Runte Talks To The Internets

Mayoral candidate Al Runte did some damage in the primary a few weeks ago and unfortunately looks like he might be the only viable option (definitions vary) to Greg Nickels in November. Seattlest thinks it's going to take a whole lot of protest votes to pry the mayor from the teat of developers, though, and so far Runte hasn't displayed the kind of support that can get that done. Cheers to him, however, for identifying some of the problems with the current administration and throwing himself into the fire to call attention to them. You also gotta love the fact that he's been interviewed by local websites lately. Make sure to check him out on Evergreen Politics:

Why would the people of Seattle want to vote for you?

AR: Well, I’ll be a better mayor. I’ll listen to people; I’ll protect and nurture neighborhoods; I’ll deal with the issues of infrastructure, thorny as they may be. The current mayor wants to postpone these things. He wants the development plans that just leave Seattle with the issues of supporting that development afterwards. It’s nuts.

People say, “But developers won’t build these things if there are too many restrictions.” I say, “Good. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” People say we won’t have an economy if we don’t coddle them. Nonsense. What we have in Seattle is invaluable and irreplaceable. We have a population that is innovative, creative and environmentally thoughtful. Developers should be standing in line to build in Seattle.

What we have in our city now is plutocracy. Nickels sounds more like Reagan with his trickle-down wealth idea. It’s not what any traditional progressive would do.