The two West Seattle men running for King County Executive sparred a bit more in a Saturday night faceoff than in another local forum two nights earlier.

This livestreamed event – with incumbent County Executive Dow Constantine and State Senator Joe Nguyen side by side in the Live Oak Audio Visual studio, but the audience online – was presented by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and moderated by its board president, restaurateur Dan Austin.

While the two didn’t exhibit major policy/platform differences – except for the very first question of the night – they swapped some words of criticism. Constantine observed that Nguyen is running for the executive job after three years in elected office, while he and some well-known predecessors had more than a decade of elected experience before moving up. Nguyen could do more good staying in the Legislature, he suggested. Nguyen, meantime, contended he was compelled to run for this because he heard from people who were frustrated about what was, and wasn’t, happening.

The video is above – with the forum starting 12 minutes in. If you’d rather read the details – below is our recap how the Q&A went, after opening statements. As usual with our coverage of events like this, what you see is mostly our paraphrasing/summarizing, not direct quotes unless it’s within quotation marks:

Read More

Another high-profile role for West Seattle-residing former mayor Greg Nickels, who currently co-chairs the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force. He is one of four people appointed to the Seattle Redistricting Commission, which will be redrawing council-district maps with the new information from the 2020 Census. (This is separate from the processes under way to redraw State Legislature and U.S. House district maps, recently noted here.) The city is spotlighting the commission membership as the group’s first meeting approaches next week. Nickels is one of two members appointed by Mayor Jenny Durkan, along with philanthropy professional Neelima Shah; earlier this year, the City Council appointed public-policy professional EJ Juárez (also a West Seattleite) and administrative-law judge Rory O’Sullivan. The commission will have a fifth member, appointed by these four. From the announcement, here’s what the five will do:

The Commission shall appoint a Districting Master to draw a districting plan for the City, develop a draft districts proposal based on that plan, facilitate a process of public comment on that proposal, and ultimately vote upon approval of that proposal for transmission to the State of Washington. The Redistricting Commission may employ experts, consultants, and attorneys as necessary to accomplish its goals and will submit financial statements and an official record of all relevant information considered to the City Clerk.

All meetings of the Redistricting Commission are open to the public. The Commission’s first meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 13 from 12-1:30 pm. The meeting will be held virtually and can be accessed at seattle.webex.com/seattle/j.php?MTID=mbaa607e36b5f148a3abd5504cef2e5ee.

The City Council is currently made up of seven people elected by district and two elected at large (by the entire city). West Seattle and South Park comprise District 1.

One week from today, King County Elections will send general-election ballots; that means you could vote as soon as one week from tomorrow. This week, two local organizations are presenting online forums with the two West Seattleites in the race for King County Executive, three-term incumbent Dow Constantine and first-term State Senator Joe Nguyen. The first one is with the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, the community council for White Center and vicinity – that’s at 7 pm Thursday (October 7th); viewing/participation information is here. Two nights later, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce will host Nguyen and Constantine at 7 pm Saturday (October 9th); viewing information is here.

SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Just found that the forum stream link moved here.

Remember back when everyone was being urged to participate in the 2020 Census? One of the many reasons why is coming to bear now: Redistricting, because of population changes. The process of redrawing the maps for legislative (state House and state Senate) and U.S. House districts is under way, and this week, you have two chances to speak out about proposed options. The Washington State Redistricting Commission has four voting members – two Democratic appointees, two Republican appointees – and each of them has proposed a legislative map and a U.S. House map.

LEGISLATIVE: The state Legislative map proposals are here – you can comment directly there, and/or participate in an online public-comment meeting at 7 pm Tuesday (October 5th) – info on that is here. For background – West Seattle is currently in the 34th Legislative District, along with Vashon and Maury Islands, White Center, and part of Burien; one proposal, that by Republican appointee Paul Graves, would split West Seattle, putting part in the 43rd District; the proposal by Democratic appointee Brady Piñero Walkinshaw would keep WS in the 34th but move Vashon Island into another district. Those are just a couple of the possible changes – zoom in on all four maps to see proposed borders.

CONGRESSIONAL: The U.S. House map proposals are linked here – you can comment directly there, and/or participate in an online public-comment meeting at 10 am next Saturday (October 9th) – info on that is at the same link. West Seattle would remain in District 7 under the commissioners’ proposals.

If you can’t make it to the meetings, other ways to have a say are here.

Thursday night’s second online city-candidate debate on homelessness featured the two candidates for Seattle City Council citywide Position 9, the spot that Lorena González is leaving to run for mayor. The event concluded the series presented by The Seattle Times and We’re All In. Here’s what Sara Nelson and Nikkita Oliver had to say, in response to questions asked by Times reporter Sydney Brownstone. Note that everything below is our paraphrase/summary, not a direct quote unless it’s within quotation marks.

Read More

The candidates for Seattle Mayor – Lorena González and Bruce Harrell – spent an hour this afternoon answering questions about homelessness and housing, and are scheduled to take on the same topic at another event tonight.

We watched the noontime forum, presented by the Resolution to End Homelessness. Its founder/board president Kyle Bergquist moderated. The organization recorded the event; the video is below, followed by our notes:

Read More

Voting in the general election is just over two weeks away – ballots go out October 13th. If you haven’t decided yet who you’re voting for in local races, you have a variety of opportunities coming up to watch candidate forums. Tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon is the next one – mayoral candidates Lorena González and Bruce Harrell will answer questions about homelessness in an online forum presented by the nonprofit Resolution to End Homelessness. Organizers say it will include an audience-question period toward the end, Go here to register for the Zoom link

One last time before leaving office in a few months, Mayor Jenny Durkan gave her annual budget speech tonight.

But what she chose to mention is only a fraction of what’s in the 768-page “budget book.” We read through key department sections of the $7.1 billion budget, as well as the accompanying Capital Improvement Program that spans into 2023 and beyond. Here are notes of (mostly) local interest:

SDOT: Of course the agency’s $718 million plan has all the money expected to be needed to fix and reopen the West Seattle Bridge. It also has $5 million for maintenance on three movable bridges, including the West Seattle low bridge, and the 4th Avenue South bridge. But the most eyecatching West Seattle item is in the Capital Improvement Program – penciling in 35th Avenue SW repaving for 2023, Morgan to Roxbury. Where the $35 million would come from, they haven’t decided yet.

PARKS & REC: West Seattle’s three landbanked park sites – 48th and Charlestown, 40th SW in The Junction, and the addition in Morgan Junction – were put on hold for the pandemic. But the $283 million Parks budget for next year includes money to get them going again. Other named West Seattle projects would include energy-efficiency woork at Hiawatha (which is already closed for renovations) and some money to support closing-time security at Alki Beach.

POLICE: The $365 million plan is slightly more than last year. Here’s what the mayor said about it in her speech:

We’ll also continue to address public safety challenges. Like many of you, I believe it’s a false choice to say we must choose between investing in effective community alternatives OR investing in having enough well trained police officers.

We need both.

This budget ensures we have enough police officers AND alternatives to police interventions, particularly for people in crisis. Like HealthOne, a program I launched before the pandemic that sends medics and social workers instead of police to certain 911 calls.

My budget also adds 125 new officers and one million dollars for officer hiring incentives, and new resources for training and oversight. I hope the City Council joins me to support this approach for true community safety, and not buy into false choices.

The alternatives would include adding six Community Service Officers as well as moving money to “specialized triage” and a Regional Peacekeepers Collective.

Those are just a few sections of the many in the budget – you can browse them section by section by going here. Some departments have started publishing their own summaries – including Parks, SDOT; watch for others here.

WHAT’S NEXT: The City Council, meeting as the Select Budget Committee, will review and amend the mayor’s plan over the next two months. Meetings start Wednesday, with individual department presentations; here’s the agenda for that day (watch for subsequent meetings’ agendas here). Three public hearings are planned – 5:30 pm October 12 and November 10, 9:30 am November 18, all online, so you can comment from wherever you are – go here for more info on how to attend/participate. You can also email councilmembers any time – here’s how.

As announced, Seattle Mayor candidate Bruce Harrell visited the West Seattle Junction this afternoon/evening. When we arrived shortly before 5 pm, he was talking with potential constituents at KeyBank Plaza (California/Alaska), including Husky Deli‘s Jack Miller:

(WSB photos)

Shortly thereafter, he embarked on a walking tour with West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford. She led him behind KeyBank to the parking lot and pitched him on the merits of a potential purchase of the four WSJA-leased parking lots by Community Roots Housing, with city-backed funding (reported here in April).

Harrell asked her how the community would react to the loss of the parking lots; Radford said the expectation is that redevelopment would include some public parking spaces, as well as affordable housing and commercial storefronts. From there, they stopped in a few of the businesses open for Art Walk (included Wlld Rose’s and Capers Home, where he did a little shopping).

We had to break off shortly thereafter because of breaking news. Harrell, a former City Councilmember, faces Lorena González, current City Council President, in the November 2nd election, just under eight weeks away. Voting starts as soon as you get your ballot, which King County Elections plans to mail on October 13th.

Now that Labor Day is past, the fall campaigns are expected to rev up. Top of the ticket remains the race for Seattle Mayor – City Council President Lorena González vs. former City Councilmember Bruce Harrell. Tomorrow night brings the first announced West Seattle event of the fall campaign: Harrell will be touring the West Seattle Junction before and during the West Seattle Art Walk. Junction Association executive director Lora Radford says he’ll be here to talk with community members and answer questions starting at 4:30 pm Thursday at Walk-All-Ways (California/Alaska). Voting for the November 2nd election starts once voters receive ballots, which are scheduled to be mailed October 13th.

6:03 PM: The November election has apparently just lost its marquee measure. Opponents of homelessness-related Seattle Charter Amendment 29 have won a victory in their lawsuit to keep it off the ballot. King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer ruled today that it “violated state law limiting the permissible scope of local ballot initiatives in many ways,” according to opponents, Their lawyer Knoll Lowney said, “The blunt tool of an initiative is not a way to address this complex and evolving crisis. The law recognizes this and so did the judge.” Supporters call their campaign Compassion Seattle. It would codify various city responses to the crisis and would allow encampment sweeps on public property if its requirements were met. The lawsuit against it was filed two weeks ago, same day the 34th District Democrats hosted a forum about it (as mentioned in our coverage of that event). No word yet whether Compassion Seattle will appeal the ruling.

8:57 PM: Compassion Seattle now has a statement on its website, saying in part “This ruling means the only way the public can change the city’s current approach to homelessness is to change who is in charge at city hall. An appeal of the judge’s ruling would not happen in time for the election. However, we urge the public not to give up the fight. We can still make our voices heard in the elections for Mayor, City Council, and City Attorney.”

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Our area’s largest political group voted Wednesday night to oppose Seattle Charter Amendment 29, the November ballot measure that seeks to codify homelessness-response policies into the city charter.

The 34th District Democrats‘ vote followed a pre-meeting forum with representatives both for and against the proposal, and was one of four endorsement votes for city matters that will appear on the November ballot.

We’ll get to the endorsements later. First – the forum, moderated by the 34th DDs’ Rachel Glass (added: video here):

Read More

Six days after the primary election, vote-counting continues. After today’s count, here’s where things stand:

SEATTLE MAYOR – Still former City Councilmember Bruce Harrell and current City Council President Lorena González advancing to the general election, but they’re a lot closer than they were in the first count – Harrell now has 34.1%, González 32.1%. He was almost 10 points ahead on Election night.

SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY – Incumbent Pete Holmes conceded Friday, and today’s count had no reason for him to rethink that. Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, who wants to end prosecution of misdemeanors (those are the crimes that go through the City Attorney’s Office, not felonies) leads with 36.3%, while private attorney Ann Davison is at 32.7%; Holmes has 30.7%.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8 – Incumbent Teresa Mosqueda is up to 59.4%, while her apparent challenger in November will be Kenneth Wilson (16.2%), a bridge engineer who believes the West Seattle Bridge could be partly reopened immediately.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 9 – Community organizer/cultural worker/artist/attorney Nikkita Oliver is now in the lead over brewery owner Sara Nelson, 40.15% to 39.52%; Nelson led by seven points on Election Night.

KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE – Incumbent Dow Constantine is now just under 20% ahead of State Sen. Joe Nguyen, 51.9% to 32.4%; it was a 23-point lead on Election Night.

WHAT’S NEXT – Once-per-weekday results updates continue until the election is certified a week from tomorrow (Tuesday, August 17th)

The third round of results from the August 3rd primary is now out. Of the five races and one ballot measure that comprised West Seattle ballots, there’s only one major change: Incumbent city attorney Pete Holmes is now in third place with 32%, behind Ann Davison at 34.5% and Nicole Thomas-Kennedy at 33.1%. The count represents 27 percent of all Seattle ballots sent out; that’s just under two-thirds of all Seattle ballots received so far. Next update, tomorrow afternoon.

No changes of note in the second round of primary-election results, announced this afternoon. All local races still have the same two leaders as last night. Here are the full results from King County Elections, which has counted ballots from 19 percent of King County voters, 21 percent of Seattle voters, so far, and will continue daily counts until the election is certified:

MAYOR

Bruce Harrell – 39,173 – 38.02%
M. Lorena González – 29,467 – 28.60%
Colleen Echohawk – 8,872 – 8.61%
Jessyn Farrell – 7,752 – 7.52%
Arthur K. Langlie – 6,120 – 5.94%
Casey Sixkiller – 3,678 – 3.57%
Andrew Grant Houston – 2,570 – 2.49%
James Donaldson – 1,679 – 1.63%
Lance Randall – 1,525 – 1.48%
Clinton Bliss – 928 – 0.90%
Bobby Tucker – 244 – 0.24%
Omari Tahir-Garrett – 233 – 0.23%
Stan Lippmann – 220 – 0.21%
Henry C. Dennison – 213 – 0.21%
Don L. Rivers – 123 – 0.12%

CITY ATTORNEY

Ann Davison – 34,523 – 34.92%
Pete Holmes – 32,285 – 32.66%
Nicole Thomas-Kennedy – 31,734 – 32.10%

CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8

Teresa Mosqueda – 52,862 – 54.99%
Kenneth Wilson – 17,485 – 18.19%
Kate Martin – 12,018 – 12.50%
Paul Felipe Glumaz – 5,495 – 5.72%
Alexander White – 1,482 – 1.54%
Bobby Lindsey Miller – 1,245 – 1.30%
Jesse James – 1,225 – 1.27%
George Freeman – 1,036 – 1.08%
Jordan Elizabeth Fisher – 1,002 – 1.04%
Alex Tsimerman – 613 – 0.64%
Brian Fahey – 530 – 0.55%

CITY COUNCIL POSITION 9

Sara Nelson – 42,841 – 42.78%
Nikkita Oliver – 35,082 – 35.03%
Brianna K. Thomas – 14,127 – 14.11%
Corey Eichner – 4,066 – 4.06%
Lindsay McHaffie – 1,767 – 1.76%
Rebecca L. Williamson – 1,053 – 1.05%
Xtian Gunther – 818 – 0.82%

COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Dow Constantine – 141,289 – 53.64%
Joe Nguyen – 78,173 – 29.68%
Bill Hirt – 30,528 – 11.59%
Goodspaceguy – 7,801 – 2.96%
Johnathon Crines – 4,314 – 1.64 %

COUNTY PROP 1 (“BEST STARTS FOR KIDS”)

Approved – 157,953 – 59.28%
Rejected – 108,521 – 40.72%

County Executive Dow Constantine was the main champion of the measure, so we asked him about it during our interview last night in Georgetown:

As of the 6 pm check tonight, 32 percent of King County ballots had been received; 39 percent of Seattle ballots are in.

Four City of Seattle races on the primary ballot – here are the first results (next count not due out until tomorrow):

Mayor – Bruce Harrell with 38 percent, Lorena González with 29 percent

City Council Position 8 – Teresa Mosqueda with 55 percent, Kenneth Wilson with 18 percent

City Council Position 9 – Sara Nelson with 42 percent, Nikkita Oliver with 35 percent

City Attorney – Ann Davison with 35 percent, Pete Holmes with 33 percent, Nicole Thomas-Kennedy with 32 percent

We’ll flesh out the full list of numbers in a bit but in the meantime (update – screengrabs added), check this link for full results.

8:09 PM: In the King County Executive race, the primary will narrow a field of five candidates to two. The leaders are two West Seattle residents – three-term incumbent Executive Dow Constantine with 53 percent and first-term State Sen. Joe Nguyen with 30 percent. Here are the first results (next count not due out until tomorrow):

Dow Constantine – 124,302 – 53.49%
Joe Nguyen – 68,986 – 29.69 %
Bill Hirt – 27,050 – 11.64%
Goodspaceguy – 6,889 – 2.96%
Johnathon Crines – 3,861 – 1.66%

We talked tonight with both Constantine and Nguyen and will add those clips when they’re uploaded.

11:09 PM: Constantine, who spent election night at the “Best Starts for Kids” victory party in Georgetown, expects a “fun” campaign:

Nguyen, who gathered with supporters in White Center, insists it’s time for change:

Datapoints from past elections: The first time Constantine ran for KC Executive, in 2009, he was second in the primary; Nguyen’s run for State Senate in 2018 was his first bid for elective office, and he led after the primary as well as the general. Another datapoint: Constantine held the same State Senate seat Nguyen now holds, for about a year at the turn of the millennium, before moving to the King County Council, shere he served before becoming executive.

That’s the King County Elections ballot dropbox at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), easy to ride/walk/drive up to, one of three dropboxes in West Seattle (here’s the countywide map, which also includes one in White Center and one in South Park). Dropboxes are open until exactly 8 pm tomorrow for your primary-election ballot; if you decide to send yours via US Mail, please do that early in the day rather than late so it will definitely get postmarked. As of this evening, KCE says Seattle is up to 17.3 percent turnout (ballots returned). Reminder, the ballot has six decisions for you to make – two city races without incumbents (mayor and City Council Position 9), two city races with incumbents (city attorney and Council Position 8), one county race (Executive), and one county ballot measure (“Best Starts for Kids” renewal/expansion). First round of results will be out around 8:15 pm tomorrow.

Only two days left to vote in the primary election, but very few ballots are in. As of this afternoon, only 13.4 percent of Seattle ballots had been returned to King County Elections; that’s just a hair below the countywide percentage, 13.5 percent. Just six decisions to make on your ballot – two city races without incumbents (mayor and City Council Position 9), two city races with incumbents (city attorney and Council Position 8), one county race (Executive), and one county ballot measure (“Best Starts for Kids” renewal/expansion). Still not sure about the mayor’s race, in which a field of 15 will be narrowed to two? Watch the one and only in-person West Seattle forum (presented by us and the Junction Association three weeks ago) here with 9 of the candidates, and/or check out the Seattle Channel’s Video Voters Guide (for mayor and the other city races) here. If you’re going to mail your ballot (no stamp needed), do that by tomorrow so you can be sure it’ll be postmarked in time; if you’re going to use a dropbox (three in West Seattle!), get it in by 8 pm Tuesday. First round of results is expected by 8:15 that night.

Once the primary-election ballots are counted after next Tuesday night’s voting deadline, the spotlight turns to November, and one city ballot measure will likely dominate the discussion: Seattle Charter Amendment 29. It attempts to codify particular policies for dealing with homelessness, Just announced by the 34th District Democrats – their August meeting will be preceded by an informational forum with reps from both sides. Supporters call their compaign Compassion Seattle, opponents call theirs House Our Neighbors, and participants from both will be part of the online event, open to all, 6-6:45 pm Wednesday, August 11th. You can register here to get the viewing link. The 34th DDs’ regular August meeting will start afterward, at 7 pm (same link if you plan to stay), and they may take an endorsement vote during the meeting,

(WSB photo – West Seattle Junction ballot dropbox)

If your ballot is still waiting to be marked and taken to a dropbox or mailbox – you have just five more days. Next Tuesday, August 3rd, is the deadline – 8 pm for dropboxes (3 in West Seattle), or early enough for mailboxes to be sure it’ll be postmarked that day. It’s not a long ballot – though some of the offices on it have long lists of candidates – 15 for Seattle Mayor (9 were at the West Seattle forum we moderated), 11 for citywide City Council Position 8, 7 for citywide City Council Position 9, 5 for King County Executive, 3 for Seattle City Attorney, and one ballot measure (King County Prop 1, “Best Starts for Kids”). That’s it for your primary ballot. Lost yours? Here’s how to get a replacement. Need to vote accessibly? Here’s how. Need to register? You can still do that in person up till Tuesday. Voted days ago? Track your ballot here.

King County Elections projects only a 40 percent turnout for the August 3rd election. That, despite a ballot including Seattle Mayor, two citywide City Council positions, City Attorney, County Executive, and a major levy. You can prove them wrong – get your ballot in! If you didn’t get your ballot yet but are registered, request a replacement here, or call 206-296-VOTE. If you didn’t get a ballot because you’re NOT registered, Monday is the deadline for registering online or by mail. After that, you can still register in person, but you have to go to King County Elections’ Renton HQ or a Vote Center.