Darlene Madenwald said her top priorities in her first run for a Seattle City Council seat would largely focus on the growing healthcare concerns and quality of life.

"I would like a chance to make this city healthier," she said.

Madenwald, a 61-year-old nurse from Kansas, said she grew up with humble beginnings so she knows what it takes to persevere over rough odds and doubtful people.

She came to Seattle in 1966 to work at the University of Washington Hospital after finishing her bachelor's degree in nursing at the University of Wichita and then went on to take many leadership roles such as her current position as president of the American Lung Association of Washington.

Madenwald said she is running for City Council because she has watched the city go through many evolutions and finally decided she was tired of "the gridlock on the highways and the gridlock in democracy in this city."

Her background is heavily centered on healthcare and so is her campaign.

"My background as a nurse, mediator, public health advocate, activist, environmentalist, businesswoman, breast cancer survivor, mother and grandmother give me a unique perspective that is missing on the Council today," said Madenwald.

Throughout her career, Madenwald said she was asked several times to run for the council but said she had always been unsure.

Madenwald worked on Richard Conlin's first political campaign, and now is opposing him for Position 2, along with Port Commissioner Paige Miller.

"He (Conlin) is a very progressive thinker, but it hasn't brought us any progress," said Madenwald . "He doesn't take action, when action needs to be taken."

She also charged him with flip-flopping on contentious issues like the monorail.

Madenwald, however, prides herself in her ability to be decisive about important and timely issues. She said her eight-year term on the Skagit County Planning Commission taught her a great deal about collaboration and leadership.

"I am a good decision maker," she said. "I have learned to know when it's time to make a decision and stop discussing and debating. You can see when a majority forms."

Increasing air pollution and contamination of our public waterways have grown considerably over the past ten years, said Madenwald. She also pointed out that one in six households in Seattle houses someone with asthma, and that the state has gone from the 11th healthiest state in the nation to the 18th in just over one year.

"I want to deal with these real problems that we can change," she said. "I would be a strong advocate for public health on the City Council which is lacking on the council today."

She said as a council member she would take more of a presence on the Health Board and use it as a bully pulpit for important city health issues.

"Right now we only spend 5 percent of city money on public health," and that is not enough, she said.

She also charged that the city should be more concerned with possibilities of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, and other diseases coming to the city through the Port of Seattle or by other means.

Besides health matters, she mentioned mass transit.

"The monorail has got to go because of the loss of public trust," she said adamantly. "When we stop trusting our government democracy starts to crumble."

If she had her way, she would hire or recruit graduate students from universities to perform a case study and find out what and where the Seattle Monorail Project went wrong.

West Seattle commuters are sure to face tough times ahead if something is not in place when the Alaskan Way Viaduct is either rebuilt or demolished.

Madenwald said she is particularly aware of this fact since her granddaughter lives in West Seattle,

"If we get the study and find out what went wrong and put it before the people for another vote then I think the people will vote yes to the monorail - at least the segment to West Seattle."

Her first piece of legislation as a council member would be to construct a regional governance body to replace the layers of current government that are not doing the job efficiently, she said.

"We need new voices at these legislative tables" because there is no real communication or collaboration between governing bodies.

Campaign progress is moving right along, she said, although she still hasn't raised as much money as her incumbents Miller and Conlin.

"They have been raising money for along time," said Madenwald. "Does that give them the right to the seat? No."

But, she is fast gaining on them with roughly $75,000 so far.

"I am a businesswoman and I am very careful how I spend my money," she said. "I make decisions by bringing both hope and reality to the table. I don't need power, I just want the system to work."

Seattle City Council campaigns are in full swing now and primary's are just around the corner, but Madenwald seems confident of her chances.

"I think it's going to be a noisy campaign, but I like noise," she said.

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at rebekah@robinsonnews.com