Schell: We did it on Madison [Street], and we know it works. And it's not bus-only. . . . It may be bus-only during rush hours. The neighborhood arterials are what we have; we're not building any more roads. So it seems to me that's the only way.
And then, at the same time, we need to deal with the parking issue that's raised, hence the neighborhood transit centers. They are places to build parking that support the neighborhood business district, that support the public transportation system, that also are a place to park bikes, to park Flexcars, employer van pools, community van pools, a place to gather, and then use the land and build offices or housing. So it becomes a real centerpiece of each neighborhood. That, too, will have some controversy. It will require changing the city's historic approach to being against any parking garages.
Stevan Morgain
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Ballard and Lake City and Capitol Hill all are very in need of parking, and as neighborhood business districts get stronger, surface parking goes away. And if you don't create opportunities for people to park, even if they're taking the bus, they're parking on residential streets. Or they'll drive to work. And if they're going to the movies, they'll drive to the first available parking lot, whether it's downtown or at Southcenter. So if you want to keep your neighborhood business district strong, then you want to create opportunities to do their recreation there rather than have them drive somewhere. It's all part of an integrated look at how we move around the city.
SW: Early in your first term, you made the vow that you would get homeless women and children off the streets by Christmas.
Schell: And we came close. I'm not sorry for setting goals—it's one of those things that's a difference between politics and the private world. I always set goals, and if I achieved them, I always know I didn't set the goal high enough.
[Homelessness] is a much more complicated issue than I think I understood when I was running. It's failed policies on mental illness, chemical addiction, domestic violence, unequal participation in our economy. We've doubled—from $7 million to $14 million—what we've been spending on this. And [we're] doing everything we can to engage many other people to be a part of the solution.
SW: You've made minimal use of the veto—two bills in three years (a new city noise law and the all-ages dance ordinance). Did you expect to use it more?
Schell: It should be a last resort. And it's not fun to do because it obviously disappoints the people who proposed [the law]. It's a failure of the process, I guess. But I think in both cases, we'll come back with something that I can support, and we'll get a majority of the council on both of these.
SW: Do you think that the all-ages dance ordinance issue will be resolved?
Schell: We're ready to send down a proposal next week. It will do some of the things I think need to be fixed there; it won't go as far as setting up a circumstance where you can have young 13-year-old kids that are mixing with 20- and 21-year-olds and liquor all night. I think there are security risks. But there are lots of other elements that came out of that process which I agreed with from the beginning. So I think we can make reasonable changes to it—and necessary changes to it—that will get the support of the council.
SW: In your first year in office, council members would complain that you didn't work well with them. Do you think today we'd hear a different message?
Schell: It was a contrast of styles between former Mayor Rice and myself. We weren't going to focus only on two or three things and then spend our time on that—which was the early advice. I also didn't do a good enough job of working the council. That said, you would hear today that I'm doing a much better job of working with them.
You just don't get everything that's happened without a true partnership with the council, because the mayor doesn't do it all. That requires budget authority; it requires consensus.
SW: When you endorsed Bill Bradley for president last year, did you worry that it might affect your relationship with the Clinton White House?
Schell: It didn't seem to have any negative impact of any kind. In the end, we got two more Hope VI [federal grants to raze and rebuild Seattle's housing projects] after that. I think political power is overestimated. These things tend to go on the merits; they're just not organized enough to exact retribution, even if they wanted to. And in this case, I think they worked harder on trying to make sure they kept the relationship solid.
I quickly went down there and attended Al Gore's birthday party. And I'm going to do my best to work with the Bush Administration, especially on transportation. That's my job. I don't know that being a loyal soldier gets you anything. People take you for granted, and they shouldn't take anybody for granted.
(Seattle Weekly interview conducted by James Bush and George Howland Jr., February 7, 2001.)
jbush@seattleweekly.com
