Everything Is Political: Christian Sinderman Was Scrutinized for City Hall Contracts. Now He's on the SDOT Payroll.

Powerful political consultant Christian Sinderman came under scrutiny recently for a series of lucrative taxpayer-funded contracts that placed him at the heart of Mayor Bruce Harrell's mayoral administration, all signed while Sinderman continued to take on clients at NWP Consulting, the political consulting firm he founded in 2001. These clients include Gov. Bob Ferguson, former Councilmember Cathy Moore, and current Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Joy Hollingsworth. The client list also includes opponents of current elected officials, like Dionne Foster, who is in the midst of the District 9 race against City Council President Sara Nelson. 

The Seattle Times documented Sinderman's three-year-long stint as a consultant for the mayor, earning up to $250 per hour, managing everything from the hiring process for Seattle Parks & Recreation Superintendent AP Diaz to union contract negotiations with city employees, all while continuing in his role at NWP. Sinderman also helped craft and promote two key Harrell administration ballot measures, and two levy funds for transportation and affordable housing, respectively.

According to the Times, Sinderman was "everywhere." Nelson complained she was worried Sinderman may feed Foster, her opponent, inside information. The lines between Sinderman's role as a consultant for the mayor and his work on political campaigns throughout the city were well past blurry. Sinderman’s contract with Harrell did not break any ethics rules, and, ultimately, it was reported that his "unusual" contract was terminated in early 2025.

However, while Sinderman stopped working for the mayor's office, a document obtained by the South Seattle Emerald shows that he has obtained a new, no-bid contract with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) set to start this month. Sinderman will be paid $275 per hour to "provide strategic advice, internal coordination, stakeholder facilitation, community engagement and ongoing communications and public relations support to SDOT and City of Seattle leadership related to the development of a Seattle Transit Measure (STM) renewal proposal."

The STM is a 0.15% sales tax passed in 2020 to support transit projects, including free bus passes for Seattle Housing Authority residents, expanded bus service, and the continued operation of the Seattle Streetcar, among other things. SDOT is currently working on a renewal package, which it hopes the City Council will approve via ordinance for inclusion on the November 2026 ballot. Making sure that process goes smoothly is the main focus of Sinderman's scope of work.

The agreement is, as all of Sinderman's contracts with the mayor's office were, for an amount just under that which would trigger an automatic public bidding process. The SDOT contract would pay him $5,500 per month for 15 hours of internal "strategy support" work and five hours of "external relations support," totaling $60,500 over 11 months. The threshold for triggering a public bidding process is $69,000.

While a 20-hour-per-week consulting role with SDOT might not put Sinderman in the same seat of power that a roving office on the seventh floor of City Hall and an internal email once provided him, it's still a role in which he can influence outcomes for NWP clients.

He continues to work on Harrell's campaign, for which the hiccup-free advancement of the STM renewal would certainly be a boon, but Sinderman is also working for a client with much more direct involvement in SDOT: District 2 City Council candidate Adonis Ducksworth. Ducksworth's day job is a communications and policy adviser within SDOT's Communications and Public Engagement department, and his previous work doing outreach for the 2024 Seattle Transportation Levy is very similar to what Sinderman has been contracted to do for the STM.

Ducksworth said via text that his work does not overlap with Sinderman's, and that they have no contact within SDOT. He says he was unaware of Sinderman's contract before being contacted by the Emerald, and if there are any concerns around conflict of interest, "That's a question for SDOT."

Mariam Ali, a spokesperson for SDOT, wrote that Ducksworth's "portfolio at SDOT is focused on project development and construction. This body of work doesn't include funding measures such as STM renewal or work with contractors such as NWP Consultants."

Therefore, according to Ali, Ducksworth had no involvement with the consultant selection process and won't work with Sinderman. Ali added that, while the contract states that it begins in September 2025, it won't formally begin until after the upcoming election.

Sinderman, for his part, says there's nothing to see here. In response to an emailed inquiry from the Emerald, he stressed that NWP's work with SDOT was "about the buses!"

Citing NWP's "track record" and previous work on transportation issues, including other iterations of the STM, Sinderman says that SDOT asked for his firm's assistance with "some of the planning work-- all consistent with work we have done in the past, and work that needs to start regardless of the current election cycle."

Of the mid-election timing, he wrote, "there is no connection of this project to other clients, as they are not directly engaged in this narrow scope of community engagement and planning."

Whether or not Sinderman has ever used his influence inside city government to benefit his political consulting clients — he told the Times he "switch[ed] hats" when working at City Hall — having any ability to do so creates the appearance of conflict. When it comes to preserving public trust, the appearance can be as damaging as the actual thing.

Editors' Note: This article was originally categorized as News, and then recategorized as Voices.