Election 2015: Campaign kickoff at Easy Street for Dave Montoure’s City Council run

One week after announcing his run for the new District 1 City Council seat, West Seattle restaurateur Dave Montoure debuted his “stump speech” to a crowd of supporters at Easy Street Records.

He joked that he never expected he’d be doing an in-store performance someday at Easy Street, whose proprietor Matt Vaughan introduced him:

Here’s Montoure’s speech, hitting the themes he stressed in his campaign announcement last week:

His key points: Bringing “middle-class jobs to the peninsula,” especially by “reinvigorating … underutilized manufacturing and industrial land.” He mentioned repeatedly that he wants West Seattle to lead the city in “sustainable business practices” such as the food-composting program launched by businesses in 2008 when he led the Junction Association, and stepping up community-based policing, which he described as “a different shade of blue.” He dinged current city leadership for having no “game plan” for West Seattle’s transportation challenges, and for allowing public infrastructure to fall into disrepair while private investment such as development booms.

THE BIG PICTURE: Montoure is among 9 candidates so far for the District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) seat. Filing deadline is in mid-May; the primary, from which two finalists will emerge, is August 4th, while the general election is November 3rd. In addition to enterprised campaign coverage, we also plan to cover as many open-to-the-public D-1 candidate speaking/Q-A appearances as we can, so that you’ll often see and hear from those vying for your vote in this first-ever election. Next one we know of is at tomorrow night’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting, 7 pm at HP Improvement Club, with candidate Amanda Kay Helmick on the agenda.

WSEATTLE February 24, 2015 (11:16 pm)

I will support Dave, He knows what it means to have a small business in the city. What a great turnout too. this is what we need for our futire in the city.

KT February 25, 2015 (10:15 am)

Liking what I hear so far …..

Tom Beck February 25, 2015 (10:38 am)

If your rhetoric and action match as I know it does, you will be a great addition to the West Seattle council.
Best of luck My donation is coming from the east side of the mountains.

The Truth February 25, 2015 (1:16 pm)

Wants to create middle class jobs on this side of the bridge, strong support for the small businesses that we love and enjoy in our community, strong environmental leadership and an understanding of the change needed in police tactics and a plan to help correct them. Oh Yeah, don’t forget a STRONG will to help fix our traffic and a proven track record of being a great leader of the WSCC!!!! Nothing to complain about here. You have my vote!!!!

Jenny February 25, 2015 (1:28 pm)

Dave all the way! He gave a great speech last night and I know he will be a great representative for West Seattle.

Fiwa Jcbbb February 25, 2015 (2:20 pm)

Well done Dave! Count me in on the Montourage!

West Seattle Hipster February 25, 2015 (4:10 pm)

I also like what I am hearing so far, we need someone in local leadership looking out for the middle class.

KBear February 25, 2015 (7:44 pm)

The real job creators are the people who can afford to eat in restaurants like Dave’s. He fought hard against the $15 minimum wage, against his own employees’ best interests. I’ll eat in his restaurant (and tip appropriately, until we can get beyond this ridiculous tip-dependent wage system), but I will not support a foot-dragger like him for city council.

jtj February 25, 2015 (7:45 pm)

Super event! So great too see multiple West Seattle families of 3 generations in attendance. Evidentally, with WS grandmas, 60s is the new 50s, awesome

KBear February 25, 2015 (7:55 pm)

To put it another way, Dave: When I am a customer in your restaurant, making sure your employees are adequately paid is YOUR job, not mine.

jtj February 25, 2015 (8:56 pm)

Here we go, the typical name calling. Kbear, dont want to engage u but your character assanation of people like Dave is disgraceful. As one of the small group of restauranters to offer healthcare to his employees from go, speaks volumes to his integrity. If you are going to discredit people you disagree with, fine, but learn some facts and show a little civilty.

Peri427 February 25, 2015 (9:04 pm)

Each person east of the mountains who says s/he is supporting Dave makes me think he’s the wrong person for West Seattle.

No clue February 25, 2015 (9:18 pm)

Kbear as service workers do you know how many of us are scared and didn’t want this to happen because people will lower their tips. Go away and fight mcdonalds not us. You have no clue.

KBear February 25, 2015 (9:27 pm)

Sorry, Jtj, I don’t think I did any name-calling or character assassination. Healthcare should be a given in any restaurant employment situation. You “don’t want to engage me”? So your opinion is more valid than mine?

kj February 25, 2015 (9:36 pm)

KBear I too am appalled at your negative misinformed rant against Dave. You obviously do not know him personally or professionally, and those who do will ignore your little diatribe.

Dis February 26, 2015 (4:00 am)

I didn’t know we could only post love letters to Mr. Montoure in this thread. I don’t support him either, and KBear only stated a fact, and then his opinion, as did everyone else in this thread. Servers are not the only people making minimum wage. The chamber of commerce does not equal the city council, and Mr. Montoure will have to represent a large diversity of constituents, not only business owners. He hasn’t shown me that he can do that. And I’m guessing he’s probably anti-union too, which would top it off for me.

Another Neighbor February 26, 2015 (7:30 am)

To those of you who seem intent on casting Dave in the role of evil business owner, you clearly don’t know him. Many of us who have worked in restaurants were also against the law being written the way it was. There is a huge inequality problem in full service restaurants, with servers making three to four times what back of the house workers make. And if you don’t think that has a disproportionate impact on minorities then you haven’t looked around a kitchen lately. The law, as written, will only make this impact even larger. Many of us would have been happy to keep our old wage plus tips in order to see the kitchen staff do better. So think about that next time you rail on a business owner for being against the minimum wage law.

Wsg February 26, 2015 (8:28 am)

Dis-I could be wrong but my guess is that some are overly passionate because there are a number of people from here who have known him for over 40+Yrs.

Dis February 26, 2015 (10:08 am)

Wsg, fair enough. But I have been in this town for my whole life, and there are people I have known and liked, even loved, for more than 50 years, and I wouldn’t vote for them, not for a second. I think there’s a certain mythos about (some) restauranteurs – they feed us, after all, they nourish us and take care of us. I bet a lot of people would support Gerry Kingen too, if he were to run, just because he has a nice restaurant and even better, he’s opening a Pecos Pit BBQ!!!

wsg February 26, 2015 (10:44 am)

Dis – I like Gerry! Hes rough around the edges but he’d be great!

G February 26, 2015 (11:05 am)

I don’t care how long you’ve lived in West Seattle, or how far back your family goes back, I’ll vote for the best candidate. Not sure why living in the same neighborhood for generations is a badge of honor. Actually, I think those who have moved around a bit, have a broader perspective on life. Doesn’t mean I won’t vote for Montoure, but it won’t be based on his WS residency.

kj February 26, 2015 (1:56 pm)

Obviously, you know nothing about him. He has lived all over the world but chooses to make his “home” in WS. Find out a few facts about this guy before you spout off, please.

Dis February 26, 2015 (2:18 pm)

I am not sure what you’re getting at, G. My response to Wsg was referencing his mention of “people from here.” I don’t know if Montoure is from here, and frankly, I don’t care. I don’t remember any mention of anyone living in the same neighborhood, nor of generational legacies, and what does it matter, anyway? The subject isn’t where he’s from or how long he’s been here, the subject, for me anyway, is whether he will represent anyone besides the business community. The interests of the business community are not the same as the interests of the general public, or the interests of any particular demographic, regardless of how tilted the democracy / capitalism equation has become.

And in response to Another Neighbor, I haven’t seen any mention of “evil business owners.” I am one, myself. This is a discussion, I thought, about Montoure’s quest for the city council position. People have different opinions, no nefarious motivations about that.

The truth February 26, 2015 (6:16 pm)

To those who say he only represents business did you listen to the speech? I feel that traffic/transit is a problem that effects all of us and in many cases the underserved in our society. Right now the majority of the jobs in this area are either min wage or high end salary. Dave want’s to create middle class jobs by reinvesting in our commercial core. Dave wants push for community policing which I think we can all agree would benefit us all but again has a the potential to really help build trust and safety for WS’s minority groups. All of these things seem to show that he is more than a pawn put in place by the business community to hold people down. Seems like he is all about helping people out and creating a sustainable business climate. He also has never said he is against $15, the only thing his donation proves is he was against THAT version of it. Please name who was the small business rep in those stake holder meeting (there wasn’t one) and if it was so popular why was it not put to a vote? all food for thought………

Dis February 26, 2015 (8:22 pm)

” a pawn put in place by the business community to hold people down”

WOW TT, where does that come from?

This discussion doesn’t speak well for Montoure’s fans, sadly. Why the sarcasm and attitude?

Carry on. Have fun amongst yourselves.

Mors February 26, 2015 (8:38 pm)

My main concern is transportation in/out of West Seattle along the West Seattle bridge (let’s call it what it is: the West Seattle choke).

We’re at capacity and there are no plans to expand capacity. As we continue to build apartments in West Seattle, this will result in disastrously long waits to get across the bridge especially when the weather is bad and in the fall.

People in West Seattle seem to love spending time in their cars. As the bridge situation grows worse we will get to spend more time than ever waiting in our cars.

Do we need a new bridge? Light rail? More buses? Better bike lanes? Quality of life in West Seattle will erode if we spend an hour every morning inching our way across the bridge. If we start planning now, we might have a new bridge in twenty years. So we need short term, medium and long term solutions.

What will it take for people in West Seattle to get mad about the worsening choke point situation and demand solutions?

WSB February 26, 2015 (9:06 pm)

Mors, people already are mad and demanding solutions. The West Seattle Transportation Coalition, to name just one, was born of this and has been working on it – and making headway – for a year-plus. I just came back from covering this month’s meeting (highlights on Twitter, http://twitter.com/westseattleblog – story here tomorrow). We’ve been writing about them from the start, although being there and being part of it (they have a few board openings) is even better than just keeping up with coverage. But certainly it’s one of the top campaign issues; and was among the reader questions we asked at the campaign season’s first forum earlier this month (before Dave and four of the other nine candidates had joined the race). Next forum, by the way, is 3/14, 10 am, Senior Center, presented by the community advocates of VIEWS, and as far as I’ve heard, all the current candidates will be there – TR

The Truth February 26, 2015 (9:26 pm)

Hi Dis,

That wasn’t directed at you, just a vibe via a couple of different threads that involve candidates and shots at Dave. That’s were that came from, not inspired by you :-) If that is what you took from my post than that is disappointing. That post wasn’t written with angry, feistiness or spite. I can’t control the way you perceive it but I never write with anything other than facts and positive intent.

jtj February 26, 2015 (9:45 pm)

Dis, instead of the back and forth, why not meet the man? Dave is very approachable, you might disagree but think you will like each other and maybe learn from each other. Appreciate your passion

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