2005 Seattle Elections

General Elections Voters' Guide

Al Runte

117 East Louisa Street, Box 2006
Seattle, WA 98102
Tel: (206) 325-5185
Email: runte4mayor@earthlink.net
Web: www.runte4mayor.com

Video Voters Guide Statement of Candidate

Click Here to View the
Statement of Al Runte

You will need

Written Voters' Pamphlet Statement Submitted by Candidate

Join the many voters in this year's primary election who agreed it is time for a change when they voted for a new mayor.

Al Runte wants to be that mayor to provide effective leadership, putting the neighborhoods first. He is a historian and former professor at the UW. He is an expert on things that matter to Seattleites -- our precious environment and transportation.

Al Runte will resolve the monorail fiasco, rebuild the viaduct, and serve neighborhoods by addressing our $500 million public works backlog. The proper maintenance of Seattle's streets, infrastructure, and parks is decades overdue.

Professor Runte's campaign has not accepted one dime from developers. By electing Runte mayor, you will get a no-strings attached executive dedicated to serving people. Mayor Runte will work constructively with the City Council -- and fully consult with every neighborhood -- diligently avoiding the political grandstanding that destroys citizens' faith in their government.

In short, Al has been listening to you. Now, if elected, he will:

• Rebuild the Alaska Way Viaduct ABOVE ground. NO BIG DIG TUNNEL.
• Prepare a practical, coordinated transit plan for Seattle's future guided by gifted engineers, not boards of amateurs.
• Protect and nurture city parks. NO PARKING GARAGE AT THE ZOO.
• Terminate plans for an extravagant $50 million plus, publicly-funded South Lake Union streetcar.
• Add more neighborhood buses with increased frequencies.
• Prevent Southwest Airlines from moving to Boeing Field.
• Restore First Hill's light-rail station and reopen the downtown bus tunnel.
• Increase emergency preparedness by restoring the ranks of police and firefighters.
• Fully engage the young people of this city in their government, inviting their increased participation in City Hall as those who will inherit its decisions.

Al is 58. He and his wife of 21 years, Christine, have lived in the same North Seattle home since 1984. After Al's father, a union machinist, died when Al was eleven, he was raised by his single mom, a public school secretary. Al put himself through college earning three degrees in history and government, including a Ph.D. He has taught at five different institutions of higher learning and is the author of six books. Currently, he is an advisor to Ken Burns for an upcoming PBS television series on the national parks. An internationally recognized environmentalist, Professor Runte was keynote speaker last year at the Fourth Brazilian Congress on Parks and Protected Areas.

The above statement was written by the candidate, who is solely responsible for the contents therein.