Curiously, Mr. Layden's Rant in a recent Highline Times letter argues for SeaTac's current form of government - a hired City Manager - by raising the issues of diversity of opinion, checks and balances and overall accountability.

The facts indicate that just the opposite is true, which is one of the reasons 85% of Washington cities have selected the more efficient, economical Elected Mayor form of government.

Presently, the Council holds both the legislative and executive powers - as they hire the City Manager. The current mayor is selected by the Council from among themselves; the position is largely ceremonial. The City Manager is accountable to the Council, not the citizens at large.

His term is indefinite, typically longer than an election cycle. He cannot be directly removed or replaced by the voters. Thus, there is every incentive for a City Manager to support special interests of individual Council members, expand capital projects, departments, and staff, building his resume for the next larger city opening at the taxpayer's expense.

The City Manager hires the key department heads, who in turn hire the staff. The Council has no authority to remove anyone except the manager by majority vote. There is no way for citizens to provide meaningful feedback on the key staff hires, which develop and write virtually all our codes and regulations we must live by. Among similar size cities in Washington, the average City Manager budget is $8 MILLION MORE than budgets of Elected Mayors.

Under an Elected Mayor, the Council still holds the legislative power. The Elected Mayor holds the executive power, providing the desperately needed checks and balances as is typical in our democratic system. Debate still takes place.

An Elected Mayor could replace a department head, should it prove necessary. Thus, voters would have feedback on key hiring decisions through the election process. An Elected Mayor is directly accountable to the voters - there is a very simple removal process - it's called an election.

Consider the following facts under the present City Manager form of government:

The City Manager does not choose to live in the City - he does not even live in King County! Furthermore, 97 percent of the hired staff does not live in the City.

Thus, these individuals do not pay our local property taxes, and do not have to live with the consequences of the various codes and regulations they impose upon local citizens. It is reasonable to assume some city employees would live outside the City - but 97 percent indicates a complete lack of commitment to local hiring, at every level.

Five of the seven current council members are neighbors, residing in the same exclusive neighborhood on Angle Lake. Their homes and incomes are not representative of the majority of SeaTac residents. It is human nature t hat these neighbors will reflect similar interests indicative of their specific neighborhood. For example, this past November the Council filled a vacant seat, selecting from 13 applicants throughout the City.

From an attorney, business owners, and college graduates, all with superior resumes, they selected another neighbor from their Angle Lake community to fill the position.

This further cemented this neighborhood's firm control of the city. Large areas of the city, comprising multiple neighborhoods, such as East and West McMicken Heights, Bow Lake, South SeaTac, and West SeaTac have no community representation! Portions of Riverton Heights and North SeaTac have only 1 representative each. Given this breakdown, every decision the council makes (i.e. majority vote) is controlled by this single neighborhood.

Furthermore, this situation is not recent - through the power of incumbency, like-minded colleagues in other neighborhoods and powerful political allies, this one community has dominated the city politics since its inception. This is the antithesis of representative government, and is anything but diversity.

There are virtually no checks and balances.

Under the City Manager and Council, the city expenditures have significantly exceeded revenues in each of the past five years - to a total of over $43 MILLION - over $1,700 for every man, woman and child residing in the city! Recently the State Auditor found SeaTac violated contracting law and falsified bid tabulations while building a fire station.

This fire station is presently over $2 MILLION over budget, and two more are planned.

The City Manager has negotiated a salary of $165,000 plus benefits; Elected Mayors average over $93,000 less. The average annual salary of a SeaTac employee is over $6,000 more than comparable Washington cities with either form of government, driven largely by high salaries of senior department personnel. Yet, SeaTac has the lowest average household incomes of these cities.

It is long past time for a change. Only an Elected Mayor can provide the missing checks and balances, reign-in the uncontrolled spending, and address the present lack of accountability. It is most telling that the primary opposition to this measure is coming from Council members, friends, and associates of that single controlling neighborhood, i.e. all the council members that live around Angle Lake.

Jerry Guite
Normandy Park