The city’s Ethics and Elections Committee (SEEC) has found insufficient evidence that Mayor Greg Nickels or any other city official violated ethics rules during response to the snowstorms that paralyzed Seattle last December, says a report released late Thursday.Nickels asked the (SEEC) to investigate following a Seattle Times

report suggesting that SDOT had devoted an inordinate amount of time and manpower to clearing West Seattle, home to both Nickels and SDOT chief, Grace Crunican. But while the report cites one account of an SDOT employee who claimed that he was instructed by Paul Jackson, former head of the Street Maintenance division, to clear the streets near both Nickels and Crunican’s home, investigators found no “documentary evidence” that any city official received or asked for preferential treatment. According to the report, Jackson denies the claim. Beyond the actual findings, the SEEC’s report does contain one other interesting bit. From the text: “Street Maintenance Division staff broke into cheers and applause when they were told that Mr. Jackson was leaving the division.”So, no love lost there.Read the full report SEEC Report.pdf