In preparing these remarks, I asked 20 people, all of whom I know well, all of whom have been involved for many years in making policy or just generally trying to get things done. I asked them for a sentence or two that would answer the question, “How do things get done around here?” Said one person: “We know how to chew; we just don’t know how to swallow.” Another: “The key to getting things done is figuring out how to turn ‘process’ into a verb rather than a noun.”

He further makes the observation that Seattle is basically a 10-mayor town as each council member represents the entire city rather than a specific district. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate that (again)?

In case you’re new to the area or are wondering why we should give a moment’s thought to what a mayor who has been out of office for 18 years has to say, after his 12 year tenure as mayor Royer went on to head the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is currently the president of the Seattle-based Institute for Community Change [#].

Moving on to lighter fare, John Moe, host of American Public Media’s Weekend America and author of Conservatize Me, has deserted Seattle for St. Paul. This weekend he wrote a Dear John letter to our city [times]. Moe is originally from Federal Way (or, as he told me on Twitter a few weeks ago, the land of “Camaro Driving Restraining Order Recipients With Anger Issues”) but called Seattle home for many years. His letter is full of reasons why St. Paul is a better fit for him (cost of living and less rain being two major factors) but he also reserved space to take a shot at our hard-thinking, do-very-little city:

Hope your viaduct doesn’t collapse, killing hundreds in the process and making you wish you had perhaps done something other than take a very expensive vote, the result of which was to do absolutely nothing.