Seattle City Council candidates Bagshaw, Bloom part ways on how to reach goals

This week, a look at the races for four Seattle City Council positions.

At first glance, Sally Bagshaw and David Bloom would appear to agree on many issues: They want affordable housing, better transportation and more living-wage jobs.

But the two Seattle City Council candidates quickly diverge on the path to those goals.

Bloom, 67, a retired minister and longtime social-justice advocate, wants the city to pull back on big-ticket projects and focus more on neighborhoods, starting with affordable housing, improved roads and new sidewalks.

Bagshaw, 58, a former government attorney, believes that through collaboration and creative thinking, Seattle can move forward with long-discussed projects such as the waterfront tunnel and Mercer Street expansion, while supporting neighborhoods and fixing roads.

Both candidates are vying for council Position 4, the seat being vacated by longtime member Jan Drago. Bagshaw is Drago's pick to succeed to her.

Bloom faces a difficult race. Bagshaw, well-funded with a host of key endorsements, captured 51 percent of the vote in the August primary. Bloom got 18 percent, besting three other candidates.

Bagshaw has raised more than $200,000 in campaign contributions, compared with Bloom's $86,000, and she has far more money to spend in the last weeks of the race.

Ballots in the all-mail election must be postmarked by Nov. 3.

With a cash balance of more than $32,000 as of last week, Bagshaw plans television ads and mailings. Bloom, who has a cash balance of about $4,600, says he will rely on sample ballots and automated calls.

A lawyer for more than 30 years, Bagshaw has worked as a state assistant attorney general and the head of the legal department for the original Metro transit and sewer system. When Metro was absorbed by King County in 1994, she joined the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, overseeing Metro, real property and natural resources, until she became chief of the civil division in 1999.

She held that job until she left the prosecutor's office in 2007 and took a yearlong sabbatical, sailing with her husband to Bora Bora. During that time, she decided to run for City Council because, she says, she saw it as an opportunity to meld her interests and use her skills in bringing people together.

Previously, she had served two terms on the Lake Forest Park City Council and took an active role in the Shoreline School District while she and her husband raised two sons.

Bagshaw now lives in downtown Seattle.

Bloom's history of activism in Seattle dates to the 1970s, when he co-founded the Seattle Displacement Coalition, a low-income housing and homeless organization, and the Downtown Emergency Service Center, which serves disabled and homeless adults.

After serving as a pastor for three congregations in the East Coast and Seattle early in his career, he began as a volunteer for the Church Council of Greater Seattle in 1976 and worked there for 20 years, serving as a program director and associate director for urban ministry.

At the Church Council, he co-founded its Homelessness Project, now called HomeStep, part of his lifelong commitment to housing issues, including a lead role in passage of Seattle's first housing levy in 1986.

If elected, Bloom, who is a renter, would push for 5,000 additional affordable units — beyond the goal of the housing levy on the Seattle ballot and the city's homelessness plan. Developers who tear town affordable housing would be required to replace it.

Bloom asserts the city plans to put about $1 billion into development of South Lake Union, including about $300 million for the proposed rebuilding of Mercer Street, when there are more pressing needs in city neighborhoods.

"We need to shift our priorities about how we spend our money," he said at a recent debate in which he bemoaned the loss of working-class families in Seattle.

The mayor's office and Paul Allen's Vulcan, the largest developer and property owner in South Lake Union, dispute Bloom's $1 billion figure, saying it is grossly inflated and based on wrong or distorted conclusions.

Bloom also opposes the $4.2 billion tunnel plan that Bagshaw supports, citing the risk of cost overruns that would be borne by the city.

Bagshaw sees the tunnel and Mercer projects as economic engines that will produce vibrant neighborhoods capable of absorbing growth. "Downtown is a neighborhood; so is South Lake Union," she said.

In a Seattle Channel appearance, Bagshaw described the tunnel as a "legacy opportunity."

She says the city can't afford to build 5,000 housing units, but she wants to create 1,000 more shelter beds with services. She doesn't favor placing requirements on developers, but would look at incentive programs to add affordable housing.

To create jobs, Bagshaw wants the city to become a national leader in green businesses and industry.

Bloom, speaking on the Seattle Channel, said he wants the city to pay living wages to all employees. He also would require city contractors who receive more than $100,000 and developers who benefit from zoning to pay such wages.

As part of her platform, Bagshaw wants to promote more cooperation between the city and Seattle Public Schools. That could include the creation of more vocational education and GED opportunities, with the goal of stemming the dropout rate, she says.

She also would like more cooperation between the city and King County, citing Public Health — Seattle & King County as an example of what can be done.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this story.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com