King County Council Candidate Diana Toledo is asking our Readers for help – her West Seattle home was broken into Sunday morning (Nov. 6) sometime between 11 a.m. – Noon, with the only thing taken being a 7-week old puppy.

The puppy is a small, 7-week old brown pit bull that answers to the name “Jewel.”

“Someone kicked in the front door of the house and rifled through some things but only took the puppy,” Toledo said. “They left behind a laptop, digital camera and other small electronics that could have turned a quick buck, so they obviously came for the dog.”

Toledo adds that the Seattle Police Department was able to take fingerprints, and is doing a full investigation.

“The family is very concerned with the puppy’s health as no dog food was taken from the home,” Toledo said. “The Toledo children are distraught and we are asking for any help you can give. My 15-year old niece named her ‘Jewel,’ and the only thing on her Christmas list was to be able to keep Jewel.”

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Seattle Police Department’s Southwest Precinct at (206) 733-9800, email votetoledo@live.com or call their voicemail line at (206) 312-2228.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee talks with Burien Mayor Joan McGilton Tuesday before his walking tour through B-Town Tuesday, Sept. 27th.

Story, Photos & Audio by Scott Schaefer

Even though the Washington State gubernatorial election is more than a year away, Democratic candidate Jay Inslee dropped in to Burien on Tuesday (Sept. 27), and somehow his handlers decided to invite me to participate in a ‘walk and talk’ around town with him and several others.

If you saw a group of nine people walking along SW 152nd Street, starting at City Hall then moving west, all gathered around a tall man who looked like a candidate, that was us – this Reporter, Mayor Joan McGilton, Deputy Mayor Brian Bennett, Mauricio Ayon from Para Los Niños, Gina Bourdage of Discover Burien (who put the entire tour together), two of Jay’s handlers and another reporter.

Inslee, who grew up nearby on 116th SW in what used to be White Center but is now part of Burien’s most-recently annexed area, is a fifth-generation native Washingtonian. He even painted houses in the Burien area with his Father, Frank Inslee, a teacher and coach at Seattle’s Franklin High School. Jay raised his family in Yakima, and currently lives on Bainbridge Island.

He is currently a congressman for the 1st District (which does not include the Burien area, currently in the 7th District), and is running for Washington State Governor in 2012.

I recorded audio of our walk & talk, and have broken it down into several edited segments below.

Questions asked include:

• As we passed a mostly-empty Burien Town Square development, I asked Jay “How can we bring back the housing market?”
• At the new Electric Train Shop, Jay talked to owner Scott Law. He also bought a train toy for a grandson, as well as a Union Pacific logo hat. He asked Scott what he could do as governor to help small businesses.
• At Carniceria Zacatecas, Jay spoke with Owner Maria Vidrio.
• 909 Coffee and Wine was our final stop, where we all sat down and had some great coffee and pastries. Jay spoke with Owner Kelly Ricci about “how to bring more private enterprise efficiency to government.”
• And finally, I asked Jay who his role models were…

[display_podcast]

And finally, as we sat at 909, Mayor McGilton spontaneously offered her endorsement of Inslee.

Here are photos of the campaign stop as shot by Scott Schaefer:

Inlsee was all smiles once he entered new B-Town biz Electric Train Shop.

Electric Train Shop owner Scott Law talks trains, both models and 'big ones' with Inslee.

Mauricio Ayon, left, walks and talks with Inslee in downtown Burien Tuesday.

Maria Vidrio, owner of Carniceria Zacetecas, talks with Inslee about the economy.

909 employees Emily and Stephanie talk with Inslee.

One-time 'non-candidate' Bob Edgar is now a candidate again.

BREAKING: On Friday morning (Sept. 2), we received the following email from Bob Edgar (read our previous coverage about him here), an anti-annexation candidate who tried to withdraw from the Burien City Council race but missed the deadline. We had tried numerous times to reach him, via phone and email, but had not heard from him since we published a Letter to the Editor from him on July 18. Edgar received just over 45% of votes for council position number 4 in the Aug. 20 primary election, and his name will be on the Nov. 8 ballot against incumbent Gordon Shaw.

Here’s his email in its entirety:

Thank you for your vote! The citizens of Burien have spoken and it is clear that Burien residents want a change on the Burien Council.

On August 31, 2011, King County Elections certified the results of the August 2011 Primary. I, Bob Edgar, received the most number of votes. Under Washington State Law, I am and always have been a candidate for Position #4 of the Burien City Council. Due to some family matters that occurred at the time of filing, I decided to withdraw from the election but it was past the deadline and not an option under Washington State Law. Therefore, I decided not to campaign at that time. These specific family matters have resolved earlier than expected and the people of Burien have sent a strong message seeking change.

My name, Bob Edgar, will appear on the November, 2011 General Election ballot for Burien Council Position # 4 since I was among the top two candidates with the most votes. I have also been in contact with the Public Disclosure Commission, my paperwork is in order and there have been no ethical improprieties in my candidacy. I want to thank all of the citizens that voted for me and hope for their continued support in the November election.

If elected in November, I intend to serve as a full-time council member for Burien Council Position # 4 to achieve these goals for Burien: a safe place to live, a vibrant city with a small town flavor and a sustainable community that supports Burien families and businesses for the long-term, a city where citizen and neighborhood voices are listened to with respect and reflected in city government decisions. Burien needs to focus on getting it fiscal house in order.

The City Council needs fresh ideas and a new perspective on the economic challenges facing our city, and as your representative, I will question the implications of any further annexations.  With many years of business experience, I stand for open, honest, responsive government, sound fiscal management and robust economic development for Burien.

I am a champion for preserving and protecting Burien’s environment, shorelines and neighborhoods and for representing citizens’ concerns.  As a Burien resident for over 20 years, I am proud of my work preserving the Salmon Creek Green Belt and Seahurst Park;  Board Member-Shorewood on the Sound Community and Sustainable Burien;  Member-Neighbors Of Seahurst Park;  Committee Member-Salmon Creek Neighborhood Plan.

Thank you for your vote and your continued support.

- Bob Edgar
http://www.electbob4burien.org

City Council candidate Joey Martinez in Burien's 2011 Independence Day Parade. Photo by Michael Brunk.

by Ralph Nichols

After challenging Burien City Councilman Gordon Shaw in the Aug. 16 primary election, Joey Martinez told The B-Town Blog Saturday (Aug. 27) that he is endorsing Shaw for re-election.

Martinez finished third in the primary, with just over 16 percent of the vote. Shaw is second with 37.95 percent of the vote, and “non-candidate” Bob Edgar leads the race with 44.99 percent (read our coverage of Edgar’s unsuccessful attempt to drop out of the race here).

“I hope all my voters will vote for Gordon,” Martinez said of the incumbent lawmaker. “He’s the better of the two candidates” for City Council Position 4in the general election.

If, that is, this council race features two actual candidates for office – regardless of the fact that Edgar’s name will appear on the November ballot.

Only Edgar knows the answer, and so far he’s not talking.

He has not campaigned in public, and has not responded to repeated voice mail and e-mail requests for comment by The B-Town Blog. (His campaign e-mail address, however, was still online last week.)

Edgar filed for election in June and submitted his campaign statement for publication in the King County Elections Voters’ Guide, but then withdrew as a candidate – only after the legal deadline to withdraw had passed.

As a result, his name appeared on the primary ballot and now will go on the general election ballot. Should he win the election, even as a “non-candidate,” state officials say it then would be up to him whether to be seated on the council or to decline to be sworn in.

City Councilmember Gordon Shaw shakes Joey Martinez' hand at The B-Town Blog's July 26 Candidates Forum. Photo by Scott Schaefer.

So while Martinez is pleased that he received over a thousand votes in his first run for local elective office, he is not a happy warrior about the way the campaign unfolded.

“Can’t Have It Both Ways”
“I feel cheated,” Martinez said. “One of my opponents was a phantom candidate. I feel like I was unable to campaign effectively. I was unable to campaign against him.”

Nor could Shaw really campaign against him after Edgar notified the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) and King County Elections that he was not running.

Edgar “didn’t campaign – as far as we know,” Martinez observed.

Although Edgar addressed the Burien City Council during public comment on several occasions, and wrote letters to the editor for posting, he had no campaign materials such as yard signs or fliers. So he was not required to file financial information with the PDC.

Another would-be candidate, Diana Holman, filed for Position 4 but withdrew prior to the statutory deadline for withdrawing from the race.

“I definitely think he’s playing games with the electoral process,” Martinez said. “I feel the voters who voted for me got cheated” because of his actions.

“I challenge him to either publicly state he is not running, or publicly campaign for the job. He can’t have it both ways. By continuing to hide he ultimately cheats the voters. It’s not fair to anyone, least of all the Burien voters.”

“There will be some people who will think I’m a sore loser,” Martinez continued. “It’s not that. It’s the principle, the electoral process.”

The issue is “a candidate who conveniently withdraws after the deadline to withdraw from filing, and after the deadline for submitting a candidate’s statement, but before the deadline for filing campaign financial information, and notifying only King County Elections and the PDC” that he is no longer a candidate.

After that, Martinez noted, Edgar kept “making public comments as a citizen but hides in the shadows as a candidate. This is playing games with the democratic process.”

Plans to Run Again
Despite the fog surrounding Edgar’s “phantom” candidacy, Martinez, 32, is glad he ran for elective office this year – and thinks he will run again for the Burien City Council.

Martinez came to the Seattle area at age 19 “to get away from California. I picked a place and moved up here. And I’m really glad I did. I met my wife here and now have two boys.

“I moved from Los Angeles as a boy and became a man in Burien,” he added.

He’s worked two years for the city of Seattle after nine years with the city of Auburn, and coaches the Burien Bearcats midget football team.

“I’ve always been interested in politics, and have wanted to give something back to the community, Martinez said. So when The B-Town Blog posted the notice for candidate filings and encouraged citizens to run for local office, he decided to take the leap (read that post here).

While another campaign is likely, “it will be a decision I make with my wife. I’ll run again unless she convinces me not to – or demands that I don’t run!”

In the meantime, Martinez “will look into what is required to serve on the commissions for the city of Burien. That will be the best way to learn to do the job as a city council member, so I will be applying for the appropriate vacancy.”

The next time he runs, Martinez hopes to involve more local Latinos in the political process – “and all would-be voters. There’s too much apathy. People get busy and just want to work and be left alone.”

For Annexation
Martinez said he “didn’t run to be for or against annexation, or for or against the SMP” (Shoreline Master Program) if the state Department of Ecology again sends it back to the city. “I ran to make Burien a better place to live for all of us.

“Initially I was against annexation for all of the perceived problems like the crime rate in White Center. But after doing my own research, it actually looks to be a better proposition for the city for a lot of reasons.”

He said if Burien stands by and allows Seattle to annex North Highline, “Seattle will continue the practices of the King County Housing Authority and overload that area and the Highline School District with low-income housing.”

It will be Burien taxpayers who end up paying the bill for Highline schools if that happens, Martinez warned.

On the other hand, “the crime rate between Burien and White Center is not statistically different,” despite what some opponents of annexation claim.

“I believe the numbers in the Berk report because they would not skew the numbers to please us. They won’t sell out their professional reputation to please [City Manager] Mike Martin.”

Bob Edgar

by Ralph Nichols

Is Bob Edgar a candidate for Burien City Council Position 4, currently held by Gordon Shaw? Or has he withdrawn from the race?

Edgar filed for office with King County Elections prior to the June 10 deadline but, according to a letter (PDF file) obtained by The B-Town Blog, declared two weeks later that he would not seek election.

In a June 20 letter to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), which monitors campaign financing, he stated “I … contacted King County Elections and requested to withdraw from the upcoming election for the Burien City Council position No. 4”:

Click image to see larger version.

King County Elections advised him to contact the PDC, which in turn said he didn’t need to file candidate reporting forms with that agency, “but I did need to send you a letter that stated that I would not be seeking office and would not be accepting and spending funds for this election.

“This letter,” signed by Edgar, “has been written to meet this requirement of your offices.”

In attempting to determine that Edgar was the sender of this letter, and also ask why he withdrew from the council race, the B-Town Blog left several voice messages for him today (July 20), none of which were returned.

Because Edgar advised King County Elections that he was pulling out of the race only after the automatic June 17 cutoff date for withdrawing, his name, by law, will still appear on the Aug. 16 primary ballot along with those of Shaw and challenger Joey Martinez.

It will also remain in Elections’ online voters’ guide (see it online here) as well as in the printed version.

Candidates for election, including local positions, are required to submit campaign finance information with the PDC within two weeks of filing for office.

Edgar did not file with the PDC, as indicated in his letter to the agency, and his name doesn’t appear in the agency’s list of candidates on its website.

In a posted follow-up to a Letter to the Editor posted on this blog on July 18, in which he criticizes the use of “smoke and mirrors” by those supporting annexation of North Highline, Edgar left the following Comment:

“I did not submit this to The B-Town Blog indicating that I was running for any public office. It is not a campaign statement.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The postscript under Edgar’s ‘signature’ in his letter which stated “Candidate for Burien City Council Pos. #4” was added by BTB Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer, who considered it only fitting, considering that he still thought Edgar was a viable candidate.

No one contacted by The B-Town Blog today (July 20) was aware that he had withdrawn as a city council candidate.

We hope Edgar surprises us all by showing up to our upcoming Burien City Council Candidates Forum, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday night, July 26th at the ERAC building, located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW.

Stay tuned as this story develops…

“I have decided that it is in our best interests that I withdraw my candidacy for city council,” Holman said in a brief statement. “My family enjoys some semblance of privacy, and after reviewing the requirements for the [state] Public Disclosure Commission, I feel it is the right decision.”

Remaining in the race are Councilman Gordon Shaw and challengers Bob Edgar and Joey Martinez. They will face off in the Aug. 16 primary election.

Greg Duff at his previous interview for the Burien City Council. Photo by Michael Brunk.

Planning Commissioner Greg Duff, former President of the North Highline Unincorporated Council and co-owner of Duff Design Florist, on Wednesday (May 25) announced his candidacy for Burien City Council, Position 2, currently held by Lucy Krakowiak.

“I have been working with the citizens of Burien in handling concerns with zoning regulations,” Duff said in a statement. “This has provided me valuable experience in the workings of Burien Government. Through my years as an Eagle Scout, an enlisted Navy sailor, a jobs program director for the Union Gospel Mission, a supporter of Transform Burien, and an elder in my church, I have served my community with heart and compassion. For the past several years, I have gained tremendous experience in public service to our region and have the skills to help run our City with compassion and prudence.”

Here’s the rest of Duff’s press release:

“I think we can do a better job meeting the needs of Burien in general and the low-income in particular,” said Duff. “Earlier in my career, I developed job training programs for the Union Gospel Mission. By supporting social programs through my church and with Transform Burien, I continue to work with the poor, the struggling, and those seeking to improve their families. One of the most important resources for these folks is public libraries. And yet we have an incumbent who has not fought to protect the White Center and Boulevard Park Libraries from closure. This puts even more pressure for those in the City of Burien to access the busy new Town Square Library. Libraries are often the first and only tool for the unemployed. I will use all my resources to fight to protect this vital service to low income communities, students, the elderly, and everyone who appreciates the free public library legacy begun more than one hundred twenty-five years ago. When I am on the City Council, I will ensure we are not selecting short term savings over long term investments.”

Duff, a 12-year resident of North Highline, was annexed into the City, and promptly named to the Burien Planning Commission following his exemplary service as President of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council. As President of the NHUAC, Duff successfully battled the County, preventing budget cuts to the King County Sheriff’s Office that would have cut officers in the North Highline area. When the county tried to sell it off, he helped save Puget Sound Park. Greg was a finalist for the city council appointment earlier this year.

Greg Duff has the perfectly well-rounded life experience of a father, grandfather, small business owner, union truck driver, athlete, international mission leader, church elder, community activist, planning commission member and graduate of the King County Sheriff’s Office Citizen’s Police Academy. His mission, to “Build a Better Burien,” has a solid foundation and the people of Burien will benefit when they elect Greg Duff to the City Council.

The annexation of the North Highline “Area X” brought more vacant land into the City of Burien, as will as the annexation of “Area Y”. Believing that vacant land, properly managed, can create jobs, Greg will continue to promote land use that encourages family-wage jobs and long-term opportunity, while carefully stewarding in parks and recreation opportunities that create community. The theme of the Duff campaign is “Building a Better Burien” and emphasizes investments that create strong families, neighborhoods, and jobs.

Duff will make public safety a hallmark of his service on the city council. “I gained indispensible knowledge of the inner workings and needs of the Sheriff’s Department. By observing specialized units available to the City of Burien, I realize how important the KCSO is to the city,” said Duff. “With Burien government leaders now studying the feasibility of going to their own police department, I have a background extremely valuable to our citizens and those in public safety.”

Greg Duff is the father of three and the grandfather of four, and his greatest passions are children and baseball. More information can be found at www.duff4burien.com.

by Mark Neuman

“Running for office is the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” said Geoffrey (Mac) McElroy, Navy veteran and proprietor of the Triangle Tavern and candidate for State Representative from the 34th District earlier this campaign season.

“It was great meeting people and getting a sense of what the community is feeling in terms of the issues of the day,” McElroy said. “The experience was wonderful.”

McElroy, running as an independent against three Democrats, finished third in the August primary, behind Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey, but ahead of Marcee Stone who had earned the endorsement of the 34th District Democrats.

The 34th District covers, essentially, Burien, White Center, West Seattle, Vashon Island and Maury Island. The Triangle Tavern, which McElroy purchased, refurbished and shot back to life in the recent years, sits just a few keg lengths inside the Seattle city limits, where West Seattle meets White Center.

McElroy readily agreed to an interview with The B-Town Blog, following a busy lunch rush the afternoon of Election Day, a few hours before the first batch of election results were released. Subsequently, Joe Fitzgibbon emerged with a solid lead over his opponent, Mike Heavey.

'Mac' McElroy listens to eventual election winner Joe Fitzgibbon at a B-Town Blog Candidates Forum.

“Owning a bar I can listen to an unsolicited cross section of people’s opinions pretty much all the time,” McElroy said. “I believe that the number one issue we are all facing in this district, this county, this state and the nation is the fiscal crisis.”

When asked to comment on “the two gentlemen I ran against (Fitzgibbon and Heavey),” McElroy said “They are both very idealistic. They are well grounded in their party, but I don’t think they bring a wealth of experience to the table. I am very much hopeful that whoever comes out on top will have the integrity to vote their conscience and not the party line.”

Whoever does win, McElroy said “I will be looking very closely at their voting record in the legislature.”

“There is a very solid possibility I will be running (for office) in the future, though not necessarily for the legislature,” McElroy said. “There is always the (Seattle) city council and the King County council.

“It is important to me that I find a way that I can give service to my community. Whatever that is will point to the course that I follow.”

While McElroy was not willing to prognosticate yesterday on who might emerge as the new representative, he did say that he was gratified that many people in the recent three weeks have told him they wrote in “Geoffrey (Mac) McElroy” on their ballots.

“I appreciate all the support I have been given across party lines in the community,” he said.

McElroy turned 47 years old on Wednesday, Nov. 3. How was he going to spend the day?

“I’ll be enjoying the day, out of the spotlight, taking a look and seeing what happens. We are not, as a society, in bad enough straits that people will change their behavior. The status quo will remain for the time being.”

by Jack Mayne

Joe McDermott says there is a lot more pain in the budget of King County and more cuts are inevitable even if county voters approve a stop-gap increase of .02 percent in the sales tax on Tuesday.

He has represented the 34th legislative district in the House of Representatives for seven years and for the last three in the State Senate.

He would have been running for his first full four-year term in the Washington Senate had he not chosen to try for the single last year of the term of former County Council member and now King County Executive Dow Constantine. When Constantine was elected as executive last year, retiring Seattle City Council member Jan Drago was appointed as an interim County Council member after promising she would not run for the office this year. The full four-year term is on the ballot next year.

McDermott says the county can technically balance its budget but he wonders if that is the kind of county the voters want. He says the county has already cut $140 million from the $630 million budget in the last two years.

“Now the county is considering cuts that would end all domestic violence services, reduce the sheriff’s department and reassigning detectives back to the street,” he says. “That means there will be things you call the sheriff’s department for and they will not respond. They will prioritize and threats to life and safety they will respond to first. We are making decisions now that speak to who we are as a society.”

McDermott supports County Proposition No. 1 on Tuesday’s ballot that would allow the Council to impose a .02 percent increase in the sales tax and the money, split 60 percent to the county and 40 percent to cities. The income to the county would go for criminal justice and replacement of juvenile justice buildings. The measure also required $9.5 million must be moved from the county road fund to help finance police protection in rural areas of the county.

He says even if the measure passes, it won’t fill the budget gap but it should keep further justice system cuts from happening.

“So even in the short term and in the future, there will be more cuts in the county budget,” he says.

He is confident the county and the state will recover from the financial crisis and says he hopes there will not need to be more tax increases, that the county can continue other services without new revenue.

McDermott says the county cannot pass off any increases of police services to city who contract with the King County Sheriff’s Department unless there are actual costs involved. There had been some consideration about increasing Burien’s contract fee for police services.

The candidate also thinks the county should provide animal welfare services. The current plan allows cities, as Burien has done, to have their own system or pay higher rates from a county system, he says.

The biggest issue, other than budgetary, facing the county has to do with allocations of transit services, McDermott says, noting that there is no direct financial mechanism for Metro.

Joe McDermott at the Sept. 28th B-Town Blog Candidates Forum.

He says we should stop measuring the effects of transportation on the number of single occupant vehicles passing over the roads and bridges.

“We won’t get people out of single occupancy vehicles unless we have real transit options,” McDermott says. “Until we have grade separation transit, more buses, more rapid transit buses and more light rail are essential to get people to where they want to go.

“As a rider, I have experienced the results of service cuts firsthand,” he says on his election Web site. “As a legislator, I have heard from constituents about how the cuts have directly affected them.

“I will use my relationships in Olympia to help secure long-term funding opportunities for transit service and infrastructure.”

He says passenger-only ferries are on way to get people out of cars “and routes like the West Seattle water taxi collect as much money at the fare box as bus routes. In geographically constrained districts like ours, it may be more efficient to provide alternative transit options by bringing people across water rather than land.”

But McDermott says as long as transit agencies are financed only by sales taxes and special taxing districts, “transit users will continue to face service cuts. Only long-term revenue solutions will keep transit working for our entire community.”

He says he is “uniquely qualified to bring these solutions to King County.”

McDermott says he thinks it is important to point out his experience by being in the Legislature for the past 10 year. His opponent has never served in office before, he notes.

“I have learned not only about the community’s issues, but those of residents in unincorporated areas,” he says, including Vashon Island and the North Highline Unincorporated area, White Center, all of which “are very different in nature and needs.”

His experience also has taught him about metropolitan area needs, such as for incorporated West Seattle and Burien.

“I have experience weighing the needs of many of the same areas that the County Council needs to weigh.”

McDermott, 43, grew up in West Seattle, attended Gonzaga University in Spokane and got a public affairs master’s degree at the Evans School at the University of Washington.

He says he worked his way through grad school as a grant administrator in the Pierce County prosecutor’s office, then moved to the Seattle School District as a budget analysis, a job he left in the fall of 2002. He has since taken part-time jobs to supplement his income from the Legislature.

by Jack Mayne

Joe Fitzgibbon’s statement in the state voter’s pamphlet says that he “will bring a fresh perspective and a strong voice to change Olympia.”

That sounds like a big ambition for a 24-year old with limited real-world experience, and some say he hasn’t enough experience to be in the Legislature. But he does have some interesting experience, including being a member and chair of the Burien City Planning Commission, and working in county government and the Legislature for Rep. Sharon Nelson, who is creating the vacancy by moving from state representative to state senator in the 34th district.

“We have a Legislature that has not always taken a long-term view of the problems faced by our state and we will be dealing with those consequences for a long period to come. I’d like to go down there (to Olympia) to deal with these problems in a long-term way. That includes our transportation problems and not jus delaying and delaying until there is a crisis mode like the South Park bridge,” he says, adding that his view of the Legislature up close (on Nelson’s staff) that views of problems in Puget Sound are not taken “very seriously”.

Fitzgibbon also says the Legislature should have a diversity reflective of the make-up of the state, noting there are not very many “young voices” in its makeup. He says he would bring a voice for “younger folk” to the table.

He suggests he wants to help get a dialogue going amongst members of the Legislature. Something he says surprised him in Olympia was that legislators on both sides of the aisle often were “dismissing out of hand any idea that came from the other side – there is ‘no way I would vote for that because the sponsor is a Republican,’ or a Democrat.”

“That is not the perspective I will be starting from,” he says. “I think we should not be asking if we can get political advantage from something, but is it good for the state.”

He suggests he can say both sides should be heard from in order find solutions.

When he worked for Nelson in the last session, Fitzgibbon says she worked with legislators from Pend Oreille County over mitigation paid for a dam there, owned by the City of Seattle. “Legislators from very different perspectives came together “and got something accomplished.”

That, says Fitzgibbon, is the kind of thing he would do to solve difficult state problems.

He says he supports, in general, the tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct but worries about the lack of access from the Viaduct to downtown Seattle.

“I have real concerns about what that will mean for people from Burien and West Seattle to get into downtown,” Fitzgibbon says. “That is going to be one of my top priorities will be how are we going to maintain access to downtown from people in this region with the tunnel going forward.”

He says he would also vote to remove the present “ill-conceived” requirement that Seattle must pay any cost overruns that the tunnel construction may incur. Even if the requirement is no voted away by the Legislature, Fitzgibbon says it is unlikely to ever be enforced.

Joe Fitzgibbon and friends at his primary election victory party in August.

The candidate says he opposes Initiative 1053 on the ballot next week that would reestablish the requirement that any tax increase be passed by two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature. Fees can be increased with by a majority vote of the Legislature.

But if it passes, he says we “can still get things done,” probably by sending any transportation financing plan to a vote of the people whether 1053 passes or not.

“If the voters say no way, then that is what we have the initiative process for.”

He says there could be ways of decreasing incidents of fraud in the initiative process.

“The initiative process is an important check on government, but I think we can have better rules.”

On transportation, Fitzgibbon says he would support legislation keeping gas tax monies in the area from which it is collected. He adds that the Legislature can give local governments more financial tools so that badly deteriorated roads in city and county areas can be better repaired and maintained.

One project that needs attention is completion of the interchange between Highway 518 and Memorial Drive.

“That is a long-standing project that the City of Burien has been interested in for a number of years and would really open up redevelopment of northeastern Burien where auto dealers are relocating,” Fitzgibbon says. “That is a huge opportunity for generating economic activity” and even though it is in the 11th district, he says it is important for his constituents.

Because the governor cut equal amounts from all state agencies, that can cause more to need to be spent later, and he says his focus would be to find ways to get people back to work and getting them off more expensive programs. He is worried that cuts now made or to be made will do long-term damage to the state.

He is not happy about it, but the Legislature is likely to be looking at areas where there are no mandate preventing cuts. One area would be voter approved increases in teacher salaries and even class size reduction programs, not protected as mandated basic education programs is, he says.

Fitzgibbon would look to perhaps cutting “large costs associated with pensions for retired state employees” who “game the pension system to earn more than the system was intended to pay.” For example, he notes that some have retired, gotten their pensions, than have gone back to work, sometimes doing the same job as before they retired.

“I would be looking at that area for cuts,” he says.

If the income tax on high earners is approved by voters (Initiative 1098), Fitzgibbon says he would not vote for any changes extending it to other income earners without referring it to the voters for approval.