It's election season in the Emerald City, and here are our recommendations for mayor, city-council seats and the latest monorail initiative.
The race for mayor is a no-brainer - which is a shame. Incumbent Greg Nickels has much to recommend him; he was able to corral many of the country's mayors into supporting the Kyoto agreement, for instance, and he's been able to cut down on Seattle's much-loved and time-consuming focus on process. That's especially true at the Department of Planning and Development.
But Nickels has changed the political landscape with a top-down management style that has alienated neighborhood activists and the city council, which has been purposely kept out of the decision-making loop in far too many instances. Then there's the mayor's cozy relationship with business interests such as Paul Allen, who has never seen a tax break he didn't like - or get.
Still, the only thing mayoral opponent and one-time academician Al Runte has going for him is, he's not Nickels. While many will vote for the quixotic Runte for just that reason, we disagree with the reasoning and endorse Greg Nickels for mayor. We also lament that the mayor did not face a serious opponent.
Incumbent Richard Conlin has drawn a feisty opponent for a seat on the city council, and longtime Port Commissioner Paige Miller rightly points out that Conlin has seemingly flip-flopped on the contentious monorail issue. But Conlin is a thoughtful politician who pays attention to his constituents, who have also flip-flopped on the monorail plan.
Miller has also positioned herself as a champion of mass transit, claiming credit for - among other projects - extending Light Rail the final mile to Sea-Tac airport. But Miller's claim that she saved the waterfront trolley simply doesn't wash and brings her creditability into question. Because of that, we endorse Richard Conlin for Position 2.
Council President Jan Drago is facing a political neophyte as an opponent. And while one-time journalist Casey Corr has door-belled thousands of potential voters, his last job as a mouthpiece for Mayor Nickels puts his loyalty to the city council into question.
By contrast, the experienced council president has been able to unite an often-divided city council to counter Nickels' autocratic rule, so we endorse Jan Drago for Position 4.
Real-estate broker Paul Bascomb, another political neophyte, has mounted a lackluster campaign against Nick Licata. By contrast, incumbent Licata can stand on a record that includes speaking out against the pie-in-the-sky proposal to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with an unaffordable tunnel. His progressive credentials make him a true asset on the council. We endorse Nick Licata for Position 6.
Incumbent Richard McIver is facing off against King County Council member Dwight Pelz, and both men have much to recommend themselves. McIver, for example, was instrumental in seeing that a mitigation fund would compensate South Seattle residents and businesses for getting wiped out by the Light Rail line.
On the other hand, Pelz was a vocal county-council critic of Southwest Airlines' proposal to move to Boeing Field, a development that would have put large parts of Seattle in a world of hurt. It's a close call, but we endorse Dwight Pelz for Position 8.
As for the monorail, we firmly urge a no vote on Proposition 1, which would see the construction of a shortened line with fewer stations and a car-tab price tag that would last for almost four decades.
The folks running the monorail project have simply lost all credibility. It may not be an issue that directly impacts the physical landscape of Capitol Hill or its transportation needs, but it's time to kill this well-intentioned but poorly managed project for once and all.
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