Mayor Murray presented his “State of the City” address on Tuesday afternoon. If you missed it, here are three links:

Mayor’s news release
Full text of the speech
Seattle Times (WSB partner)

The only scripted mention of West Seattle was this: “Sound Transit 3 is our path forward to build new light rail connections within the city, including to Ballard and West Seattle. These vital connections would link our growing light rail system to Puget Sound’s largest job centers.”

Of course, the speech overall was about the entire city, so most if not all of what was mentioned will potentially affect us all. Since West Seattle/South Park will have its first District 1 City Councilmember by the time the mayor gives his NEXT “State of the City” speech, we asked each of the eight current D-1 candidates for a one-paragraph review of the mayor’s speech. We didn’t make the request until early evening, a few hours after the speech, and gave them until this morning to respond. All 8 did. Read their mini-reviews ahead, in the order in which we received them (P.S. after the final one, we have two quick updates on the council race in general):

CHAS REDMOND

I like the Mayor’s presentation. I like and agree with the growth approach, particularly growing without displacing. I like and agree with the transportation integration and sustainability aproach. I like the emphasis on and agree with the improvements to infrastructure and particularly the focus on light rail to West Seattle and Ballard. I like and agree with the utility reduction approach and the gender equity approach. I like and agree with the housing affordability approach, especially the commitment of funds for a kick-start. I like and agree with the early learning and the youth employment. And, I like and agree with the business help and growth and the approach for the city to reach out and visit businesses and those normally not participating. I like and support the community policing and SPD reform and I am impressed and agree with the performance metrics tool page and the budget analysis tool page. Overall, I’d say Mayor Murray was moving the Executive branch in a direction I completely support and would help with as a Councilmember. The Mayor also knows how to thank and was very gracious in his words to Tom Rasmussen, Nick Licata and others. He’s very optimistic, and so am I, and I think he’s right on in most areas he covered.

LISA HERBOLD

Mayor Murray’s State of the City address spoke well of his goals to address income and opportunity inequality, fair distribution of public resources, affordability, job growth, mobility, and police accountability. The challenge with a speech like this, I think, is to be inclusive of the many the issues a diverse populace cares about while also proposing the means to move forward. 1) The Mayor acknowledged that infrastructure investments aren’t keeping pace with the needs caused by growth in our neighborhoods. Will he propose impact fees to insure development helps to pay for those sorely-needed investments? 2) Applying principals of equity and race and social justice to our 2035 Comprehensive Plan is a great objective. I would argue that those principals are included in some of our CompPlan policies already, but we haven’t had a commitment to self-correct when we don’t meet them. For instance the CompPlan policies that strive for preservation of existing housing and 25% affordable housing development as part of our overall new housing growth goals. We are succeeding at neither. What will be different under the 2035 Comp Plan? 3) Similarly, the Mayor’s commitment specifically to enhanced citizen oversight as part of police accountability; of the Community Police Commission’s recommendations for citizen oversight, what will he propose to the Council? 4) The area of housing affordability was an area that I most wished that the Mayor would have charted some clear direction. He referenced already existing housing development funds he’ll use implementing the HALA committee recommendations, but not all of the HALA’s work is devoted to building housing. A crucial portion of their work relates to the need for new laws to help renters and those to also require developers to pay their fair share. It would have been helpful for the Mayor to signal his explicit expectation that HALA recommendations also address these issues of social justice and equity.

PHILLIP TAVEL

As I watched the mayor give his state of the city speech today I was struck as much by what wasn’t said as what was. The mayor mentioned several neighborhoods, including West Seattle, but South Park was left out. The Mayor lauded transit improvements and increased service across the city, but unfortunately West Seattle is still underserved by our transit system. The mayor didn’t mention the biggest mega-project in Seattle, or address the public’s concerns about the tunnel’s cost, management and problems. The maritime and manufacturing industries were stressed as big parts of our planned economic growth, but the tech industry wasn’t. I agree that Seattle is a vibrant and innovative city, but I know that more can be done to harness our potential without leaving people behind.

GEORGE CAPESTANY

I agree with Mayor Murray that Seattle is a great city and one of the fastest growing urban cities in the country. I understand this brings both opportunities and challenges. I however believe that it takes a whole united community to address many of the challenges the Mayor noted. I think that many of our community partners (non-profits; churches; organizations; schools) are better suited to deliver services underneath a community goal. I strongly believe the City of Seattle’s responsibility instead of growing government is to focus on the core issues upon with we were originally founded and that is to provide life; safety and infrastructure services for the people and businesses that live in our city. We have a lot of aging infrastructure that needs to be the focus of our attention. Accommodation of the growth the Mayor spoke of particularly here, in District 1 needs to be targeted and specific. It is plainly evident that something that works on Capitol Hill doesn’t necessarily work here, in West Seattle.

BRIANNA THOMAS

I appreciated several parts of the speech, especially the plan to do more for our public schools. However, I didn’t hear enough about affordability. West Seattle has long been a great middle-class community with affordable rents and housing prices. That’s starting to change and we need more aggressive timelines for action. HALA is moving in the right direction, but it still took four months to write a problem statement and we won’t have recommendations for another four months. That’s too long, we have the fastest rising rents of any city in the country. It’s getting too hard for many people who work here, to live here.

AMANDA KAY HELMICK

I am glad to hear the Mayor is supportive of a Sound Transit 3 plan that includes West Seattle. West Seattle and South Park may not be an island, but the lack of innovative transportation solutions have made us feel like one. With the rapid increase of new housing, the West Seattle Transportation Coalition has been working with the city on a proposed West Seattle Transportation Corridor. This is a perfect place to start the implementation of the Move Seattle initiative. As a parent, I have always thought of West Seattle as an affordable and safe place to move when starting a family – I will do everything I can as a Councilmember to maintain that. I support the Mayor’s renewed emphasis on more equitable development. Innovative ideas like incentives to developers who add affordable family housing units, re-writing the failing Multi-Family Tax Exemption, and supporting more housing on city owned property is the direction Seattle needs to head. The need for more peace officers building community, and fewer officers following the protocols of a war zone are also critical. With the Seattle Police Department undergoing contract negotiations, the Mayor should look to make concrete changes in how officers are hired, disciplined, and held accountable for their actions. As your representative for District 1, I look forward to working with the Mayor on addressing Seattle’s needs.

SHANNON BRADDOCK

I liked the Mayor’s recognition of our areas of great progress –priority hire, minimum wage rollout and universal pre-k for examples. I was also pleased to hear him acknowledge some our shortcomings – racial and income inequalities, lack of affordability for many in our communities and a need to find better ways to engage with everyone who lives here. I am raising my three kids in this community and they are attending our public schools. I want them to experience a community and a city that is economically vibrant, culturally diverse and supports working families. I will continue fighting for more access and connections to transit, public safety resources and education, affordable housing, technology access, and finding the balance to accommodate our growth and unique neighborhoods. District 1 is a community that makes change through our partnerships with non-profits and community groups. I believe that although we have many common issues throughout Seattle, we need strong neighborhood representation accessible to all people, and representation with the experience to work across boundaries and get things done for District 1. The districts system for council elections was not supported to further isolate and separate neighborhoods, but to strengthen the collective ideas and energy of our city and neighborhoods. I look forward to working with our community, other city councilmembers, and our mayor to fulfill the potential of West Seattle and South Park.

DAVE MONTOURE

I appreciate that Mayor Murray addressed the need for a better coordinated approach to economic development in the City. I did not hear any specifics on how the Mayor plans to coordinate that effort but I would encourage the Mayor to include a seat at the table for our small and independent businesses that are the backbone of our local economy. I am thrilled that the Mayor acknowledged the critical need for light rail between West Seattle and Ballard. I look forward to hearing from the Mayor’s Housing Affordability Advisory Committee when their recommendations are presented in May.

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Thanks to the candidates for responding! Two related notes:

CLARK NOT RUNNING: City Councilmember Sally Clark announced this morning that she is not going to run after all. That makes her the third current councilmember to announce that decision, after Tom Rasmussen and Nick Licata. Clark had declared for one of the two at-large seats, so she would have been on ballots in this area.

NEXT CHANCE TO SEE/HEAR THE CANDIDATES: Thanks again to everyone who attended and participated in our “First Look” candidates’ forum, featuring the 4 who were in the race as of the time (February 5th – Capestany, Helmick, Redmond, and Tavel). The next one, presented by VIEWS (Visualizing Increased Engagement in West Seattle), is now official – Saturday morning, March 14th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle. It will start with an optional breakfast to raise $ to cover costs (VIEWS is an all-volunteer group) at 9 am, followed by an introductory/mingle half-hour at 10, and the forum itself at 10:30. No webpage so far but here’s the Facebook event page.