A year ago, Mike McGinn officially became mayor of Seattle. The city had never voted in the likes of McGinn, who had no experience in public office and ran as an anti-business, anti-car, left-of-Randy-Johnson’s-extended-pitching-arm populist. Furthermore, he rode a bike (motorized, granted) almost everywhere, wore a beard (which secured him the bear and indie-rock blocs), eschewed Stain Stick, and, in defiance of the aforementioned passion for cycling, sported a grog-and-goulash gut (which secured the straight male bloc).
One year in, McGinn is still everything he promised to be—save for a slimmed-down frame and one gallingly aggressive flip-flop. At a crucial juncture in his campaign against blank-slate telecom exec Joe Mallahan, McGinn conceded that he wouldn’t cock-block a regional plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel, something he’d adamantly opposed throughout the primary buildup. Psych! Since taking office, McGinn has been to Governor Gregoire, the city council, and other tunnel done-dealers what Jason Schwartzman was to Seth Rogen in Funny People. While this only further endeared him to his Michelin-slashing base, in more centrist circles it got him branded as a surefire one-termer about a month into his tenure.
But when you bury the bar that low, it’s easier to clear, right? While he won’t leave the tunnel and its potential cost overruns well enough alone, and wants to ream motorists even harder by raising rates on parking meters, the mayor has come out smelling like a rose on homelessness, snowstorm contrition, round-the-clock partying, and Seattle Center renovation, having brokered a deal to allow Dale Chihuly and KEXP to inhabit the same space—tantamount to convincing Boney James to share a bill with the Maldives (whom McGinn, clad in whatever was that day’s red-tag special at Value Village, introduced at Bumbershoot) at KUBE Summer Jam.
But enough with the hopey-changey-wordy; what did 2010 look like for Mike McGinn? For that—and let’s face it: It’s way more fun to look at the centerfold than to read the articles—we turn over our feature hole to four prominent local comic artists for their interpretations of how the Mayor performed in his first year on the job. MIKE SEELY
View comics by:
