During presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren‘s Seattle visit on Sunday, Leah Griffin had a request for the candidate:

As Griffin explained in a subsequent tweet, the “Survivors’ Access to Supportive Care Act will increase access to Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners so that fewer rape victims will be turned away from hospitals because they do not administer rape kits.”

Griffin has been fighting for this, and more, since becoming a rape survivor. She talked about her advocacy work earlier ths month at the August meeting of the 34th District Democrats.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The organization that operates the Senior Center of West Seattle is protesting being passed over for major ongoing funding from the King County Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy.

County Executive Dow Constantine‘s office announced the funding earlier this week. The list is highlighted by ongoing funding for 14 proposals, from $885,000 for a senior center in Enumclaw to $1.9 million for four agencies in Seattle to serve Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. (The application guidelines, the announcement explains, “encouraged regional senior centers and other community groups to form collaborations or ‘hubs’ to better reach specific demographics, or serve a defined geographic area or cultural group.”)

While that major funding will be over the course of the six-year levy, at the bottom of the announced list are 13 agencies/facilities getting one-time-only grants of $90,000 each. That’s where you’ll find the Senior Center of West Seattle – which describes itself as the largest senior center in the city, serving more than 4,500 people a year.

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Two weeks after voting ended in the 2019 primary, the final results have been certified. In the three races that were local to our area:

Seattle City Council District 1 – 40.42% turnout – 27,528 voters out of 68,102 registered
Lisa Herbold – 13,405 – 50.62%
Phil Tavel – 8,558 – 32.32%
Brendan Kolding – 4,435 – 16.75%

King County Council District 8 – 35.86% turnout – 53,813 voters out of 150,071 registered
Joe McDermott – 41,743 – 83.89%
Michael Robert Neher – 5,487 – 11.03%
Goodspaceguy – 2,250 – 4.52%

Seattle School Board District 6 – 40.59% turnout – 27,228 voters of 67,088 registered
Leslie S. Harris – 12,580 – 54.56%
Molly E. Mitchell – 7,872 – 34.14%
Crystal S. Liston – 2,390 – 10.36%

The top two in each race advance to the general election, with voting ending on November 5th. The first candidate forum in West Seattle that we’ve heard of so far is for City Council District 1, Saturday, September 14th, 6:30 pm at the Duwamish Longhouse (4705 W. Marginal Way SW), presented by the D-1 Community Network. (Planning a forum or debate, or non-fundraiser candidate meet-and-greet? Please let us know ASAP – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!)

The last ballot count of the week is out, and it includes a milestone for Seattle City Council District 1 incumbent Lisa Herbold: She now has passed 50 percent of the vote, gaining almost three full points from the Tuesday night count:

Lisa Herbold – 13,243 – 50.61%
Phil Tavel – 8,439 – 32.25%
Brendan Kolding – 4,379 – 16.73%

Turnout in District 1 is now up to 39.94% (10 percent higher than the 2015 primary), with 27,199 ballots counted (out of 68,101 registered voters). With 27,893 ballots received, fewer than 700 remain to be counted (plus whatever trickles in via postal mail).

Herbold is the only one of the three City Council incumbents running for re-election who has hit that milestone; District 3’s Kshama Sawant now has 36.65% of the vote in a 6-candidate race; District 5’s Debora Juarez, who also has 5 challengers, leads that race with 44.98%.

Just in, the third King County Elections report on the August primary. For the first several days, each new count adds thousands of ballots, so we’re continuing to watch the City Council District 1 race. Here’s the new tally:

Lisa Herbold – 11,326 – 49.47%
Phil Tavel – 7,556 – 33.00%
Brendan Kolding – 3,915 – 17.10%

D-1 turnout – 35.03% so far (the district’s total turnout in August 2015 was 29.3%)

Herbold’s percentage is up from 47.95% on Election Night; Tavel’s is down from 33.83%. Today’s count added 4,317 more ballots. The county says it’s received 27,471 ballots from D-1 so far, so it has at least 3,617 (and more possibly still trickling in via postal mail) left to count. Next update: Friday afternoon.

After almost four years in citywide Seattle City Council Position 9, West Seattle-residing Lorena González is running for statewide office. She announced early this morning that she’s seeking the job of state Attorney General, with a campaign video that includes a few West Seattle waterfront backdrops.

González was a civil-rights lawyer before becoming the first Latinx member of the Seattle City Council, elected for a 2-year term in 2015 and then re-elected for a 4-year term in 2017. She is the first high-profile candidate to announce a run for that job regardless of whether a number of other dominoes fall – such as, it had been speculated that if Gov. Jay Inslee (currently running for president) decides next year not to seek re-election, current AG Bob Ferguson might go for the governorship.

The second-day election results are out. The end results haven’t changed for anything in our area, but if you’re watching for percentages, here’s how the Seattle City Council District 1 race changed: Lisa Herbold now has 48.55 percent of the vote, up from 47.95% in the first round; Phil Tavel now has 33.62%, down from 33.83%; Brendan Kolding, 17.38%, down from 17.76%. The total number of votes counted so far is 19.537, which is 28.69% of the district’s 68,101 registered voters (today’s count added 4,218 ballots). Next count, tomorrow afternoon.

P.S. A little more history beyond what we noted last night: The August 2015 primary had 29.3% turnout from among the then-registered 60,474 voters; the November 2015 general election had 45.5% turnout.

8:06 PM: Three candidates running for the West Seattle/South Park seat on the Seattle City Council – District 1 – and two will advance to the general election in November. The first ballot count has just gone public, and incumbent Lisa Herbold leads with 48 percent, Phil Tavel next with 34 percent, Brendan Kolding with 18 percent.

8:24 PM: Here’s the results table:

Herbold – 7,048 – 47.95%
Tavel – 4,972 – 33.83%
Kolding – 2,610 – 17.76%

We just talked with Herbold at her party (Zeeks Pizza) and are headed for the Tavel party (Talarico’s). Photos and video later.

9:40 PM: We asked each candidate for their reaction to tonight’s vote. Both said they are “excited” about the campaign ahead:

Here’s a little historical context we noted earlier via Twitter:

Next round of results will be out tomorrow afternoon.

Along with the Seattle City Council District 1 results, we’re also tracking the six other decisions West Seattle voters were asked to make – toplines from the results just released:

SEATTLE LIBRARY LEVY: 73% approval

Yes – 79,722 – 73.0%
No – 29,479 – 27.0%

KING COUNTY PARKS LEVY: 67% approval

Approved – 174,400 – 67.25%
Rejected – 84,944 – 32.75%

SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6: Harris and Mitchell lead

Leslie Harris – 6,898 – 53.41%
Molly Mitchell – 4,365 – 33.80%
Crystal Liston – 1,482 – 11.47%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8: McDermott and Neher lead

Joe McDermott – 23,826 – 82.48%
Michael Robert Neher – 3,424 – 11.85%
Goodspaceguy – 1,445 – 5.00 %

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 2: Cho and Degginger lead

Sam Cho – 69,673 – 28.27%
Grant Degginger – 64,017 – 25.97%
Preeti Shridhar – 42,377 – 17.19%
Kelly Charlton – 28,813 – 11.69%
Dominic Barrera – 17,021 – 6.91%
Nina Martinez – 14,807 – 6.01%
Ali Scego – 7,842 – 3.18%

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 5: Felleman and Jacobson lead

Fred Felleman – 169,350 – 69.85%
Garth Jacobson – 52,508 – 21.66%
Jordan Lemmon – 18,649 – 7.69%

Next round of results, tomorrow afternoon.

If your ballot is already in the hands of King County Elections, or on the way, good going! If not … you have just hours left to vote. Here’s everything you need to know, starting with a last look at who and what’s on your ballot:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1: We’ve covered this race from the first filing to the last (pre-primary) forum. The district includes West Seattle and South Park; Councilmember Lisa Herbold is seeking a second 4-year term, challenged by Phil Tavel and Brendan Kolding. The top two finishers will advance to the November election.

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8: Incumbent Joe McDermott is running for re-election. He also has two opponents, Goodspaceguy and Michael Neher.

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6: Also a race with the incumbent and two challengers. Leslie Harris , the board’s president, is challenged by Crystal Liston and Molly Mitchell. District 6 includes West Seattle and most of South Park.

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION: Two positions, elected countywide, are on this ballot. 7 candidates are running for Position 2 (which incumbent Courtney Gregoire is leaving) – Dominic Barrera, Kelly Charlton, Sam Cho, Grant Degginger, Nina Martinez, Ali Scego, and Preeti Shridhar. For Position 5, incumbent Fred Felleman is running for re-election, with two opponents – Garth Jacobson and Jordan Lemmon.

TWO LEVIES: You are being asked to approve or reject two levies – the King County Parks and Open Space levy and the Seattle library levy.

HOW TO GET YOUR VOTE IN: If you’re going to mail your ballot, do it early enough that you can be assured it’ll be postmarked today. More foolproof – take it to an official county dropbox. There are two in West Seattle (High Point and The Junction) and one in White Center, as well as dozens of others around the county – maybe one close to where you work. The map and list are here; the dropoff deadline is 8 pm. You also have accessible voting options including four centers where you can vote until 8 pm.

NOT REGISTERED? NO PROBLEM! Our state now has same-day registration – but you have to do it in person, and those aforementioned four centers are where to do it in King County.

THE FIRST RESULTS: King County usually announces just one round of results on Election Night, around 8:15 pm. You’ll find them here when they’re available. (And of course we’ll publish them too.)

ELECTION NIGHT PARTIES: Want to spend Election Night with the council candidate you’re rooting for? Here’s where they’ll be:

*Brendan Kolding – Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW)
*Lisa Herbold – Zeeks Pizza (6459 California SW)
*Phil Tavel – Talarico’s (4718 California SW)

One last time before the vote counting begins next Tuesday, the three candidates for the Seattle City Council District 1 seat (West Seattle/South Park) sat side by side Monday night, answering questions. This final pre-primary forum was at West Seattle Library in The Admiral District, presented by the League of Women Voters of Seattle-King County, with about two dozen people there to watch. KNKX radio reporter Simone Alicea moderated, asking questions including some written on cards and submitted by attendees.

The forum began with an up-to-three-minute opening statement from each candidate – Phil Tavel, then Brendan Kolding, then Lisa Herbold. As we’ve done with most of this year’s forums, we recap with key points rather than full transcriptions:

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Two weeks from tonight – on Tuesday, August 6 – the voting ends and the vote-counting begins. You should have your ballot by now. (If not, here’s what you can do.) Not registered yet? Here’s how. Haven’t looked at your ballot yet? Though you’ve likely heard the most about the City Council race, you have six other decisions to make:

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6: Incumbent Leslie Harris is running for a second 4-year term.

(WSB photo from West Seattle Grand Parade 2019)

Harris, the current board president, represents Seattle and South Park, and has two opponents on the primary ballot, Crystal Liston and Molly Mitchell.

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8: Incumbent Joe McDermott is running for re-election.

(WSB photo from West Seattle Grand Parade 2019)

He also has two opponents, Goodspaceguy and Michael Neher.

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION: Two positions, elected countywide, are on this ballot. 7 candidates are running for Position 2 (which incumbent Courtney Gregoire is leaving) – Dominic Barrera, Kelly Charlton, Sam Cho, Grant Degginger, Nina Martinez, Ali Scego, and Preeti Shridhar. For Position 5, incumbent Fred Felleman is running for re-election, challenged by Garth Jacobson and Jordan Lemmon.

TWO LEVIES: You’ll be voting to approve or reject two levies on this ballot – the King County Parks and Open Space levy and the Seattle library levy.

AND OF COURSE: As mentioned and as amply covered here, the City Council District 1 field of three will be trimmed to two. If you want one more side-by-side look at the candidates – incumbent Lisa Herbold, Brendan Kolding, and Phil Tavel – the League of Women Voters forum is next Monday (July 29th), 6 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library (2306 42nd SW).

READY TO VOTE? Remember that postage is no longer required, so you can just drop your ballot envelope in any mailbox. The county also has secure dropboxes, including two in West Seattle – The Junction and High Point – and one in White Center; the full countywide list/map is here.

Eight months after their previous announced-with-little-notice West Seattle Junction walking tour, Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best took another quick spin through the area this morning.

They dropped in on several local businesses, and some businesses’ proprietors walked with them, but there was no general-public coffee chat like the one they held last time.

They followed it up by walking in the West Seattle Grand Parade.

Your ballot has likely arrived by now, and you have until the night of Tuesday, August 6th, to vote. While the City Council District 1 race is not the only thing on your ballot, it’s the highest-profile race in our area and the three contenders answered questions side by side again Thursday night, this time at a forum presented by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor). We recorded it all on video:

It ran just under an hour. If you can’t (or don’t want to) take the time to watch/listen, ahead you’ll find our brief highlights of the Q&A – not direct quotes unless marked as such:

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(WSB photo: Sen. Joe Nguyen and WS Chamber board chair Lauren Burgon)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“Some of my positions are controversial because I don’t care about getting re-elected.”

So said 34th District State Sen. Joe Nguyen toward the end of his West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Q&A today at The Kenney (WSB sponsor).

He was a last-minute booking – the Chamber had long planned to host County Executive Dow Constantine at this month’s lunch meeting, but he canceled yesterday, and first-year Sen. Nguyen agreed to appear instead.

We recorded it all on video:

Text toplines ahead:

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(View from the stage during Sunday’s forum)

Later this week, King County Elections will mail ballots for the August 6th primary, and you can vote as soon as yours arrives.

With that looming, the three contenders in our area’s highest-profile race, Seattle City Council District 1, spent an hour answering questions Sunday afternoon on the West Seattle Summer Fest Community Stage – Lisa Herbold, Brendan Kolding, and Phil Tavel. Your WSB co-publishers (Tracy Record and Patrick Sand) moderated the forum, which we presented in partnership with the West Seattle Junction Association (which brings you the festival each year). We chose the questions, some ours, but mostly from readers, as solicited here last week. Here’s how the hour went:

(One caveat about our recording – about halfway through, internal condensation blurred the center of the lens, so it’s more useful as audio than video from that point, fourth camcorder we’ve worn out in 12 years.)

As with our recent video interviews, we are not transcribing the questions and full answers – you’ll have to watch/listen for those – but rather, summarizing. Words are only exact quotes if you see them inside quotation marks. We had each candidate answer each question, with a :30 hard cutoff, plus a closing question and closing statement for which we allowed 1 minute each. Ahead, summaries of the 20 questions and answers:

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(WSB photos of candidates @ West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade)

By this time next week, ballots should start arriving for the primary, and you can vote anytime up until the 8 pm August 6th deadline. While the City Council District 1 race isn’t all that you’ll be asked to vote on, it’s the highest-stakes race in our area. We’re three days away from the next side-by-side comparison of the candidates – L-R above, Phil Tavel, Brendan Kolding, Lisa Herbold. The first is at noon Sunday in Junction Plaza Park during West Seattle Summer Fest, and your WSB co-publishers are moderating. With so many issues in the city’s purview, we’re wondering, what have’t you heard the candidates address yet? You’re welcome to suggest a question, either in comments here or via email (westseattleblog@gmail.com). Hope to see you in the park on Sunday!

After Brendan Kolding entered the race for City Council District 1, he left the Seattle Police Department, where he had worked for 10 years and risen to the rank of lieutenant. Last night, The Seattle Times reported that when Kolding left SPD, he was facing disciplinary proceedings. The Times cites unidentified sources in reporting that Kolding “was investigated by the police department’s Office of Police Accountability (OPA) over a complaint that he had harassed (an)other officer.” The Times report says Kolding “denied the allegations, saying he was the victim of retaliation.” We contacted him via email with questions after seeing the story last night, and he has responded. We asked for comment on what led to the investigation reported by The Times; he replied, “I will not comment at this time. Sadly, I may end up suing the City over a pattern of bullying and retaliation that I experienced, so I need to keep things confidential for now.” He said The Times’ story “is an accurate representation of the conversation I had with their reporter”; the newspaper also reports, “Even though he has left the force, Kolding has a July 25 meeting scheduled with the department in which he can seek to have his name cleared.” We asked if he had any prior disciplinary action; Kolding replied, “No. In more than a decade of service to the SPD I did not have so much as an oral reprimand.” Finally, we asked what he would say to a voter who was concerned by the report: “The residents of District 1 are welcome to contact me directly if they have any concerns. My e-mail address is Kolding34@gmail.com.”

(WSB photo)

Two weeks from today, the county will mail primary-election ballots. So this week we’ve been presenting a series of new interviews checking in with the City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) candidates. Tonight we conclude with Phil Tavel, one of two challengers aiming to make Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s first term her only term. Your WSB co-publishers sat down with him last week; video of our wide-ranging conversation is below, unedited:

If you can’t or don’t want to watch/listen, we have text toplines below – but note that they do not represent a full transcript, nor are they direct quotes except where signified by quotation marks, just (in some cases very) brief summaries of the questions/responses:

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(WSB photo)

With primary-election ballots going out in two weeks, we’re continuing our series of conversations checking in with the City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) candidates. Tonight: Brendan Kolding, one of two challengers hoping to keep Councilmember Lisa Herbold from serving a second term. Your WSB co-publishers sat down with him for a wide-ranging conversation last week, which you can watch below, unedited:

If you can’t or don’t want to watch/listen, text toplines are below – but note that they do not represent a full transcript, nor are they direct quotes except where signified by quotation marks, just (in some cases very) brief summaries:

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