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We now know that the Seattle City Council has been proposing legislation written by outside interest groups, without much, if any, changes.

As points out, legislation, such as the current and controversial homeless ordinance, was introduced to the council nearly identical to how the ordinance was worded by civil groups. That bill would make it more difficult for city officials to clear homeless encampments. A staff memo, according to Westneat, even notes that Council Bill 118794 was drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and Columbia Legal Services.

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The revelation is all thanks to a former Microsoft executive who now spends much of his time in the council chambers, watching the workings of city government. But it seems lately that those workings are not the product of city officials, rather, special interest groups feeding council members rules, resolutions and even laws. It’s exactly the same issue that left vs. right politics has been arguing for years — corporations and special interest groups having too much influence on lawmakers. Even if the issue is a good cause or means well, the practice is something that lends itself to cronyism and an unfair democracy.

Kevin Schofield, 49, is that former Microsoft executive. He told Seattle’s Morning News that he tries to support local nonprofits. And he says he has contributed to a “good, rational, civil conversation about what’s going on” in Seattle. He does that, in part, by attending or watching the majority of city council meetings.

After noticing that some legislation passed by the council was basically word-for-word how it was submitted to them by outside parties, he had to take action. So he wrote a blog post,

of those resolutions, according to Schofield, was that of establishing principles to clean up the “Jungle” homeless encampment. was an attempt by activists to close the nuclear power generation plant in Hanford.

They were a pair of important issues, Schofield said. Though he supports elected officials listening to everyone, particularly underrepresented groups, if it was flipped and the council was passing legislation proposed by corporations, there would be “an outcry,” he explained.

Listen to Schofield’s entire interview with Dave Ross below.