2001 Candidate Questionnaire

A Few Words From The 2001 Election Winners

Historic Seattle is dedicated to raising awareness of historic preservation's relevance within our community and our government. To this end, we solicited comments on key preservation issues from the 2001 Mayoral and Seattle City Council candidates. The following are the comments from the winners.

Mayoral Race: Greg Nickels

Historic Seattle, along with AIA Seattle and the Washington Chapter of the APA, sponsored a mayoral candidates forum that took place on October 2nd. The full transcript of this forum is available for further reading. Here are excerpts:

On Dedicated City Funding for Heritage and Historic Preservation:

Nickels: "in a city budget that is now 650 million dollars in general funds, I think you can squeeze our a drop or two to preserve the heritage of this community. I think the Neighborhood Matching Grant should be used to preserve the heritage of our neighborhoods." On the City-Wide Survey of Historic Properties: Sidran: "we will either maintain funding for it or either expand the capability to use volunteers to find funding from other sources to bring this about."

Nickels: "I think that it's something that's started and that we should now continue to finish the work."

On Enforcement of Minimum Maintenance Ordinance:

Nickels: "I believe there are opportunities for public private partnerships, everything from very small opportunities, such as like making sure that you take care of maintenance problems that threaten the integrity of the building."

On Preventing Another "Twin Teepees:"

Nickels: "seems to me that if the mayor has said this was an important thing to be looking out for, that it's important to preserve our heritage, then perhaps out departments would have been able to prevent this."

On Gentrification:

Nickels: ". a very serious problem . I think in some ways by preserving and upgrading and restoring the housing in a neighborhood you can keep the prices more affordable than when new construction comes into a neighborhood."

On the Cadillac Hotel:

Nickels: "a sense of urgency is appropriate . if it is a financial problem that particular owner is having in restoring use of the building, and safety of the structure that can be pieced together, that there can be a partnership put together. I think advocacy from the Mayor's office can be important in bringing those different partners to the table to solve some of those problems."

Seattle City Council

1. The Place of the Past. What do you believe is the role of our city's past, both its architecture and heritage, in determining the identity of our city and neighborhoods? What is the role of government in helping our neighborhoods maintain, enhance and recognize their identity?

Richard Conlin (Position 2). Historic buildings link us tangibly with our past, reminding us of the importance of our predecessors in shaping what our city is. They also help us in recalling times that were different from ours, sometimes more accommodating to human needs and scales, and sometimes not. Historic structures also offer us an important sense of continuity and, like the Pike Place Market, Smith Tower, and Volunteer Park Water Tower, often serve as popular landmarks that inform our identity as a community. Combined with oral and written history, they preserve continuity from our ancestors to our descendents. The heritage of each of our neighborhoods and of the city as a whole is an irreplaceable part of our common culture, and one that we must work to protect, preserve, and integrate with the changes that are taking place all over Seattle. As chair of the Neighborhoods Committee, I have worked with communities throughout our city to develop and support their activities of neighborhood planning, and the work of the staff at the Department of Neighborhoods. I look forward to continuing this work in my next term on the Council.

Jan Drago (Position 4). Seattle's history, relatively short though it be, has been a strong determining factor - Pioneer Square, Pike Place Market, Ballard, Chinatown/International District, and many other neighborhoods, have very strong ties to and pride in their pasts. We have lost too much of our architectural heritage in neighborhoods like First Hill. But I suppose that from the initial settlement by white settlers, Seattle has had a gung-ho, built-it, use-it, tear-it-down-and-build-something-better attitude, fortunately stymied in time to preserve what we have left. But the Kingdome's short history is certainly an example of this. Government needs to set the preservation policies and provide the resources, as had Seattle through its DON historic preservation unit. Providing funding, either through the general fund or through the neighborhood matching fund and providing leadership on the Sesquicentennial celebration activities are appropriate roles for government.

Nick Licata (Position 6). I've conducted political research in the past because I've been conscious of the need to maintain written materials, documents, and archives so that we can get a better understanding of how we got to where we are today. I eased from this level of engagement into architectural preservation, recognizing that past political decisions have shaped the physical environment we're in now. Where we are today is not an accident, but rather the result of political decisions, movements, and activism. Pike Place Market demonstrates the overlap between political movements and the physical environment. Without that argument, we would have had something like San Francisco's Ghiridelli Square. The people won. The Music Hall was a case in which the citizens lost, and now we have a parking lot. We lacked, in that instance, the legal tools to stop the destruction of a jewel. If you want protections that are a reflection of the best aesthetic values, you have to engage in the current political arena, whether at the local or state level.

Richard McIver (Position 8). Our cities past architecture and heritage set a framework and context for the urban design & soul of our neighborhoods. Government should be the curator and keeper of the records, laws and guidelines for documented and controlling maintenance & presentation of buildings and materials related to that past. Finally, we must also assist in facilitating the private sector to lead in restoration and maintenance.

2. The Future of Historic Schools. Historically, schools have helped create neighborhoods. Many of Seattle's grandest historic schools were built in the 1920s, during a period of national school reform that called for greater light and ventilation in classrooms, and recreational outdoor spaces for better physical fitness. The result is a legacy of exceptional buildings and open spaces that act as community centers. The School District has, in recent years, made great strides toward preserving its historic assets. Do you support the continued efforts of the District to work with the Landmarks Board and staff toward the preservation of our great historic schools? Do you support the ongoing maintenance of historic schools?

Richard Conlin (Position 2). Yes. It is wonderful to see the sustainable building movement recognizing the value of these historic designs and of replicating many of their features in new construction. I am working to encourage and support sustainable building in both City and School District projects. Respect for the past must be an integral part of our work toward the future.

Jan Drago (Position 4). I do support the continued collaborative efforts toward the preservation of our great schools. I recently attended a function at Latona School and was reminded of the battle waged on the City Council over whether ot support the District's plan to tear down this great school. I supported keeping and restoring the school. Half of the building was razed in the end. The on-going maintenance of the schools is critical. One has only to look at what happened at Ballard High School where virtual lack of roof maintenance led to such severe water damage over the years that the building had to be torn down. Prior proper maintenance could have led to a very different result.

Nick Licata (Position 6). Yes, and yes.

Richard McIver (Position 8). YES! Yes and the School District should be held to high standards of maintenance in order to prevent and eliminate their buildings from becoming a blight on the neighborhood.

3. City-Wide Survey. City Council approved a $170,000 budget for a historic building inventory project for 2001-2002. The project, conceived as a 6 year endeavor, will help the City better understand its older building stock, and the relative significance of these buildings within our many city neighborhoods. The first phase of the project will investigate how the existing Neighborhood Matching Grant program might be used to accomplish more with less funding, and hopes to engage the University District as a prototype for community volunteer involvement. Do you support continued funding for a city-wide survey, already in progress?

Richard Conlin (Position 2). Yes, I have supported funding for this survey, and will continue to do so.

Jan Drago (Position 4). As chair of the City's Budget Committee, I ensured that funding for this historic building survey was included in the 2001 budget. I support the continuation of this survey. The City is facing a huge revenue shortfall for the next few years, worsened by the terrorist attacks on September 11th, and the Council will have to make severe cuts in the proposed budget, and even greater cuts in the coming years. Maintaining funding for the ongoing survey may be difficult, but I will certainly try to convince my fellow Councilmembers that this is a critical study.

Nick Licata (Position 6). Definitely.

Richard McIver (Position 8). Yes. While I do support this we must scrutinize every expenditure in the budget. The 2001 budget, is facing a $21-25 million shortfall and only the highest priorities will survive.

4. How much financial responsibility should neighborhood groups, nonprofit organizations, and private citizens shoulder to generate projects that benefit the city as a whole, and contribute to preserving critical elements of our city's infrastructure?

Richard Conlin (Position 2). These endeavors should be public-private partnerships in the best sense of that model. With the limited public funds available, a concerted campaign to ensure adequate funding for these critical elements is very important. The City should promote preservation when it enhances the community's image and identity, and when it makes sense financially. The City's design review boards are generally a good way for citizens to take a careful look at Seattle's historic resources and decide what is worth preserving. The City should also carefully evaluate its own downtown holdings, which include several landmarks, and work to ensure that they are preserved when merited by historic and community benefits.

Jan Drago (Position 4). Such groups and private citizens are going to be called up more and more to help shoulder some of the financial responsibility precisely because of the afore-mentioned projected budget shortfalls. If I-747 passes, we will need to cut more than 20 million from the 2002 budget and $64 million in 2003.

Nick Licata (Position 6). In an ideal world, when you collect taxes, they should be distributed in a manner that maintains basic needs, including cultural needs. But we aren't. Government is continually under attack. By having communities participate, you can stretch dollars, but you could potentially end up with certain, poorer communities with less time and means to participate. This kind of activity is what the Neighborhood Matching Grant is for, and the bulk of that money actually goes to South Seattle. It brings people together and creates community, but you have to be sure the formula isn't skewed.

Richard McIver (Position 8). The maximum extent feasible. Community based groups can inventory community assets, marshal resources, provide cost savings, and value added improvement. Finally, communities often care to do it right.

5. Great neighborhoods like Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square resulted from strong leadership and preservation-sensitive policies coupled with grass roots support. How would you reinforce the preservation ethic through your policies?

Richard Conlin (Position 2). I would promote a respectful attitude toward the past, blended with an appreciation for the needs of business and citizens for appropriate institutions for the future. We must challenge ourselves to find ways in which the preservation ethic becomes an economically viable strategy for the present day and the future. The market is a classic example of both the promise and the tensions of striving to achieve this. As other areas of our city (such as Ballard and Georgetown) are faced with major changes, we must look for all opportunities to make sure that development is sensitive and respectful.

Jan Drago (Position 4). For my first four years on the Council, I had in my committee jurisdiction all of the Historic Seattle/Landmarks Preservation and local historic districts. In Ballard, for example, my office fought back efforts by one property owner in Ballard Avenue Historic District to have this district disbanded. I live in Pioneer Square; for many years I owned a business and lived in the Market. I not only support preservation ethic through my work on the Council, I LIVE it.

Nick Licata (Position 6). See anwser to question 1.