(Photo by Jen Nance)

In a debate today at the Cinerama, Michael McGinn showed that he has the knowledge, experience and temperament to be mayor of Seattle.

The topics ranged from incentive-zoning in the city and how our tax dollars are spent to ways for neighborhoods to have their voices heard in the conversation about the future of their community.

Michael said that “politicians love to talk about how they create jobs, but we also need to a create a place to attract and grow business.  The mayor’s job is to have a city that works.”

“Seattle has a history of innovation,” Michael said, “we have great research institutions.  We’re a diverse city and that brings a real value to the city.  We need to build on our competitive advantages so that we can include everybody in a thriving city.”

Responding to questions about education, Michael responded that “it’s in the first few years of school that you can help kids see that school is important and something to stick with.  Every kid deserves a great education.  We need real results from our public school system.”

Michael also had an opportunity to highlight his Government 2.0 program that brings the innovations and efficiencies of Web 2.0 to city government.  Please join the discussion over how to make Seattle great at IdeasForSeattle.org.

A big thank you to the  Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce for hosting the debate.  You can watch video of the debate at their website.