Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/833937
BY ROGER VALDEZ SMART GROWTH SEATTLE I am today announcing my candidacy to be Mayor of Seattle. We should choose hope instead of despair, reconciliation instead of fear and anxiety, growth instead of building walls, opportunity instead of scarcity. We will work together, landlords and tenants, to improve rental housing. We will make our roads, buses, bike lanes, and sidewalks open, useful, and safe. We will expand the supply of new housing to welcome new people moving to our city and build housing of all types, in all parts of the city, for all levels of income. Our city is a lighthouse in the storm for that family with only a few dollars, but hearts full of hope. Welcome home! I want this city to be the incubator for newly born ideas of the successful entrepreneur. Welcome home! And to those who have lived here all their lives, I will be your Mayor too. You've built this city with your hard work. This is your home! Seattle's greatness depends on having no walls and an open economy. This isn't a dream; this is our comprehensive plan. The Mayor's policy of Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning will kill this hope, fueling housing costs and punishing those who build housing in our city. His policy will make sure that prices and resentments will rise, fueling more discontent. We will not set people who start and run businesses and workers against one another. We are in a great relay race and we will pass the baton to our children better than it was given to us. We will confi dently say, "Take this place that we've made and changed for you. It belongs to you now. Take it and run!" Roger Valdez is the director of Smart Growth Seattle. More at smartgrowthseattle.org. Smart Growth Seattle Guest Editorial And Now: A Message from the Ideal Pro-Housing Candidate It's an election year in Seattle and this fall the city will elect one Councilmember and a Mayor. The fi eld isn't great for housing. What would a great candidate sound like? This hypothetical announcement speech from an ideal candidate is a condensed version of an earlier blog post from smartgrowthseattle.org. We should choose hope instead of despair, reconciliation instead of fear and anxiety, growth instead of building walls, opportunity instead of scarcity. 47 SUMMER 2017 master builder Feature story housing advocacy