Ticket snub

Molloy's high energy translates well to the big picture

Editor, The Times:

The Seattle Times' port-commissioner endorsements are remarkably shortsighted ["Creighton, Davis, Hara for Port" Times endorsements, Sept. 13]. We live in a city that has made national headlines for taking a leadership role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. We have cities across the country asking our elected officials how to fight global warming so they, too, can do their part as we wait for our national elected leaders to take action.

To get our Port Commission on board with this goal would continue to bolster Seattle's efforts to protect our clean air and expand our energy portfolio, resulting in less reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels.

We've been lucky to have Lawrence Molloy as a port commissioner. Molloy has advocated for green building policies at the Port and secured the funding to keep an inventory of seaport emissions so that they can begin working to decrease pollutants.

And the fact that he's been referred to as a maverick or a "loose cannon" on the Port Commission only demonstrates that we need more commissioners like him to get elected so he isn't always the lone voice for environmental concerns.

The Times claims to have endorsed candidates who will work in the public interest. Since when are breathable air and clean water not in the public interest? The Seattle Port Commission has been predictably lackadaisical for too long.

We began moving in the right direction when we elected Molloy and we can continue to do so by re-electing Molloy and electing candidates in the other two seats who bring new energy and integrity to the position.

— Emily Hallman, Seattle

Beating Davis' eyes

Perhaps Port Commissioner Pat Davis' arithmetic is why the Port of Seattle is $4.8 billion in debt. She told The Times she had cut the property-tax levy by one-third. In her voters pamphlet, she also claimed to have cut property taxes by one third [Election 2005: "Races pack uncommon sizzle" Local News, Sept. 11].

However, the state audit shows a $30 million property-tax assessment until 2002, when Davis and the Port Commission increased that tax to $39.3 million. In 2003, increased the tax to $57.8 million. In 2004, increased to $59.1 million; and again, increased property taxes to $62 million for this year.

We need someone in the Port Commission who can at least add and subtract. I believe Jack Jolley, a former Microsoft treasurer, is the better candidate.

— Dan Caldwell, Des Moines

The way we err

I wish Election 2005: "Corr is riding monorail issue in campaign to unseat Drago" [Local News, Sept. 12] had elaborated on City Council candidate Linda Averill in its review of those running in Position 4. I find it thrilling that a socialist is taking on three Democrats and offering a genuine alternative to business as usual in Seattle government.

I heard Averill on the radio and she was the only one in her race willing to talk about the elephant in the room: The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. That's why, she argues, we need to turn our tax structure upside down, collecting funds from the corporations and millionaires, rather than providing them tax breaks, as our current city government does.

It makes sense to me that she has amassed the support of numerous labor organizations and individuals. She certainly has my support.

— Fred Hyde, Seattle

Rosencrantz is alive

"Miller, McIver for Council" [endorsement, Sept. 12] endorsing Richard McIver for City Council Position 8 fails to consider what our city needs most, as well as the best candidate to fill that need. Our numerous transportation problems, the related problem of overlapping agency functions, the increasing lack of affordable housing, and other problems, stem not only from external conditions, but the failures of the status quo.

We need fresh thinking. We really need public servants who can bring diverse interests together to get projects done. Few candidates have this capability.

You overlooked the candidate who is singularly equipped to do this: Robert Rosencrantz. His successes in both the public and private sectors give him the background to help reach consensus and meld diverging visions.

— Maureen Bekemeyer, Seattle

Sky high

Did Paige Miller join The Seattle Times editorial board and write her own endorsement [for Seattle City Council Position 2]? The smart people at The Times can't really believe her hype.

"A doer"? Here's what she's done: While on the Port Commission, Miller has overseen a marked decline in seaport business, huge budget increases on major projects (third runway, anyone?), and the largest tax increase in recent memory. The cost increases at the airport have directly led to one major airline looking to do business elsewhere.

Is that what we want her to do to Seattle?

We can't afford her type of leadership.

— Aaron Hilst, Seattle

Raging bull

I have always been an independent voter and I will not change. I will not [let] one of these stupid parties tell me how to vote. This primary election is unconstitutional. It is my guaranteed freedom to vote how I choose and not be dictated to by a party of [disagreeable people].

How can it be right for someone to tell you how you must vote? In one word, to describe this way of running an election with the two-party system: stupid. The person with his black robe and funny little wooden hammer doesn't understand that this is a democracy controlled by the majority vote of the people. Replace him.

When they open my ballot and see a big letter — I — on it and two words telling them what to do with this ballot, they will understand my position.

— Phil Williams, Kent

Hollywood out

Last action heroine

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a political girly-man ["Schwarzenegger spurns same-sex marriage bill," News, Sept. 8]; he wimped out on the civil rights issue of the 21st century.

— Allegra Berrian, Seattle