Running Their Mouths

Is this what we have to work with? Last week, the
Metropolitan Democratic Club hosted a debate between the candidates for
city council—the first round of the traveling road show that
culminates in the August 18 primary, and an opportunity to see the
first-time candidates in their most unvarnished form. All but three
candidates showed: Mike O’Brien was MIA, as were Nick Licata and the
elusive Darryl Dwayne Carter, whom no one has ever seen. Although
first-time candidates are always rough at this stage (see Tom
Rasmussen, whose speeches included pauses long enough to take a smoke
break), the consensus seems to be that this year’s crowd is especially
lackluster—with a few exceptions.

• Those speech lessons Robert Rosencrantz has dropped thousands
on are making a difference, although not necessarily in the way
Rosencrantz hoped. The three-time candidate, running in the crowded
field to replace retiring council member Richard McIver, went from
sounding nerdy and uncomfortable in his last two runs to sounding
overrehearsed, almost animatronic, in this one. During the introductory
remarks, he bounded to the podium, announcing boisterously, “I ran for
city council before and lost twice. Can I win now? Yes. Why? Three
reasons…” before I stopped taking notes. (Something about
racewalking.) Robert, you gotta dial it back a bit.

• This year’s council slate is overwhelmingly male. Out of 24
folks running for city positions (council, city attorney, and mayor),
just two—Sally Bagshaw and Jessie Israel, running for positions 4
and 6, respectively—are women. Without their presence, the stage
would’ve been a wall of suits.

• Speaking of suits, the candidate most in need of a wardrobe
overhaul was Position 4 candidate David Bloom, who showed up in a brown
suit/yellow shirt combo straight out of the 1976 JCPenney catalog. In
fairness,
Licata, who’s also been known to rock a brown suit in
his day, wasn’t there.

• Council Member Richard Conlin is opposed only by West Seattle
resident David Ginsberg, which is a shame, because his talking points
are a little rusty. Asked what he would do to bring reform to the
Seattle Department of Transportation, he responded, “We’ve got to find
ways to do the right thing right and change the ways we are doing the
things that we are doing wrong.” ZING!

• On the other hand, Conlin’s response to a question about the
upcoming housing levy, which Mayor Greg Nickels wants to renew for
seven years at the current rate of 17 cents per $1,000 of property
valuation (or $145 million), was interesting. Conlin said he might
consider renewing the levy for a shorter period, perhaps three years,
to put the next levy election on the same ballot as the next
presidential election. (Okay, I realize “interesting” is
subjective.)

• The race with the greatest contrasts is definitely Position
4, where a former prosecuting attorney (Bagshaw) with talking points
straight out of Mark Sidran’s 2001 campaign is facing off against a
longtime housing activist with strong lefty cred (Bloom). They disagree
on just about
everything: the jail (Bloom: “I do not believe
Seattle needs a new jail”; Bagshaw: “When there is violent crime, those
people must be locked up”), the proposed tunnel to replace the Alaskan
Way Viaduct (Bloom: “It is a misappropriation of public funds”;
Bagshaw: “Underground is best”), and the need for residential parking
zones around light-rail stations (Bloom: “We may need to… require
fewer parking spaces to encourage and support the kinds of households
that do not have to have automobiles”; Bagshaw: “We need to make places
for people to leave their cars to get on transit”).

• The most bizarre suggestion of the night came from Jordan
Royer, a former aide to Nickels, who proposed (if I understood him
correctly) that the school district turn over some of its playgrounds
to the city to use as parks as a cost-saving move. “That’s where my
kids play anyway,” he said. Not sure how much money that would save or
what the legal implications would be, but I do know that parks are used
by a lot more people than just little kids.

• Finally, Rusty Williams—son, as he mentioned about half
a dozen times, of the late former city council member Jeanette
Williams—talked at length about Seattleites “as a species,” a
statement that prompted
seattlepi.com columnist Joel Connelly, who
appeared to be having a lovely dream, to perk up in his seat.

Last week’s candidate parade also included renter Josh Caple, West
Seattle neighborhood guy Dorsol Plants, city employee Bobby Forch,
architect Marty Kaplan, North Seattle NIMBY David Miller, and Rosebud
restaurant owner Robert Sondheim. Four of these people will be on your
next city council. Don’t say you weren’t warned.