Mike Mcinn, arriving at a mayoral forum in June, faces questions of being a single-issue candidate (Photo: Johnathan Fitzpatrick)
It’s clear what environmental activist Mike McGinn faces in his run to be Seattle’s next mayor. During the primary campaign, McGinn highlighted his opposition to the plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel. So, his opponents will say he’s a single-issue candidate unable to deal with the myriad issues a mayor has to face.
We’ve covered that debate and a poll reported by the local politics site, Publicola. But last week we sat down with McGinn to find out where he stands on other issues.
We’ve offered equal time to McGinn’s opponent, Joe Mallahan. And we’ll ask him to respond to McGinn’s comments.
We asked him to point out three issues – besides the Viaduct – where he sees differences with the current administration. His answers?
EDUCATION
- McGinn mentioned education. “We need to refocus city efforts on kids and supporting the school district.” He said the city’s policy has changed in the Families and Education levy to focus on helping kids in school achieve. That, he said, shifted the focus away from keeping at-risk youths in school. McGinn pointed to this story in The Seattle Weekly for the background. He mentioned working with the school district on sharing surplus buildings to save costs – an idea Nickels had begun implementing.
But most significantly, McGinn said that if the school district didn’t make progress, the city should look at seeking a change in state law to bring public schools under the control of the mayor.
He noted the mayor has that authority in other cities like New York. He’d work collaboratively with the school board and he’d work with the schools to help before taking that step. But, he said, “the public would be able to hold the mayor directly responsible” instead of separate school board members.
At the least, he said the debate might be a good one to have.
TRANSIT
- As a second issue, McGinn mentioned improving transit. “Transit ridership is up 20 percent, but it is going to be cut by 20 percent. This is a failure of leadership.” McGinn said.
“(The city) has a pretty significant role in to play in having more frequent and reliable bus service,” he said.
Some of the ideas are already being implemented by the city, but McGinn said he’d go further in taking steps like giving buses the ability to get green lights and creating bus-only lanes at least during certain times of the day.
“An example is on 45th Street when you’re going east. The bus pulls out of the stop but then it gets stopped at the light. Little things (like allowing the light to stay green longer) make a big difference,” he said.
But he said bus-only lanes don’t do much good if buses aren’t coming along very often, so he said he’d seek city and state funds at getting more bus service. The argument goes back to the tunnel debate, in which he says the state should pursue the less-costly option of tearing down the viaduct and redirecting its traffic on to city streets, by widening I-5 and adding more transit. (Read more about the debate.)
CITYWIDE FIBER-OPTIC BROADBAND
- McGinn also mentioned his idea of creating a citywide fiber-optic broadband network by creating a new utility. Other cities are getting wired, he said, and the city needs to keep up to be competitive. The main concern, he said, is the $450-$500 million price tag. But McGinn said the cost could be repaid over time through rates.
He noted that the city had the foresight to create City Light.
Here’s another perspective from City Council utilities committee chairman Bruce Harrell.
OTHER ISSUES
- We asked about public safety. McGinn said he’d put more money into community policing and creating jobs for youths. “If you don’t provide jobs, youths are going to turn to violence,” he said. The issue is linked to the Viaduct debate because he said doing a less expensive option would free up some of the $930 million Seattle is supposed to contribute to the project. “We have to pick our priorities,” he said.
State leaders say that’s not true because whatever option is chosen, the city would have to pay for such things as replacing the deteriorating seawall McGinn argues that Nickels simply committed the city to that figure and it can be renegotiated with the state. He scoffed that if the state is going to rebuild the State Route 99, it should be responsible for contributing towards a seawall that protects the highway. State leaders, though, balk that the city already agreed to the deal and backing out now would lead to political gridlock.
- On homelessness, McGinn said, “I don’t think we have come to grips with the scale of the homeless problem and I haven’t seen us scale up the resources we’re devoting to that level.”
- On neighborhood issues, McGinn pointed to his time as head of the Greenwood Community Council and the founder of a group called Great City, aimed at creating a citywide organization that works to “enhance our quality of life, help preserve our region’s natural beauty, and make Seattle a model of economic and environmental sustainability.”
“My record has been to give respect to neighborhoods and improve the quality of neighborhoods,” he said, pointing also to his work pushing for the passage of the city’s parks levy.
He said he’d give neighborhoods more say over how the city’s Neighborhood Street Fund is spent.” He’d use a portion of the parking revenue collected in a neighborhood in the same neighborhood. “People in the neighborhood probably have a better idea if the money should be used to install a traffic calming device, or make walking easier or improve bus service,” he said.
- Asked about economic development, he pointed to his stances on education, the fiber-optic network and improved transit.
- Finally, he was asked about his capacity to lead the city. “Look at the campaign, he said. We built a team that is innovative and creative and is getting the job done. That’s what I did at Great City and the Sierra Club.”
