Issue statements from Shoreline Council candidates in the primary

Evan Smith

By Evan Smith

Shoreline City Council candidates Carolyn Ahlgren, Susan Chang, and Bergith Kayyali recently sent statements about what they think are the most important issues in the election.

The three are running in the August 1 primary for the position that Shari Winstead is leaving. The top two vote getters qualify for the November 7 general election ballot.

Here are their statements in the order that their names appear on the ballot:

City of Shoreline, Council Position 5

Susan Chang

The major issues facing the City of Shoreline include planning for the opening of two light rail stations in 2023, siting and construction of a new aquatics and community / senior center, inadequate sidewalks and lack of a complete sidewalk and bicycle network, the need for additional parks, funding to repair and replace aging infrastructure, and bringing new businesses and economic development to Shoreline. The residents of Shoreline expect a high level of service from their City government, and it will be important for us to find ways to preserve and enhance the qualities of the City that brought so many of us here, while being mindful of affordability for all residents.

Bergith Kayyali

* Reopen the rezone, fix the mistakes, cut the size of the area, and get it right. Save Shoreline from unsustainable growth, which would double our population. Include the people by going to their neighborhoods and listen to them.

* Be responsive to the need for mental-health and substance-abuse services.

* Provide support for a diverse population.

* BRING CREATIVE thinking to Aurora Square. Enhance Boeing Creek by daylighting the wetlands of one of the headwaters and work with developers who are willing to bring new thinking to development.

* Attract businesses that believe in sustainability and in being part of a total community.

* IMPROVE bus transportation, parking, roads and walkways BEFORE any major increases in population/density occur.

* Require that the Point Wells project NOT negatively impact Shoreline.

Carolyn Ahlgreen

I am running here because we have specific transit oriented development associated with the two light-rail stations being built that we need to adequately and appropriately plan. Our current city council has approved a development plan that completely diverges from the study and proposal that BAE Urban Economics came up with for reasons unknown to the people who will be most impacted by that very development. The citizens have been shut out of the process, threatened with arrest, and essentially told they are idiots and don't know anything. That the folks on city council know best.

You do not treat your constituency that way.