The tenth in a series of Q&As with the candidates for city council.  (Previously on PubliQ&A: Position 6 candidates Jessie Israel and Martin Kaplan , Position 4 candidates David Bloom and Sally Bagshaw , Position 2 incumbent Richard Conlin and challenger David Ginsberg , and Position 8 candidates David Miller , Jordan Royer , and Mike O'Brien .)

In twelve years on the city council, Nick Licata has only had a serious opponent once—during his first run in 1997, when environmentalist Aaron Ostrom sought the same open seat. Licata's lack of opposition over the years can't be explained by incumbency alone: Campaign watchers and political types frequently say Licata's well liked despite views that are often to the left of center even in lefty Seattle. Licata frequently serves as the council's fiscal naysayer on big capital projects like the $4.2 billion Alaskan Way tunnel and the $200 Mercer reconstruction; he's also been a fierce advocate for police oversight and accountability and transparency in government. The most common criticism of Licata is that he frequently serves as the lone "no" vote without offering alternatives; however, Licata's staff says that other council members have actually been on the lone losing end of 8-1 or 7-1 votes more frequently than Licata. We sat down at the Bank of America Tower across the street from City Hall; Licata, who's eating something every time I stop by his office, had a bagel.

PubliCola : As a 12-year incumbent who's never had a serious challenger, are you surprised that your opponent Jessie Israel is racking up so many endorsements?

Nick Licata : I think I've done a lot of stuff in the environmental area, so I was disappointed that [Washington Conservation Voters, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and Friends of Seattle] didn't endorse me. On the other hand, the Sierra Club endorsed me. The Democrats have overwhelmingly supported me. Four of six local Democratic districts have given me sole endorsements... and the unions are supporting me.

I think I stepped on too many toes—particularly on the Mercer corridor. Strangely enough, I met with Cascade's leadership. I talked to them about spending $10 million of the $40 million the city is putting into Mercer right-of-away. They were pretty tied to the mayor's plan. I said, you can get bike lanes on Valley [Street, part of the Mercer plan] without spending $200 million. They said they were more concerned with integrating the neighborhoods than bike lanes [specifically].

PubliCola : A lot of people, including both your opponents [Israel and Marty Kaplan], criticize you for frequently being the lone "no" vote on major issues. How do you respond to that?

Licata : If you look at the actual stats on 8-1 and 7-1 votes over the years, there are [council members] who match or exceed me. Part of my problem is that I've created an image over the years, and in some ways it's come back to bite me. I've created an image of being the guy who stops bad things from happening. You don't get a lot of credit for stopping bad things from happening. But I do have a vision for the city.



PubliCola : Can you give some specific examples where you've gotten something positive accomplished?

Licata : In my first term [in 1998], there was a library proposal that did not have support from the community, because there was too much focus on the downtown library at the expense of branches in the neighborhoods. I created a citizen oversight panel that worked with the city to spread the libraries through the neighborhoods, and we ended up coming up with a compromise that worked, which resulted in a South Park branch library [which was not envisioned in the original plan].

Midterm, [in 2001] I brokered the Arboretum master plan. There were going to be some very large buildings in the middle of the Arboretum and they were proposing tearing down some trees. The Arboretum was dead-set that they needed these buildings and the community was dead-set against the proposa. The Arboretum master plan ended up passing unanimously with support from the community and the Arboretum.

Even when you look at police stuff, the mayor's [police oversight] task force came out of my efforts to look at how police oversight was being run. It was a classic example of the mayor not wanting to be outflanked.

PubliCola : Your opponents have both said they'll be better able to work with Mayor Nickels than you. Is that a fair assessment?

Licata : I think it's reflective of [my opponents'] inexperience. All the council members, including myself, work well with the mayor on various issues. The mayor and I held a joint press conference for speed vans in school zones. He acknowledged me as the leader on that issue.

I think one of the problems is that Greg has a fear that council members are going to upstage him. He never lets himself be in the position where he could be upstaged. He will switch positions depending on whether it looks like the council's going to support something or not. If it looks like it doesn't have support, he fights it. If it does have support, he takes credit for it. Every council member has said they've [had the experience of] working on an issue and [Nickels] has come out with a statement without telling them. And they'll read about it in a news release or in the press.

We all work with the mayor to the extent that we have to get things done, but he rarely ever comes down to our floor.

PubliCola : Jessie has been extremely critical of you during her campaign. What do you think of her?

Licata : I think she's bright, a quick study, lots of charm. I'm not sure what the center of her values is. I have a feeling they're quite flexible. She's very adept at hitting the right tune with different people, which is a skill, but down the road it can immobilize you, because you don't have a specific tune.

She has internal inconsistencies that I don't think she's aware of. The whole idea that she's opposed to process and says, "I want to push things through," but then says, "I want to build coalitions." She wants to propose certain things, but she also wants to get things done right away. GThe classic example of that is the viaduct—if we had just gotten something done right away, we would have ended up with a new viaduct. If you get things done right away, you often end up getting things done that a large number of people don't like.

Any first-time candidate tends to have that problem. I don't exempt myself. I think the difference with me was that I had a clear, core center of values.

A lot of people view Jessie as  a progressive. I don't think she is.