Election 2009
(2009-10-22)
Listen Now:
SEATTLE
(KPLU) -
This year's race for Seattle mayor is unlike any in recent memory. Both candidates are political newcomers who were virtual unknowns at the start of the campaign. Both are liberal Democrats who agree on many issues facing the city. But even after months of debates and public appearances, lots of Seattle voters are still trying to get a handle on Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn. I wanted to know: "Who are these guys?"
null
Joe Mallahan arrives for his interview carrying his breakfast: an Italian soda and a plastic carry-out fruit bowl. When I ask the 46-year-old cell phone company exec the "who-are-you" question, he talks about his upbringing in Everett as the seventh of nine children in a blue collar household.
"My mom and dad were great social justice Catholics," he says. "And they always drove home how it was important to invite in from the margin those who are excluded. That's how I was raised and that's my priority."
Since the start of the campaign, Mallahan's told the story of working as a young man in Washington D.C. for former Democratic Congressman Al Swift. He was advised that before he went into politics he should establish his credentials in business. Today, Mallahan seems eager to show that, despite 20 years in the world of commerce, he's not just a corporate suit.
"I've told business leaders, This is who I am, a social justice Democrat,'" he says. "Here are my objectives. I want to take care of people, take up for those who can't stand up for themselves, take care of the Puget Sound. And the way I'll get that done is I'll run city government efficiently, and I will create an environment where jobs grow. So business gets that, but I'm not going to be in the pocket of big business."
Mallahan knows that after his years at T-Mobile, he's got to convince liberal Seattle voters of his social justice bona fides. He's also gotten a lot of flak since the disclosure that he missed voting in 13 elections since 2001. He's apologized and promised to do better. But I ask him, "Couldn't someone think your casual attitude toward voting reveals a lack of interest in civic affairs?" He bristles a bit
"I have been very committed to civic affairs," he says. "I was a John Kerry delegate. I was an organizer for Barack Obama, I door-belled for him, not only in Washington but in Indiana. I consulted to his national campaign on a pro-bono basis. I coach girls' soccer. I've been on my school's development committee."
Mallahan frequently returns to the theme that his business and leadership skills will help Seattle prosper. And that, he says, will insure the city has money to spend on social and environmental programs.
Mike McGinn doesn't have to work as hard to demonstrate his civic involvement.
"I've spent the last 20 years working as an advocate," he says. "When I was a law student at the U Dub, in my neighborhood of Greenwood, in the Sierra Club. I quit my job as a lawyer a few years ago to start a non-profit called Great City. So I've put about 20 years of effort into making this city a better place to live and I've gotten real results."
McGinn can claim success in campaigns to improve sidewalks in his neighborhood and to pass a city-wide levy for more parks. He helped defeat one ballot measure for highways and transit, and helped pass another with transit alone.
In person, the 49-year-old McGinn displays an easy "Blarney Stone" charm that comes from his upbringing in the suburbs of New York as the grandson of Irish immigrants. One of six children, McGinn -- like Mallahan -- claims the legacy of Catholic social progressives. But he rejects the accusation that he's an angry activist who's hostile to business.
"I actually have a record of working with business leaders in the city of Seattle to achieve shared objectives for our city," he says. "In Greenwood, for example, we put together a planning process for the neighborhood business district which included the business leaders and the property owners. If you spoke to them, they'd tell you they liked working with me."
More than any other issue in this race, though, McGinn has staked his campaign on opposition to the deep-bore tunnel planned to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. He says it's a bad deal all around.
"They don't know how much it's going to cost, they don't have the engineering studies back yet," he says. "There's 1.8 billion dollars they don't know where to get yet, from the city, from the port and from the county, which you may have noticed is broke right now. And there's this cost overrun issue, there's no plan for dealing with cost overruns. And it's not really a very good transportation solution, either. So this project could fall apart even if I'm not elected mayor."
Nonetheless, for months, McGinn has vowed to stop the tunnel if elected. So, many supporters - and detractors - got whiplash earlier this week when McGinn announced that as mayor he'd go along with the city council's unanimous decision to move forward with the tunnel. He says he's just acknowledging the reality that the mayor can't simply ignore the city council. But opponents suggest he's trying to gather support from green-minded voters who want to vote for him but are leery of his viaduct stand.
Aside from the viaduct replacement, there are areas of disagreement between the candidates. For example, McGinn supports the city's ban on guns in parks and playgrounds: Mallahan says the ban won't stand up in court.
But the real differences come down to style.
Mallahan kick-started his campaign with $200,000 out of his own pocket; McGinn has run a low-budget campaign heavy on volunteers.
Mallahan highlights his many endorsements from business leaders, construction unions and elected officials, including Governor Chris Gregoire; McGinn positions himself as the more populist choice.
In the end, both candidates are untried in public office and neither has run an organization anywhere near the size of the City of Seattle. Voters will have to take their best measure of each man, cast their vote ... and cross their fingers.
More KPLU Election '09 Coverage
© Copyright 2012, KPLU
