Fourteen candidates for four Seattle City Council positions played a round of "speed dating" this morning at a political forum by the Downtown Seattle Association.

After brief introductions, the candidates zipped from table to table for five-minute sessions of questioning by members of the downtown business group.

It all went by too fast to get a great sense for all the candidates. (And some honestly didn't get much beyond the usual "I'm for neighborhoods and transit and jobs" cliches, at least at my table.) But here are some highlights:

Does Licata say 'no' to much?

While incumbent Nick Licata played up his reputation as the council member with the "reputation for asking tough questions," his two opponents are branding him as an anti-business obstructionist.

Marty Kaplan, an architect and member of the city Planning Commission, said Licata "took pride in kicking the Sonics out of town" -- referring to Licata's vocal opposition to subsidies demanded by the NBA team. Kaplan said Licata wants to leave the Alaskan Way Viaduct up "because he is afraid of downtown property owners getting rich" when it comes down.

Jessie Israel, a King County parks department employee, said Licata opposes big-ticket projects such as Sound Transit's light rail and investment in South Lake Union. "I see that he has been a big obstructionist on a lot of fronts," said Israel. "He's doing our city a disservice and he's got to go."

Or should the council say 'no' more often?

But a much different message came from some candidates for other council seats, who said the problem is that the council doesn't do enough obstructing of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels or the city bureaucracy.

Robert Rosencrantz, an apartment-building owner running a third time for council, said city government is "out of balance" -- with the power all in Nickels' hands. "He roars while the City Council whispers." He vowed to change that.

Even Jordan Royer, an ex-aide to Nickels, said the city is larded with "top-heavy departments" and said the public generally doesn't believe the city can "get stuff done." Royer said the role of the council should be to bring "market pressure" on city departments that don't otherwise feel the need to change.

Royer and Rosencrantz are among the six candidates running for the council seat being vacated by Richard McIver.

What to do about downtown panhandling?

Because this was a forum for downtown property owners, panhandling and homelessness came up repeatedly.

Royer, who was a public-safety aide to Nickels, was surprisingly blunt about the city's failure to make downtown streets appear safe. "Do you feel great about what Third and Pike looks like?" he said. Royer said a more active police presence in some areas could help. "Right now we are very tolerant of anti-social behavior on our streets."

David Miller, a Maple Leaf neighborhood leader also running for the McIver seat, said the problem is that many homeless people have nowhere to go but downtown. He said maybe more tent cities should be allowed. "There is no reason why we can't have multiple tent cities in the city if people want them," he said.

Can tax-happy Seattle dial it down a bit?

Seattle loves taxes (except for that espresso tax idea a few years ago), but a few candidates suggested maybe the city could rein in the whole tax-and-spend thing just a bit.

Rusty Williams, son of former Councilmember Jeanette Williams, who is running for the McIver seat, said he'd try to put a cap on city taxes and, in particular, try to repeal the "head tax" the city imposed a couple years ago, which charges business for each employee.

David Ginsberg, who is challenging incumbent Richard Conlin, said the city should also repeal its complicated "square-footage tax" on businesses.

And Miller said he favored moving to "zero-based" city budgeting, forcing departments to justify every dollar they spend, instead of merely starting with last year's money and adding everything new they want to do.