Elizabeth Campbell Plans to Run Against Mayor Greg Nickels
By Lydia Sprague
April 09, 2009
"I think there should be a moratorium on the urban mobility and bicycle plans and in its place a panel," Campbell said both plans were instituted by advocates, and no input was taken from drivers. Road diets, she said, are not considering the impact on drivers.
"It's all well and good to say we're saving the planet, but at the same time we're strangling peoples' lives," Campbell said. Motor vehicles are going to be with us always, regardless of the type of fuel they use, and drivers should have a say on how the roads are laid out, she said.
On the big question of how government is going to pay for all of its new projects, Campbell said lawmakers need to realize that some projects just aren't going to get done.
"They're going ahead and saying 'we're short [$50 million] but we're going to go ahead and do Mercer,'" she said. "At a certain point we have to say 'no, we can't do all the things we want to.'"
She said lawmakers should hold off on some projects.
"Unless there's an imminent danger, it's discretionary," she said.
She also spoke about Mayor Greg Nickels’ urban development policies.
"I won't say I'm the anti-growth candidate. I will say I'm the reasonable growth candidate," Campbell said. Nickels is "encouraging people to come here and he's dismantling the city."
She spoke of the disparity of development in neighborhoods. She used Ballard as an example of a neighborhood that is being overdeveloped with condos and business. In comparison, she said, the University District is going to shambles.
She spoke of the Rainer neighborhood, and said the city is not making an effort to bring viable business to the area. Campbell said it might be a good idea to bring a Walmart into the neighborhood, to show other businesses that there is good industry in the neighborhood.
Campbell lists her qualifications as work experience, as a health care developer and a nursing aid, community advocating experience, and her education. She received a degree in criminal justice at Shoreline Community College, and currently is completing a masters program at the University of Washington.
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