In Washington the top-2 go on to the Primary in November
The two are; T-Mobile executive Joe Mallahan and Sierra Club activist Mike McGinn.
Are they more or less Liberal than Nickels, I don’t know. but they can’t be half of the dimwit Nickels was.
One with executive experience who looks out for all people and the other who rides a bike to work....Let’s see?
Mallahan hopes his optimism and courage will help shake things up at City Hall. What’s his greatest strength?
“My open and accountable management style,” Mallahan said. “I speak very frankly, and I answer people’s questions. And when I change my mind or when I realize I’ve made a mistake, I’m not hesitant to let people know that.”
Mallahan lives in Wallingford with his wife and two daughters, and he is the vice president of operations strategy at T-Mobile in Bellevue. One of his more notable successes was the Flex-Pay plan he developed that brought in thousands of lower-income customers and millions of dollars for the company, he said.
“I think what Flex Pay shows is my deep respect for people of lower economic means,” he said.
Mike McGinn has two qualities that set him apart from the rest of the candidates running for mayor this year.
No. 1: He often rides a bike to work. “Mike Bikes” is part of the Greenwood-based lawyer’s marketing campaign.
No. 2: He is also the candidate most set against the viaduct-tunnel replacement, calling it both environmentally unfriendly and fiscally irresponsible at a time when juggernaut projects ought not dominate an agenda in the midst of a major recession.
Why did he enter the race? “I saw this as a time of tremendous change environmentally and economically, and these are matters of real consequences for Seattle’s future,” McGinn said. “The $4.2 billion for a tunnel we can’t afford threatens our other priorities. It’s not a transportation solution, and it’s bad for the environment. We have to stop the tunnel if we’re going to say yes to anything else.”
The tunnel, he said, promotes more driving at a time when “we know the price of oil will just get higher.” He suggested steering away from the city’s tie to foreign oil and focusing instead on local fuel sources such as hydro-electricity. By developing hydro-electric power, billions of dollars stay within the regional economy and a byproduct is cleaner air, he explained.
On day one as mayor, McGinn, the former chief of the local chapter of the Sierra Club and regular Metro user, said he would begin working on the transit crisis. He said Metro service is facing a 20-percent cut in bus service, and each of the city’s nine council members have signed a letter urging Metro to nix that idea.
McGinn said he would help find ways for Metro, which has the highest percentage of city-bus ridership in the country, to reconsider.