Saturday's KCDCC Endorsement Interviews

From Shanna Sawatzki:

On Saturday, a the KCDCC Endorsements Committee Held their first day of Candidate Interviews. It's a long day, 9 am - 7:30 pm, with each candidate taking 15-20 minutes of questions from the committee.

I have attempted to take notes for each candidate that I had a chance to listen to and thought I would share. These are in short hand, and I have tried to be as unpartial as possible.* I may have missed some key details as it's really hard to listen and type, but hopefully this provides some insight.

Larry Phillips

Executive experience as Chief of Staff of Randy Reveille, 10 labor endorsements, 9 of which are sole endorsements. Focus on major infrastructure programs, esp transit, light rail, waterfront w/ tunnel, 520 to drive economy & new jobs. Reach out all parts of the county, listen to their concerns, 31st LD endorsement. Cooperation between Seattle & the rest of the county: worked with Mayor on Sound Transit. Supports passing an income tax.

Fred Jarrett

Became a Democrat because he was asked. Active for 30 years in politics, 35 years in business (at Boeing). Pro-choice, supports gay marriage. Most proud of his term of mayor, getting a dysfunctional council to work together as team. No organizational endorsements as of yet.

Ross Hunter

Not 100% in agreement with KCDCC platform, but just minor quibbles with it. King County has been on a path to more compact, transit oriented King County, but it’s not happening. Every other Democratic candidate has been involved in it unsuccessfully, and he has history of accomplishment and believe being an outsider can benefit this cause. Supports gay rights & marriage, but we should not introduce a gay marriage bill until it can will, to avoid a referendum where we lose. Balance of building consensus and getting things done. Did not remember that there is no Deputy Exec, it’s a Chief of Staff. Would pick Fred Jarrett. Supports passing an income tax.

Dow Constantine

Differentiates himself from Larry by trying to be an agent of change. Says Larry is quiet protector of status quo. Mentioned Maury Island quarry. Wants to challenge status quo, bring in innovative ideas. Says someone coming from Legislature would be unable to create change. Represents rural interests as well. Says he is collaborative, won’t worry about who gets credit for successes when it comes to city vs state efforts. Says Council & Executive need to be on same page and lobby Olympia.

Jan Drago

Decided to run since paying for a poll which showed that she was viable. Would only run if she felt that she could win. Downtown vs neighborhoods: style difference from Nickels. Claims Norm Rice style of broad-based consensus. Has lived & worked downtown for a long time. Many problems of downtown are a result of incompatible zoning. Doesn’t think jail should be built. If it has to be, it should be built by county, as an expansion of downtown or regional justice center. Opposes districting of Seattle, because we don’t work by caucus, and city council can’t make decisions behind closed doors like the legislature can. Wants a King County summit to set a King County agenda for legislative session with all elected officials in King County.

Greg Nickels

Doesn’t want jail, but we have to have a place. Wants central site near current jail. Unpopular decision which he thought he was right: tunnel to replace viaduct, knows it made everyone mad, but in 15 years, people will like it. Democrat since 16. Homelessness: proud of efforts to end it. Created 10,000 units since housing levy first passed. People in encampments are guaranteed space in shelter on Roy street. Will handle snow removal differently in the future.

Joe Mallahan

Democrat all his life, life plan of public service. Management skill set and personality are well suited to be a mayor we can trust. Downtown vs neighborhoods: committed to re-empowering the neighborhoods. Mayor fired great person and has reduced matching funding ever since. Shared vision of cooperation, esp w/ transit. Small business says it’s too complicated to deal with city. Must improve service model of city of “great service for all.” Donated to his own campaign to take the “war chest” argument off the table, so his financial viability is off table. Differentiates himself by his management experience. Running to do major things: re-empowering the neighborhoods. Against Mercer Street project: way underfunded. SLU: generally good. Big on increasing housing. Mayor has to make hard decisions that may be in conflict with neighborhoods, but thinks input from all stakeholders is important.

James Donaldson

Wide reach with different parties & affiliations, but a strong Democrat. Switched to Mayor because people kept mentioning he would be a good candidate for mayor and field was wide open. Differentiation: 2 entrenched people running (Nickels and Drago). Been in community, small business owner, invested in neighborhoods. Been in conversation with previous mayors to garner info and insight. Approach to diversity: keep doors open, give experience they haven’t had available to them or they have been denied. Will personally ensure diversity.

Robert Rosencrantz

Landlord supporting homeless to housing initiative

Dorsal Plants

Outreach to build Democratic Party, beyond just election cycles. Urban Density vs Neighborhood Quality: need to protect neighborhoods & planning process w/ improvement of neighborhood influence w/ city. Have dialogue with n’hood leaders & city leaders to increase capacity w/o ruining neighborhood quality. On Nickelsville: is homeless advocate & neighborhood activist. Mayor is not communicating, city council is too compartmentalized to communicate with people. Need people on council who take initiative to work with ppl. Preserving tree canopy: is important, especially on public property & want to encourage & incentivize individuals to keep trees on private property. No jails in neighborhoods, want to use land downtown near jail or as add-on. Want to have open gov’t. Wants to lead by example, take care of people first.

Peter Holmes

Wants to reduce litigious impact of labor orgs of police in Seattle. Need to reduce repetitive litigations. Mentioned Lem Howell’s litigation and cost to city. Want to enhance relationship with city attys and police. Critizised Carr’s incarceration record, for talking about incarceration alternatives, but not acting. Favors decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Start with medical marijuana.

Mike O’Brien

Need to increase mobility, people like mobility even more than they like their cars. Need people closer to transit, can’t keep sprawling. Have to have great rapid transit, have more housing. Support idea behind community input on transit. Need to get ppl involved in n’hoods, city needs to play an active role in getting more people involved in councils. Wants to open government process to all citizens.

Sally Bagshaw

Land use, transportation, labor, union, housing experience. Worked on 10-year plan to end homelessness. Work with n’hood organizations. Pursue Cascade city agenda, n’hoods take responsibility for new people coming to Seattle. Bagshaw’s hero is Obama, “Hope over fear, unity of purpose over discord.”

Tom Carr

Talked about his daily incarceration rate decrease ~400 daily inmates when he was elected, now in the mid-high 200’s, to justify his incarceration alternative record. Talked about the success of daily check in program for typical no-shows to court in first few offenses who would typically be incarcerated until court date. Thinks there is merit to both sides of marijuana decriminalization issues.

Rusty Williams

Says Seattle can have both density and n’hood character. Has bits of similarity with all other Pos 8 candidates: small businessman, environmentalist, has a famous parent. Was for fixing viaduct, might support toll on tunnel, not sure, needs more details. Need constant stream of revenue from the arts. Paratransit to help support arts. Enhanced public safety in Pioneer Square so women can go out without being scared. Fiscal conservative, but need more police. Talked about gang violence prevention measures: engage churches, schools and parents, building community. Brute force won’t work. Mom used to chair KCDCC.

Nick Licata

Endorsed by 11th LD. Gang violence: supports human rights commission report on racial profiling and hate crime. Get housing and social services for those released from prison. Legislation doesn’t work. Police must work with community. Opposes Mercer street plan: $100 mil initially, now >$200 mil. Can’t add bike lanes. Parks: mayor announced park plan without telling council. Chaired parks committee. Favors tolling 520 and 1-90, not sure about tunnel. Supports preserving tree canopy and urban forestry. Wants urban forest commission.

Jesse Israel

Need to bring density into Seattle in a way that works to preserve neighborhood character. Involve neighborhoods. Exp bringing communities in early in projects, which helps prevent reactionary responses on the back end. Decrease gang violence by decreasing truancy. In Licata’s term, gang violence prevention programs have continuously eroded. White Center should choose whether they want to be annexed. Downtown SLU, Capitol Hill, u district have been designated growth area. Vote for women, get more family friendly policies, want more women running. Campaigned for Clinton & Obama. Solely endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters.

Richard Conlin

Wants to honor neighborhood plan, worked with Sally Clark on putting together n’hood plan. Need effective public safety approach to gangs. Changed way police are allocated. Need to mobilize effectively. Need to re-mobilize gang unit. Need prevention approach. Need to separate gangs from ppl being drawn into them. N’hood gang violence prevention program. Greenwood is getting sidewalks near 85th and east of Greenwood. Supports requiring developers to install sidewalks when they redevelop. Started bridging the gap and building sidewalks in the city. Put together 19 point economic recovery plan in December. Stimulus pkg, borrowing for new projects, repealing emissions tax on small venues for live music. Worked on hunger in KC $1mil in city budget to conquer hunger.

Mike McGinn

Solving resurgent gang problem: helping school districts achieve their goals. Emphasis on academic achievement. Safe, healthy, ready to learn, support to families. Former program was left to atrophy. Need to build network to support youth, communities and families. Add $ needed, as well as coordination between programs, to solve problems collectively. Started Great City, which asks what is important for n’hoods, similar attitude needs to be in city gov’t. Wisdom is in communities, connect with civil servants. Needs to be bottom up, not top down. Supports gay marriages. Has gotten sidewalks and biking, transit, mixed use areas together in Greenwood. Great city involved in Parks Levy. Wants to build transit system sooner. We need right of way that supports transit, walking & biking, which is more affordable than alternative fuel vehicles. Tree canopy: need incentives to keep & grow trees. But it’s a trade off to accommodate urban growth. Want a holistic approach to development, so concerned about another commission. Coming in from environmental/liberal side, does not support tunnel, retrofit would be preferable, but not permanent option. See his comment below.

David Miller

Preserving n’hood w/ quality: past president of Maple Leaf council. N’hoods should determine where in n’hoods density. Data doesn’t show that we need to release single family zoning. Need n’hood activist, environmentalist & business experience in city council. Supports gay marriage. Gang resurgence: need to acknowledge problems are all over city, entire city needs comprehensive-city wide cooperation. Need to listen to communities and strengthen them. They have really good ideas and have committed volunteers (ie block watch volunteers). Bring gang unit back, put officers back in schools. N’hoods are soul of city. Jim Deers (sp?) had great ideas, and was fired. Need better dept of n’hoods. Need tree inventory to help preserve canopy, research incentives for trees on private property (such as stormwater credit). Should be treated as city infrastructure. Need tree preservation goals, & urban forest commission with arborists, env scientists, etc. Need to control destiny on land use issues.

David Ginsberg

Resurgent gangs: March Against Violence in Rainier valley, only candidate there. 2 pronged approach: better opportunity for our youth, to provide alternatives to gang involvement. Secondly, implement plan for areas that are hardest hit, make sure community policing is implemented. Conlin wants to lay off police. Community police should be primary focus, but gang unit should be re-established. N’hood quality vs density: need to re-constitute our n’hood planning departments. Tie zoning to n’hood plans. Streamline permitting for development. Big box condos often do more harm than good. We need walkable communities, urban centers need density development. Like “urban village concept.” May have a lot in common with Conlin, but Conlin’s interested in process, not results. Need better cooperation w/ Metro and Sound Transit. Switched from Greens to Democrats in early 90’s. Need to listen to n'hoods and deliver on their ideas.

*I will disclose that I have made personal endorsements in the Executive Race, and Seattle City Council Positions 2, 4, and 8.