What bugs me about long shot mayor hopeful Prof. Al Runte is just how little he knows about policy specifics. The fact that the Prof. hasn’t done his homework shows up pretty clearly when you realize all he does is speak in sweeping generalizations that sound good and progressive in their own right, but in fact, end up contradicting the facts on the groundand contradicting Runte’s other sound bites.

Let’s start with some factual stuff.

Runte’s big gripe is that Nickels has ignored Runte’s own neighborhood, Wedgwood. Well, according to the city budget, Nickels has actually poured money, nearly $260,000, into nine Wedgwood projects, including the Wedgwood School Playground Improvement and the Picardo Farm P-Patch Tool Shed. If you’re going to run for mayor you better be familiar with the budget before you mouth off about it.

Runte says the mayor doesn’t care about parks. Huh? Nickels has overseen 40 new parks projects around the city (doing stuff like building new jungle gyms and resurfacing) and he’s acquired 41 new acres of open space.

Still on the parks theme, Runte denounces the parking garage that’s slated for the Woodland Park Zoo.
Huh? The community and the zoo asked for the garage to keep cars out of the neighborhood.
And this brings us to the real thing that galls me about Runte: The contradictions! The Contradictions!

Let me explain. As I said, Runte’s main themewhen he spoke to the Stranger Editorial Board last Fridaywas that Nickels has ignored the neighborhoods. In its own right that sounds groovy and progressive. But then I heard Runte on KEXP the next day, and he was pontificating about how terrible it is that Seattleites are so dependent on cars. Again, sounds groovy and progressive. But as far as I can tell, the main thing Nickels has proposed re: the neighborhoods is lowering parking requirements in and around designated neighborhood business districts to ween Seattle off cars. So, Nickels’s neighborhood policywhich also has an emphasis on density and smart growth (oh no, 4-story apartments in Wedgwood!!)is anti-car!

Also during our Friday interview, Runte decried Nickels for supporting big box development around town. When I told him that Nickels actually preventedin concert with Ballard neighborhood leadersbig box development on 85th, Runte said “That’s because the mayor can feel me breathing down his neck.” Um, Nickels started fighting the big box nearly a year ago!
Runte also says the lack of connectivity between Seattle’s transportation projects is our biggest problem. Well, the one transportaion project that Nickels is actually responsible for putting into playthe proposed SLU trolleylands one block from the bus tunnel.

C- for you, Prof.

There’s certainly stuff to take Nickels to task for (his shortsighted downtown development plan comes to mind), but just parroting the pro-neighborhood stuff without getting the specifics right is insulting to the voters.