Embattled McGinn Advisor Resigns Before Seattle Times Can Get to Story

Chris Bushnell (photo via Facebook)

Not only did Publicola break a big story this week, they broke a political appointment: Chris Bushnell resigned yesterday from his position as a senior advisor to Mayor McGinn, a job he held for just over a week. And all the drama happened unbeknownst to Seattle Times readers, which never got around to reporting on the brouhaha until it was over.

Bushnell (aka Chris Haugen) was the previous week responsible for a possible conflict of interest regarding the seawall that led Mayor McGinn to scrap all four existing bids for seawall design and start over. (Bushnell's wife Megan, a marine biologist, works for a consulting firm that was associated with a bid on the seawall project.)

This week, Publicola reported the news that Bushnell had been misrepresenting himself as the holder of a doctorate in economics, both on business cards and on King County materials. (Bushnell's charmed political life as a convicted felon includes working for two years as a King County economist before he got his bachelor's degree in economics. In theory, that is--his University of Washington records are sealed and Bushnell faxed the Times only proof of enrollment.)

While Bushnell's reputation was in bad repair to begin with, it's McGinn who's fast lost face with the public. McGinn's office initially tried to defend Bushnell by noting that he'd never lied to them about having a Ph.D, and, inexplicably, adding that they'd never requested a resume from Bushnell before offering him a six-figure salary.

Even on his advisor's departure, McGinn was quoted as saying he "reluctantly" accepted Bushnell's resignation, as if ongoing, verifiable deceit regarding job qualifications was a personal quirk one learns to appreciate over time. For that matter, the Times says that in an interview, "Bushnell said he had exaggerated his credentials."

No, Mr. Bushnell, exaggeration is when you are a poor economist and claim to be a great one. Exaggeration, at its outer bounds, could be applied to a case of someone who claimed they got their Ph.D at "an Ivy League school," when it was really Amherst. Appearing in public with "Ph.D" after your name when you have not earned a Ph.D is just a lie. We need more self-critical ability than that from public servants.