Q: I heard a rumor going around that there is a petition to end your columns, Mr. Federal Way. Have you heard of this and will you end them?
A: It is not a rumor and Mr. Federal Way will not abandon any columns. Mr. Federal Way is most certain Ms. Joann Piquette knew her email would come back to Mr. Federal Way, so one must wonder — does Piquette want a shout out? Does Piquette think she needs some free publicity as others in the community have called these columns? Well, Ms. Piquette, here you have it.
Piquette sent the following email to Publisher Rudi Alcott and Editor Carrie Rodriguez on May 28. She stated Mr. Federal Way’s name implies connection to city government (couldn’t be further from the truth) and the anonymous identity allows Mr. Federal Way to hide behind his “verbal attacks and opinions.”
She thinks Mr. Federal Way’s column is a form of bullying, which is no different than the “malicious anonymous texting the kids do where they can write whatever insulting thing they want without having to be identified.”
Piquette questioned Mr. Federal Way’s opinion on political candidates and their abilities and wrote she thinks it could have possibly injured their reputation! But, to Mr. Federal Way’s utter amazement, she said anyone who has a “platform to publicly take a position that intends to influence people in decision making needs to be willing to reveal their identity.”
First of all, Mr. Federal Way is absolutely flattered Ms. Piquette thinks Mr. Federal Way’s opinion could totally rock the perception of a candidate’s reputation. Mr. Federal Way also thinks it’s pretty cool that this column will influence people’s decision. Let’s take a moment to relish in that realization, shall we folks? One anonymous columnist called Mr. Federal Way, who is published weekly, has the ability to influence 93,000 votes in the city of Federal Way.
Now, Mr. Federal Way is sarcastic. Mr. Federal Way is sometimes mean. But Mr. Federal Way has never lied or made up facts about any political candidate. Yes, poking fun is part of the game. But Mr. Federal Way is not uninformed — council meetings are rarely missed and political observations are not without a base. Mr. Federal Way is one of the most-read columnists in the Federal Way Mirror, coming in second only to none other than Mr. Bob Roegner who writes Inside Politics.
Mr. Federal Way’s job isn’t to talk about kittens and rainbows and the good work each political candidate has done for Federal Way. They have an entire campaign team dedicated to that and will talk about those qualifications for the next five months. Mr. Federal Way’s job is to point out the incumbents who ask rudimentary questions on topics that have been discussed at length for more than a year. It’s Mr. Federal Way’s job to identify candidates who are liars and hypocrites through pointing out those actions. It’s Mr. Federal Way’s job to create community discourse so that maybe voters are prompted to do their own research and think for themselves.
Who is paying attention? Who is bold, authentic and passionate? Who can handle some anonymous criticism without fear their entire political reputation will be at stake? That’s Mr. Federal Way’s job, Ms. Piquette and the three others who signed this “petition,” who, by the way, are Betty Huff, H. David Kaplan and Carrol Clemens. If any candidate wants to challenge Mr. Federal Way’s opinion, they’re more than welcome to email mrfederalway@fedwaymirrror.com or write a letter to the editor. But so far, none have. Mr. Federal Way is anxiously waiting.
Q: Mr. Federal Way, there’s an email circling around that the city will save $100,000 by keeping their full-time employee count the same after the recent let-go of former city spokesman Chris Carrel. They will not hire a new communications person. But in that same email, it says his position was changed from communications and government affairs coordinator to community outreach/government affairs and that Steve McNey has since filled the “new” position in concurrence to his one-time funded position for “assistance with community outreach and social media communications.” How did the city get to that amount of savings?
A: Irony is a beautiful thing, no? According to Federal Way Mirror’s past coverage, McNey was hired in January to focus on the 25th anniversary event the city is hosting next weekend. This, we know. The position was called the city’s new community outreach coordinator and McNey was to be under Carrel’s direction.
In that same Jan. 21 article, Carrel is quoted as saying the scope of his duties has significantly increased over the past year, “and that’s been an issue in terms of the amount of work that needs to be done and the existing communications set up … This will really address a need in communications.”
The mayor even set new goals in terms of reach-out. The article states McNey makes $31.25 per hour, or $32,500 for his six-month temporary position ($65,000 a year), which would be reevaluated in July, when the city could decide to keep McNey.
But then on April 7, the Mirror reported on Carrel’s departure, which the mayor said he felt it was necessary to take a “different direction.”
It seems to Mr. Federal Way that Carrel didn’t make the move to “depart” first. That same article states he made $101,592. It was then, the mayor alluded to the position re-structure and that they would be looking for a person to fill that.
Fast forward to the present day and it appears they no longer need that position and McNey will step in.
When did the concept of Carrel being so bombarded and in need of an assistant change to the city cutting a $100,000 position and retaining the temporary guy to do a job that the original one with four years of employment with the city of Federal Way couldn’t even manage alone?
Also, Mr. Federal Way wonders how the city did their math. Add $32,500, take away $101,595, and you’ve got a savings of $69,095. But McNey is now permanent so no doubt he got a raise.
Also, was this a strategic plan? Did the city, or the mayor, know all along he would eventually want to replace Carrel with McNey? What’s McNey got that’s so special? Mr. Federal Way only needs to look back to the year 2013 to realize McNey was the mayor’s campaign manager. Sneaky, sneaky, Mr. Mayor.
All Mr. Federal Way hopes is Ms. Cathy Schrock, who was confined to police communications before this all happened, got a raise because Mirror staff has informed Mr. Federal Way she has handled over 90 percent of media inquires since Carrel left.
Q: Mr. Federal Way, I saw on your Facebook page you turned 49 on June 6. How did you celebrate?
A: None of your business.
Got a question for Mr. Federal Way? Email mrfederalway@federalwaymirror.com
