Unlike many developers, Freeman has steeped himself in nonbusiness issues, mainly to promote an upscale and mobile suburban lifestyle. He gave money to a campaign to keep X-rated dancing out of Bellevue, and in Olympia he opposed a proposal to make public schools totally state-funded because he believed Bellevue residents would rather continue their local levies to maintain a quality school district.
Freeman insists the region build more road lanes rather than transit, not only because motorists bring dollars to the mall but because he considers the automobile a source of freedom.
Four years ago, he hired an engineering firm to make the case for construction of 1,400 lane miles in the Puget Sound region and said they would reduce congestion by one-fourth.
"Kemper's policy is an anachronism," contends opponent Peter Hurley, executive director of the Transportation Choices Coalition. "He's someone who advocates road projects that just don't work. Clearly, the guy does other good things. On transportation, I think he's become fixated on an L.A. model that will raise taxes, increase traffic and increase air pollution."
Freeman and other downtown boosters have locked horns with neighborhoods north and south of downtown, where a 35-member downtown planning committee endorsed traffic studies that include an evaluation of widening Bellevue Way from four lanes to six — which would add traffic and displace homes.
"His driving force is business," says neighborhood advocate Margot Blacker, "and I think sometimes he has doomsday scenarios about how things will fold if you can't get anywhere. Places don't die just because of congestion — (his) message isn't one I agree with, but there is no question Kemper's been an asset to Bellevue."
