In her second run for the Seattle City Council, Linda Averill has taken on three-term Council President Jan Drago because she "most exemplifies the mayor's agenda" and because "I do not need a poll to decide which position to run for."

Averill, a Metro bus driver and a member of the Freedom Socialist Party, was referring to candidate Casey Corr who pulled out of a race against Councilman Richard Conlin to also oppose Drago after he got results of a poll that said Drago would be more vulnerable than Conlin.

She said Drago caters to wealthy developers and that she has never questioned the monorail, and even supports billionaire Paul Allen's South Lake Union trolley.

Averill noted that Mayor Greg Nickels has no real opposition in his contest for a second term, making it even more important that the City Council stand up to the mayor's policies.

She was one of the early opponents of the monorail when it got into trouble with its $11 billion, 50 year bond payoff scheme. She demands the current agency be shut down immediately because the Seattle Monorail Project board of directors has misled the public with its pitch that it could be self-supporting in a few years.

The City Council is at fault for its silence about the use of junk bonds to finance the system, Averill said, noting it was the state auditor who first challenged the finance package, not the council. Monorail needs a broader financial base, Averill said, because it cannot be built on the basis of the motor vehicle excise tax, already estimated to bring in more than a third less than originally estimated. She would favor heavily taxing major corporations to finance monorail and other transit programs.

Transit and other major projects, such as the viaduct and seawall, should be paid for with a steeply graduated tax on big corporations. The current tax system is stimulating people like tax rebel Tim Eyman, who is "feeding off our tax system."

Business will not leave if taxes are increased, Averill said. She thinks Seattle is a "very good region to do business in" and that will keep corporate headquarters here.

Huge multi-national corporations are being subsidized by Washington taxpayers, she said, pointing to Wal-Mart where employees are forced to use the state insurance plan because of its low wages.

Averill would also push the City Council to pass a city minimum wage of $17 an hour. "You should have what you need to live." She said a national study shows the amount is what it takes to pay rent, buy food and insurance.

She would also push the council to create an independent office of women's rights, to supplant portions of the current Office of Civil Rights.

"I have fault with the current agency," Averill said. "Women's issues tend to be neglected largely. Right now there is not a place where a woman can go to get serious attention to grievances."

When asked why she is seeking a nonpartisan office as a member of the Freedom Socialist Party, she said, the country needs to break away from the two-party system.

"We've got to start considering parties other than Republicans and Democrats," she said.

She said she once checked out the Democrats but they "like to talk about personalities but not issues." She added that she represents the concerns of the working people and is running to break down the public's attitudes on socialism.

She had a number of proposals for the council should she take office.

Tasers would be banned for police use, if she had her way. "Tasers can kill," Averill said. "I do not support lethal force, I don't think it is necessary."

She would seek an elected civilian police review board and would support the legalization, regulation and taxation of "street drugs."

Averill said she has received $13,000 in "small donations" from her supporters and believes that it does not take $115,000 to run for City Council, an amount both Casey Corr and Jan Drago say they believe it takes to mount a winning candidacy.

"I am going door-to-door, have some good brochures coming and have a good campaign," she said at an interview last week.