Click on photo for SLIDESHOW

About 50 members of the public and 20 candidates and staff local answered West Seattle-specific questions at The West Seattle Candidate's Forum staged at the Brockey Student Center on the campus of South Seattle Community College Thursday night, July 28.

Co-sponsored by The VIEWS group, West Seattle Kiwanis, and numerous local neighborhood councils, the event started with an Ice Cream Social, featuring the primary and general election candidates serving up Husky Deli™ ice cream giving people a chance to talk more informally.

Part 1:

Port Commission
Position 5
Dean Willard spoke. His opponent Bill Bryant was not there.

County Position 8
Joe McDermott, Diana Toledo, Goodspaceguy all attended.

Part 2:

City Council candidates

Position 1
Jean Godden left early, but Bobby Forch, Maurice Classen, and Michael Taylor-Judd attended the Q&A.

Postion 9
Sally Clark and Dian Ferguson attended. Farthi Kashie did not appear.

Part 3:
School Board candidates
Position 6
Steve Sundquist, Joy Anderson, Marty McLaren, Nick Esparza all participated.

City Council member Bruce Harrell and challenger Brad Meacham attended but did not speak. They both go through the primaries until the general election.

City Council member Tom Rasmussen and challenger Dale Pusey, both of West Seattle, also were in the audience at the beginning.

Representatives from the King County Elections board, and community organizations such as Neighborhood House and Sustainable West Seattle were on-hand to answer questions and provide information about community resources.

Dean Willard

"Competitive strategy is all about differentiating yourself from what other people are doing. The competitive advantage of the Port of Seattle is to become the route between the U.S. markets and Asian markets with the lowest carbon footprint and with the least amount of economic injustice. We are not there yet(...) In our West Coast competition...

"Prince Rupert (B.C.) is one day closer by sea to Asia than we are, and one day closer to Chicago by rail because of the investments of the Canadians and CN make in their east-west railways that we have not yet demonstrated the political and economic courage that we need to invest. There is an opportunity for us to improve an east-west railway in Stampede Pass. We would be able to double-stack containers on the trains, and use less fuel to get there."

Goodspaceguy said this is his twelfth time running for office.

"The number one concern I have is about unemployment. Our economy has been sabotaged...I want King County to be part of the space program, so the destination of your children, grand children, and great-grandchildren would be to colonize space. The third priority in King County is parking...If elected I will make it easier to park by using the gas tax."

Joe McDermott

"We support the $20 temporary license fee to support Metro Transit while the long-term permanent solution is arranged. The South Park Bridge construction will create 120 jobs..."

Hickey asked about bus line reduction, particularly routes in the SSCC area.

Joe McDermott

"A number of steps have been taken over the last several years to make sure we are...getting the most efficiency possible out of Metro Transit. The ongoing budget savings due to the reductions are $143 million a year. They will have eliminated over 100 jobs and let's remember that over the last four years fairs have gone up 80 percent, yet Metro is still faced with a $60 million budget gap despite all those savings and efficiencies going into the next budget year.

"That's why I support the $20 congestion relief charge to maintain that service. We've also adopted with my support on the Council a strategic plan...geographic distribution and social justice to make sure we are not leaving any communities out and that's important to students here in the South Seattle Community College."

Diana Toledo

"I don't really think he answered the question. Can you ask the question again?"

Hickey repeated the question.

Toledo replied, "I understand the question. I'd just like to hear the answer from Council Member McDermott...I would cut the routes that aren't being used, the empty buses...We need to eliminate the waste in King County government...I am opposed to the $20 tax. It is a regressive pass...Someone trying to license their 1976 Chevette...$20 means a lot...Why are we even telling our community that we taking away vital service hours that we can't live without in this community?"

School Board candidates

Hickey asked the School Board candidates about their first priority:

Hickey questioned Steve Sundquist first, then his challengers to justify reduced salaries of teachers while hiring a director with a six-figure salary.

Steve Sundquist: "Downtown we had to cut 90 positions this year...Some folks who stayed after that cut did end up with consolidated jobs that were bigger, different. Those jobs were replaced as part of making sure that we kept the people that the District determined needed to be kept."

Marty McLaren"It sounds pretty unbalanced when we've got all these cuts throughout the district. We have several executive director positions that are new...which also have very high salaries and I am hearing about redundancies...They have made some financial blunders, sold buildings for less than they were worth."

Joy Anderson"A lot of these jobs could be consolidated. I think there is some faulty accounting and I really wish they'd be audited by an independent council so we could figure out where the money is going because it is going everywhere but in the classroom."

Nick Esparza"It really makes no sense to me that every time (the School Board) says there are zero dollars, we always find $600,000 to give to the Urban League, money to find outside consultants. We talk about closing the achievement gap but haven't budgeted any dollars for summer school so it seems absolutely ridiculous. We're hiring an assistant superintendent for close to $200,000 and four or five application specialists for over $100,000 and I do ask myself, 'How many councilors and frontline staff could that have helped?'"

Candidates were asked if they support the placement of uncertified teachers drawn from the Teach For America Recruits into West Seattle Schools.

AndersonAbsolutely not...A lot of us are really afraid they are going to end up in the lower-income schools...It's an insult."

Esparza"I am an absolute no on the whole TFA (Teachers For America) thing. There are plenty of (certified teachers) in the state."

Sundquist"I do support Teach For America in Seattle public schools." This drew hisses and boo's in the audience. He explained.

"These incoming teachers will be certificated. The State Professional Education Standards Board just unanimously voted to have TFA teachers in the State of Washington. They have demonstrated an ability to recruit more teachers of color. We give the principal the option to hire a TFA member and it's the kind of authority a principal should have."

NcLaren"This is a sham of a certification.These people are given five weeks of training, then about nine hours a week of classes...Teaching takes at least five years to get into your stride. It is one of the most demanding professions. To put novice teachers into the classroom when we have a huge cadre of excellent, experienced teachers in Seattle makes no sense at all. It will actually cost us more money. TFA teachers will have the same salaries but more overhead and contractual obligations. You are pinning them against the cadre of teachers who have staked their whole careers on being teachers. You are dividing teachers, the community, and undermining the fabric that makes our school strong."

Hickey asked their plan to improve the nutrition of food in public schools.

Esparza"Considering that I worked in nutrition services I think we should deep-six the central kitchen and send it leaving. They make (food) downtown and send it across the entire city...When we made food in school it was a lot more consumable."

Sundquist "I am married to a nutritionist. Good food and nutrition service is part of growing up healthy. It's an economic question. We all want more local food partnerships. We have a director of nutrition services who is working to create local food partnerships."

McLaren"Make it possible to have kitchens in the school or in small clusters so that we don't have this absurd district vending machine."

Anderson"I am the only panel member who has a child in Seattle Public Schools and every Friday I would go have lunch with her. And I don't know how you mess up a chicken nugget that has already been cooked...I am telling you the food is horrible. I hear kids say that their mother won't let them eat it. It is about having the community engaged in what's going on and that's the whole problem with the District.They just never want to know what everyone is thinking."

ABOUT VIEWS

VIEWS (Visualize Increased Engagement West Seattle) is a non-partisan community organization comprised of local citizens creating programming to educate, engage, and mobilize West Seattle citizens to sustain and improve the quality of life and services available across the peninsula. You can contact VIEWS at: or 425-298-6379

ABOUT KIWANIS CLUB

The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, now in its 83rd year, undertakes a full program of service to the communities of West Seattle with special emphasis on the growth, education and needs of children from preschool though college. An affiliate of Kiwanis International which has clubs in 83 nations, the West
Seattle club is an organization of concerned adults dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. For more information, contact the West Seattle Kiwanis Club at: westseattlekiwanis@yahoo.com

Also tabling at the event are:

WA Dept of Transportation - talking about the tunnel
Seattle Dept of Transportation - talking about Alaska St project

Referendum 1
Veteran's Levy

Kiwanis Club
Neighborhood House
Sustainable West Seattle
In Motion

Seattle Police Department - community outreach
Seattle Fire Department
West Seattle Blockwatch
West Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs