Malek and Snider Spar over Housing Policy and Tree Canopy
While Malek calls for streamlined permitting to encourage economic growth and new housing, Snider wants to prevent displacement and preserve trees.
On Thursday night, the two candidates in the city’s only competitive council race gave voters more details on their vision for the future of the city at a forum hosted by the Briarcrest Neighborhood Association.
The only contested race voters will have a say on is between Jack Malek and Valerie Snider, who are competing for council position No. 1. Incumbent Mayor Christopher Roberts, Deputy Mayor Laura Mork, and Council Member Eben Pobee are unopposed.
The comments from the candidates have been edited for length and clarity. In the interest of time and space, the comments from Mork, Pobee, and Roberts have not been included here.
Question: Why are you running for office?
“I’m running here because there are two different types of campaigns being run… I would like to think that mine is based off of research and reality…” said Snider. She listed “true affordable housing, … maintaining our tree canopy, … and… growing small businesses…” as her priorities.
Malek said he’s focused on affordability, “I think one thing that is happening is taxes. They’re going up through the roof... and in terms of cost of living… housing is through the roof. So, for my platform, housing is… the most important.”
Question: How do you plan to support small businesses in our community to keep them open and profitable?
Snider wants to prevent displacement and provide financial assistance to preserve existing businesses.
“Lena’s Cafe… was displaced… because they cannot afford the lease in the new apartment complex there on 15th in North City… There’s 3 small businesses over in Richmond Beach… whose lease… has been cut short… Will they find another place to go? We don’t know. It’s unlikely,” she said.
“There needs to be some financial assistance”, said Snider. “It doesn’t necessarily have to come from the city. But there can be, facilitation by the city and promotions of grants… small business grants, federal grants, and… also training… and testimonials from other businesses who have been successful,” she said.
Malek, in contrast, wants to grow the economy by attracting large employers and permitting more neighborhood businesses.
“What we don’t have is a daytime audience. Our town goes from about 64,000 residents to 28,000 or 30,000 residents between the hours of 9 and 5. That’s not enough to sustain a lot of the businesses that are here, let alone the ones that would like to relocate here,” Malek said. “I would… leverage our college, Shoreline Community College and get the biotech community started here that’s coming out from Canyon Park… And bring a daytime population that we so desperately need.”
In addition, Malek supports a plan from the Chamber of Commerce to allow more businesses to operate out of existing houses, called adaptive reuse of small housing. “Small housing in the form of ramblers and beaters that are along 5th Avenue and the 15th Avenue corridor between the two light rails, that would be much better suited for businesses. Small businesses like attorneys’ offices, chiropractic clinics, jewelry stores… art galleries…,” he said.
Question: What are your thoughts on the zoning changes?
Malek defended increased zoning density, saying housing is unaffordable because there is not enough supply and it is causing homelessness.
“We have the same number of houses for sale today, 2025, as we did in 1995. We have the same volume available today, in 2025, as we did 30 years ago. We have 70 million more people in this country since that time. Demand is through the roof. Supply couldn’t be more starved than it is now,” Malek said.
“And I will tell you, homelessness is the product of not enough homes. I mean, yes, there’s mental health. Yes, there’s other issues with that, but I think you’ll find those are far and away smaller of a problem as simply not having affordable housing for everybody who needs it,” he said.
Snider wants the city to consider rolling back zoning changes.
“The Growth Management Act set a target for… the city of Shoreline… of the number of new housing units at about 13,000 units starting back in 2019. And from 2019 until the present day, we’ve built just under 5,000 new units. We can afford to take a beat and make sure that we’re not getting so hyper-focused on the activity… that we’ve lost sight of the objective. Which is affordability,” Snider said.
Question: How will the current federal political environment affect the city?
Malek supports the No Kings movement and wants to ban plain closed law-enforcement from wearing masks.
“I agree with what Mayor Bruce Harrell has done… which is ICE cannot come here, wear masks, and not have professional insignias or uniforms and just take people off the streets. That’s absolutely not okay…” Malek said.
“I believe in the No Kings group [and] Indivisible Shoreline, where they’re stating, these folks are grooming us, they’re conditioning us, they’re getting us used to the idea of bringing military force to… supplant our own police,” he said.
Given cuts to federal programs, Snider said local community groups will need to do more.
“The policies that are taking place at the federal level are really insidious… The… cutbacks… [of] SNAP [and] Medicaid… [are] only going to hurt the people who are already struggling…,” she said.
“Shoreline has said repeatedly [in] city surveys that addressing homelessness and providing basic needs, are the top two priorities for the city,” Snider said.
“We need to have the shelters… And the churches and the neighborhood associations… ready to engage and be our brother’s keeper… And that’s… why we have neighborhood associations, so we can help… our neighbors.… And so that falls on… the community…,” she said.
Question: The Fircrest Institution is having its mission expanded… what do you think is the best use of that land?
Snider supports a plan championed by State Representative Cindy Ryu to build affordable housing and retail on part of the Fircrest campus but wants to ensure trees are preserved and the neighborhood is walkable.
“Representative Ryu and I had a conversation… last week about that, and… she had… proposed… putting in affordable housing. Or even businesses,” she said.
“What I appreciate about that entire area is how walkable it is, because the grounds are really beautiful… So regardless of what they do, if they could incorporate that type of… walkability and the trees, I think that that would be… wonderful,” Snider said.
Malek supports a public-private partnership to attract new bio-tech businesses to Fircrest and criticized Ryu’s leadership.
“I know a lot about that state lab, and I think it’s a great institution. It’s the largest lab in the state… I also know that UW-Bothell Canyon Park is a biotech facility. They have 61 corporations over there, and they are out of space. They are needing places to expand. I think this would be an ideal location, because that… available land that they are talking about is right there beside the state lab. I think it would be a place where they could train… the workforce, and it would also, again, be a place that we could include and incorporate our college. I think that it’s a wonderful opportunity over there,”
Malek said.
“If I’m being totally honest, I’m sorely disappointed with Representative Ryu’s performance on that land. I think it has stayed underutilized forever,” he said.
Question: What will you do to keep Shoreline affordable for current residents?
Snider and Malek had very different answers for this question.
Near the light rail stations, Shoreline currently requires new apartment buildings to rent some units below market rate. In return, developers receive a tax break.
Snider questions the program and wants landlords to offer larger apartments for lower rents.
“What my research has found is that the majority of these housing units that are designated as affordable are studios and one-bedroom units. And… they are for incomes up to $110,000. So that doesn’t exactly scream affordable to me,” Snider said.
Speaking about the tax exemption program, she said, “I’m pleased to know that the city… council is going to review it… and I would… like… to make sure that the implementation and execution, or the juice is worth the squeeze, as they say.”
Malek, on the other hand, wants to streamline permitting to make it faster and easier for developers to build more new homes in Shoreline.
Vacancy rates are low in many apartments, he said, “The places that do have reasonable rent, such as Shoreline 192, are completely filled… There’s not enough of them. We need more… The Kinect by 185th Street Light Rail is completely filled… it’s simply not enough to satisfy the need. It’s a great place for people. You don’t need a car.”
“We just need to move swifter… I think we need to… streamline the process…. The [city is] taking way too long. They are discouraging many of the developers… The better developers will go when there’s lower hanging fruit. And that’s unfortunate for us. Because … we are a wonderful city. And we deserve better,” Malek said.
Question: TREES!
Malek and Snider again sparred over whether the city’s tree canopy is increasing or shrinking.
Both candidates said some factually questionable information in their answers, so here’s what the city has to say: Shoreline’s goal is to increase the tree canopy from 37.1% currently to 40% by 2050. According to the city’s 2023 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, between 2018 and 2023, Shoreline’s tree canopy increased 10 acres (from 2,741 to 2,751 acres). In 2009, the tree canopy coverage was 31%, a slight increase in canopy from 1992, when it was estimated at 30%, according to a 2011 Urban Tree Canopy Survey.
Extolling the value of trees, Malek said, “trees are wonderful. They’re environment for small animals, for nature that surrounds us. They solidify neighborhoods, Urban Forests… [are]… a thing of beauty…”
Malek said Shoreline’s urban tree canopy is expanding and believes the city can achieve its goal of expanding the canopy to 40% by 2050.
Malek said he wants the city to prioritize reducing pollution from cars by encouraging new development near transit.
“For every single occupant car… it takes the same amount as 15 trees. So 44% of all of our greenhouse gases come from these vehicles… 15 trees for every 1 car. There are 3 million travelers every day on the light rail. That’s 45 million trees… is what it does for the carbon load,” he said.
“I think we need to prioritize development around the light rail and around our … commercial. And for the suburban core, keep the trees.”
Snider says the city’s tree canopy is shrinking, “I have to disagree with my opponent here when it comes to the number of trees, because based off of the city’s own data, we only grew from 30 to 37 over a 30-year period… from the 90s… up until 2021, which is the last data point aerial that we had. And since 2019, we have cut down about 5,000 trees. So, I would… venture a guess that it’s not even 37% anymore. And instead of… increasing the tree canopy, which is the goal of our comprehensive plan, now that goal… has an even larger gap. Because we’ve lost our trees. So when it comes to keeping our trees, we have to stop cutting down our trees…”
Question: What are your qualifications for the job, and why do you personally want the position?
Malek: “I would love to have the position of City Council. As I mentioned, I spent 8 years on the Planning Commission. I’ve done just about every volunteer community position that you can hold… here in the city. I’ve been fortunate to have every one of them. I was treasurer of my community association, my local neighborhood community association. I was chair of the Council of Neighborhoods. I’ve been on the Shoreline Planning, Shoreline College Foundation, Rotary Club. I’m still an active member of many of these organizations. Shore Lake Arts especially. I love this community, I understand it at a fundamental level. I understand all of our social organizations and wish to support them to further our community. And I know that I’ll do a great job, and thank you for the opportunity.”
Snider: “Well, I admit that… compared to everyone at the table. I’m the Bob Dylan, Complete Unknown, [in] this race… I was approached, I was actually asked to run because of my passion about Shoreline… I’ve hosted 5 different international students for a year at a time, and each one of them went to Shorecrest High School… I was a legislative advocate for Shorecrest High School… PTSA because I feel strongly about fully funding our schools, and making our kids safe. I work for King County, that was an active decision. I actually came from big tech and in manufacturing and supply chain. But I decided that I wanted to… be a public servant, and… serve my community in better ways than for-profits, so on that, I ask for your vote.”