Al Runte
Al Runte
City Council
Position 3
2007 CITY OF SEATTLE CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Building public awareness: What priority do you assign to Seattle's efforts to educate community residents about the importance of historic preservation?
High priority
Statement: Every civilization is judged by what it saves, not merely by what it builds. In Seattle, we build too much and save too little. That can and must be changed.
2. Revitalizing neighborhoods: What priority do you give to assuring that Seattle has the financial resources required to play a significant role in revitalizing historic neighborhoods?
High priority
Statement: If we can build sports stadiums costing us hundreds of millions of dollars, we ought to be able to save historic neighborhoods.
3. Preserving designated City landmarks: What priority do you give to sustaining Seattle's designated landmarks and saving other landmark-eligible historic places as properties that enable residents to see history and learn from it?
High priority
Statement: The Maple Leaf neighborhood is about lose the historic Waldo Hospital property—to 48 townhouses built like a wall. The neighbors feel cheated and shortchanged by the process denying the property historical status. They lament losing more than 60 trees. This is a perfect example why Seattle needs a stronger voice for historic preservation on the City Council. City residents are not anti-development; they are just pro-responsibility, as should we all be concerned about the loss of history—and historical landscapes like the Waldo property.
4. Protecting Seattle's heritage in court: What priority do you assign to the work of the Hearing Examiner and City Attorney regarding the preservation of designated City landmarks and landmark-eligible properties?
High priority
Statement: None.
5. Advocacy for historic homeowners: How do you rate Seattle's efforts to influence public policy and public perceptions around the benefits of preserving significant historic residences?
Low priority
Statement: Seattle obviously is not doing enough when developers get everything they want, and the people feel they are losing too many historical properties.
6. Influencing public policy: What priority do you place on Seattle's work to foster preservation-friendly policies and funding?
High priority
Statement: None.
7. Supporting historic preservation: What priority do you assign to sustaining and funding Seattle's Historic Preservation Program in the Department of Neighborhoods?
High priority
Statement: I hold a Ph.D. in American Environmental History; received a fellowship to the 13th Annual Seminar for Historical Administrators in Colonial Williamsburg (1971); have written five major historical books and hundreds of relevant essays; have served on the boards of major environmental organizations; and taught history at five institutions of higher learning. I trust that my record speaks for itself in all matters where I have not given a “statement.” History is not a luxury, nor is historical preservation. When I am on the City Council, we will love history in this city as never before.
8. Funding for preservation projects: What priority do you assign to the provision of grants and revolving loans for Seattle's private historic preservation projects?
High priority
Statement: None.