I’m going to have to go ahead and jump on the wagon that believes that Venus Velazquez is still the better candidate than Bruce Harrell for the open City Council seat. [pi, slog]

I wasn’t sure if Velazquez would still show up to the Alki Community Council meeting last night, but was impressed that she did. In her introduction, she addressed the DUI incident on her own and apologized sincerely and humbly. And then did what I hope most people can do, moved on. We were there to discuss the issues that the winner will take on while they are on the council and the audience jumped right in. Many were concerned about neighborhood planning, specifically how Alki has been inadvertently penalized for not participating 10 years ago and how the area can go about getting amenities and help from the city. Others were concerned about how the new commercial zoning Mayor Nickels is proposing would affect the residents whose homes abut Alki Avenue and the (pesky) restaurants “that turn into bars at 10 p.m.” Velazquez offered practical suggestions such as supporting Sally Clark’s reaudit of neighborhoods and perhaps looking into spot zoning as a solution for the aforementioned residents. Her direct replies spoke to her knowledge of and experience with the issues most important to the audience. Again, I was impressed. I found her professional, smart, and to the point; adhering well to the request that she not discuss her opponent.

Harrell, on the other hand, was not so great. While he did appear to maybe have some good ideas. I really couldn’t tell for sure. He answered almost every question with vague buzz-wordy talk – stressing transparency, budget balancing, and values – with no specifics. For instance, when asked what he thought should be done about the viaduct he said that he could get behind a surface option if it met his criteria, but didn’t specify what that might be, then brought up cut-away plans and said he was most concerned with those, but again didn’t go into detail at all. After hearing him speak for the same amount of time as Velazquez, the only two things I know for sure about his plan for office is that 1) he’s for the nightlife ordinance and 2) he thinks that if people pay their city bills online that they should receive them online. He also apparently felt that the request to not discuss his opponent didn’t apply to him, which I found annoying. If you can’t be FOR something, why are you running? Well, according to him, because when he was 18 he said he’d run when he was 50. Gee, I guess that’s a good reason. What a way to be passionate.

I hate to slam Seattlest – that’s Dylan’s job – but really, Seth, you were going to endorse Bruce Harrell just because he played football at your high school and college [#]? Really? Wait, before I say anything else, if I call you a name can we still be basketball friends?