Lack of Transparency in Seattle City Government Is A Big Problem
For several years now, the lack of transparency in Seattle City Government has been in a disturbing downward spiral. If our Mayor and City Council are shocked to hear this, consider the following examples:
1. City Council routinely asks for Public Comment, then doesn’t even respect the public’s opinion by paying attention to them. A Public Comment period typically:
Takes place before discussion on a Bill; no opportunity for comment during or after discussion.
Usually starts late… no respect for public’s time.
Full Council/Committee almost never present during comment period.
Council members often show utter contempt for taxpayers by their statements at meetings, and then “write you off” if you challenge their “infallible” judgment.
2. The Mayor’s office is even worse than City Council on this subject:
The weekly Durkan Digest always closes with a comment like “please continue to write me at Jenny.Durkan@seattle.gov, reach out via Twitter and Facebook….” What a waste of time!
One of our DRA Board members reported that he first requested a 15 minute appointment with the Mayor in February, and followed up on numerous occasions with absolutely NO response of any kind.
Obviously, you will not get an appointment, period, to discuss anything unless you are a privileged insider.
3. Since the SDCI Director reports directly to the Mayor, it is not surprising that communications with them are mostly “one-way”, from citizens to them, unless you are one of their developer “clients”. The system is rigged, so that unless you invest thousands of hours of personal time, and can muster incredible financial resources, it is almost impossible to have even a chance of getting good, functional designs on downtown projects. And even when you are able to make a legal appeal, the deck is stacked against you, with the Developer, the City (SDCI), and a Hearing Examiner who works for the City as the other parties to the Hearing.
In sum, our entire City Government needs some major improvements in both attitude and process to function in a responsible way with the transparency that its citizens deserve.
