The planned Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement was the hot topic at the Oct. 5 candidate forum sponsored by the Ballard and Magnolia/Queen Anne neighborhood councils.

All eight city council candidates as well as the two mayoral candidates were on hand to answer questions posed by the neighborhood councils and the 50 or so residents in attendance.

The evening started with the council candidates – Robert Rosencrantz, Mike O'Brien, Nick Licata, Jessie Israel, David Bloom, Sally Bagshaw, David Ginsberg and Richard Conlin – answering questions about the plan for a deep bore tunnel to replace the viaduct.

Mike O'Brien was the lone council candidate who voiced opposition to the tunnel plan, though the rest of the candidates agreed the plan needs work due in part to a lack of access from northwest Seattle and downtown.

O'Brien, running against Rosencrantz, said the city's goal should be to invest in freight and transit mobility, not build more highways.

"It doesn't meet our transportation needs," he said. "It certainly doesn't meet our transportation needs in this community."

O'Brien said he worries Seattle residents will get stuck with cost overruns from the tunnel project.

Rosencrantz said he wants to make downtown developers and property owners pay possible overruns because they are the ones who will benefit from removing the viaduct.

"I'll make sure that the taxpayers don't get stuck with the bill," he said.

Candidates were also asked questions about completing the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail (mixed support), installing park rangers in Ballard (total support) and growing crime rates (support for more police officers and preventative programs).

"Too many of our citizens are afraid to leave their houses at night because of what is going on on the streets," said Ginsberg, who is running against the incumbent Conlin.

The mayoral candidates, Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn, were up next.

Much of the mayoral campaign has been centered around the viaduct replacement, specifically McGinn's opposition to the tunnel, so it came as no surprise that questioning started there.

Mallahan said he wants to move forward on the tunnel, which took eight years to decide on and will create jobs in the city.

McGinn, echoing O'Brien, said the tunnel is not the transportation solution the city needs. He said he would like to see an expansion of light rail and Metro RapidRide.

McGinn said more lanes should be added to I-5 to handle capacity from the central city that would be lost with the viaduct, leaving a surface route more open to those traveling from the west side of Seattle.

Conversation often found its way back to the tunnel, even on non-viaduct related questions, including opening the bus-only lanes on 15th Avenue West to freight traffic (both are open to it) and reducing classroom sizes.

Mallahan said McGinn would not be a viable voice to lobby for more school funding in Olympia because he is rejecting the state's tunnel plan.

Neither candidate would commit to a public vote on the deep bore tunnel when pressed by an audience member.

Both McGinn and Mallahan supported funding more police to help deal with crime, protecting industrial zones, and continuing Mayor Greg Nickels' work on climate change.

In his closing statement, Mallahan said the city needs an effective manager and strong leader and claimed McGinn does not think about everyday people and their transportation needs.

"He's well-intentioned, but his vision is impractical," Mallahan said.

McGinn used his closing statement to advocate for making choices that align with the voters' vision of a great future.

"The people of Seattle, we're smart," he said. "We know what type of future we want, and I think we should move toward it.