"Seattle's One Functional Wing of Government"

Dominic Holden (SLOG):

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, who oversees all misdemeanor prosecutions and acts as the city's lawyer, has issued his annual report for 2011. It's a good read and a reminder that we have one brave elected official at City Hall who is both capable of pushing the envelope and accomplishing his agenda. (And, yeah, that's a dig at our timid, innovation-is-the-enemy city council and bold-yet-bungling mayor.) Holmes has his ups and down, of course. He's tempered the hogwild police union by bringing police defense work in-house, unsuccessfully sued a cop, negotiated terms with the state to build a $4.2 billion tunnel, wasted a bunch of money trying to stop the public from voting on that tunnel, successfully sued to shut down a strip club, helped hash out rules for medical marijuana dispensaries, and lots more. Grade that report card how you will, but Holmes is uncommonly accomplished.