The Odds: Rosencrantz has served on the right boards and organizations from which to cull supporters, including Seattle Tilth and the Church Council of Greater Seattle's Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness. He's picked up some big endorsements, notably from exiting incumbent McIver. And he was a favorite of the Seattle Times editorial board in 2003.
Confession Cam Analysis: He's a little disheveled, his glasses a touch askew. That may help combat any anti-landlord prejudice. Working against him: a tendency to refer to himself in the third person.
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Jordan Royer:The Guy With The Famous Dad
Royer's father Charles led Seattle from 1978 to 1990, when he retired as mayor. "He's my number-one advisor," Royer junior says. Jordan Royer now works as a lobbyist for the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, a trade group for container-shipping companies and cruise lines doing business in Washington and California. He previously served in both the Paul Schell and Nickels administrations as an advisor, first on strategic planning and neighborhoods, later on public safety.
The Issues: The current council is wasting time on things like whether or not to place fees on plastic bags, says Royer, 43. He wants to see more cops on the street, seamless trash collection (there have been some hiccups under the city's new recycling program), and fewer burned-out streetlights. "These are the basic government services that we have to get right," he says. More than once he mentions that it took him and his neighbors two years of dealing with the city to get speed bumps installed in their neighborhood. Even so, he says he'd vote to cut more jobs from the city budget, especially at the management level. He's also one of the candidates on board with eliminating taxes on business square footage and employees.
The Odds: With his connections, early money poured in, but the flow has since slowed. Family dynasties don't scare Seattle voters, as evidenced by Peter Steinbrueck, but it will take more than his name to get Royer into the seat.
Confession Cam Analysis: He speaks fluent parent. Chatting over coffee, he worries about the expense of raising kids in the city, the quality of public schools, and keeping minors occupied during the summer. The city council might not have a direct role in such matters, but everyone with rugrats thinks about them a lot. Good empathy points.
Robert Sondheim:The Curmudgeonly Shopkeeper
Sondheim, owner of the Rosebud on Capitol Hill, sweeps the sidewalk outside his restaurant every morning. "Graffiti makes me nuts," he adds.
The Issues: Sondheim doesn't think we have a strong enough police presence or do enough to support the arts, though he doesn't really have a specific plan to get more money to any of those things.
The Odds: He transferred the $1,854 he had left over from his 2007 run for Jean Godden's seat, and hasn't raised a dime since. He says rather than aggressively campaigning now, he's biding his time to see what everyone else is doing—an odd strategy for winning.
Confession Cam Analysis: He isn't likely to survive the primary. Still, you might want to adopt him as your crotchety but lovable grandfather, then join him for eggs benedict and bitching about people who don't sweep their sidewalks.
George "Rusty" Williams: The Guy Who Keeps Talking About His Old Band
Williams' Web site looks like the home page of a diner, and includes as much detail on his former band, Bighorn, a group that hit its prime in the 1970s, as it does on his work history or political credentials. "At one point Bighorn put up bigger numbers at Seward Park and the Seattle Center than Nirvana. Our main competitor was a band called Heart," he claims on the site. Despite this, no Bighorn artifacts are on exhibit at EMP. (Probably an oversight.) The only thing he talks about more than his band is his mother, the late Jeanette Williams, a former Seattle City Council member. He's been lobbying the council to name the West Seattle Bridge after her.
The Issues: Williams is the most vocal opponent among the candidates of a levy sponsored by the mayor to build more low-income housing. He says this is the wrong time to ask people in the city to raise their taxes.
The Odds: After a business career that took him from selling advertising for Yellowpages.com to being a realtor for commercial firm Lange-Peizer, Williams was in a position to drop $20,000 of his own money into the race. He doesn't have many donors, but has picked up an endorsement from former governor Booth Gardner.
Confession Cam Analysis: Williams dresses like a stand-up comic—arriving for an interview in jeans, a sport coat, and a pressed white shirt with the top two buttons undone. Between that and his days-of-music-glory chatter, it's hard to take him seriously.
lonstot@seattleweekly.com
