Editor’s note: The No. 1 issue in the closing days of the Seattle’s City Council elections is housing. Many residents recoiled at Mayor Ed Murray’s recommendation to open up single-family neighborhoods to condos, flats, backyard cottages and row housing.
All that angst prompted the editorial board last week to begin asking City Council candidates if they supported the mayor’s Housing Affordability and Livability Advisory (HALA) Committee’s proposals and what policies they would pursue if elected.
As we prepared to publish the survey, the mayor on Wednesday abruptly announced he was withdrawing his push to open up single-family zoning.