Mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan. Courtesy of Mallahan for Mayor.

Seattle Mayoral Candidate Joe Mallahan

10/21/2009

Voters in Seattle are apparently having a hard time picking their next mayor. A recent poll by the online news site Publicola found more than one third of voters are undecided in the race. The race features two political newcomers, former attorney and Sierra Club activist Mike McGinn and T–Mobile executive Joe Mallahan. They are in many ways similar. They both call themselves progressive Democrats, both cut their teeth in politics working as Congressional aides, both come from large Irish Catholic families. Both live in the city's north side. But the similarities end there.

Mallahan: "How are you sir? I'm Joe Mallahan, candidate for Mayor."

This is Joe Mallahan working the crowd at a recent League of Women Voters Forum. He's got that politician thing down pat: firm handshake, eye contact, big smile.

Mallahan: "I'm the mayor candidate."

Woman: "Go get your name tag!"

Mallahan: "One of those two guys. Yeah."

A couple of people give him a hard time for not wearing a name tag. Even in this crowd of active voters, some aren't exactly sure who he is.

Mallahan: "It's very hard, it's a great concern of mine that. I've been introduced to "Mike Mallahan" three times now in candidate forums."

Joe Mallahan is the candidate who grew up in Everett, the seventh of nine kids. He studied politics at Catholic University, got his MBA from the University of Chicago, a Masters in International Studies from the UW, and spent a year as a research fellow in Japan. During school, he worked as an aide to Congressman Al Swift, and although he says he always had a life plan to be in public service, a political mentor convinced him to go to business instead.

Mallahan: "I didn't really plan for it to take me this long to get into public service, but my family and my job, it just worked out that way, and so this is my entry."

In his thirties, Mallahan ran a home supply company in Chicago, and then went into management consulting. For the past eight years, he has been an executive at T–Mobile, working on corporate strategy. He jump started his mayoral campaign with close to a quarter million dollars of his own money. His platform seems to include a little bit of everything. He's pro–business, pro–labor, pro–social justice, and pro–government efficiency.

Mallahan: "I'm the candidate with 20 years of management experience, driving big changes and big improvements both in terms of efficiency and customer experience and customer service in large organizations. I'm well known as someone who hires people that are smarter than I am. And I make no bones about that. But that I think is the sort of leadership skills we need to move Seattle forward."

What Mallahan lacks in the race is any real involvement in the city's public life. His last major foray into local politics was back in the 1990s, in Chicago. Mallahan helped found a coalition called United Power for Action and Justice. He came into the group as an organizer for his Church, St. Clement, which is in a wealthy North side neighborhood. The church was involved in setting up a homeless shelter for women, called Deborah's Place, on another north side church's property. It was not popular with the neighbors.

Joshua Hoyt was a community organizer at the time. He remembers Mallahan's role in the fight.

Hoyt: "It was one of those good old fashioned Chicago get down in the gutter kick and scratch and bite and claw type of fights, and Joe was very active in organizing petitions organizing people to go to the meetings in support of Deborah's Place and the ability of the nuns and church to practice their mission on their own property."

In Seattle, Mallahan has stayed out of neighborhood and city politics, and on many occasions, he has even failed to cast a vote. He's missed 13 elections since he moved here in 2000, that's more than half the elections in which he was eligible to vote. That includes two general elections, several school levies, even last year's primary for governor.

Mallahan refuses to say why he missed those votes, but he insists it will not happen again.

Mallahan: "I could give you excuses for missing votes, there is no good excuse. I dropped the ball, it's our civic duty to vote, and I, like many Seattleites, have missed votes, and I'm not proud of what, and all I can do is promise to do better."

To some potential supporters, Mallahan's voting record is a big negative. State Senator Ed Murray represents Seattle's 43rd legislative district. He's still undecided in the race.

Murray: "How do you go to the voters and say, as mayor, I want you to vote for the housing levy. How do you go to the voters and say, I want you to vote for the school levy, the parks levy, because I think the message that's being sent is, well, you don't need to vote, you just have to put down several hundred thousand dollars of your own money and you can be in elective office. And I think that is a very, very bad message."

Nonetheless, Mallahan has picked up the majority of big endorsements in this race. From business groups, labor unions, and elected officials, including Governor Gregoire.

Tina Podlodowski is a former Microsoft executive and Seattle City Council member. She recently signed on as Mallahan's campaign manager. She it was one single issue that drew her to the campaign.

Podlodowski: "Well you know like many folks I think I started with the tunnel. I'll be absolutely honest, I am pro–tunnel and I think we should get it built, I'm done with the process, let's make the project happen."

Mallahan has supported the deep–bore tunnel through downtown Seattle as a replacement for the damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct. It's the option the City Council, the Legislature, and the Governor have endorsed. His opponent, lawyer and environmentalist Mike McGinn, has campaigned vigorously against it, although in recent days he appears to be backtracking on that stance.

Mallahan says their disagreement on the tunnel points to bigger differences between the two.

Mallahan: "Mike is very well–intentioned, and in his background, he's gotten things accomplished, usually through litigation and opposing projects."

And Mallahan says that's not his style. Tomorrow, we'll take a closer look at the McGinn campaign and on McGinn's shifting stance on the tunnel.

For KUOW News, I'm Deborah Wang.

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