City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Jan Drago calls Mayor Greg Nickels skirting the picket line issue at the U.S. Conference of Mayors his “I didn’t inhale” moment.

Drago made the comment in a press release Monday, soon after Nickels was sworn in as the 67th president at the mayor’s gathering.

“Picket lines are not just physical lines of union workers, they are a principle. For me, you either believe in the principle or you don’t,” said Drago.

“Mayor Nickels’ dance around the picket line at the Conference of Mayor’s meeting in Providence is a ‘ I didn’t inhale moment’,” said Drago.

“He should either join the picket line and postpone being sworn in as president, or he should follow the example of the Obama administration’s invited guests, including former Governor Gary Locke and former King County Executive Ron Sims,  and not show up,” said Drago.

Nickels’s staffers say the mayor didn’t cross the picket line to attend the Conference of Mayors in Providence, Rhode Island where he was sworn in as president Monday. Some union officials beg to differ.

Other mayors, including San Francisco’s Gavin Newsom, skipped the meeting altogether.

Drago seems to be abandoning the ”Seattle nice” campaign style for an in-your-face challenge to Nickels.

Firefighters in Providence have been without a contract for four years.

“Seattle is better than this and we expect our Mayor to postpone for a few days the personal self congratulating honor of becoming President of the National Conference of Mayors and instead honor the laborers,” said Drago.