Gustafson bids for second term

Shoreline City Council member Rich Gustafson plans to run for re-election, he officially announced this past week.

Gustafson, an assistant principal at Shorewood High School, has served on the Council since 1998. Before that he served as Athletic Director for the school district for eight years and was elected to the King County Shoreline Parks Commission for three years.

“I think I bring good sound reasoning to the Council,” he said. “And there are still a number of issues that still need completing — my work on the Council is not done yet.”

One issue he wants to follow through on is the Aurora Corridor project, a project to widen Aurora Avenue North as it passes through Shoreline. The Council approved a design of the project in December 2002, but that approval is being contested in King County Superior Court. Businesses with the Shoreline Merchants Association argue that building the project to include a planted median and sidewalks with a planted strip is too extravagant and will negatively impact business.

Gustafson, who voted in favor of the design, said “I believe in the vision that we are looking at something long term – 20, 30, 50 years from now, and we need to do the best possible job planning it to be something people will be proud of. If that means we spend more money now to do the project right, then that is better than cutting back on it now and wishing later on we had accomplished something the community feels should be done at this time.”

Gustafson said, “I really have listened to both sides, and I really think, the majority of our community wants Aurora to be safe, attractive and to improve traffic flow.

“I have truly tried to listen to the requests of the SMA, and in some areas we’ve narrowed the sidewalks and narrowed the amenity zone between the sidewalk and street, and we are working hard to work with businesses to accommodate their needs as best we can.”

Another issue Gustafson said he would like to see finalized is the city’s stream inventory. Gustafson serves on the Regional Water Quality Committee and says environmental issues are important to him.

“Because my dad was a fisherman and hunter, I have grown up with a mentor who cared about wildlife and the environment and I have the same concerns. I want to see Seattle and neighboring communities spend money to promote the bettering of conditions for salmon and salmon habitat.

“The stream inventory is something I have been striving to see completed for a long time. We need to finalize it so we know what is a stream, a ditch, a watershed, a wetland, so we don’t have confusion on permits with regards to some of the litigation we are in now,” he said.

Gustafson calls himself a fiscal conservative and said “I feel strongly about maintaining a fiscally sound budget, and I think we’ve done that.”

He said he pushed for the city to establish a committee of citizens to serve as a bond advisory board because “I am also looking long range into the future, and I understand that sometimes you may have to spend money now in order to do something right. While I am not in favor of increasing taxes, I am in favor of putting it to a vote.”

Gustafson said he is proud of the work he has done to encourage partnership between the city and the school district.

“Look what we’ve accomplished over six years – Spartan gym – the schools put up a bond to renovate it, and the city operates it, and now we are talking about joint maintenance of athletic fields.”