Seattle, WA—July 1, 2009—Candidates contending for the open King County Executive seat debated environmental issues at Seattle Town Hall last evening.
Organized by the Washington Environmental Council, the debate let County Councilmember Larry Phillips, state Senator Fred Jarrett, County Councilmember Dow Constantine and State Rep. Ross Hunter weigh in on issues ranging from public transit and affordable housing to land use and cleaning up the Duwamish. Susan Hutchinson was the only candidate for County Executive to decline the invitation to debate in front of a nearly-full house.
“As a candidate it’s always nice to have people who are actually interested in what we say,” said Jarrett, helping set the overall lighthearted mood of the debate.
Across the range of issues, candidates agreed about many of the problems King County faces, including expected population growth and the coming budget shortfall. The primary differences stood in how those solutions would be implemented.
Constantine recalled President Obama’s imperative to cut programs that don’t work, and to make the ones that do work run more affordably. “There’s an institutional resistance to change, to recognize we can do better,” said Constantine.
Public transit was another issue candidates addressed in depth. Phillips said his success as Chair of the Central Link Oversight Committee, and its subsequent on-time under-budget construction of the link between Seattle and Tukwila, make him especially qualified to manage the system’s expansion.
“It is a very successful transit system and it’s our future,” said Phillips.
All candidates were supporters of higher urban density in King County. Phillips advocated building urban centers around transit and light rail. He said it would make people less dependent on cars.
Jarrett said a problem with building greater urban density and an increasing dependence on cars for commuting was that urban housing is too expensive. He said, “Housing prices are high because there are not enough houses. You don’t have to build McMansions everywhere. You can build houses that are affordable.”
Hunter said, “This is the core environmental issue—how to tie together land use, housing and transportation.”
Candidates didn’t mention anything about increased taxes to pay for upcoming projects.
“I don’t think the voters are going to support new revenue this fall,” said Hunter.
