Richard McIver: A Study in Stupidity
It's hard to say what happened to Richard McIver. Just a few months ago, he seemed to be a respectable member of the City Council. Then there was the incident with the wife, then the fines for awarding no-bid contracts, and now the latest situation which tops them all.
It appears that McIver has used city funds to pay the $1000 in fines he was levied for awarding the no-bid contract. McIver apparently he thought it would be ok to pay those fines using money from the city's legal department. But, listening to McIver, you wouldn't think he had any idea that doing so was a problem.
"It is regrettable that I am now caught in the middle of a disagreement over the interpretation of the law," McIver said in the statement.
Seriously Mr. McIver? Even if the law was in question, did you really think it was a good idea, given the hot water you're in, to pay this fine with the city's money?
McIver's decision is a perfect example of the ineptitude of politicians in this city. He was fined for something that he did wrong, then thought it was no big deal to have the city pay for his mistakes. You were fined by the city!
The worst part about this situation is that probably nothing will happen to McIver. Those of us in Seattle seem to care more about staging mass cycling protests that accomplish nothing than paying attention to what those we elect to power are doing with that power.
McIver crossed one line by unethically awarding a contract that the city was going to be paying for. He lept over that line and off a cliff when he tried to use the city's money to pay the fine for his actions.
Wayne Barnett, Director of the Ethics and Elections Committee, summed up the situation in one of those no B.S. ways I like best.
"It is absurd," Barnett said. "It violates the public trust to pay the fine with public money.
Couldn't agree more. McIver, for his part, doesn't seem to think it was any big deal. And until the people he represents let him know what a big deal it was, there's nothing to stop him, or any other local politician from doing the same thing.
Now excuse me, I have to go buy my girlfriend a birthday present using her credit card.
