Seattle City Council: No-bid concerns

Hearing that one of our City Council members is being slapped with an ethics violation charge is always bad news. At worst, it reveals a culture of cronyism and corruption. At best, it highlights a reckless disregard for even the appearance of propriety.

We don't know enough to figure out where the charge against Councilman Richard McIver will place him, but we're dismayed to even have to consider the question. At issue is the fact that McIver helped Griffin, Hill & Associates -- where a buddy is an affiliate -- with a $42,000 no-bid consulting contract. While ours is apparently a city that allows for contracts coming in at under $241,000 to be granted without an open call for bids, McIver's relationship with Joann Francis has raised some serious questions with the head of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.

Francis was a regular contributor to McIver's campaigns, has had McIver as a guest at her Virgin Islands property multiple times and even defended the councilman after he was charged with fourth-degree (domestic) assault, which was later dropped. McIver issued a statement saying that these charges are "frivolous" and that "the contract was authorized by the Council President." Fair enough. Except that simply pointing out that one got away with something (if that's the case here) is seldom a solid way of defending the action.

We hope the situation looks far more fishy than it actually is and that McIver will, in the future, realize that these days even the appearance of impropriety is to be avoided.