By TJ MARTINELL

Reporter Newspapers

In the race for the King County Council seat in District 6 between incumbent Jane Hague and Bellevue Mayor Claudia Balducci, both are touting their ability to collaborate. And while Hague has name recognition and a long record on the council, Balducci’s own accomplishments are getting the attention of voters and elected officials alike.

“I know how to get things done,” Hague said. “And my records shows that.”

Hague has been serving on the county council since 1994. Before that, she served as the manager of records and elections for King County and, like Balducci, has served on the Bellevue City Council.

“I love the Eastside,” Hague said. “I am excited about the growth of the Eastside and changing demographics and the ability to leverage that into making the Eastside a regional powerhouse. This is a job that is exciting and ever-changing, and I’m always looking at ways to solve new problems.”

One of the main issues that both seem to want to tackle is transportation on the Eastside. Hague is co-chair of the Regional Advisory Council, along with Dow Costantine, for the Eastside Rail Corridor, which is owned and managed by King County, the cities of Kirkland and Redmond, Sound Transit, and Puget Sound Energy. The Cross Kirkland Corridor (CKC) runs through the Kirkland section of the ERC.

“To see that it embraces livability, transportation, and economic viability, is really exciting,” she said. “The connections are wonderful.”

One of the major changes in the community, she said, is on the issue of a light rail.

“Back in the day when I ran for Bellevue, you couldn’t say the words ‘light rail’ and get elected in this town,” she said. “And by 10 years you couldn’t run and not be in favor of light rail. I think I am better aligned with that.”

Balducci, a member of the Sound Transit Board of directors and past chair of the Eastside Transportation Partnership, also cited transportation as a major concern of hers. Interstate 405, which is poised to begin tolling the two high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes next month, is notorious for traffic congestion.

“You’ve got people who are spending up to three weeks a year sitting in traffic,” Balducci said. “It’s the number one thing we hear about.

If elected, she said, her biggest priority would be enabling people to get around the Eastside faster.

“I would love to have people say it’s easier to get around, I have better options,” she said.

But for any transportation project to move forward there has to be money. Hague said that one of her greatest accomplishments during her most recent term was working on the county budget.

“We’ve been able to deal with declining resources left over from 2008 great recession,” she said. “We’ve been able to leverage our dollars and deliver services in a new way and not ask for major tax increases.”

Also, she cited the retention of bus services after Proposition 1 failed in 2014 without raising taxes or adding fees.

All these things, she said, point to a need for more economic growth to provide a solid tax base.

“Because with an increasing population, there are needs for services,” she said. “There’s certainly huge transportation needs and infrastructure, and we’ve got to have an economy that we are able to retain, and we have to have ability to attract workers for those jobs and keep them.”

One of the ways to do that, she said, is by supporting improvements to the transportation infrastructure. Other interests that keep Hague interested in running once more is her support for arts and culture.

Hague sees herself as an independent voice on the county and believes her success working alongside people from different backgrounds separates her from her opponent. An example she gave of her collaboration was the construction of the South Kirkland Park and Ride, located on property co-owned by the county, Bellevue and Kirkland.

“I see myself as sort of a collaborator, bringing people together,” Hague said. “I think the broad base of support I have supports that. My supporters are Republicans and Democrats, business and labor, and environmental groups that are important to the region. I know the district best and I know how to get things done for my district.”

Balducci, on the other hand, says her views are more in tune with Eastside residents due to changes in the last 20 years.

“You just need to look around and see it’s become different in terms of diversity, our economy, our politics,” she said. “I feel I am more aligned with the district. I think I’m somebody who reflects the kind of leadership and priorities that the voters want these days.”

An example of this, she said, is light rail.

“Back in the day when I ran for Bellevue, you couldn’t say the words ‘light rail’ and get elected in this town,” she said. “And by 10 years you couldn’t run and not be in favor of light rail. I think I am better aligned with that.”

The regional policies and their impact at a local level, she said, is what inspired her to run for the county seat.

“We’ve gotten a lot of good things done (in Bellevue), but it came to a point where…so many of our big opportunities and big challenges have major regional components,” she said. “There’s only so much one city can do on the really big issues. Our transportation issues don’t start and end in Bellevue. We need strong leadership at the regional level.”

One way she sees as improving transportation infrastructure is more transportation packages included in the state budgets. She also sees additional transit options, including through the Eastside corridor, as ways to bring down traffic congestion.

Like Hague, Balducci also touted her ability to accomplish things with colleagues despite disagreements, including during the planning for a light rail line through Bellevue that involved contention within both the community and the council itself. She also cited the council’s adoption last year of a 20-year vision for the city on matters ranging from economic development to transportation and mobility, along with two-year priorities.

“We’ve done a lot of that list in just over 18 months because we came together on things we agreed on,” she said. “I’m really proud of the vision-setting where I made it about us…you look for the common answers. We may have different approaches for what that means, but we identified the things we had in common and put our energy behind those things.”

To accomplish similar goals at a regional level, she said, will require change within the county council itself.

“We need more active, more involved leadership, somebody that is going to get deep into the issues of the day and help to form solutions and address differences of opinions,” she said. “I have not seen that from leadership in a while.”

For more information on the candidates, visit their campaign websites at www.claudiabalducci.com and www.electjanehague.com.

TJ MARTINELL,  Kirkland Reporter Reporter

tmartinell@Kirklandreporter.com or 425-822-9166