Gargantuan mayoral candidate James Donaldson delivered a speech to the King County

Published 7:00 am Friday, July 10, 2009

Gargantuan mayoral candidate James Donaldson delivered a speech to the King County Labor Council’s Endorsement Committee today, in which he backed Mayor Nickels down in the post and threw a bunch of elbows, the sharpest of which can be reviewed after the jump/below.”Many in Labor believe they should endorse our current mayor because he built a lot of things, and did most of with union labor. But let’s make a few things clear:• Our mayor does not have Project Labor Agreements on most projects.• Our mayor cannot find an arrangement that benefits both small, minority and women-owned businesses and union labor.• Our mayor abused the firefighters, dropping coverage to an unsafe level, and used political threats over station upgrades.• Our mayor abused police officers, allowing the police force to drop to dangerous levels and violent crime to increase 9% over last year.• Our mayor allowed a known hostile manager in the Department of Transportation to get promoted, eventually costing taxpayers more than $2 million in studies, consultant fees, and harassment settlements. • Our mayor furloughed hundreds of city employees across major sectors of the city, while adding to the ranks of senior bureaucrats and managers who make over $100,000. There are now more than 700 employees in this category.• Our mayor allowed nearly 200 City Light rank and file employees to be laid off while he gave a $40,000 bonus to the City Light Director.• And, my friends, our mayor crossed a picket line.”