Are we satisfied with the direction in which the Mayor and the City Council are taking us?

1. Energy.  We need a pro-active energy policy, so that we don't get caught in another energy crisis like the one we went through in 2001.  We've only got five years until 2011 when our contract for cheap hydro-power with Bonneville is over.  Bonneville is already telling us that it doesn't have enough power for all of its current customers.  City Light has no plan to deal with this looming crisis.  In fact,  Mayor Nickels stands to make things worse by rolling back rates to gain your temporary favor, rather than making the needed investments to avoid catastrophe later when he's already won his third term of office and set to retire.

2. The Viaduct.  Let's  build a beautiful new viaduct  as our monument to 21st Century.  Mayor Nickels and Councilmember Clark support an expensive tunnel that the State is not willing to pay for.  Their plan doesn't even make sense as far as it goes, as a tunnel under Western Ave. would fit within the State's budget, and wouldn't cripple traffic downtown for the next 7 years. We simply can't afford to repeat the Big Dig fiasco here.  We would have to cut services to the bone and raise taxes for a plan that will make no one but the developers, who seem to be trying to buy this election, richer.

3. Transportation.  Let re-build the old monorail as a pilot project for a regional system.  Mayor Nickels wants a million people living in Seattle, but he has is no plan to handle double the traffic.  He even wants to make things worse by tearing down the viaduct before a replacement is in place, and dumping all that traffic on the streets permanently if he can't get his way with the tunnel.

4. Housing. 

   	The City has taken some steps in the right direction by eliminating some height restrictions.  But there is still a glaring error in citywide policy.  In much of the city, building can only be 6 stories.  This not only wastes scarce land, it leads to the construction of cheap wood-framed structures which will decay over time.  The City needs to double the general height limit to 12 stories.  This would double land use efficiency and promote the use of concrete structures, which will last for centuries and save the forests.
   	By increasing mobility, a  regional transit system would shift the balance of price leverage toward tenants.  Affordable housing programs have a role to play, but can't solve the problem of supply and demand.
   	The City needs to make a profit by investing in City Light, so that housing subsidies do not simply transfer the burden onto the taxpayers struggling to pay their own rent.

5. Jobs. We need to increase the tax base by re-industrializing Seattle.  This means more good jobs, like making wind farm components and alternative fuel vehicle components. 

6. Libraries, Parks, the Arts, Police. We all would like to see the libraries open every day, the parks maintained and beautified, more Police on the street for our security. Lets build up City Light as an owner of profitable and clean wind energy for the city, so we can have more services and lower taxes.

Would  electing Lippmann to the Council make a critical difference to the future of the City?

Would Lippman be capable of changing the direction of the City?