In 1992, Angel Bolanos moved to Seattle from Ecuador without any ability to English speaking ability, but now he is running for a second time for the Seattle City Council.

He said in an interview last week that he will win the primary in two weeks.

Bolanos ran against Council member Jim Compton in 2003 and came in third with 18,000 votes. Compton was re-elected.

"I was an unknown, no one knew about me," said Bolanos. "People believe we need change."

At the time, Bolanos said he was working full time and raising a family. But he managed to get within 5000 votes of being a finalist.

This time, Bolanos is running against incumbent Jan Drago and Casey Corr, an former aide to Mayor Greg Nickels.

He has been reaching out to voters by visiting 30,000 homes.

"My shoes are getting old," said Bolanos.

If elected, Bolanos says he wants to help create a fiscally open government to restore public trust. He criticizes "megaprojects" like Paul Allen's plan to make South Lake Union into a biotech center instead of financing neighborhoods.

With the city subsidizing Allen's project, he spends some of his own money but gets a return of two to three times, said Bolanos.

"Everyone knows he is buying the city. It's important to step back and see what kind of benefit the public has."

As far as the Alaskan Way Viaduct goes, Bolanos prefers the rebuild option.

"It saves money. We have better technology and engineering now."

Voters supported the idea of a monorail, not an $11.5 billion price tag said Bolanos who is against the elevated transit system.

There are four ways to kill the monorail project according to Bolanos. This can be done by the Legislature, by the City not granting construction permits, by defeated by a new vote by the people and the monorail's board can fold the project.

"We have light rail, already being built with money from different sources. The monorail is stuck in hard times, taxes," said Bolanos.

His idea is to use light rail to carry people from West Seattle to downtown by using the line now being installed in the Sound Transit access though the 3rd Ave Bus Tunnel.

"Use the technology and spend less money," he said.

Consolidating the transportation agencies and establishing a regional transit board is a solution Bolanos advocates .

Bolanos said he want to revitalize the economy by streamlining the permitting process and helping small businesses succeed in neighborhoods. City revenues, he says, should be fairly spread throughout the city to create jobs and to make sure the economy gets stronger.

Public safety is another area of concern for Bolanos. He wants more police accountability because he believes law enforcement discriminates against and racially profiles people of color.

"They stop individuals who look different. We have to revamp the training with racial and ethnic training to de-escalate the tension," Bolanos said.

Bolanos has first hand experience of crime. He said his Columbia City home has been shot at, his tires slashed two months ago, had three cars stolen, had his home vandalized and had documents stolen during his first campaign for City Council.

He says someone is out to get him and he has no idea who.

"I'm the only Latino and immigrant person running for office," said Bolanos.

In Ecuador, Bolanos says he was in that nation's Congress.

"Even the former (Ecuadorian) president could not corrupt me," he said.

In 1993, Bolanos helped start a program for immigrant students to gain access to student resources at Seattle Central Community College. That same year he was hired by United Way as a bilingual instructor.

The next year, he helped found the Casa Latino agency in Belltown.

Bolanos describes himself as a coalition builder with vision, leadership, practice and action.

He was the fifth of ten kids in his family and is the only that has been in higher education. "People are my passion. I came from a family that was very poor," Bolanos said.

Other City Council members who are up for re-election in the next few years have told him they would be eager to work with him.

He calls him self a "doer " who would stand up to the Nickels and lobbyists who proposal ideas to him.

Bolanos says he has been participating in community meetings all over the City, including Ballard and Magnolia.

"I'm going to win the primary. It takes one person to shake it up. I'm very a determined a visionary person who always means what he said. I have people when believe in me," said Bolanos.

Dean Wong can be reached at bnteditor@robinsonnews.com or 783.1244.