Thank you!
Last night I called Councilmember Conlin to congratulate him on his victory and pledge my support to helping build a brighter future for Seattle. My pledge to all of you who've supported my campaign is that these efforts do not end with this campaign, I will continue to be a voice for progressive solutions to the problems we face, and I will continue to advocate on behalf of building a more resilient local economy to provide greater opportunity, on behalf of more affordable and livable communities and on behalf of a world-class rapid transit system with fast, frequent and reliable service citywide.
I want to thank both those of you who supported me and those who didn't but told me they liked what they heard and hoped I'd stay engaged and run again. We knew from the beginning this would be an uphill battle and that the odds were stacked in the incumbent's favor, but I felt strongly that the voters would be better served if there was a challenge for Pos. 2 and I'm very proud of the campaign we've run. We made this a campaign about issues, and we stuck to the issues right up until election day. Last spring, as all the campaigns for City Council got underway there was a cacophony of issues and positions. By the general election the issues all the candidates were talking about were the issues I identified in my announcement speech on March 11th: our local economy & opportunity, affordability & livability, and transportation & mobility.
Throughout the campaign we stayed on message, talking to community leaders and grassroots activists to build creative solutions to the problems we face as a city, and compiled them into a set of more than 20 policy proposals to create a brighter future for Seattle and it's people. This is more than any other campaign for citywide office did, and while most of the media was too interested in the horse race to pay attention to issues and solutions voters consistently thanked me these past weeks for being specific about what I'd do and for being willing to stick my neck out and make bold proposals.
Now it's time to roll our sleeves up and get to work creating a fantastic future for this city we love. It is my sincerest hope that you'll stay engaged, and join in whatever way appeals to you, whether that be volunteering for a local food bank or getting involved in your community council, testifying at City Hall or running for office yourself. There is plenty of work for all of us, and future generations are counting on us to do our part.
Thank you for your support, for your engagement and for your friendship.
Cheers!
David
A Campaign for Seattle’s Future
Challenging times require more than bland, stale and timid ideas. They require boldness, courage and willingness to try new things. It's time for change.
Here's a look at some of my ideas:
Economy & Opportunity: For a better economy I'm proposing the establishment of a local currency along the lines of BerkShares in Massachusetts, which I'm calling Emerald Dollars, to will help keep our money invested right here in the local business that are the engines of economic prosperity and innovation, and help them jumpstart a job-growing economy. Learn more.
Livability & Affordability: For better development, greater affordability and more livable neighborhoods I'm proposing we replace our overly complex and bureaucratic planning and land use code with "smartcode" that encourages walkability and includes design guidelines and greater flexibility that frees architects to design solutions that fit the specific neighborhood location rather than the one size fits all cookie cutter construction we've seen in the last decade. This has been adopted in other communities and Seattle in particular would benefit from it's adoption here. It's time we fix our broken land use system so we can start designing more beautiful and functional buildings that compliment the great natural beauty of this region, rather than just the next round of future tenements. Learn more.
Transportation & Mobility: For better transportation I'm proposing that we develop an actual transportation system that will serve Seattle for the next century or more, including a rail-based rapid transit system as the backbone to connect our urban villages and urban centers to each other, streetcar connectors along key business corridors to allow people to get back and forth easily without a car, and bus circulators to get people who don't live within walking distance to a transit station. This whole system needs to work together if we're going to make it easy for people to get around without cars, and mesh with the network of greenways I've proposed with bicycle paths separated from both moving traffic and parked cars to permit our families and elderly to also get around by bicycle safely. Learn more.
These are examples of the type of bold ideas I'll champion on the Seattle City Council. You'll find more in a document I've released entitled "Investing in Our Future: For an Ecologically, Economically and Socially Sustainable Seattle". It's a roadmap to a brighter future, and in it are more than 20 specific policy proposals designed to create a future full of opportunity and a better quality of life for generations to come. This document is available for download in PDF form here. Please let me know what you think...I welcome your ideas!
—David
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