This is the sixth in a series of eight posts about the eight folks who want to take Doug Mah's old seat on the Olympia city council.

The difference between Danielle Westbrook and the three other applicants (Tousley, Reddick, and Boyde) that have similar resumes, is that Westbrook speaks with the right sort of passion about city issues.

For example, in her application, she talked about the importance of parks, and hurrying up the city's process of buying property and building them. After a somewhat dry explanation of this, she adds: "I want to swim in Ward Lake in 5 years!"

Westbrook seems like someone that sees city policy not just as distant good policy, but as something that benefits herself and the people around her. That city policy can have a positive impact on people's lives.

She had a few other interesting answers.

In working with neighboring cities, she said that they should work council to council, policy to policy and not staff to staff. Especially in dealing with a city like Lacey, that differs in vision greatly with Olympia, getting to the top (or bottom) of things would probably move things along.

On taxes and how they relate to the Growth Management Act, she wrote that the spirit of the GMA would be offended if the city just encouraged bulding big box stores for sales tax. Expecting revenue through sales tax isn't realistic or dependable, and that we'd better depend on property tax.

On the possibility of a levy lid lift:

I think the city council was right last month to consider its options when I-747 was overturned -- but I also think it's the legislature's responsibility to provide us with local options that ENSURE sustainable local government.