Harrell’s deal with strategist exemplifies ‘gross’ politics, Jake Skorheim says

Political strategist Christian Sinderman’s contract with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell was repeatedly extended, even after Harrell won the election, The Seattle Times reported Sunday. Meanwhile, Sinderman’s $250 an hour fee was funded by taxpayer money.

“The Seattle Times had this really interesting piece that highlights why I think a lot of people find politics to be so gross,” KIRO host Jake Skorheim shared on “The Jake and Spike Show.”

While the Ethics and Elections Commission couldn’t find anything illegal, Jake said the contract felt “kind of icky.”

“You might even feel like you need to wear a bathing suit in the shower after you hear this story,” KIRO fill-in host Greg Tomlin said.

Sinderman is among the state’s most sought-after Democratic political consultants. He was paid by the City of Seattle on a taxpayer-funded contract, but was not a city employee. Despite this, he had a city email and access to top meetings while his firm continued to do campaign work.

In total, The Seattle Times uncovered Sinderman was paid $50,000 during Harrell’s transition period, $52,000 for the rest of 2022, $58,000 in 2023, and $67,000 in 2024.

According to the media outlet, each payment was slightly below the threshold that would force the city to post the job for competition. Therefore, Harrell avoided having to put the job out to the general public.

“Why not just be forthcoming with this? Like, why doesn’t the mayor’s office just be forthcoming? If they know that the threshold is $68,000, and they’re doing it at $67,000, doesn’t that kind of imply that they realize that this is a little bit underhanded?” Jake asked.

“Absolutely,” Greg replied. “There’s a lot of peculiarities here, and it all stems from this aspect of the story where Sinderman has one foot in the political and governing world and one foot in the consulting world.”

Political strategist could have used information from Harrell

He explained that Sinderman could have benefited from insider knowledge and then used that information to benefit his role in the private sector.

“We’re not saying that it did,” Greg noted. “We’re just pointing out what could potentially happen.”

He added that the situation “raises serious ethical concerns.”

“Being under a no-bid, multi-year contract for a quarter-million dollars looks like you’re sort of sidestepping normal hiring procedures,” Greg said.

Greg said he’s hopeful The Seattle Times article will prompt reform.

“Maybe there needs to be a change in guidance, or maybe even a change in the law that this necessitates,” he added.

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