Predictably, the forum focused on the usual litany of South Lake Union concerns: the $45 million Paul Allen-backed streetcar running from Westlake Center to South Lake Union; a proposal to turn Mercer Street into an eight-lane boulevard, expected to cost anywhere from $75 to $300 million; and optimistic plans to turn the neighborhood into a biotechnology hub. According to several who did attend the invitation-only event, nearly every candidate, from spirited challenger Darryl Smith to white-shoe attorney Kollin Min (both challenging incumbent Judy Nicastro), lined up neatly in lockstep behind SLUNET's business-centric plan. (SLUNET held a separate forum for council incumbents in June.)
One candidate who didn't toe Vulcan's line was monorail godfather Dick Falkenbury, who's challenging 11-year incumbent Margaret Pageler. In his response to SLUNET's five questions, Falkenbury blasted both the Mercer proposal and the streetcar, which he says is "not a good connection to anything.... There are neighborhoods in the North End that have no sidewalks."
Why is a business group that doesn't even make endorsements weighing in on the city council races? Reid Wilson, a consultant for challengers Tom Rasmussen and Darryl Smith, summed it up: "It was basically an audition," Wilson says. An audition for what? SLUNET members didn't return calls for comment, but SLUNET companies and their employees have already donated more than $5,000 to this year's city council candidates--including Min, Nicastro, Heidi Wills, and Jim Compton.
