Primary '07: Attack of the Jean Godden Clones - Eat the State
Seattle City Council, Position 3:
We much prefer Al Runte, the former UW historian who, despite his dismissal in certain other local media venues as "The Nutty Professor," reminds us for many a good reason of Charlie Chong, the glorious gadfly (rest his soul) who shook up the council in the late 1990s with his healthy hostility towards both the infamous "Seattle Way" and the public-private partnerships then festering in City Hall. ...
Our endorsement, then, to replace Peter Steinbrueck? Watch our boldface carefully: If you're voting your fears (i.e., voting to keep Bruce Harrell out of the city council), vote for Venus Velazquez. If you're voting your hopes, vote for Al Runte. [more]
SRO crowd for City Council candidates forum - Magnolia News
Al Runte, another Position 3 challenger, said that in terms of growth, development and transportation Seattle is "moving closer and closer to the phenomenon of Europe - more people, less land." As for solving the city's vast and ingrained transportation problems, Runte said he supports rebuilding the Alaskan Way Viaduct rather than replacing it with surface streets. "The problem with the surface option is you're going to have a lot of stopandgo traffic," he said, adding that "we should have solved this problem years ago." [more]
Myspace, YouTube and Al Runte - Seattle P-I
Seattle politicians often use the services of pricey political consultants to manage the affairs of their campaigns. It was reported in The Stranger that City Councilwoman Jean Godden plopped down $25,000 for some professional services.
Al Runte (hot for council Position 3 along with Bruce Harrell, Venus Velázquez, Scott Feldman and John Manning) swings completely the other way. [more]
P-I Endorsements: Seattle's pickings - Seattle P-I
Al Runte is a third quality candidate in the field, as impressive a thinker about urban life and the environment as one could hope to find running for council. Runte would liven up the council with a mix of fresh ideas and neighborhood sensibility... [more]
BNSF rebuffs private offer - The Seattle Times
Standing in front of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train at the downtown Renton railroad depot, rail advocate Al Runte, who is running for Seattle City Council, declared, "For $30 million, we could have equipment, tracks upgraded and operational. We could do it in 60 days. We could have commuter rail on this track in 60 days." [more]
Election Odds - The Stranger
Al Runte, a rumpled former UW professor who won almost a third of the vote against Mayor Greg Nickels in 2005, is on a roll. Towering over his four opponents on a makeshift stage in the University Heights Community Center, Runte explains his philosophy. It boils down, basically, to this: Developers, especially Paul Allen, have too much power; the city spends its money in the wrong places; the council has failed to listen to the neighborhoods. [more]
Far from disingenuous - Ballard News-Tribune
Better educated in the nuances of politics than at any previous point, I can state with certainty that Andrew Lewis is far from disingenuous. Despite the fact that he's only 17 years old, he is a savvy political animal still sporting pink cheeks, impeccably neat attire and a cell phone filled with the private numbers of leading state politicians. Fortunately for his current boss it's summer break so he's able to put in 14 hours a day managing Al Runte's campaign for Seattle City Council. [read article]
Race Coverage
Open City Council seat attracts five hopefuls in Seattle - Seattle Times
Al Runte, a writer and consultant who has so far raised about $16,500, said he's an educator by profession "but that's not what the City Council does."
"The City Council is about infrastructure," he said. "We've got to get our infrastructure modernized; we've got to get the city as an economic engine going." [more]
A Seattle summer, and the election nobody will notice - Beacon Hill News
Al Runte, the former mayoral candidate who is one of the only advocates for neighborhoods in this year's race so far, faces a crowded and well-funded field in his effort to wage a grassroots effort to win the open seat.
Can Szwaja or Runte - or anyone running with popular support but without big downtown money - be competitive in Seattle elections under the new summer regime? [more]
Ever vote for a candidate who is not a Democrat? - West Seattle Herald
Councilman Peter Steinbrueck is giving up his seat on the City Council and there are five people vying to replace him. Three of them - Al Runte, Bruce Harrell and Venus Velazquez - attended the 34th District Democrats' candidate forum.[more]
Articles Written by Al Runte:
We've forgotten how to love our national parksLest Americans be lulled into believing that every problem with the national parks is financial, it is time we faced the deeper problem, and no, George Bush does not come close.
To be sure, the president is no Teddy Roosevelt, but neither was Bill Clinton. Deeper even than politics is the cultural problem of forgetting how to love our national parks. [more]
In understanding the recent flap over Seattle's parks, it is important to remember the deeper issue. For the first time in U.S. history, the governing standard for parks is profit. Not just developers but even universities preach the need for selling park "amenities." All parks are on the auction block and Seattle can hardly expect to be immune. [more]
Forget gas; we need a plan to keep passenger trains rolling
Here we go again — blaming everything on the oil companies for the spiraling cost of gasoline. How about we try something positive for a change, say, restoring our passenger trains? For decades, Europe has paid double what the U.S. pays for gas, and just look at the trains they have. Every day, thousands of passenger trains — conventional and high-speed — whisk tourists and business people across the continent. Of course, Europe has a plan for trains. Addiction prevents that here. So addicted have Americans become to the automobile we have forgotten all that railroads were — and could be again. [more]