By David Toledo
One benefit of growing up in North Seattle is that I have over 40-years of talking with neighbors about what infrastructure improvements will increase the standard of living in our area. As a youth I sloshed my way to Jane Addams middle school on muddy walk-ways and dimly-lit streets. As a teen I walked home in the dark, worn out from my job cleaning floors at Red Robin Northgate but having missed the final bus on my route.
I won’t be hiring a campaign manager or a group of consultants to tell me what issues I need to talk about during the campaign; or which side of the fence I need to be on. When voters ask themselves why David Toledo was the ONLY candidate to talk about sewage pump failures pouring thousands of gallons of raw sewage into Green Lake the answer will come easily; because David Toledo is one-of-us, the only candidate who has experienced the same real-life frustrations as those that are asking for help.
So let’s talk about the issues that are affecting North Seattle and where David Toledo stands.
Cleaning up Green Lake
As previously mentioned I was the only candidate at the 3/11/2015 Broadview Candidate Forum to address the issue of sewage pump failures in North Seattle. In 2008 the Midvale station sewage pump failed; dumping 95,000 gallons of raw sewage into Green Lake. In 2013 the station had 3 more failures. Improving North Seattle pump stations is a health and safety issue that is long overdue!
Growing up in a single-parent home, the parks were often the only place my mother could afford to take us when her 4 children (ages 2-8) needed to get out of the house. I know that many families struggling in today’s economy also look to Green Lake as an affordable place to spend the day with the family.
In middle and high school I spent summers there, building friendships that still exist today. How about you? Do you remember summers at Green Lake and the friends you had? It breaks my heart when I see “no swimming/lake closed” signs and smell the toxic algae blowing across the waves. We need a clean and swimmable Green Lake!
Roadways and Light Rail
March 24th Hwy 99 was closed for 9-hours due to an over-turned semi-truck; causing people to abandon their cars or spend hours upon hours to travel even a few blocks. For me, very reminiscent of the snowstorm of 2013 in which my brother spent nearly 10-hours to travel from Downtown to West Seattle.
Could you imagine what would happen in the event of a city-wide emergency, terrorist attack, or natural disaster? If transportation completely shuts down for 9-hours due to spilled cargo and overturned trailer, what would happen in a true emergency situation?
Yes, I agree that we need more light rail and I support a station at the 130th I-5 exit. Yes, I also support a strong and viable bus system, and yes we need safe lanes for cyclists.
However, we need to rein in our DOT which currently seems more interested in building mini-parks and decorative eye-candy throughout the city, and less concerned with moving transporting residents in a safe, comfortable, affordable way. Cutting back lanes on major arterials is irresponsible and negligent; and if faced with a city-wide emergency may result in an unprecedented loss of life. Those of us in North Seattle already experience daily gridlock as drivers fill Hwy 99, I-5, and Lake City Way in an attempt to get home each day. These are hours of wasted travel time which light rail will help; but DOT cannot continue to play this dangerous game of punishing drivers in an attempt to force them from their cars.
As a city council member I will put pressure on the DOT to repave and repair our worn-out arterials; expanding to include protected bike lanes as needed. I support extending the Burke-Gilman Trail and including emergency stations a select intervals. We will move forward with constructing the North Seattle sidewalks that were promised to us year-after-year by previous administrations. We will build a pedestrian overpass connecting North Seattle Community College and Northgate Mall. We will find viable, sustainable ways of funding Metro transit while keeping fares affordable. And we will return DOT to their original mission of ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future.
Funding Transit
I understand the need for a strong, sustainable, yet affordable transit system. As one of the few candidates to have actually worked minimum-wage jobs I understand how hard it is to stretch those dollars. We make it harder for those that want to work by putting in place a false dichotomy of public transit as an option to driving. The truth is our regressive tax systems places a unfair burden on our working poor; either drive to work with astronomical gas taxes and burdensome license and tab fees, or pay $5.00 or more per day to get to work and back on the bus.
Our City Council needs to look at alternate funding sources to help subsidize our transit system including community partnerships, developer buy-ins, and mutually-beneficial business investments, in addition to Levy’s and other tax-based revenue sources.
Finding Solutions
The key to solving our North Seattle’s infrastructure problem is a willingness to listen, apply common sense, and use due diligence before making decisions that will haunt our communities for generations. We are now living in the shadow of a city council whose hubris has put us in a hole (literally and figuratively) that may take decades to dig out of. Let’s make 2015 the year we elect leaders with a real commitment, concern, and understanding of the community they ask to represent.
Sincerely,
David Toledo
(Candidate) Seattle City Council District 5
For information:
Friends of David Toledo
12345 Lake City Way NE #132
Seattle, WA 98125
http://www.WeVoteToledo.com
wevotetoledo 