The STB Editorial Board had less information to work with in District 5 than in the five races where the Move All Seattle Sustainable Coalition held forums. But between Councilmember Deborah Juarez’ record, and what the other candidates had to say, we had more than enough to see the clear differences.
Excellent
City Councilmember Debora Juarez has been a dependable vote for much of what we like, while representing a not-particularly-urban district. In the face of the usual pitchforks, she has stood her ground on HALA and parking minimum reductions. She also stood firm on 130th St Station, negotiating deftly with a skeptical Sound Transit Board. Our most significant disagreement with her is her lack of enthusiasm for protected bike lanes.
Fair
Mark Mendez‘ contribution to climate action is that he wants to incentivize widespread installation of solar panels. He wants to connect more bus routes to the new light rail stations. He also wants safer streets, but says little about bike safety. Mendez’ prose on housing ignores current policy debates but talks up partnerships between for-profit and not-for-profit orgs, with emphasis on preserving existing housing stock.
John Lombard is awful on land-use. He hides his bitterness toward HALA behind process concerns. He wants to put onerous restrictions on ADUs. He is, however, a fan of protected bike lanes, and recently attended the Ride for Safe Streets.
Poor
Ann Davison-Sattler‘s first priority would be to “put neighborhoods first”. The only new housing she talks about is “FEMA-style relief shelters”. Her website says nothing about transportation.
The Seattle Transit Blog Editorial Board currently consists of Martin Duke, Frank Chiachiere, and Brent White.
Sounds about right. I live in district 5, and Jaurez doesn’t have any serious competition (unlike when she won the seat — there were several good candidates). I know Mark Mendez; he is a very nice guy who works hard for the community. But he really is in a different league at this point — his heart is in the right place and he knows a lot about Lake City, but doesn’t know enough about city government. The others seem worse.
By the way, I have been very impressed with all of the endorsements so far. I really like the approach, and I really like what I’ve read. I’m sure if I knew every candidate really well I might quibble about the rankings, but the information seems accurate and the reasoning sound. Nice job.
When Juarez loses, will the 130th St station go away? Oh, I should have said “if.”
I think you’re right about Davison Sattler–she doesn’t seem to have any focus beyond homelessness and crime. She’s got a fervent following on social media and may surprise in the primary.
Your dismissal of John Lombard seems cavalier. “Bitterness toward HALA?” On transportation he is right in line with the blog’s priorities and the district’s needs. His first priority is building sidewalks, which is entirely appropriate for a district that is essentially without sidewalks and has 2/3 of the city’s sidewalk-free blocks. This must seem weird to those of you who live in the rest of the city, but it’s been a major concern here. He also talks about connections to the new light rail stations, something this blog has gone on at length about.
In this election, transportation issues seem to be less important than the homeless crisis, and the current council’s ineffective responses to it.
Agree completely with that last point… I seriously doubt this election is going to be about transit or density or duplexs or any of those issues. It’s going to be about the homeless encampments and how those are perceived by the people in these districts. Right or wrong, once homeless camps started popping up in places like Ballard and Green Lake, peoples views changed.
Hell, O’Brien, who is great on transit and “urbanist” issues, had such awful poll numbers that he decided not to run.
Transit isn’t going to be the “go to” issue in this election. It’s all about the homeless.
I’m in D5 and it’s no slam dunk that I’ll vote for Juarez.
I’m with Ann Davison Sattler and here’s why:
a) The incumbent can’t handle public comment – see how Richard Schwartz was mistreated and inability to get a long term ban of Alex Tsimerman. That matters to transit advocates who make the time to go to public meetings.
Ann Davison Sattler committed to me to take on these issues and is the honorary Team Captain of the Orange Rose Revolution. We’ve had about enuf of the hate speech and if some of you would join me in taking this on, this problem would resolve itself. But as usual, STB commentators ignore me at best and… things happen.
b) I want the homeless given the services we all pay for. I am also concerned about growing public health and dignity issues around homelessness.
c) I believe Ann Davison Sattler is sincere about density near transit hubs and wanting safe transit for all. Which is what also won me over.
Ann Davison Sattler is not Debbie Juarez and it’s shameful the short shrift Ann is getting for supporting some of our positions.
Are the other candidates, Alex Tsimerman and Tayla Mahoney, who I presume didn’t comment, just not mentioned? Common practice is to mention them with reason(s) not to vote for them (which shouldn’t be too difficult to summarize for us), for those not “in the know” who might stumble upon your blog, as some of those (unlike myself, and Joe A 12 for Transit and Real [not Fake] Public Comment) are voters in the city of Seattle.
I think we all know Alex Tsimerman drives to/from public meetings to spew hate speech. What most don’t know is Alex Tsimerman also accrues traffic tickets.
I can’t speak to Tayla Mahoney.
Again, I support from afar Ann Davison Sattler for Seattle City Council. If this was an election for transit board I’d support Mark Mendez.