May 28 2009
No to Wasteful Spending: Snow response consultant
At the May 26, 2009, Full Council, I opposed legislation that would allow the Seattle Transportation Department (SDOT) to spend between $100,000 – $200,000 to hire a consultant to look into the December snow storm response and our City’s overall emergency preparedness in SDOT. I believed the one-time outside consultant cost of $200,000 should not be necessary because this scope of work should be part of the core function and business at SDOT. The Seattle Times reported SDOT paid a consultant over $515,000 to investigate workplace issues dealing with its employees, many of whom do snow response work. That consultant interviewed over 114 people. How does that improve service to you?
I want SDOT to have the internal expertise and develop the algebra behind a smart plan. Even though these severe winter storms only hit Seattle once in a decade, I have been blunt in saying, “This is not brain surgery.” Regardless of the limited experience to snow storm responses in this region, staff at SDOT and Emergency Management Operations should be working with other jurisdictions on an annual basis to study residential plowing policies, use of salt, use of carbide blades, communication and coordination plans, and other procedural and operational functions during a snow storm response at no additional cost to the City. As I stated repeatedly during committee discussions and council briefings, this type of work should already be part of each Councilmember’s committee and department work plan. As chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, I worked closely with Seattle City Light and the Department of Information Technology to review emergency management policies this past year. I have suggested to my colleagues that as they oversee their respective committees, they should include emergency management reviews that are appropriate to the departments they oversee and include it as an annual item on their work program.
On February 20, 2009, Council held another briefing regarding the December 2008 Winter Storm response. The briefing was the last of 4 scheduled briefings as a result of the “illegal procedural penalty” by the City (excuse my football reference). The “After Action Report” and “Corrective Action Plan” was presented and discussed by Council. Each department with a role in the snow storm submitted a “Corrective Action Plan.” Implementation of all the new policies in the action plan will be completed by September 2009. The action plan included 68 areas for improvement covering 12 agencies and departments. 
