Peter Steinbrueck: He prides himself on support for homeless

As part of a recent advertising campaign for Real Change, a newspaper for and by the homeless, City Council President Peter Steinbrueck swapped clothes with one of the paper's street vendors.

PETER STEINBRUECK

Vitals: 46; lives in North Seattle with his wife, Marilyn, and two sons.

Background: Grew up in Seattle the son of Pike Place Market savior Victor Steinbrueck. Has a bachelor's degree in government for Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and a master's in architecture from the University of Washington; has served on the council since 1997.

Major endorsements: Associated General Contractors; Friends of the Burke-Gilman Trail; King County Democrats, Seattle-King County Association of Realtors; and the Sierra Club.

If re-elected, promises to: "Help revive the city's economy. We have to focus on improving the business climate, solving the transportation mess, making improvements in traffic congestion, and at the same time assuring that our citizens have their basic needs met."

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There are pictures: Steinbrueck in a tattered jacket and dirty shoes, carrying a plastic trash bag. The newspaper vendor looks quite dapper in a suit and tie.

While the scene was being photographed, Steinbrueck worried whether he was being sensitive to the homeless people.

After all, when it was over, he would go back to his comfortable home in North Seattle.

"We were pretending to be homeless, and I was particularly concerned," he says. "I wanted to be sensitive, I didn't want it to be demeaning or mocking."

Over the years, Steinbrueck has carefully crafted an image on the council as the champion of the homeless and the poor; as a proponent of childhood education and families; a supporter of city parks and libraries.

When "Strippergate" tainted some City Council members running for re-election, Steinbrueck was untarnished.

As president of the City Council, he accepted responsibility for the way the council handled the strip club legislation, and he apologized to citizens

On the advice of the city attorney, he urged the council to rescind the controversial vote. The owners of the club promptly filed a lawsuit, once again miring the council in the mess.

Steinbrueck, an architect, has deep roots as a civic activist, reaching back to his childhood when he accompanied his father, Victor Steinbrueck, to meetings in his effort to preserve Pike Place Market.

It's a crusade the younger Steinbrueck holds dear, taking up the effort years later to save the market from falling into private hands.

He has a relationship with Mayor Greg Nickels that is professional, but chilly.

But that relationship is improving, Steinbrueck says.

He points to collaboration on the housing levy and funding for a hygiene center.

But Nickels slammed the council in his recent budget address for dragging its feet on his Northgate plan, and he hasn't endorsed Steinbrueck for re-election.

Throughout the campaign, in one of those only-in-Seattle moments, Steinbrueck has taken the time to introduce his opponent, Zander Batchelder, to people who haven't met him yet.

"I'm glad I have an opponent," Steinbrueck says. "It allows me to be held accountable on my record and my accomplishments."

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