August 12, 2007

Incumbent City Council member Sally Clark receives The Times’ sole endorsement in the race for Position 9. Appointed in January 2006 from among 98 applicants after Councilman Jim Compton resigned, Clark won election in her own right the following November. She is seeking her first full term this election.

A former legislative aide to Councilwoman Tina Podlodowski, Clark heads the council’s Economic Development and Neighborhoods Committee, where she is working on updating Seattle’s neighborhood plans, of no small interest to this city of neighborhoods.

She has maintained a lower profile on the council than her veteran colleagues, but shows the intelligence and grasp of politics that should serve Seattle well over the next four years.

Clark’s opponents — Judy Fenton, Stan Lippman and Robert J. Brown — are not a match for her experience. In addition to her council staff job, Clark previously worked for Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods and was community-resources director for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

Clark says she wants a full term on the council to work on "safe, sustainable, affordable neighborhoods." That obviously includes downtown and Belltown, where the level of street violence has become unacceptable.

She has the skills to be a leader. Now is the time to fulfill that promise.