First-time candidates crowd Seattle City Council race for Position 8

This is the first of three stories this week profiling the races

for Seattle City Council.

When an incumbent decides not to seek re-election, it often sparks political ambition among those who may have never considered running in the past.

This seems to be the case for Seattle City Council Position 8, where five of the six candidates are making first-time bids. The seat is being vacated by Richard McIver, a council member since 1997.

This is the third council campaign for Robert Rosencrantz, an apartment-building owner and manager. The other candidates are Bobby Forch, a strategic adviser for the Seattle Department of Transportation; Jordan Royer, a vice president for a shipping-industry association and son of former Mayor Charles Royer; Mike O'Brien, former chairman of the Sierra Club's Cascade chapter; David Miller, neighborhood activist and CEO of a biotech company; and George "Rusty" Williams, a commercial real-estate broker and son of the late Jeanette Williams, a former City Council member.

The two top vote-getters in the Aug. 18 primary will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. Here's a look at the six candidates:

Bobby Forch

Forch said he was compelled to run because he felt passionately about creating jobs.

Calling himself a small-business advocate, Forch said part of his current job is helping minority-owned businesses land city contracts.

If elected, he said, he'd like to create a new "small-business division" within the city's Office of Economic Development.

A 20-year resident of the Central District, Forch added that youth violence can be curbed with city-supported programs that keep kids engaged between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m.

"On my way to work each day, I pass by memorials of young men slain in the streets," he said. "It breaks my heart to watch these kids grieving over their friends."

David Miller

Miller comes to city politics with a background in biotech. But years ago, he said, he discovered he had a knack for deciphering the arcane language of land-use codes as he fought for various issues in his Maple Leaf neighborhood.

He advocates the urban-village-growth concept as an antidote to sprawl.

"We are at a point where we have to make some very hard and specific decisions about how we have to grow," Miller said. "We have to decide if we're going to be able to be a city that regular folks can live in."

He's also interested in revitalizing neighborhood business districts and preserving the urban forest canopy.

Miller actively opposed plans in Maple Leaf to cut down trees in Waldo Woods, a parcel of 100-plus mostly Douglas firs. (Last month, a Jewish school bought the property and said it would keep all the trees.)

Miller said he would promote "development that is environmentally sensitive that the city can be proud of."

Mike O'Brien

As the only candidate who opposes a deep-bore tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, O'Brien said he is a firm believer in putting more dollars into public transportation.

He also said he's disheartened by certain budget cutbacks, such as teacher layoffs, as well as expected reductions in Metro Transit bus service. If elected, O'Brien said, he'd put his energy and support into schools and affordable housing.

"The theme of the elected officials is preserving the status quo and investing millions of dollars in roads," he said. "The public is ready for someone to buck the system."

O'Brien, who has a finance background, said the city needs to work in concert with the environment to grow the economy. He stepped down as leader of the local Sierra Club to campaign full time. One of the key issues, he added, is revising "problematic" land-use codes that lead to the "wrong kind of housing in the city."

"We have town homes with garages you can't even park your car in, and for the most part, they don't work for our neighborhoods."

Robert Rosencrantz

Rosencrantz calls this his "third time's a charm" campaign. He doesn't hesitate to answer when asked about his two previous losses for council seats in 2003 and 2005.

"Candidates always bear full responsibility for their losses," he said. "But the losses test you, and I took on greater and greater challenges. "

Rosencrantz said he wants Seattle to lead the way in rebuilding its economy by harnessing clean energy. He plans to push for research and development of solar, wind, tidal and geothermal energies.

At the same time, he said, he'll work to preserve the city's maritime, manufacturing and industrial businesses — mainstays of the local economy.

He also advocates returning "power to the neighborhoods." Rosencrantz wants to give neighborhoods more say over whether pay stations for parking should be installed on their streets.

"They shouldn't be added unless the neighborhood wants them and the City Council votes to allow them," he said.

Jordan Royer

Royer said even though he's been involved with politics all of his life, the timing was finally right for him to run.

Among his main issues, he said, is to be a voice for families in local government. One of his ideas is to develop school playgrounds as city parks.

"We should take that off the hands of the school district," he said.

Topping the list of Royer's concerns is public safety. He'd like to boost staffing levels of officers and minimize "one-officer" patrol cars, which can endanger police, he said.

He's also interested in channeling growth within city limits to reduce environmental impacts. And he wants to throw more support behind the maritime industry.

"It's an economic driver that's oftentimes forgotten," he said.

Rusty Williams

Williams said he decided to make his first run for the council because he wants to help shape the city's future growth.

He says he's the most qualified candidate because "I've done everything from soup to nuts." Williams, who used to play with the band Bighorn, is a commercial real-estate broker who once fixed potholes and later worked in information technology.

"I want to continue to be an evangelist for technology," he said, adding that one of his ideas is to install a fiber-optic network throughout the city.

"This network would be the über-high-speed conduit for deploying the city's digital media services," he said.

Williams also calls himself "an avid, avid tunnel supporter" and is eager for it to replace the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"The tunnel ... offers Seattle a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a water(front) park," he said. "It can put a smile on the face of people coming into Seattle."

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com