Pageler campaigns as 'rock' of Seattle City Council
Now, Pageler is seen as the council member most friendly to downtown business interests, and she wants to go beyond her 12 years in office to serve a fourth term in City Hall.
Pageler says she has learned to see issues more holistically since she first ran unsuccessfully for council back in 1987 and the city needs her experience. "It's like your health," she said, explaining her transformation from City Hall outsider to the council's longest-serving member. "As you mature, you learn about how complex systems are."
Pageler, 62, is campaigning as the "rock" of the council and its "voice of reason" in her race against Tom Rasmussen, an advocate for senior citizens. "I'm the one who opposes silly resolutions and stays out of all the scandals," she said during a recent debate.
That's almost accurate. In 1997, Pageler sponsored a resolution calling for the weather to "start acting like summer or the City Council, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and all sunscreen manufacturers will move their teams to Arizona."
Although Pageler has steered clear of the recent scandal stemming from Rick's strip club in Lake City, she was involved in an ethics flap in her last campaign when she appeared as the voice of City Light in a city-financed radio advertisement that ran shortly before the 1999 election.
The city's ethics director concluded that the ad may have inadvertently violated election laws because it used public money to assist a candidate.
Pageler, who chaired the council's utility committee, said her participation was appropriate. Still, she asked City Light to stop running the ad and reimbursed the city $2,000. The Ethics Commission dismissed the case. "I said let's not argue about it. I'll pay for the ads if you're concerned about them," she explained.
Rasmussen says that's not the only poor judgment she's demonstrated in relation to City Light.
Despite Pageler's reputation as a fiscal watchdog, Rasmussen notes that she was the council's chief overseer of City Light from 1996 through 1999, when the utility's managers made decisions that contributed to a financial crisis in 2000-01 and a 58 percent increase in electricity rates.
"Yes, rates have gone up," Pageler responded, noting that other public utilities also suffered similar problems. "But none of the Monday-morning-quarterbacking solutions would have guaranteed against equally bad outcomes."
Touting accomplishments
"Guilty as charged," Pageler laughed in a recent interview, calling the resolution a failed attempt at humor. Such a joke is quite different from the council's controversial forays into foreign policy and a circus-animal ban, she added.
Pageler has spent a lot of time this fall defending her record, particularly for a candidate who is endorsed by the city's past five mayors and one who received an "outstanding" rating from the Municipal League of King County.
In touting her accomplishments, Pageler points to several highlights. She sponsored a gun buy-back program that took 1,700 weapons off the streets and melted them down. She fought against allowing California-style energy deregulation in Washington state. She championed civility laws that cracked down on public urinating, panhandling and drinking. And she helped restore city funding for public-health clinics, which had been cut by Mayor Greg Nickels.
Still, Rasmussen has been persistent in jabbing at Pageler, prompting some sharp counterpunches from her.
When Rasmussen recently criticized Pageler for seeking a top job at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce last year, Pageler shot back that he needed to "catch a clue." Pageler said she was considering the post because it would enable her to better promote the region's economic development.
She followed that with a claim that Rasmussen, who manages a $1 million budget and 25 employees as director of the Mayor's Office of Senior Citizens, "wouldn't even get into the final round" for the chamber job.
Aide to councilwoman
Rasmussen's record is not as easy to assess as Pageler's. He has never held elected office. But that's not to say Rasmussen, 56, is a political neophyte.
He worked in the Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for three years right out of law school. Then, seeking to shape laws rather than enforce them, he became an aide to Seattle Councilwoman Jeanette Williams.
Rasmussen said he wanted to work for Williams because she had a reputation for being the council's top advocate for civil rights. During his 14 years as Williams' assistant, Rasmussen worked on transportation and parks projects, including construction of a new West Seattle bridge and the city's purchase of the Kubota Gardens.
When voters ousted Williams in 1989, Rasmussen became a top manager at Senior Services of Seattle/King County, a nonprofit group. In 1999, then-Mayor Paul Schell tapped him to run the city's office for senior citizens. Since April he has been on unpaid leave from that job while he campaigns.
Nickels has endorsed Pageler, but that is no reflection on Rasmussen, said the mayor's spokeswoman.
"The mayor thinks Tom has been a great city employee, but in this race he's supporting Margaret because she's been an excellent council member and they have a very good working relationship," said Marianne Bichsel.
Campaign contributors seem to favor Pageler as well. She has received $167,493 from contributors and added $30,110 of her own money to her campaign. Big donors to her campaign include employees of downtown law firms, the Port of Seattle and Vulcan, Paul Allen's development company.
Rasmussen has collected $91,749 from contributors and added another $84,061 from his own bank account. Top donors to his campaign include the employees of Onvia, a high-tech firm headed by Rasmussen's partner, Clayton Lewis, real-estate company RE/MAX and Microsoft.
Even Pageler finds it hard to find flaws in Rasmussen. "His record is pretty derivative," she said, when asked to assess his weaknesses. "But he's a competent manager and an effective bureaucrat." A Pageler brochure hits a little harder, calling him a "small player in a city of big needs."
There's no question Rasmussen knows city government. The question for some observers is whether Rasmussen would be able to say "no" to special-interest groups.
Prominent environmental, labor, arts and social-services groups have endorsed Rasmussen — and probably not because of his sedate stump speech. Rasmussen stresses he's a good listener, he'll focus on fixing the fragile Alaskan Way Viaduct, and he wants to take care of senior citizens.
Rasmussen says he hasn't promised anything to special-interest groups and would be able to stand up to them. A former boss, Leo Desclos, thinks Rasmussen would make a solid council member. "He had political smarts, he could get along with people, and he was nothing but fair in his decisions," recalled Desclos, who was chief executive officer at Senior Services of Seattle/King County for 25 years. "Most of all he had integrity."
Still, Rasmussen can appear indecisive. In a recent interview he was asked whom he would like to succeed Peter Steinbrueck as the next City Council president. After a long pause, Rasmussen said, "I don't know." Pageler did not hesitate on the same question, saying Richard McIver was her first choice and Jan Drago her second.
That difference sums up the choice facing voters. Pageler is the known commodity whose transformation, voting record and fiscal discipline have disappointed some former supporters. On the other hand, Rasmussen is the effective manager who has not had to stand up and take any tough votes before.
Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com
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