With 8 pm tomorrow your deadline for voting in King County’s first-ever all-mail primary, we have been wrapping up our close-up looks at candidates in races including the three Seattle City Council contests you’ll find on the primary ballot. Bobby Forch is the final council candidate in this series. Previous stories are in the WSB Politics archive.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Bobby Forch is running for Seattle City Council Position 4 with knowledge of city government from the other side – as a manager for the City of Seattle, specifically a strategic adviser in SDOT.

Forch, a 53-year-old Central District resident, says, “I am running because I believe the Seattle City Council can do more to turn around our economy while supporting the values we believe in as a city.”

He’s one of six candidates running for Position 8, held for more than a decade by Councilmember Richard McIver, who decided not to run again.

To be even more specific about why he’s running, Forch said at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s candidates’ forum last month: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” He believes job creation will be supported, and other functions of healthy businesses, by creating a small-business department at the city’s Office of Economic Development.

Asked about his favorite place in West Seattle, Forch replied, “I have to list a few because there are just too many to choose a single one. Alki, especially on those summer nights … Lincoln Park, The Junction, Bakery Nouveau … My wife is a pastry chef who trained in France, so the croissants and macaroons make me feel like I’m back in Paris. … Sunfish — I love the fish kabob. The two guys that run the place are great!”

We also asked three questions we’d put to other Position 8 contenders.

Q: How do you perceive West Seattle’s transportation challenges, and what can be done to solve them?

FORCH: – AWV (is) just around the corner. Make sure transportation mitigation for the viaduct gets done right.
– Increased density at the Junction. Work with neighborhood to find the right solution to parking, traffic, etc.
– No mass transit solution identified. Monorail plan used to go from W Seattle to Ballard. I like the idea of planning for ST to integrate a route like this but not sure how we’d pay for it.
– Metro: follow up to make sure Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) gets done right. However, BRT doesn’t hit everyone; we need more convenient reliable service to the diverse parts of WS like Delridge and 35th Ave SW.

Q: A massive amount of development is planned in West Seattle. How do we keep our hometown feel, but on the other hand, bring some jobs here so everyone doesn’t have to commute?

FORCH: – Bellevue is not walkable. Development needs to be pedestrian-oriented and keep neighborhood characteristics. The Fauntleroy Triangle (Fauntleroy/Alaska/35th) is a great opportunity to incorporate the right development framework.
– Small green open spaces like the new park at the Fauntleroy junction.
– No paid parking.
– Reliable transit.
– Walkable.

Q: The jail issue touches many neighborhoods. What should we do?

FORCH: – No jail. Invest in schools, not jails. Money to build a jail will come from direct services and tip the balance of priorities into a vicious spiral.
– Stop locating sites and work with other cities to pressure KC to discuss alternative solutions so we don’t need a jail in near future.
– Invest more in programs to prevent jail population in the long term.

Forch’s website is at bobbyforch.com. He was not one of the two candidates in the Position 8 race endorsed by West Seattle’s biggest political group, the 34th District Democrats – they favored David Miller (WSB story here) and Robert Rosencrantz (WSB story here). Be sure to get your ballot into the mail or a drop box by 8 pm Tuesday. Find our archived coverage of all political races and issues here, newest to oldest.