Seattle City Council and Mayoral candidates may disagree on many issues, but all agree that building a practical mass transit system and ensuring that the Alaskan Way Viaduct is either replaced or retrofitted are the most serious problems the city must focus on in the next four years.

The two top vote getters for the city council and mayoral races from the Sept. 20 primary election were given the chance to discuss these issues and more last week.

The forum addressed transportation, affordable housing, education and the reported backlog of $500 million in transportation projects in Seattle.

The inevitable question, "Is the monorail dead, and if so, then what can we do to provide mass transit in Seattle?" started the city council debate. Six candidates declared the monorail dead and two others, incumbent for Position 4 Nick Licata and candidate for Position 2 Paige Miller, said they were still hanging on to some hope.

"It's not dead until the people vote," said Licata.

"Yeah, it's dead, and I hope the vote buries its ghost along with it," said council incumbent for Position 8 Richard McIver. He referred to the recent ballot submission for the Nov. 8 election, which includes a shorter and less expensive Green Line option.

With the exception of McIver, almost all of the candidates agreed that revenue collected from the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax should go towards other transportation fixes if the monorail doesn't get built. McIver said the revenue should be returned to the people since they voted for the tax to fund a specific purpose.

Current city council president Jan Drago said her goal is to create "an integrated, multimodal transportation system." She said it should include a streetcar system running from West Seattle to SoDo, and to downtown and beyond. She estimated it would cost about $20 million a mile.

Casey Corr, Drago's opponent for Position 6 and former journalist, blamed the city council monorail oversight board for the what he called the "failure of the monorail." He faulted Drago in particular who co-chaired that board.

"They didn't ask the tough questions," said Corr.

Dwight Pelz, McIver's opponent, also charged the council for dropping the ball.

"The city did a very poor job as a gatekeeper of the monorail," said Pelz who has spent the last eight years on the Metropolitan King County Council. "The real issue here is dedicated lanes. We need to rebuild the Spokane Street Viaduct and add dedicated lanes in each direction" for buses or streetcars. He estimated that it would cost about $200 million.

All of the candidates agreed that if Initiative 912 passes this November it would be back to the drawing board as to what do about the unstable Alaskan Way Viaduct, which is not expected to last through another major earthquake. The initiative passed Legislature last year and would provide funds to repair many bridges and roads in the region, including billions to fix Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"If 912 passes, there will be nothing we can do but patch (the viaduct)," said Pelz, noting it would eliminate the mayor's $4 billion preferred tunnel option and the less costly rebuild option. Pelz also stressed that the city must remember the viaduct is part of a state owned highway, and said he would go to Olympia and demand that they put up some money to replace it.

Ensuring Seattle has enough affordable housing to accommodate the city's expected population growth was another high priority issue.

"Affordable housing is something the city council is not addressing," said Paige Miller, candidate for Position 2 against incumbent Richard Conlin.

If people can't afford to live here, their children will not attend school here, Miller said.

Seattle's shortage of police officers is also a concern, as well as how the city should reduce the growing homeless population.

Chair of the council's Safety Committee, Licata, said the city should concentrate on creating a comprehensive program that links social services with the police department. He said creating programs that stop habitual offenders cycling through the system could ease crime rates.

Miller agreed and said that treatment programs and police are equally necessary.

"The program as it is now is broken," she said.

But Drago insisted that current diversion programs, such as mental health and drug courts, are working.

No one spoke in favor of Southwest Airline's proposal to move its operations to Boeing Field. The candidates agreed that Boeing Field should not turn into another major airport for Seattle and surrounding areas.

Mayor Greg Nickels pointed out his hand in the long awaited Sound Transit light rail construction, while his opponent Alfred Runte accused Nickels of failing to act as a leader for the project.

Nickels retorted that he would pledge to find an alternative to the monorail and said he has already directed the Department of Transportation to look at alternatives for Ballard and West Seattle, two communities that would be most affected by the viaduct closure.

Nickels also mentioned his instigation in getting 25 more police officers hired to patrol Seattle's neighborhoods, but Runte claimed the number of additional officers needed is closer to 300.

Runte favors retrofitting the viaduct, and Nickels said it is imperative it be replaced along with the deteriorating seawall.

"Since we will have to live with the results for several decades, we should do it right," said Nickels.

Enrollment in the Seattle Public School system has declined over the years and both candidates said they would bring enrollment numbers up.

"Good teachers have to be in front of our kids, not just fancy gadgets and gizmo's," said Runte, a former University of Washington professor.

Nickels said a mayor must act as a "cheerleader" for the school district and "provide some push and prodding to embrace academic excellence."

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at rebekah@robinsonnews.com or 932.0300.