What had been feared for many months jumped from rumor mill to reality last week as Weyerhaeuser announced it was ending its 40-year relationship with Federal Way and moving to Seattle.

At a time when the economy seems to be rebounding, the City Council just approved Mayor Jim Ferrell’s recommendation to build a new $32 million Performing Arts and Conference Center and recently announced plans to move forward on an economic summit, the news in the short-term is devastating.

Residents and bloggers have raised questions on how Ferrell could have let this happen, and his rumored absence from City Hall during the crucial time will draw unfavorable comparisons to Nero and the burning of Rome.

But is that fair? Could city officials have talked Weyerhaeuser out of moving to Seattle? Of course not. The executives that run Weyerhaeuser respond to pressures from national and world events. Also, this is not the same local ownership that was invested in Federal Way or Tacoma previously. And the city does not have the resources to even play a role in the decision making of a company that size.

But Ferrell and the city council won’t escape blameless either. During Ferrell’s race with incumbent Mayor Skip Priest last year, Ferrell was critical of Baden Sports and Orion leaving town on Priest’s watch.

Fine companies, but neither is in the same league as Weyerhaeuser and this did happen on Ferrell’s watch. Ferrell was also critical of Priest’s administration for being unaware that Baden had left town and yet Ferrell says he only learned secondhand six weeks ago that Weyerhaeuser was leaving and then sent a letter.

Mayors and council members get credit and blame for the things that happen while they are in office, whether or not they had anything to do with either. It goes with the job. In political circles, Ferrell and Council members will get some blame.

Worse, the actual move to Seattle, and all the likely media coverage about it, will occur just a few months before the next mayoral election cycle in 2017, when Ferrell and three Council members will be up for election. That leaves 2015 and 2016 to make a bad situation better.

Some wonder why Ferrell didn’t meet with Weyerhaeuser his first week in office and talk to them about their plans, and at least show some interest in the community’s most visible corporation and the 800 people who work there. It would have made the current efforts at spin control more plausible. And while the executives might not have changed their mind, those 800 employees, some of whom might lose their jobs, would have known that somebody cared.

Also, Ferrell and the Council have been pushing recruitment of new business and Ferrell’s choice for Economic Development director seems to share Ferrell’s, and some Council members’, preference for big high visibility ideas. In his campaign, Ferrell said if he were elected he would get on a plane and go recruit businesses to come here.

The symbolism seemed catchy, but most economic development experts will tell you that you build your economic foundation on businesses that are already here. And Seattle Mayor Ed Murray accidentally rubbed a little salt in the wound when he referred to adding Weyerhaeuser to Seattle’s economic stable as a “game changer.” That is one of Ferrell’s favorite expressions and it couldn’t be more true. Seattle’s game changed for the better and in the short-term ours changed for the worse.

Although city officials may not have been able to stop the move, they have left themselves wide open for second guessing about what they could have done, what their priorities are and their economic development strategy.

Now they are scrambling to try and put a good face on a bad situation. Most of the ideas put forth so far sound good on the surface but are unrealistic. The number of people and corporations that have the capital to do something constructive with the property is a pretty short list. And the regulations for siting a public institution, such as a college, in addition to the taxpayer costs, make that concept a long shot at best.

Some state legislators don’t want to fund basic education, despite a court mandate; another college doesn’t seem likely to get very far. Lastly, it’s Weyerhaeuser’s property, not the city’s. Profit will likely be their guide on the property sale.

But there is opportunity in this situation if public and private leaders can move from a crisis reactive mode to one of thoughtful, deliberate planning. Leaders are judged by how they respond to crisis, now is the time for measured longterm-thinking leadership. But not too long, the political clock is ticking.

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn. Contact him at bjroegner@comcast.net.