Candidates stress their differences

SHORELINE – Former King County Council member Maggie Fimia is challenging Shoreline City Council member Kevin Grossman for his seat Nov. 4. Both candidates stressed their differences in a joint interview recently.

Fimia, 53, served two terms on the Metro King County Council from 1994 until 2001 and since then has served as co-chair of the Coalition for Effective Transportation Alternatives, a group that is trying to kill Sound Transit. She is running for Shoreline City Council “because I think the city is in impending crisis. I think the city is out of touch with the public and its own budget,” Fimia said. She says the budget shows future expenditures surpassing revenue.

Grossman, 42, a first-term Council member, is in commercial real estate. He says he is surprised Fimia chose to oppose him since she worked on his campaign three years ago.

He said “the city hasn’t had a problem with the budget because it’s taken a conservative approach. Each year we’ve anticipated expenses and done a good job of budgeting without over extending ourselves.”

Grossman said while the charts may predict a future shortfall, “every year we’ve managed to keep the budget on track by adjusting expenditures. We are not in the shape of other cities because we’ve been conservative about budgeting.”

Both candidates feel economic development should be a high city priority.

“Property values on Aurora are dismal – the majority of those buildings haven’t been renovated or maintained, so the capital investment that needs to happen is exactly what the City Council has been on track to pursue with the Aurora Corridor project,” Grossman said. “With that investment, property values will increase as will property tax revenue.”

Fimia said, “While economic development is a high priority, the city should make sure resources it is already taking in are spent wisely.” She questions plans to spend $300,000 on gateways to the city.

“”I want improvements on Aurora – I was an advocate for businesses and sidewalks back in 1996 but the city turned (the county) down,” Fimia said. “A more modest plan would allow us to finish the corridor and look at infrastructure like putting sidewalks throughout our city. We need to be smart about how we redevelop.”

If elected, Fimia said she would question the city’s current plans to widen Aurora to seven lanes and to install planted medians and strips between the highway and sidewalks. The Shoreline Merchants Association is appealing the plan in King County Superior Court. She added that while on the County Council she presented Shoreline with a plan for Aurora that the city rejected.

Grossman said he supports the city’s approach with the Aurora Corridor project.

“It fascinates me that she says she is for this project. In 1996 what she presented to City Council was a substandard approach. This type of capital project is huge and only happens two or three times in a generation, so it needs to be done right, and it would be doing a huge disservice to neuter the plan. Once the project gets done, it will make Aurora attractive to development,” Grossman said.

“In most communities the merchants are on board with redevelopment and improvements on Aurora. Here in Shoreline, there is a small number of vocal people who have an investment in the status quo. We are working with the properties most at risk in ‘the wedge’ by vacating a road so that the vision of shoreline can be realized, and business owners are thanking us.”

Fimia said the city needs to oppose Sound Transit.

“In 1996 when I campaigned for light rail, it was promised to the (University) District, then Northgate. Shoreline put in our money and expected it to get to the U District. Now the project needs to be audited and Shoreline City Council needs to question it,” she said.

Grossman says Fimia’s fight against Sound Transit is inappropriate for the City Council.

“Light rail shouldn’t be the focus of City Council – it’s a passion for Maggie, but should not be a reason to run,” he said.

Both candidates say the city should step up its involvement with the future of Fircrest, an 80-acre state institution for the developmentally disabled, which the state plans to downsize and eventually close.

“The Fircrest site needs to be master planned with the community’s involvement,” Grossman said. “The city needs to take a more proactive stance on the question of what it’s redeveloped as.”

Fimia said, “I don’t disagree with Kevin. The city has a tremendous interest in what happens there – the city has the leverage, we are the jurisdiction that does permitting there and the state has to work around us. The city should engage the state on what happens there.”

The two candidates disagree on building a new city hall.

“I have a lot of questions,” said Fimia. “The $17 million the city plans to spend would be $500,000 over and above the current lease payments; the fact that city hall was not very high on a public survey to pay by bond, and that one of the land owners the city is in negotiations with also owns the buildings the city leases, and is a former employer of Kevin.”

Grossman says the city is making the right move by looking to buy or build rather than lease.

“There are multiple sites we are looking at, one of which is owned by a partner in the buildings leased to the city. We’ve looked at lots of alternatives and had lots of discussions about leasing versus buying. We are well behaved fiscally, look at our budget. In my mind it’s a question of do you buy or do you lease? If you lease, it doesn’t build equity and rates go up. If you buy or build, mortgage zero payment years out, the line crosses,” Grossman said.