Feeling salty in Seattle

In the battle of West Coast mayors covered under a mound of snow, it's fair to say that Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has won the press release war over Vancouver's Gregor Robertson.

It may well be Nickels, the two-term mayor, was more motivated by any potential political fallout from the storm response than his Vancouver counterpart. The Seattle mayor, after all, faces re-election this fall while Robertson is only weeks into his first term.

Hence, the urgent mood from the Seattle mayor's office, like this promise issued New Year's Eve to hire private contractors to help out with snow clean-up. (One might also notice Seattle hadn't been using salt on its streets, apparently out of environmental concerns).

Or, the introduction this week of what appear to be inquisition-like undertakings casting a critical eye on the head of Seattle's Department of Transportation, an organization which, incidentally, boasts a fairly awesome acronym (SDOT).

According to various media reports, director Grace Crunican faced questioning from Seattle city council today. Crunican is taking heat for being on vacation during the storm. I'm not sure if being with your family at Christmas really counts as a vacation, but hey.

The delightful King5 network has a clip here - preceded, when I clicked on it, by an ad for Dulcolax Stool Softener. Tagline: It doesn’t make you go. It just makes it easier to go. Do you reckon this stuff will work on packed snow?