This stunning admission from Seattle Mayor Paul Schell was issued yesterday as a clarification to his previous declaration, featured as a banner headline in the 1-2-00 Seattle Times, that "I am not a wuss." When it was pointed out that what critics were concerned about was not his manhood but his ability to make competent political decisions, he issued the clarification.

(About "I am not a wuss": "Wuss" is an adolescent locker room abbreviation for "pussy," as in, "I am not a pussy." Is anyone else bothered by such a grotesquely sexist use of language by the Seattle Times in asking its now- famous question of the mayor?)

Schell's admission confirmed the suspicions of many Seattle political observers who had watched him self-destruct over the past two months. Evidence of his nincompoopness, however, follows Schell throughout his political career, from his failed mayoral bid in 1979 to his successful runs for Port Commissioner and then Mayor in the late '90s. The latter came despite his background as a developer and despite extensive backing from Seattle's developer lobby at a time when public-private partnerships and handouts to developers were a subject of fierce criticism. Remarkably, however, those ties were not used against Schell either in the low-profile Port race or the race against Charlie Chong for mayor in 1997. Also not brought up were Schell's scrambling to establish actual legal residence at his leased Pike Place condo, since he spent most of his time at his home on Whidbey Island and the rest of the time at the home his developer money had bought for himself on the French Riviera. A man of the people, this Paul Schell.

Schell, as mayor, has been universally recognized as a poop. He was elected based on his image as an aggressive, visionary politician; however, once in office, he did virtually nothing. One of his only initiatives upon taking office was to call a housing "summit," and to develop an action agenda that was almost completely ignored. The only points on it that were put into practice were--surprise--tax credits for Schell's developer buddies. Aside from landing the WTO, he has distinguished himself by losing criical files in a police accountability investigation and bungling a critical veto by forgetting to actually sign it.

Those are rather ordinary malfeasances; WTO was not. Schell has tried to avoid the credit, but he was one of the major local politicians (along with County Executive Ron Sims) who, as members of the Seattle Host Organization (SHO), pushed for the WTO to meet in Seattle. Once the city was awarded the event, Schell failed to get anything other than a verbal commitment from SHO for reimbursement of some of the money that the city spent on hosting the talks; SHO would later stiff taxpayers for all but about $100,000 of their $1.5 million commitment. Their lack of a contract enabled SHO to put taxpayers last among creditors when local corporations failed to meet SHO's fundraising goals.

The failure to consult city council over hosting of the event, or any aspect of it other than stealing from the city's budget, has also worsened the already tense relationship between the mayor's office and city council. Schell and friends have also failed to get federal budget money set aside to help mitigate the estimated $9 million and counting--not including jury awards from the inevitable lawsuits over police behavior--that the WTO cost city taxpayers.

When the city's investigations of the command structure of WTO decision- making starts pinning blame for police abuses, Schell is likely to be at the top of the list. Indicative is this interesting note from the Seattle Fire Fighters' Union (Local 27) newsletter, specifically the report from union president Charles Hawkins, Jr. Hawkins says:

"'Did the city really try to have us turn our fire hoses on protesters?' The short answer is yes. Some of our members alerted me to this on that Tuesday evening and I called Chief Sewell who confirmed for me tha the Mayor's office wanted to do this even though he argued against it. I then called the Mayor's office and strongly objected to using fire fighters in this manner. On Wednesday morning I contacted members of the City Council about the situation and they agreed with our position. We bickered quite a bit with the Mayor's staff and by Thursday evening [the police backed off on Thursday--gp] it was no longer an option...Hats off to Chief Sewell, Assistant Chief Ramsey and Deputy Chief Vickery for standing up for doing the right thing."

Amen and thank you to the firefighters, for showing a rare burst of common sense among city officials. There was also an unconfirmed rumor that City Attorney Mark Sidran--another man who desperately needs forcible retirement-- threatened to sue Local 27 for not using the fire hoses. Sidran has also distinguished himself in the WTO mess for pursuing hopeless misdemeanor charges against hundreds of people for over a month before the inevitable dropping of charges, in the process forcing many defendants to travel back to Seattle from points around the country for meaningless court dates. What an asshole.

But back to the nincompoop. It might be interesting, in an academic sense, to find out how much pressure for a crackdown was applied by the Secret Service and other federal agencies not wanting outbreaks of democracy to happen too close to Bill Clinton. But pressure or not, Schell had to sign off on those decisions. And while there were a few out of control cops, the anger many protesters have towards rank and file police is largely misplaced; they were only carrying out orders, and all indications are those orders were being given by Schell.

Schell's unconstitutional overreaction to a situation already caused by his lack of planning and foresight was bad enough. But the "I am not a wuss" comment came as a response to criticism from many voters who did not care at all about the WTO, but who cared very much not only that Schell. in a flagrant bid to not compound the political damage he suffered during the WTO, took away the city's millenial party, but also turned the city into a national laughingstock in the process. Seattle is still a fairly provincial city that cares very much what others think of it; it doesn't take kindly to such embarrassments. Perhaps in his fondness for vacations in the French Riviera, Schell missed this crucial point.

That, not Schell's manhood, was the question. Fortunately, his belated clarfication has settled the debates and questions. The only remaining challenge is, how do we get this incompetent nincompoop out of office before he, for example, tramples all over the constitution again?