5:48 PM: Tomorrow, King County Elections certifies results of the August 1st primary. The two candidates advancing to the November 7th general in the Seattle City Council District 1 race will be Maren Costa and Rob Saka. Just out of the WSB inbox, five of the six candidates who aren’t advancing have sent an “open letter” saying they all are endorsing Costa:

An Open Letter to Seattle’s District One Residents,

We, the undersigned, Seattle City Council District One candidates, proud residents of West Seattle, passionate believers in the future of our great city, hereby endorse our one-time opponent Maren Costa to be the next Seattle City Council member representing District One.

We endorse Maren for the same reason we sought the office; we love Seattle and we want to see it thrive.

Over these intense past five months of campaigning, Maren has shown herself to be a serious, caring, quick study. Her growth on the campaign trail was evident to all of us. She found her voice in the truest sense. She learned how to be real in public, and we can attest, that is no small feat. At every forum, debate or community event, Maren was there – showing up with authenticity, humor and self-effacing charm. What you see is what you get; no “consultancy speak” – just Maren.

She has experience fighting for justice and a better world. She has management skills and a healthy dollop of guile gleaned in the cutthroat grind of high tech. She has the persistence and patience of a parent and a partner.

This group endorsement is more notable because some of us have non-trivial policy differences with Maren on some of the issues that dominated this campaign season. But, in spite of those differences, we believe Maren’s openness, transparency and candor make her more likely than her general election opponent to be a successful collaborator on the Seattle City Council.

Onward,

Phillip Tavel
Administrative Law Judge

Preston Anderson
LICSW, MPA

Stephen Brown
President, Eltana Bagels

Lucy Barefoot
Outreach Specialist, Office of the Secretary of State of Washington

Mia Jacobson
Longshoreman

We received the letter from Tavel, who says he is the group’s spokesperson (and we’re asking him a few followup questions). The only primary candidate not on the list is Jean Iannelli Craciun.

8:46 PM: First a note – we’ve corrected Tavel’s profession and first-name spelling, which were erroneous in what was originally sent to us. Meantime, we asked Tavel for a little more on how the group endorsement came about; he said he, Anderson, and Brown were talking post-election and agreed that they felt “District 1 would be in considerably better hands with Maren”; they invited the others to join them, including Craciun, who did not sign the letter, Tavel says, because “she had already endorsed Maren and… was the first to do so.” (Costa also says Craciun had previously endorsed her.) Meantime, Saka’s campaign has sent a news release reacting to the group endorsement, saying he “expressed his deep shock and dismay with the decision of his former opponents to endorse Costa, a move he believes contradicts the spirit of change and progress that their campaigns initially advocated for” and quoting him as calling the group endorsement a “political stunt.” … (added) Costa, meantime, told us when we asked for comment on the group endorsement, “I was quite surprised and thankful for my fellow candidates’ support. We all got to know each other quite well on the campaign trail. Good group.”

One more week until the primary vote is finalized and certified, but from here on out it’s down to a daily trickle of ballots, if that. So with today’s update in, adding just a few more votes, we’re going to take one more look at how Seattle City Council District 1 shook out:

Maren Costa 8,760 33.15 %
Rob Saka 6,360 24.07 %
Phil Tavel 5,311 20.10 %
Preston Anderson 2,213 8.38 %
Stephen Brown 1,650 6.24 %
Jean Iannelli Craciun 836 3.16 %
Lucy Barefoot 766 2.90 %
Mia Jacobson 472 1.79 %

Turnout in this district is at 36.7 percent and not likely to move much beyond that. Top two finishers advance to the November 7th general election, for which voting will begin in mid-October.

The ballot-counting has almost caught up with the ballot-receiving at King County Elections, so today’s update of results from Tuesday’s election doesn’t include that many more votes. First, here’s where the top three stand in Seattle City Council District 1:

Maren Costa 8,714 33.15 %
Rob Saka 6,343 24.13 %
Phil Tavel 5,276 20.07 %

That’s with 36 percent of ballots counted, only one-half percent less than the percentage received. Next, here’s how King County Council District 8‘s top two have shaken out, with 33 percent of ballots received and counted:

Teresa Mosqueda 28,646 57.56 %
Sofia Aragon 18,691 37.56 %

(Since Mosqueda is an at-large Seattle City Councilmember, if she goes on to victory in November, that means the City Council will have a majority of new members – five of nine – as four district-seat incumbents already aren’t running for re-election; the council would appoint an interim person for her seat.) Here’s the top two in Seattle School Board District 6, with 36 percent of ballots received and counted:

Gina Topp 19,672 79.70 %
Maryanne Wood 3,515 14.24 %

The top two in the Seattle Port Commission Position 5 race, s countywide vote, with just under 30 percent of ballots counted:

Fred Felleman* 212,442 56.50 %
Jesse Tam 96,449 25.65 %

And the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services countywide levy, also with just under 30 percent of ballots counted, is passing with 71.5 percent approval.

The newest numbers from Tuesday’s election are just out. Here’s how the top three contenders for Seattle City Council District 1 are doing now:

Maren Costa 8,363 32.95 %
Rob Saka 6,143 24.20 %
Phil Tavel 5,130 20.21 %

In short – Costa’s percentage has risen, while Saka’s and Tavel’s have fallen. This is with (corrected) 34.8 percent of D-1 voters’ ballots counted, up from 25 percent yesterday; as of mid-afternoon today, King County Elections says it’s received 36.4 percent of D-1 voters’ ballots. (That’s just a fraction of a percentage more than yesterday, so from hereon out it’s a daily trickle of new ballots.) Next update, Friday afternoon.

3:37 PM: King County Elections’ second round of results is out. For Seattle City Council District 1, the results are the same as day 1, Maren Costa first (30%), Rob Saka second (25%), Phil Tavel third (21%). Still many ballots to count – this represents 25 percent of D-1 ballots, while the county has received 36 percent so far.

4:38 PM: We were away from the desk when the update came in, so the first mention was brief, but here’s a bit more info: First, the full results update is here. Second, for the record, here’s the full D-1 lineup after today’s count:

Maren Costa 5,625 30.34 %
Rob Saka 4,678 25.23 %
Phil Tavel 3,941 21.26 %
Preston Anderson 1,545 8.33 %
Stephen Brown 1,185 6.39 %
Jean Iannelli Craciun 596 3.21 %
Lucy Barefoot 571 3.08 %
Mia Jacobson 358 1.93 %

Next results update will be tomorrow in the 3:30-4 pm vicinity. Counting will continue until final results are certified August 15th.

8:13 PM: Tonight’s first and only round of election-night results is in. Here’s how the City Council District 1 race is looking for starters – remember, no incumbent because Councilmember Lisa Herbold is leaving after two terms:

Maren Costa 4,283 29.05 %
Rob Saka 3,745 25.40 %
Phil Tavel 3,154 21.39 %
Preston Anderson 1,252 8.49 %
Stephen Brown 955 6.48 %
Jean Iannelli Craciun 499 3.38 %
Lucy Barefoot 495 3.36 %
Mia Jacobson 319 2.16 %

This is one of seven by-district races on ballots around the city tonight – we’ll take a look at the others a bit later. Next vote count will be Wednesday afternoon; tonight’s count represents only 20.26 percent of the D-1 voters, the county had received more than 26.6 percent of ballots before the big deadline rush, so many votes remain to be counted.

10:48 PM: Some notes: In the other six city-council races – three with incumbents, three without – the incumbents are all leading. The one with the closest challenger is District 2’s Tammy Morales, who had 48 percent of the first-night count, with challenger Tanya Woo at 45 percent. … Looking at the 2019 D-1 primary, results didn’t change much between the first count (Herbold 48%/Tavel 34%/Kolding 18%) and the final count (Herbold 50%/Tavel 32%/Kolding 16%), but much has changed in the past four years … We caught up with the first-night vote leader Maren Costa after tonight’s results were released. She was hosting a “volunteer appreciation” party. We asked for her thoughts on the initial results:

Ballots will be counted for two weeks – then the election will be certified August 15th, and the top two finishers advance to the November 7th general election.

Here’s how the election-night count went in the other four decisions that faced West Seattle voters this time:

COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Teresa Mosqueda 16,016 54.75 %
Sofia Aragon 11,636 39.77 %
GoodSpaceGuy 1,438 4.92 %

SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6
Gina Topp 10,792 77.40 %
Maryanne Wood 2,207 15.83 %
Rosie McCarter 860 6.17 %

PORT COMMISSION POSITION 5
Fred Felleman 128,620 53.42 %
Jesse Tam 66,412 27.58 %
Todd Curtis 44,129 18.33 %

KING COUNTY VETERANS, SENIORS, HUMAN SERVICES LEVY
Approved 179,624 69.51 %
Rejected 78,775 30.49 %

12:16 PM: Waiting till the last minute to vote? It’s not just you. The week’s first updates on ballot returns for tomorrow’s primary election are in, and turnout remains small – here in City Council District 1, 16.5 percent of ballots have been received as of this morning, just a sliver over the countywide turnout of 16.3 percent. It’s a short ballot – just five decisions to make:

–City Council District 1, eight candidates (no incumbent)
–County Council District 8, three candidates (no incumbent)
–School Board District 6, three candidates (no incumbent)
–Port Commission Position 5, three candidates
–King County Veterans, Seniors, Human Services Levy

The optimal way to turn in your ballot is via a KC Elections dropbox, with three in West Seattle (plus one in White Center, one in South Park, and others around the county – here’s the list/map), which you can do up until 8 pm Tuesday night; if you’re sending it via USPS mail, do it early enough tomorrow (if not today) to assure it’ll have an August 1st postmark. If you’re still looking for info, our overview is here (and there’s been another City Council candidates’ forum since then – our coverage is here). If you’ve just arrived, you can still register to vote – here’s how.

2:49 PM: KCE is updating the received-ballot numbers every two hours (here). D-1 is now up to almost 18 percent.

11:51 AM: If you need to drive or ride to a King County Elections dropbox to deliver your ballot – note that right now the driveway that leads to the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) dropbox is blocked by a locked gate, so you can only get to it on foot (there’s a stairway up from 16th). Daniel, who emailed us about the problem (and sent the photo), has reported to KCE at 206-296-VOTE – that’s the number to call about other voting concerns and problems too (overflowing dropboxes, for example). West Seattle’s other dropboxes are in The Junction (south side of SW Alaska between California and 44th) and High Point (north side of the library at 3411 SW Raymond); putting yours in a USPS box today is also plenty of time to get it postmarked before Election Day on Tuesday (when KCE dropboxes close at 8 pm). Fewer than 15 percent of Seattle City Council District 1 voters’ ballots had been received by last night.

5:15 PM: Gate at SSC is still closed.

7 PM: KCE says it’s open now.

As promised, we recorded this afternoon’s City Council District 1 candidate forum at the Senior Center of West Seattle, organized by a member. Though the organizer had hoped for all eight candidates, the turnout was six plus a representative – here’s how they were seated at the table, left to right: Maren Costa, Stephen Brown, Jean Iannelli Craciun, Rob Saka, Preston Anderson, Jules Williams from Phil Tavel‘s campaign (the candidate was at a memorial), and Lucy Barefoot. Moderator was Paula Barnes from the League of Women Voters; questions were asked by attendees. For those without the time and/or interest in watching video, we’ll add text summaries of their replies in about an hour. P.S. There’s another forum tomorrow night at the West Seattle Democratic Women‘s meeting – info in our calendar listing.

ADDED 11:11 PM: The summaries are below, after our photo of moderator Paula and organizer Erica:

What you see below are our summaries/paraphrasings of what the candidates said, not direct quotes aside from any word, phrase, or sentence inside quotation marks.

First, self-introductions in which they were asked to list the big issues they want to work on:

Read More

Two notes tonight as the August 1st primary election gets ever closer:

ONE WEEK TO VOTE: We’re now just one week from the voting deadline. If you need a reminder about the four big reasons to vote, here’s our explanation. So far, in City Council District 1, just under 10 percent of ballots have arrived back at King County Elections – among the seven council districts, ours is second-to-last in turnout so far, ahead only of North Seattle’s D-5.

COUNCIL-CANDIDATE FORUM WEDNESDAY: Reminder that Wednesday afternoon brings a last-minute chance to see all eight D-1 candidates – the Senior Center of West Seattle is hosting a forum at 2 pm, organized by one of its members. If you can’t be there in midafternoon – we don’t know if the center plans to stream and/or record it, but we’re definitely planning to get it on video and expect to publish that Wednesday night.

In an 8-1 vote this afternoon, Seattle City Councilmembers passed the bill that could give the green light to speed-enforcement cameras in so-called “restricted racing zones.” The bill designates 10 streets around Seattle as racing zones – including Alki Avenue, Harbor Avenue, and West Marginal Way SW in West Seattle; we first reported on the proposal more than a month ago. The state Legislature gave cities the power to make these designations. But it doesn’t automatically mean these streets or any/all of the other seven will get cameras – it’s up to SDOT to make a plan, and ultimately up to the mayor to figure out how camera installation would be funded. Nonetheless, especially in the aftermath of the July 16th Alki driver-rescued-from-water crash, the local residents who’ve been pushing for more safety action see this move as hopeful. Steve Pumphrey, an organizer of the Alki-Harbor neighborhood group, says they had seven people speaking in favor of the proposal at this afternoon’s council meeting. They are also continuing to advocate for more traffic-calming measures such as additional speed humps along Alki and Harbor.

Just got word of this from the Senior Center of West Seattle – executive director Amy Lee Derenthal says one of their members has organized a last-minute forum for those still deciding who to vote for in the City Council District 1 race – here’s the announcement:

Eight candidates are vying for a Seattle City Council seat and all will be here at the Senior Center for the forum.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023
2-4 p.m.
Hatten Hall (second floor)

They are Preston Anderson, a clinical social worker;
Lucy Barefoot, an outreach specialist;
Stephen Brown, president of Eltana bagels;
Maren Costa, a climate activist;
Jean Iannelli Craciun, a sociologist;
Mia Jacobson, a longshoreman;
Rob Saka, an attorney; and
Phil Tavel, an administrative law judge.

All are welcome; the Senior Center is at California/Oregon, with the entrance on the Oregon side. (The only previous forum with all eight candidates was the one we presented June 6 – video and summaries here.) As noted again here last night, you have until Tuesday, August 1st, to vote.

So far, fewer than six percent of the voters in newly expanded Seattle City Council District 1 have sent in their ballots for the August 1st primary – that’s 9,349 out of 74,100 registered voters. Nine days remain until the deadline but this time of year this can go fast, so once you decide who you’re voting for, get that ballot in the postal mail or a dropbox. Voters in our area have three major by-district local races – City Council, County Council, School Board, all with multi-term incumbents leaving office rather than running again. Your ballot also has the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy, plus a Port Commission race (countywide(. Lots of links in our election preview here. Deadline for turning in your ballot is Tuesday, August 1st, at 8 pm, in King County Elections dropboxes, or if you’re using USPS mail, in time to be sure they’re postmarked by August 1st.

Though it’s midsummer, the City Council has taken up some big topics. Here are quick notes on three:

SPEED CAMERAS: The Transportation and Utilities Committee has given its official approval to the proposal for “racing zones,” potentially enabling speed-enforcement cameras on Alki/Harbor Avenues and in other areas of the city. Tuesday morning’s vote was 4-0, including Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s vote. The discussion started 27:15 into the Seattle Channel meeting video below (and there was public comment starting around 6 minutes in):

Next step is a full Council vote, which could happen as soon as next Tuesday. As explained when we first wrote about this proposal last month, passage does not guarantee or fund cameras – that would be up to SDOT to plan and propose.

MARITIME/INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY: This plan to create more certainty around the future of maritime/industrial land got final approval from the full council unanimously on Tuesday. Here’s what the council website published afterward. For a deeper dive, including a map (which shows that West Seattle’s east shoreline areas are among the land affected), see the Office of Planning and Community Development‘s website.

RENT CONTROL? On Friday, the council’s Sustainability and Renters’ Rights Committee is scheduled to consider a proposed rent-control policy for Seattle. It would only take effect if state prohibitions on rent control were repealed. The City Council website goes into details; you can read the proposal here. If the committee passes the legislation, it would go to the full council for a final vote.

GOT FEEDBACK? Since the speed cameras and rent-control proposals haven’t had final votes yet, you still have opportunities to provide feedback – council@seattle.gov (and watch the meeting agendas for specifics on commenting at meetings).

It’s almost time to start voting in the 2023 primary. The official voters’ pamphlets have been arriving, and King County Elections mailed ballots today – 1.4 million of them. Some may call this an off-year election but in our area, it’s more important than it’s been in a long time, with the incumbents leaving all three district-specific positions – City Council District 1, County Council District 8, and School Board District 6. None is exclusively West Seattle, but our community comprises most of each district, and the outgoing incumbents are all West Seattleites, as are most of the candidates. In addition to those three races, your ballot also includes one major levy. So here’s the quick refresher on those four major reasons to vote:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Now expanded to include areas including Pioneer Square, Georgetown, and SODO, as well as WS and South Park

Lisa Herbold is giving up the seat after two terms. The eight primary candidates are (in surname-alphabetical order, and with each name linked to the campaign website):

Preston Anderson
Lucy Barefoot
Stephen Brown
Maren Costa
Jean Iannelli Craciun
Mia Jacobson
Rob Saka
Phil Tavel

The only forum with all eight was the one we presented in collaboration with the District 1 Community Network on June 6th. You can see the video – plus brief written summaries of the eight candidates’ responses to the 17 questions that were asked – by going here. Less than a week later, the 34th District Democrats presented a forum with five of the candidates; here’s our coverage, with video. And days after that, a coalition of mobility and sustainability-advocacy groups held a D-1 forum with four candidates and one candidate surrogate; here’s that video. In your Local Voters Pamphlet, the D-1 candidates start on page 35. You can also see all eight candidates in the city’s Video Voter Guide. (And if you want to explore who’s raised how much and from whom, this site is where to start.)

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Areas including West Seattle, White Center, Vashon/Maury Islands, Burien

Joe McDermott is leaving this seat after 12 years. Candidates are:

Sofia Aragon
GoodSpaceGuy
Teresa Mosqueda

The 34th DDs held a forum with Aragon and Mosqueda in June; here’s our coverage, including video. All three candidates are in the Local Voters Pamphlet on pages 17 and 18.

SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS DISTRICT 6
West Seattle and most of South Park

Leslie Harris is leaving this seat after two terms. Candidates are:

Rosie McCarter
Gina Topp
Maryanne Wood

This is a district-only vote in the primary, and then a citywide vote in the general. All three candidates are in the Local Voters Pamphlet, on pages 74 and 75. Only Topp participated in the Seattle Video Voter Guide.

KING COUNTY PROPOSITION 1
Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy

We reported on this measure here. In the Local Voters Pamphlet, you’ll find the summary and pro/con statements starting on page 78, and the full text starting on page 90. Want to see what it would cost you next year, compared to this year? Put your address into the King County Assessor’s Transparency Tool.

VOTING: The county predicts 35 percent turnout – you can prove that wrong. The four decisions above aren’t the only ones your ballot will ask you to make, but they’re the main ones. Voting starts as soon as you get your ballot, and you have until August 1st to vote and send your ballot back to KC Elections, either by getting it into an official ballot dropbox (they open tomorrow – here’s where to find them) by 8 pm that night, or by getting it into the USPS mail (no stamp needed) in time for a postmark no later than August 1st. In the contested races, the two candidates who get the most votes will advance to the November 7th general election (the city’s new voting method does NOT start this year).

In a three-hour online meeting that concluded an hour ago, our area’s largest political organization – the 34th District Democrats – made their pre-primary endorsement decisions. Here’s how that shook out in the three major local races for which the incumbents aren’t running again:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1: With almost 200 members in attendance, the group nominated four of the eight candidates for consideration. That first vote ended with Rob Saka at 50 percent, Maren Costa 24.6 percent, Phil Tavel 11.9 percent, and Preston Anderson 11.1 percent. 60 percent is required to win an endorsement, so this went to a second ballot between Saka and Costa; he won the sole endorsement with 63.7 percent. (For context, departing incumbent Lisa Herbold won the 34th DDs’ endorsement four years ago, and they gave a dual endorsement to her and Shannon Braddock in the first D-1 election back in 2015.)

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8: Two of the three candidates for the position Joe McDermott is leaving were nominated for consideration. Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda just missed winning the endorsement by coming in a fraction of a point below 60 percent. The group then voted on whether to dual-endorse Mosqueda and Burien Mayor Sofia Aragon, but decided on “no endorsement” instead. They’ll be able to reconsider for the November general election.

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 8: Only one candidate was nominated for consideration out of the three vying for the seat Leslie Harris is leaving. Gina Topp (a former 34th DDs chair) got the nod.

ALSO OF NOTE: The 34th DDs took various other endorsement votes but weren’t scheduled to vote on whether to endorse the Veterans, Seniors, & Human Services Levy. County Executive Dow Constantine moved to bring it up, noting that ballots will be in the mail by the time the group meets again July 12th. After voting to allow a vote, attendees endorsed the levy.

The mayor proposed it in March, and the City Council finalized it this afternoon – the next renewal of the seven-year Seattle Housing Levy, expanding it to almost a billion dollars, will be on your November ballot. Here’s an overview of where that money would go, according to the council’s website:

Rental Production and Preservation:
$707,270,379 – Capital funding for new production of affordable rental housing, acquisition of structures to create or preserve affordable housing, and reinvestment in existing affordable housing to make capital improvements.

Operating, Maintenance, and Services:
$122,300,000 – Operating support for Housing Levy-funded buildings for 20 years, supplementing rent paid by low-income residents, including formerly homeless residents and other residents with supportive service needs. Wage stabilization support for supportive housing workers serving residents who have experienced homelessness and who are living with low incomes.

Administration:
$60,000,000 – Funding for administration of all programs, including holding costs and predevelopment costs for land in the City’s possession.

Homeownership Program:
$50,689,796 – Assistance to low-income homeowners to maintain stable housing through emergency home repair grants, assistance to eligible homebuyers through home purchase loans, and development subsidy loans for the development of new resale-restricted homes.

Prevention and Housing Stabilization:
$30,000,000 – Rent assistance and stabilization services for low-income individuals and families to prevent eviction, support housing stability, and address homelessness.

Acquisition and Preservation:
Up to $30,000,000 (no additional funding) – Short-term acquisition loans for cost-effective purchases of buildings or land for rental or homeownership development.

The first Seattle Housing Levy was a $50 million, 8-year measure in 1986; the one that’s expiring, passed in 2016, was for $290 million. You can see the rest of its history here. As for this one, when proposed in March, it was described as costing the owner of a median-value home – $855,000 – $32 a month.