict with some on the current council, which often values process and deliberation over getting things done, we like his energy and sense of urgency.
Bonus points
Meacham's a neighborhood guy, but not in the old-school NIMBY mode. We like his critique of "timid city policies" that make it hard for development in urban villages to thrive.
Demerits
We worry that Meacham will be marginalized, along with Mike O'Brien, as a member of the council's anti-tunnel fringe.
Inspired by the even-keeled Seattle/King CountyMunicipal League, which ranks candidates based on skill, experience, and policy acumen rather than on ideology, we’ve been digging in to candidate resumes and doing interviews to come up with our own ratings.
In other words: We don't really care where a candidate stands on the tunnel. (OK, Erica does, but that didn't factor in to our ratings.) Instead, we’re grading the candidates on: Resume; Knowledge of the Issues; and Their To-Do List & Ability to Get it Done. We’ll also be issuing Bonus Points and Demerits.
Our scale: Exceptional; Above Average; Acceptable; So-so; Unimpressive; Unacceptable.
As for non-candidate election season stuff, including Ref. 1, we’re going to cut through the campaign rhetoric on both sides to tell you what this vote is actually about (and we don’t mean the arcane language on the ballot), and then we’ll break down the best and worst arguments on each side.
Our first batch: Seattle City Council.
Bruce Harrell challenger Brad Meacham
City Council Position 3
Bruce Harrell (incumbent)
Resume: Acceptable
Harrell has a lot of ideas---body cameras on cops, computers for poor kids---but little follow-through. His "Great Schools" initiative, in particular, seems like a smokescreen: Essentially, the city will sign low-income kids up for discounted Comcast service as a condition of Comcast's merger with NBC. Before joining the council, Harrell was an attorney in private practice.
Knowledge of the Issues: Acceptable
Harrell's tendency to ask aww-shucks, I'm-just-a-regular-guy questions at council meetings sometimes seems like cover for a lack of preparation (for example, you would think the head of the technology committee know that you can't get viruses through emoticons; you'd be wrong). In his four years in office, Harrell has acquired a Richard McIver-esque reputation for asking questions at council meetings that seem to demonstrate he hasn't read the briefing materials.
To-Do List and Ability to Get it Done: Acceptable
Harrell's opponent Brad Meacham points out, rightly, that Harrell hasn't done much on the council, missing numerous meetings and failing to pass much substantive legislation.
Bonus Points
Harrell's commitment to race and social justice seems both sincere and effective. In addition to being a dynamic presence during the recent police shooting crisis, in 2010 he sponsored legislation that requires the city to consider all proposals through a "race and social justice lens," so that departments don't just, for example, provide sensitivity training but consider racial equality and social justice in everything from contracting to hiring to outreach and public engagement.
Demerits
He has a well-deserved reputation for inaccessibility. Indeed, Harrell was the only candidate who---after numerous reschedules and repeated requests---did not show up for an interview with PubliCola.
Brad Meacham
Resume: Above Average
Meacham has headed up the Seattle/King County Municipal League, worked as a reporter and editor, and is active in his Columbia City neighborhood. He's also lived all over the world, including Japan---life experience that could benefit the sometimes-parochial City Council.
Knowledge of the Issues: Above Average
As a challenger, Meacham's pitch is largely limited to critiquing his opponent's record, which he does with great specificity---criticizing Harrell's "Great Student Initiative," for example, as "essentially signing kids up for Comcast" when he should be making "high speed internet the City Light of the 21st Century"---but he also talks knowledgeably about district elections, police accountability, community policing, and zoning.
To-Do List & Ability to Get It Done: Acceptable
Meacham's to-do list is specific and forward-thinking: He wants to upzone the areas around light rail stations, promote alternatives to driving, partner with business to put high-speed Internet in more neighborhoods, and reprioritize neighborhood policing. He also opposes the deep-bore tunnel. Although we worry Meacham's full-speed-ahead style may put him in conflict with some on the current council, which often values process and deliberation over getting things done, we like his energy and sense of urgency.
Bonus points
Meacham's a neighborhood guy, but not in the old-school NIMBY mode. We like his critique of "timid city policies" that make it hard for development in urban villages to thrive.
Demerits
We worry that Meacham will be marginalized, along with Mike O'Brien, as a member of the council's anti-tunnel fringe.
