anyone wanna be Seattle's mayor?

Is ANYBODY concerned that NOBODY wants these jobs?

WADR, none of the candidates, with the exception of the incumbent Mayor, seems to actually have a reason for running other than appeasing their own ego.


Seriously folks, Seattle DOES have real issues. Here would be the SJ choices of ISSUES:

of the SLUM the LUMP the MMM the schools and more

a. the schools as a tax burden. How is it that we are building housing for some 100,000 folks downtown BUT doing so in way that assures no kids will live there?

Downtown is being built by an aging,very rich man with little evidence of personal taste and, of course, no children and no interest in the PUBLIC schools.

Seattle's ruling classes send their kids to privates schools (or move out of the city). That leaves the Seattle Schools as more of a tax burden than an asset. I believe we are the only city competing for high tech without a major charter/magnet school? Where is Seattle's version of Bronx Science or Boston Latin?

The argument that the schools are not the mayor's business is inane. Past mayors showed that the city DOES have a role in pushing great schools.


b. neighborhoods Does this mayor represent anyone other than downtown?

c. SLU Am I the only person in Seattle skeptical that SLU is in danger of becoming the South Lake Union Mess?

The housing going up is ticky tacky, the most obvious feature of the entire project is the absence of park space, shopping streets, boulevards, or recreational facilities .. i.e. the amenities that make for great city neighborhoods. Here is a hint: SLU is not growing into Manhattan West as long as there are no shopping streets, no parks, no libraries, ... anything but poorly built high rises obstructing each other's views.

As for the Lake Union Mini Park (LUMP)... has anyone in Seattle been to our neighboring cities... San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver .. to0 see how a waterfront can function. The LUMP is going to be tiny, MOHAI is a trivial museum for the3 site, loss of the Winona is tragic.

c. The Mercer Mess nuff said.

The stupidest part of this is that anyone who visits our neighboring cities .. even Bremerton, comes away realizing how badly Seattle is being planned.

Almost the same sort of issues can be raised in regard to the County.

a. The Port. Do we need a separate elected board rather than professional management?

b. Lake Washington. What a great and under served resource! Do we want to keep building bridges over it? Why not a trail system (as proposed by Sims). Under WAState law waterfront access must be provided.

c. Time Limits on the County. Does KC really need so much government or should we just incorporate what is left and shrink the County to managing "metro" issues?

d. County Share of State Resources ... If the Cities in KC worked together,m wouldn't we deserve3 and get more state resources?

e. KC as a highway. No one seems to question the idea that we should turn KC into the NJ through way, that is expanding I99, I5, I 405 until we pave everything so that the driving is good between BC and Portland.