Arrest jolts city council campaign

Coming out of the August primary, Venus Velázquez looked like the front-runner to succeed Peter Steinbrueck on the Seattle City Council. She won 44 percent of the vote, and Steinbrueck, a popular council member who served three terms, endorsed the community activist and public-affairs consultant to replace him.

Bruce Harrell, an attorney, had secured the support of many prominent elected officials, including former Gov. Gary Locke and King County Executive Ron Sims, but won just 28 percent of the vote in the crowded primary field.

But three weeks before the Nov. 6 election, just as the first absentee ballots went out, Velázquez was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

The race mostly had been a debate over leadership style and perspectives, and now voters must weigh how they feel about Velázquez's arrest.

"I'm not asking voters to dismiss it," said Velázquez, who has said she made a mistake that night but has pleaded not guilty in court. "I am asking voters to look at my history of service, the work that I've done on issues that are important to the city."

Harrell says it's up to the voters to decide what to make of the DUI charge.

The Municipal League of King County has rated both candidates for Position 3 as "very good." Harrell has raised $222,800, while Velázquez has raised $183,500.

At campaign appearances, Velázquez talks of how the city has failed some growing neighborhoods and can do better. She highlights her perspective as a parent with young children in public schools, a perspective she says the council will need when Steinbrueck leaves.

A neighborhood planner for the city in the late 1990s, Velázquez now works as a consultant to get more public funding for clients such as the King County Alliance for Human Services. "I am not successful in my work if I don't get things through City Council and County Council."

"That's the legislative experience," she says, that would serve her on the council. "It's getting four colleagues to come along with me."

In 2006, Velázquez applied to the City Council when it sought a midterm replacement for Jim Compton. She was named one of the six finalists, but the council selected Sally Clark.

Harrell, who has young children in private school, says he would be a more collaborative leader than Velázquez. "My style focuses on creating a high-performing organization, and I do that through building teamwork, a common vision and making sure that people are respected in the course of open dialogue."

His clients at his downtown firm of five attorneys have included Seattle's First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, and African-American employees who sued Boeing for racial discrimination in a class-action lawsuit, which was settled for $15 million in 1999.

Both candidates have made a big deal about improving public schools, even though the council does not oversee the schools. The council does oversee spending of the $117 million Families and Education Levy that voters approved to fund, among other things, before- and after-school programs.

Velázquez says she would work on improving schools by involving parents in deciding how the levy money is spent. "Parents need a stronger voice; I want to lead that process," she says.

The problems with public education, Harrell says, can be addressed with a new vision. "I have a vision where we will use teen centers, libraries, the aquarium in partnering ways to make sure each child has structure in his or her life after 2:30," he says.

Building a strong vision is Harrell's theme. "This City Council plays 'solutionist' politics," he said.

He cites the Alaskan Way Viaduct as an example. Instead of coming up with replacement options first, Harrell says, the city should work with stakeholders to define a vision and then come up with the best solution. He supports "in concept" a surface replacement for the elevated roadway, but "unveiling a solution and then getting citizens to buy in, to me is backward."

Velázquez supports a surface-street replacement with more transit as a long-term solution but also suggests short-term fixes such as retrofitting the viaduct and turning Third Avenue downtown into a pedestrian and bus rapid-transit corridor similar to one in downtown Denver.

In the neighborhoods, Velázquez says the city has not kept promises made in neighborhood plans to build amenities — such as libraries, sidewalks and parks — in areas of dense growth. She wants to work with Georgetown, the Duwamish industrial area and South Park as those areas deal with environmental issues and gentrification.

Velázquez acknowledges that when she worked on contentious neighborhood plans in West Seattle she was criticized as being difficult to work with. "I was very green," she said, adding that the process taught her how passionately people feel about their neighborhoods. She says, "I am tough, I am decisive, I am straightforward."

The two candidates differ on how to improve public safety. Harrell supports the city's current plan to add 105 officers in the next five years. Velázquez wants to add 250 police officers, and to pay for them she would eliminate the mayor's proposed $9 million 311 customer-service phone system.

Harrell wants to require licenses for nightclubs to reduce violence and noise, while Velázquez does not. She says more police would help solve problems.

The police and firefighters unions support Velázquez and have not backed away since she was arrested Oct. 17.

A police officer pulled her over at 11:30 p.m. on Northwest Market Street in Ballard after radar recorded her going 50 mph in a 30-mph zone and she was observed crossing the center line, according to a police report. A roadside breath test recorded her blood-alcohol level at 0.115, compared with the legal limit of 0.08, a police source said. While the results of that test can be used in court to show that an officer had probable cause to arrest a person on suspicion of drunken driving, it cannot be used as evidence of intoxication.

She has apologized for driving after having two drinks with dinner. Velázquez says she believes she was not impaired.

Her next court appearance is Nov. 19.

Pro-business political-action committee Forward Seattle has spent more than $56,000 to help Velázquez's campaign. The group's decision puzzled some because Harrell already had received the endorsement of The Alki Foundation, the political arm of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Forward Seattle supports Velázquez, it says, because Harrell changed his position on development issues. Harrell says he hasn't changed his message.

Both candidates say they are willing to study proposed incentive-zoning rules that would allow developers to build taller if they contribute to an affordable-housing fund.

Forward Seattle's support, Harrell said, is evidence that Velázquez "has clearly sold out to developers and at the same time wants to be chair of the land-use committee."

Harrell claims Velázquez made promises to the developers to get their support, but he doesn't offer specifics. She says she has made no promises. Forward Seattle's support, Velázquez said, is proof she can build bridges among different groups.

Harrell says he would offer the City Council "transparency," not secret promises.

During a Chief Sealth High School basketball-recruiting scandal, Harrell represented the Metro League, to which the school belongs. The sports league held a closed meeting for public-school principals to discuss whether to sanction Chief Sealth High. The Seattle Times objected, saying the meeting violated the state's Open Public Meetings Act.

Harrell now says of that meeting, "Transparency cannot legally trump attorney-client privilege." He wants openness "in how police misconduct is examined, how transportation choke points are analyzed, how the goals are set by the Seattle City Council."

Harrell has repeatedly criticized Velázquez for making what he calls "divisive" comments at a Hate Free Zone candidate forum, where she said, "Are we the people who look like you, who come from you? And if we're not, don't vote for us, but if we are, vote us in."

Velázquez says the way Harrell is bringing it up is "divisive, distasteful and hurtful." She says she meant people should vote for candidates who represent their perspective, such as her perspective as a parent.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com