The highly publicized and long pending redevelopment and growth of downtown Bothell is very much on the mind of incumbent Bothell City Councilman Joshua Freed, 36, as he makes a try for a second term in office.

After 17 years on the city Planning Commission, challenger Joyce Wojcik, 67, feels she is ready to move from what is at least partly an advisory body to the city’s major decision-making body.

Downtown development was also on the challenger’s mind, though she and Freed expressed different ways to tackle that ongoing issue.

Freed said he served on the citizens committee that first studied and ultimately recommended, some six or seven years ago, the realignment of state routes 527 and 522 along with Main Street. That realignment is now a cornerstone of the city’s overall redevelopment strategy.

“I love the creative process,” Freed said, adding a lot of work and thought went into the alignment and the redevelopment plans.

“I really want to see that all implemented,” he said.

Wojcik also said she played a role in shaping the downtown plan as a member of the Planning Commission. But she expressed concern that some of the original goals of the project had been lost in the translation between the Planning Commission and council. Wojcik was most worried about what she characterized as the loss of some safeguards that had been put in place in the so-called transition zones between planned new development and existing residential neighborhoods.

“It’s mostly a quality-of-life issue,” she said. “We need to protect those residential zones as development moves forward.”

The transition zones circle the existing downtown and the 18 acres of Northshore School District property the city plans to buy along Bothell Way Northeast. Freed said the transition zones were much on the minds of the entire council as it approved final zoning and development guidelines for the school property.

For example, Freed said council lowered proposed height limits in the transition zones from 65 feet to 35 feet. He said only a few spots will be allowed to reach the 65-foot limit, mostly spots along SR 527 and the first block of Main Street.

On a closely relate issue, while Freed feels the city had valid reasons to purchase the school property, Wojcik simply doesn’t.

“I would have preferred the city not purchase the property,” she said.

Wojcik said the move shoved Bothell into the role of developer, while officials should be concentrating on what cities do best: public safety, road maintenance and so on. Wojcik insisted the city could have controlled the development of the school parcel with proper zoning and development mandates.

“We heard time and again,” Freed countered, “that it was important to have the vision of the city in place.” He said zoning might not have been enough to guarantee the city’s wishes were fulfilled. Freed contended that past councils had tried such an approach in other areas of Bothell with mixed success at best.

Freed also said by purchasing the property with an eye toward commercial development, Bothell ultimately will add those 18 acres of prime city land to its property tax base. As long as the land was owned by the school district, it was, of course, tax exempt. Finally, Freed asserted that buying the school parcel gave Bothell officials the opportunity to protect the historic W.A. Anderson school building on Bothell Way.

The building dates back to 1931 and its future has been the subject of some concern among local preservationists.

Moving away from downtown development, Wojcik said during nearly two decades on the Planning Commission she has been become highly versed and appreciative of the process that goes into such issues as land-use planning.

“To me, I’m just very interested in the process,” she said.

Wojcik added she hopes to run a respectful, dignified campaign.

“My city is important to me and that’s where I’m coming from,” she said.

Also moving off the topic of development, Freed hit on several issues perhaps most notably his involvement with Deputy Mayor Sandy Guinn in creating what became a $170,000 traffic safety fund. The money has gone toward such items as speed bumps in residential neighborhoods.

He also talked a capital facilities plan that addressed projects ranging from the proposed new city hall to sidewalks. Freed said the point was for the council to be proactive, not reactive.