1. In yesterday's Morning Fizz we said we think retiring Seattle City Council Member Jan Drago will run for mayor: 

We think Jan Drago has done her polling. We think she found that Nickels numbers suck. Suck.  We think she’s been taking time off work this week to meet with supporters. We think some of her business pals have pledged some money. We think the  four term City Council Member Haagen Dazs shop small business owner has decided to run for mayor.

This morning, we think it even more. First off, later in the day yesterday, we got our hands on a poll Drago did. The poll  showed Drago messing up Nickels in a head-to-head nearly 2 to 1, or 45 to 24. 

Second, we talked to Drago about this poll, and while she wouldn't confirm she's running, she was certainly talking like she's running—and hinted that an announcement is imminent. (We guess she announces as soon as Monday.) 

"I haven't made a final decision," Drago said, "but this poll demonstrates I can win. I am a viable candidate. I always said I wouldn't run unless I was viable. This poll answers that question."

She also said the poll demonstrates "there's intense dislike for the mayor ... people want someone else." 



Nickels and Drago

"One of my motivations," she said, "is that he [Mayor Nickels] has destroyed every relationship—with citizens and neighborhoods, with regional leaders, with state leaders ... I'm the one who was sent down to lobby in Olympia [for the tunnel]. They're [Team Nickels] toxic down there."

2.  The blue ribbon panel that was appointed to make a recommendation to the King County Council—about who should be interim King County Executive—voted last night to recommend former Seattle mayor Charley Royer and Ron Sims' former chief of staff (now acting exec) Kurt Triplett. 

Royer got 10 votes from the panel and Triplett got five votes. Louise Miller, a Republican King County Council Member, got one vote. Now it's up to the King County Council. 

3. City Council president Richard Conlin is polling his council colleagues on whether bloggers should have the same access to the council offices as the traditional media. 

Council Member Nick Licata weighed on the email thread: 

"Another late chime in. Shouldn't we check to see how the State Leg is handling this issue since it's been reported that they awarded the first press pass for a blogger (Josh Feit at Publicola) in the State?

http://publicola.net/?p=3795

Maybe they've written a policy that would be useful for us too."

 4. Governor Chris Gregoire is scheduled to speak at the WEA (the teachers union) convention in Spokane tonight.

Gregoire has pledged to sign a major education reform bill that the WEA has bitterly denounced. It could get ugly tonight. (Maybe she'll tweet about it.)

5. One week until SIFF.