The race for mayor is in full swing, with a straw-poll event at Phinney Neighborhood Center last Wednesday, May 15, during which five candidates mingled with Seattle residents, gave stump speeches and answered questions. Attendees voted for their favorite candidate by buying stones to drop in their favored candidate’s jar throughout the evening.
Hosted by the 36th District Democrats, the event covered a range of issues, including transit, housing, police, schools and health care.
The participating candidates included Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess (who dropped out of the race last Friday, May 17), community activist and planning/design consultant Kate Martin, incumbent Mike McGinn, Sen. Ed Murray and former City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck.
Many attendees had no leanings toward any particular candidate and said it is too early to tell who is best. However, there were others who were clearly part of a specific candidate’s campaign, sporting T-shirts, wearing buttons and holding flyers and signs.
“My top priorities for mayor are who is effective at getting whatever agenda he or she wants done,” said 36th District member Neal Blacker. “Who is going to be able to effectively manage departments, work with the City Council, with state Legislatures, with the state governor and do whatever they need to get done?
“There are things I admire about Mayor McGinn and things I think he’s done well, but there are other things I’ve been displeased with,” he added. “At this point, it is not a matter of all up or all down. I’m at a point where I feel it’s too early to make a decision.”
Other attendees serving on campaigns gave reasons why their candidate was superior.
“I think Peter [Steinbrueck] has experience as a leader, which sets him apart from the others,” said supporter Kathy Mulavy. “He has 10 years on the City Council and lots of experience as an architect and urban planner, and that’s exactly what we need right now.”
But some attendees said they would prefer a candidate who has not been involved in the city.
“Ed Murray is better than the other candidates because he is not part of the City Council,” said supporter Marcy Johnsen. “But he still has a lot of experience with the city.”
Some people had specific concerns they wanted the future mayor to address.
“I’m not really leaning toward anyone at this point, but the police issue is really important to me,” said attendee Will Singer. “I think the mayor hasn’t provided leadership on that.”
City stances
The candidates’ speeches varied.
“I bring my planning, design and business skills to the position. I have experience on everything from transportation to education,” said candidate Kate Martin, who recently ran for the school board. “Help me make this an election and not an auction. I’m a radical when it comes to children, a socialist when it comes to health care and conservative when it comes to economics.”
Speeches were followed by questions from Dominic Holden of The Stranger.
When asked how she would fund her pledges, Martin said, “I’d ask the highest-paid employees in the city to pay a percentage of their income to go to health care, like what Obama did.”
Murray, who gained national recognition last year for his leadership on marriage equality, said the city can have a model police department, with good schools, as well.
He paraphrased Robert Kennedy: “People ask why....I ask why not?”
Holden grilled Murray about his legislation creating a waterfront tunnel that turned out to have problems. Also, since he spends most of his time in Olympia, Murray was quizzed on City of Seattle acronyms and asked when was the last time he took a Metro bus.
“Actually, I have a Metro pass,” Murray retorted.
Steinbrueck said the city needed to balance growth with quality of life for all: “We are becoming a divided city — I can’t sleep well with that.”
He added that there is a need for more diversity in housing.
But Holden pointed out that Steinbrueck voted no to increase the height of residences in South Lake Union.
McGinn said during his speech he’s been dubbed as the country’s most progressive mayor. He also told attendees he would work even more to create better transit, in particular the light rail.
A different take
The format of the straw poll was new.
“The district wanted to put on an event that was different from the classic mayoral straw,” explained Evan Clifthorne with the 36th District Democrats. “We wanted an opportunity for people to talk with the candidates themselves.”
Normally, in such events, candidate after candidate would speak in a row for hours.
“We thought allowing people to mingle with stump speeches would be a good way to know candidates, or at least a new way,” Clifthorne said.
So far, there have been multiple forums where candidates have sat at a table with a panel and were asked questions that each responded to. This was the first event that featured informal candidate speeches.
Clifthorne estimated 100 to 150 people attended the event.
The number of candidates in the race has fluctuated. As of May 19, eight candidates are running for mayor, according to Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.
Commercial real estate agent and arts philanthropist Charlie Staadecker and City Councilmember Bruce Harrell did not attend the straw-pool event, though they were scheduled to.
Candidate Mary Martin, of the Socialist Workers Party, did not attend the straw-poll event because she did not want to engage with the Democratic Party, Clifthorne said.
Lawyer Doug McQuaid and librarian and nonprofit consultant Joey Gray also did not attend; they filed their candidacy after the straw-poll event had taken place.
Burgess quit the mayor’s race last Friday, May 17, expressing concern that having too many candidates would hinder his goal of being elected mayor.
At the end of the evening, the candidates receiving the most votes: McGinn, first; followed by Murray, Steinbrueck, Burgess, Harrell, Martin and Staadecker.
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