"The education of Seattle mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan"

Joel Connelly (seattlepi.com):

Over the phone, an agitated friend forecast daylong gridlock if Seattle dumps the deep-bore tunnel, and the Alaskan Way Viaduct is replaced by the "street option" touted by mayoral candidate Mike McGinn.

"Guess you'll be looking at your ballot with tunnel vision," I joked.

Not necessarily, he replied, saying that he's impressed by McGinn. How come? It had lots to do with not knowing what "the other guy" stands for -- and grumbling about how Joe Mallahan put $200,000 of his own money into the primary election to start his campaign.

What have we learned about Mallahan? Not that much. He is affable, he has a social conscience, and he is a business success at T-Mobile. The 2008 Obama campaign rekindled a political enthusiasm from his youth.

It's not enough, and Mallahan's camp knows it. The candidate comes from a big Catholic family, but he's now undergoing a Baptist-like total immersion in city issues. He has taken a leave from T-Mobile. .

"Joe's switching into full-time mode now: He's been doing the same thing I tried to do, working part-time while running his first campaign for office. It's insane," said Seattle Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton, who has endorsed Mallahan.

The ability to govern is the acid test of politics.

In the primary, Mallahan promised to fire Seattle's transportation director, and delivered sound bites about sidewalks.

O.K., so Grace Crunican is gracefully removed as director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. What then? Mayor Mallahan would need to find, recruit -- and support -- a talented replacement.

In turn, the new SDOT director has to turn around the culture of the department, making it more accountable and less disruptive to the lives of citizens. Streets and sidewalks still need to get repaired -- and the city's absurd snow removal priorities must be revised.

It's a tall order, but achievements by Doug MacDonald when he headed the Washington Department of Transportation show such a job is doable.Mallahan has won an endorsement from the Seattle Police Officers Guild. The cops really had nowhere else to go. McGinn has said little about public safety policy.

Nickels offered a feeling of not quite delivering needed support to Seattle's Finest.But courting the police union does not constitute a law enforcement policy, or achieve the goal of keeping people safe.

Nickels cited statistics on declining crime, but look at the dead kids and flaring of gang activity. As an example of challenges faced by a new mayor, let me quote a recent report from the King County Sheriff's Office:

"In King County, we are seeing a dramatic rise in females involved in criminal street gangs. Prior to 2005, there was only one known all-female gang in King County. In the last three years, this has grown by a large amount. King County currently has four known all-female gangs . . ."

The gangs are, incidentally, located in three areas of Seattle -- South Park, South Seattle and the Rainier Valley.

Mallahan will need to know, and productively work with, members of what's certain to be a far more assertive Seattle City Council. In learning the ropes, he ought to consult Tim Burgess, who has come up to speed fast as the council's public safety committee chair.

The Ed Murray-for-mayor trial balloon was distracting, and makes you wonder about this town's power brokers. Where were they when Greg Nickels' poll numbers began to crater?

"What (Murray) took away, for a week or so, was the chance for people to take stock of the candidates we have: All it did was foment more dissatisfaction with what is there," said Michael Grossman, a Seattle political consultant who doesn't have a horse in this race.

Mallahan and McGinn are likely to debate as many as 20 times between now and the first Tuesday of November.

The primary sent another message: We deserve better debates. Voters need more than just one and two-minute sound bites and the inane holding up of "yes" and "no" cards to indicate a position on issues.

As well, the debates need better moderators. They ought to let candidates question and go after each other. (Radio hosts Dave Ross and Kirby Wilbur excel as let-'em-play referees.) Moderators should have the smarts -- lacking so far this season -- to pose tough follow up questions.

Mike McGinn has a defining issue, a record of activism, and a live-off-the-land campaign.

Mallahan has much filling in to do. He has talked or is about to talk with everyone from Norm Rice to Jean Godden to (acting in a private capacity) experts from the Evans School at the University of Washington. It's the education of a newly public man.

Mallahan made the finals because he is not Greg Nickels. He cannot expect to be elected Seattle Mayor just because he is not Mike McGinn.