Although our local scandals aren’t quite up to the level of the Tom DeLay indictment that’s taken over the national news, it looks like Mayor Nickels has a hot new ethics violation of his own this campaign season:

Wayne Barnett, executive director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, filed civil charges against Nickels today for violating the city’s prohibition on the use of public facilities for campaigning. . . . The mayor’s office produced the document, entitled “Mayor Greg Nickels: Three Years of Accomplishments” and sent it to about 3,000 households at a cost to the city of $2,205 [s.times ^[1]]

The timing of this does seem positioned to make an election-time splash since the Seattle Weekly expressed concerns over this mailing back in April, reporting on a few accomplishments included in the eight-page booklet — “replacing the Viaduct and seawall,” “creating a safer Seattle,” “creating jobs” [# ^[2]].

I just wonder if any of those 3,000+ recipients read or saved the booklet. Now that it’s a part of Seattle scandal history it might be worth a few bucks on eBay.