By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Of the 16 candidates vying for four city council spots this year, four of them are Jewish. Considering that Jews make up such a tiny fraction of Seattle’s population, that’s a strong representation.
The Jewish candidates boast diverse backgrounds in political and career experiences. All four, however, voiced similar opinions when asked which issues they were most concerned about tackling should they be elected. Transportation, education, public safety, and the economy topped off each candidate’s list. It’s probable that not all will move forward following the Aug. 18 Top Two primary.
Position 2 – David Ginsberg
When asked why he decided to run for city council, David Ginsberg, a 44-year-old Seattle native and technology solutions architect, gave the same answer as the other candidates interviewed for this article: A frustration with City Hall. More specifically, he said, it’s about a desire to see the city council function in a more cooperative and efficient manner and to see the city move forward on issues he’s most concerned about.
Of course, Ginsberg, who has never run for political office before, readily admits his campaign for the Position 2 seat will be an “uphill climb.”
Ginsberg is the only challenger to Richard Conlin. Conlin is not only the incumbent, but also the council president.
Ginsberg noted he’s already had some success, at the very least, in forcing Conlin to address issues that he might otherwise have avoided.
“I have managed to shift the terms of the debate and what my opponent is talking about,” he said. “So for a first-time challenger, that’s a good sign.”
Ginsberg sees the major challenges currently facing Seattle as interconnected. For example, he suggests that coupling affordable housing with effective transportation solutions can help to stimulate the local economy by encouraging people to shop where they live.
“We should aim to build urban villages that can be connected with transit, the backbone of which should be rail,” he explained. “When you build a rail station, you know it will be there for an indefinite period of time. And if you open a business nearby, you know there will be a certain amount of foot traffic there, which encourages economic development in those places. Areas that are considered walkable are not suffering as much [from the recession] as those that aren’t.”
Without a résumé of previous political experience, aside from serving as the 34th Legislative District Captain during the 2008 presidential election, Ginsberg is hoping practical ideas like this will be what it takes to swing the vote in his favor.
Ginsberg lives in West Seattle with his partner, Mike, and their 7-year-old twins, Anthony and Anya. They are members of Kol HaNeshamah.
Position 6 – Jessie Israel
and Marty Kaplan
Jessie Israel’s family has been a part of Seattle’s Sephardic community for a long time — four generations to be exact.
“My grandparents still go to Ezra Bessaroth,” she said. “They’ve been very involved throughout their lives.”
Marty Kaplan also claims a long family history in Seattle, going back more than 100 years.
It’s a connection both candidates draw on, and hope will help them in their efforts to unseat three-time incumbent Nick Licata.
Of course, getting elected to political office in Seattle requires more than just having an influential bubbie.
Kaplan has been running his own architecture firm for 30 years. In addition, he has served on the Seattle Planning Commission, neighborhood councils, the INTIMAN Theatre board of directors, and the Social Action Committee at Temple Beth Am.
Although Israel is only 35 years old (meaning she was just a kindergartener when Kaplan started his business), she too has amassed an impressive résumé of involvement in community planning and finance. She works for King County Parks and Recreation, a position she says prepares her for the realities of a city in a recession.
“With the parks, we lost 80 percent of our budget almost overnight,” Israel said. “I was on the team that had to figure out how to keep programs strong with so much less money, and we did it. Unfortunately, that skill set is very much in demand right now.”
Prior to joining King County, Israel managed the Center for Women & Democracy at the University of Washington. Before that, she worked as a consultant to help establish neighborhood plans for the Central Area, Eastlake, Denny Triangle, and Wallingford areas. On the international front, Israel spent two years as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in West Africa.
She said that she chose to take on Licata for Position 6 because “it’s time for a new approach and new energy.”
Kaplan was a little more direct in his criticism of the incumbent, however.
“After 12 years, Nick really hasn’t provided a lot of leadership on the council. In fact, he obstructed a lot of important things,” Kaplan said.
He cited Licata’s opposition to both the plan to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct with a tunnel and the Mercer Corridor project as examples as points of disagreement between the two candidates.
Licata has criticized the tunnel as being far too costly and the Mercer Corridor as unnecessary.
Kaplan, however, described both as “very important infrastructure investments,” and sees Licata’s anti-growth tendencies as out of synch with Seattle’s needs, particularly when it comes to transportation.
Israel voiced similar concerns about finding transportation solutions that are both financially viable and could be put to use sooner rather than later.
“We have a huge amount of growth coming into this region — an estimated million and half people in the next 20 years,” she said. “Light rail is great and it’s going to help. But it has taken 40 years to get light rail. We don’t have that kind of time for every project.”
Position 8 – Robert Rosencrantz
Robert Rosencrantz is no stranger to life on the local campaign trail. This is the third time he has run for city council. He ran for the first time in 2003, then again in 2005. He’s calling this run his “Third Time’s a Charm Campaign.”
What makes him so optimistic about this race?
“Timing is everything,” Rosencrantz said. “The council is losing a significant amount of business experience this year. On top of that, this is the most challenging economy we’ve had in a long time.”
Rosencrantz claims 25 years of experience working in the realms of affordable housing, finance, real estate, and asset management. He and his wife Terry also own four apartment complexes in Seattle.
“We stick to the basics and get things done,” he said of his and Terry’s building management style.
Rosencrantz describes himself as a “big-picture vision guy.” And indeed, his aspirations for bringing the city out of its economic slump are ambitious.
“We are going to see a fundamental change over next few years in our relationship with energy,” he said. “The ability for a city to bring in those jobs is proportional to the vision of leaders willingness to take it on.”
In Rosencrantz’s vision, this means, “transforming the industrial land base into new industry.”
Who will redevelop Seattle’s existing industrial spaces and how those projects will be funded, he isn’t quite sure, however.
“I see that picture pretty clearly; I just don’t know how we’re going to get there yet,” he said.
Rosencrantz’s other pet project, which he’ll make a priority if elected, is to “return power to the neighborhoods,” by way of ordinances that would allow neighborhoods decision-making authority over certain issues such as what to do with the funds generated from parking meters.