Seattle Times Bellevue City Council Endorsements

The Seattle Times June 27^th and June 28^th endorsements of Bellevue City Council candidates are far more about urging support for candidates who espouse policies the Times favors than policies of concern to Bellevue residents.  For years surveys have shown traffic congestion has been a major concern with the latest showing 67% listed it as their top concern, nearly 4 times the 17% concerned about the cost of housing.

Yet, like the Seattle Times, the council has spent a decade supporting an East Link light rail extensions that will do absolutely nothing to reduce congestion in the city and will increase I-90 Bridge congestion.  There was never any need for Sound Transit to confiscate the I-90 Bridge center roadway or to create this monstrosity of light rail through the city, a permanent scar on Bellevue’s persona as the city in the park.  

The council even agreed to a huge maintenance facility making the absurd claim it will be a magnet for “Transit Oriented Development”.  They supported Sound Transit 3 resulting in east side residents being forced to pay hundreds If not thousands annually, primarily on a light rail spine between Everett and Tacoma.

Candidates Stokes and Roberson have been instrumental in allowing this debacle.  It’s not clear whether Candidates Zahn and Barksdale are Sound Transit supporters but the Times endorsements suggest they are.

None of the endorsed candidates have demonstrated concern about congestion on local roads.  For years, north/south roads east of I-405 have been congested for much of the day with 40,000 Microsoft employees on route to and from their Redmond campus.  Yet no attempt has been made to limit parking at the campus, forcing Microsoft to greatly expand their Connector shuttle service despite plans to add thousands more employees.  

The council also needs to advocate for a similar employer-provided shuttle service into downtown Bellevue, especially with Amazon plans to add thousands more employees in city. Instead their plans to implement bike-only lanes will only exacerbate the problem.

However, the most odious aspect of the Seattle Times council endorsements is they all are presumably advocating for a year round homeless shelter for men; what will undoubtedly be used as a “relief valve” for Seattle’s problem.   It’s one thing to provide a temporary shelter for families, it’s another to do so for single men. 

It’s likely many of the men seeking shelter have serious drug or mental health issues.  Solving their problems is far more difficult than providing acceptable housing.  When will they leave and where will they go? The council candidates need to address the issue prior to making any shelter plans.  

Again, it's just another example Bellevue voters, like those throughout the area, need to be wary of not only Seattle Times candidate endorsements, but of many of their advocacies.