One way to get beyond the rhetoric on the council applicants' resumes is to look at their political contributions. (The bland rhetoric also comes through in interviews, by the way. When I asked recent interim human service director and applicant John Okamoto to tell me what the focus of his remarks to council this coming Friday will be, he stuck to generic CV stuff about being "a good listener [and a] critical independent thinker" with "a track record of proven effectiveness.")

Follow the money. What initiatives did these eight applicants support? Did they go with Mike McGinn or Ed Murray in 2013? Have they contributed to any of the people on the council making the big decision—or to those council members' past or current opponents. On that score: Retired Sound Transit diversity manager and civil rights attorney Alec Stephens, for example, gave $50 to Kshama Sawant opponent and Urban League director Pamela Banks.

Combing through the records, here are some of the notable donations we found.

1. Low Income Housing Institute leader Sharon Lee, a Sawant favorite, was a fan of 2009 council candidate David Bloom, a church leader lefty who was running against Sally Bagshaw and sided with the populist wing in Seattle politics that's associated with antideveloper activist Jon Fox. Lee's Bloom contributions ($800) are seconded by the fact that in this year's city council races, she's contributed to two candidates from the same mold, lefty Lisa Herbold, populist council member Nick Licata's longtime aide who is running for position one in West Seattle, and tenants union leader Jonathan Grant, who's focused on rent control. 

Lee was also all-in for Mike McGinn in 2013, contributing $700. (She contributed $150 to Murray, but only after Murray got elected.) While McGinn also had populist appeal, he's on the opposite side of Bloom and Herbold on development. For example, McGinn proposed a low-end fee on developers, $15, while Herbold's boss Licata was proposing a $60 to $90 fee.

2. Progressive majority director Noel Frame supported Licata's opponent in 2009, giving $250 to young, urban progressive Jessie Israel. The rest of Frame's contributions match up with her gig promoting young, progressive newcomer candidates at the state level; in 2010, for example, she donated to people like green state representative Joe Fitzgibbon's first campaign along with the state house's first open lesbian, representative Laurie Jinkins. She also went with labor-backed state senate candidate Nick Harper over the incumbent moderate Democrat Jean Berkey.

3. Veteran Asian, civil rights, and union advocate Sharon Maeda, who also worked at HUD in the '90s and was the CEO of lefty Pacifica Radio in the '80s, has a donation history similar to Lee's. (Maeda is also a Sawant favorite.)

Add to her McGinn (over Murray), David Bloom, and Licata donations, a few other favorites: Lefty city council member Mike O'Brien, supergreen state representative Hans Dunshee (D-44, Snohomish) and, singling out one candidate in this year's council pileup, Maeda has given $100 to Lorena González, who's running as a crusading civil rights attorney. Interesting twist: González is seen as Mayor Murray's handpicked favorite in this year's races; González was Murray's legal counsel.

Okamoto is a steady contributor to the Washington Education Association (the teachers' union), including a major $1,200 donation to
the WEA PAC in 2012.4. Supposed "establishment" pick, John Okamoto, a former port exec and the recent interim Seattle human services department director, has a history of giving to Asian candidates, including looking to Eastern Washington and contributing $400 to former Spokane area state senator Chris Marr. Locally—current council member Bruce Harrell, who's half Japanese American, is Okamoto's number-one choice for council contributions at $350 over the years, including as recently as last year. Okamoto was also a fan of former Asian American city council member David Della, giving him $900 over the years. (Okamoto's also given Tom Rasmussen $200 total, but hasn't contributed since 2011.) Okamoto went with candidate Murray over McGinn in 2013—a whopping $50 to Murray; he also gave Mayor Murray $50 last year. He gave McGinn $50 in December 2009, after McGinn won that November's election. 

Okamoto also kicked in $250 to last year's winning preschool measure (the city's version over the competing, unfunded union version). Education also seems to be a priority for Okamoto. He's a steady contributor to the Washington Education Association (the teachers' union), including a major $1,200 donation to the WEA PAC in 2012 when they were fighting a losing battle against I-1240, the charter school initiative.

5. Another supposedly "establishment" choice, former WSDOT Seattle ferries director David Moseley, has definitely lined up behind the moderate council members, contributing to Burgess, Jean Godden, and Sally Clark herself.

The only other noteworthy check from Moseley was an $1,000 contribution in the 2007 special election when both a tunnel option and a rebuild option were on the ballot. Both lost in the No (tunnel) and Hell No (rebuild) campaign waged by environmentalists (and Erica C. Barnett.) Moseley contributed $1,000 to the Hell No effort.

6. Retired Sound Transit diversity manager and former civil rights attorney Alec Stephens has a long history of making mostly small $50 contributions to the 37th district Democrats, the King County Democrats, and a few candidates—Christine Gregoire for governor, Ron Sims for King County executive, along with a couple of council members such as Della and Harrell.

Notably, he's contributed $50 to Sawant opponent and Urban League director Pamela Banks and $25 to fourth council district candidate Michael Maddux, a Democratic party activist who's running against incumbent council member Jean Godden. 

Stephens tells me the donations shouldn't be seen as "I don't like yous" to Godden and Sawant, but rather that he's friends with both Maddux (through the Democratic party) and Banks—knowing her when "she was in my face when I was working at Sound Transit."

Stephens, who's African American and also worked at the Urban League adds: "I know what it's like to be an African American candidate [he once ran for school board in the late '90s], and I'm going to do what I can to support the sister."

He also gives Banks "kudos for bringing back" the once-troubled Urban League. "I think she'll do as good a job or even better," he says, comparing her to Sawant.

7. Though not recently, former city council member Jan Drago has contributed to Sally Bagshaw, Jean Godden, Tom Rasmussen, Sally Clark, and Tim Burgess. Her most recent city contribution—$100—went to former city council member Peter Steinbrueck's 2013 mayoral campaign. 

8. There's only contribution showing up under the name of Urban League analyst Sheley Secrest. She contributed $37 to the 37th district Democrats in 2014.

Additional reporting by Josh Kelety