The primary election is getting closer, and your ballot will be mailed in two and a half weeks. In case you haven’t yet made up your mind in the top-of-the-ticket race, City Council District 1, we are presenting video interviews with each of the three candidates over the next three days. We start with incumbent Councilmember Lisa Herbold. The forums and Q&A’s we’ve covered so far have all focused on the same handful of issues, so we sought to hit some other topics:

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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This week’s TV smash hit was the two-night Democratic presidential debate. You’ve seen the analysis of who “won” and “lost” – but days earlier, West Seattleites who went to the Morgan Junction Community Festival got a chance to “vote” at the West Seattle Democratic Women‘s booth. The group’s leader Rachel Glass just sent this report on how it turned out:

The West Seattle Democratic Women had our booth at the Morgan Junction Fair last Saturday, June 22. We had our signature interactive Penny Game, which has changing themes, but for this event, we invited attendees/passersby to vote for their choice of which candidate (out of all 24 Democratic candidates plus an Anyone But Trump option) they’d pick to be President. We displayed a hanging shoe rack and each pocket has the name of a candidate on it and the “voters” put the pennies into the pocket(s) of their choice.

We had just under 300 folks vote at our booth that day! Each “voter” received 5 pennies and they could put all their pennies into one candidate’s pocket or spread them out into the pockets of several candidates. Total: 1496 pennies cast. We had visits from older folks, teen pre-registered voters, millennials, folks of all races, ethnicities, LGBTQ, and even a deaf voter!

Here is a breakdown of the results in order of “Number of Pennies Each Candidate/Option Received”:

Anyone But Trump 387 26%

Elizabeth Warren 317 21%
Kamala Harris 182 12%
Bernie Sanders 129 9%
Pete Buttigieg 126 8%
Jay Inslee 89 6%

Total 1230 votes

Joe Biden 53 4%
Cory Booker 48 3%
Beto O’Rourke 29 2%
Julian Castro 20 1%
Andrew Yang 18 1%

Total 168 votes

The next 5 were Marianne Williamson, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Tim Ryan with 15, 13, and 12. Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, and Tulsi Gabbard with 8 each. The rest were less than 8.

Of course this “vote” was taken before the debates. WSDW’s next event where we do the Penny Game again will be at Delridge Day (August 10), which takes place after the second round of Debates (July 30-31). It will be interesting to see how the results change over the course of the summer!

If you’re planning a public watch party for the July debates, please let us know so we can get them in our calendar! The 34th District Democrats have already sent word of theirs – night one at The Point in Burien, night two at Arthur’s in The Admiral District.

(WSB photos. Above, endorsement-ballot counters)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

With eight weeks until the August 6th primary election -and five weeks until ballots go out – our area’s largest political organization made its endorsement decisions tonight.

The 34th District Democrats did so with a full house at The Hall at Fauntleroy. Just over 100 members were present and eligible to vote.

We start with the marquee race:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1: Incumbent Lisa Herbold and challengers Phil Tavel and Brendan Kolding were all nominated for endorsement in the West Seattle/South Park race. The endorsement went to Herbold with 76 votes; Tavel got 19, Kolding got 5. Here’s the announcement:

Here’s what happened before the voting:

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(WSB photo, Avalon/Yancy, last March)

What happens to RVs after they’re towed? The city told us that one, which we happened to spot last March, was a private tow ordered by its owner for repairs. But sometimes even the ones in the worst shape wind up auctioned or resold and back on the streets. According to a news release from the mayor’s office this afternoon, she’s hoping to change the rules:

Mayor Jenny Durkan announced new steps today to stem the supply of hazardous vehicles by preventing the re-sale of towed cars and recreational vehicles (RVs) and preventing the rental of hazardous vehicles to vulnerable individuals. The City will continue its work through the RV Remediation Program to clean up the public right of way to mitigate the public health hazards of debris, garbage and waste adjacent to RVs.

“We have an obligation to protect public health and ensure that our neighbors are not living in inhumane conditions. And we will hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable people for profit,” said Mayor Durkan. “We will continue to work for holistic solutions and do more to connect people with services and housing – and we will continue to invest in the strategies we know have an impact, like our Navigation Team.”

To stem the supply of dilapidated and hazardous vehicles in Seattle, Mayor Durkan has directed all City departments to begin applying additional criteria on whether a car or RV that has been towed by a City contractor meets the definition of a public health hazard. In the event an RV is designated as a public health hazard, it will be destroyed instead of re-sold back into the market at auction. Her directive will focus on preventing the re-sale of vehicles that meet the Junk Vehicle criteria set by the state and vehicles that are posing significant public health, fire, or safety hazards.

Next week, Mayor Durkan will transmit legislation that updates the Seattle Municipal Code to fine predatory landlords who rent cars and vehicles including RVs in poor and inoperable conditions to vulnerable populations. The legislation will require remediation of up to $2,000, which will go into a restitution fund for vehicle occupants.

The new steps build on the RV Remediation Program established by Mayor Durkan in May 2018 to mitigate the negative impacts to public health and safety, from RVs in the public right of way. In the pilot, City teams engage individuals living in RVs and vehicles to voluntarily move their vehicles to allow for cleaning and the removal of garbage, debris, and inoperable or unsafe vehicles left behind. Last year, the program resulted in 161 tons of garbage and debris removed.

The program has resulted in 173 vehicles being towed because they were inoperable, unsafe or posed a threat to public health, but in 2018, 60 of the 173 – 53 percent – had been removed from a clean-up site with significant safety and health risks returned to the marketplace. As a part of this effort, the City can now more easily deem a vehicle unfit to return to the market and process it for disposal.

KOMO TV reported last fall on what they dubbed “the RV auction shuffle.” Meantime, Real Change News reported half a year before that, that the city had spent $225,000 in 2017 on towing and disposing of RVs.

Just a little over five weeks remain until ballots go out for the primary election. That voting for the August 6th primary election will, among other things, determine which two of the three candidates for City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) move on to the November general election. If you’re just starting to pay attention, incumbent Lisa Herbold is running for a second term, challenged by lawyer/entrepreneur Phil Tavel – who finished third in the 2015 primary – and former SPD lieutenant Brendan Kolding. All three are West Seattleites. A few notes:

34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS’ ENDORSEMENT MEETING: Members of our area’s biggest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, are scheduled to make endorsements at tomorrow night’s monthly meeting (7 pm following 6:30 pm social time, The Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California SW). The process and rules (as well as the full list of offices they’ll be endorsing for) are in the 34th DDs’ June newsletter (PDF). The group has already had two D-1 council candidate forums, both of which we covered, including video: April 10th and April 23rd.

DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: Kolding and Herbold are scheduled to talk with the DNDC next week, 7 pm Wednesday, June 19th, at Neighborhood House High Point (6400 Sylvan Way SW, all welcome). Tavel appeared last month; here’s our coverage, with video.

MORGAN JUNCTION COMMUNITY FESTIVAL: At least two of the three candidates plan to campaign at the June 22nd festival; the latest list of booths includes the Tavel and Kolding campaigns.

CAMPAIGN $: While the only numbers that ultimately matter are the vote totals, we’ll be checking in from time to time on other campaign-related stats. Today: The fundraising. You can explore candidates’ contributions, expenditures, and more via the state Public Disclosure Commission website. Here’s the latest on what each campaign reports bringing in:

Herbold – $71,832
Kolding – $57,565
Tavel – $23,388

The largest expenditures reported by Herbold and Tavel are for campaign consulting; for Kolding, website development/maintenance.

It’s the West Seattle Junction eatery whose name you won’t see on a sign. Margie’s Café is upstairs at the Senior Center of West Seattle and recently got some renovations.

Even if you’ve never been there, you helped pay for it, thanks to the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy, approved by voters two years ago. It’s a countywide levy, and King County Executive Dow Constantine is visiting some of the 38 senior centers/organizations benefiting from it.

SCWS executive director Lyle Evans showed the West Seattle-residing executive around this morning. His center received a $84,000 grant from the levy, which was used not only for café improvements, but also for necessities including bookkeeping and a website upgrade.

The café improvements, by the way, included a new ice machine and larger sandwich-making counter. And the café is open to the public – find out more about it (including hours and menus) here.

Filing week is over and nobody else jumped into local races on this final day, so the lists of who’s in the running for three local races are the same as what we published last night, each with the incumbent plus two challengers:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Brendan Kolding
Lisa Herbold*
Phil Tavel

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Joe McDermott*
Goodspaceguy
Michael Robert Neher

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6
Molly Mitchell
Leslie Harris*
Crystal Liston

Also of note, though they are voted on King County-wide, the two Port of Seattle Commission positions – #2, which commissioner Courtney Gregoire is relinquishing, has seven candidates; #5 has incumbent Fred Felleman and two challengers.

See the full list of filings for offices around King County here. The primary to narrow fields down to the top two contenders is August 6th.

(Side note: In the first-ever City Council District 1 primary four years ago, nine candidates ran. This time around, D-1 has the smallest primary field, with the other six districts each having a lineup of six to 14 contenders.)

One more day for candidates to file for the August 6th primary. Here’s who’s filed so far for local offices, listed in order of when they filed:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Brendan Kolding
Lisa Herbold*
Phil Tavel

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Joe McDermott*
Goodspaceguy
Michael Robert Neher

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6
Molly Mitchell
Leslie Harris*
Crystal Liston

See the full list of filings for offices around King County here. After filing ends tomorrow afternoon, KC Elections will draw for the order in which candidates will appear on the August 6th primary ballot.

Both of today’s King County Elections updates are posted, with three days down, two to go in this year’s Filing Week. In the Seattle City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) race, incumbent Lisa Herbold has filed, joining Brendan Kolding on the path to the August 6th primary-election ballot. Another local position, King County Council District 8 (which includes West Seattle and White Center), has an incumbent – Joe McDermott – and a challenger – Goodspaceguy. Same goes for Seattle School Board Position 6 (West Seattle/South Park), with incumbent Leslie Harris filing today, following challenger Molly Mitchell. See the full list of who’s filed for what so far by going here.

After three months of campaigning, entrepreneur Jesse Greene announced tonight that he’s leaving the District 1 City Council race, and endorsing one of the remaining candidates, Phil Tavel:

As of May 1st, 2019, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Seattle City Council, District 1. While I am more grateful than I can effectively express to all of my volunteers, donors, and the countless voters I have had the pleasure to meet with; the current timing of some personal and business matters require my immediate attention. The positive dialog that our team has injected into this race would not have been possible without those that have been willing to sacrifice themselves to serve their community. Thank you.

A candidacy that is not able to place the voters first is not what I believe is best for Seattle and the residents in my district; therefore, I believe stepping down now, prior to the filing date, is best for the community as a whole. I will continue to serve as the Welcome Chair of the 34th Democrats to ensure everyone is welcome and knows that their voice is important. I will also continue to proudly serve on the State Advisory Council on Homelessness to do everything I can to make positive influence in this area. We can all make a huge impact on those not housed if we decide to depoliticize the epidemic and humanize those that are facing this hardship. Lastly, I commit to do everything that is in my power to ensure we have a continued vibrant economy in Seattle. Business and entrepreneurship are the key mechanisms of defeating classism within our community and they can be the great equalizer if everyone has an opportunity to let their hard work shine.

From the bottom of my heart, I am sincerely thankful for the experience in taking part in our representative republic. Everyone’s participation in a communal effort for civic responsibility leads to a place that ensures radical inclusion for us all. I encourage all to do what they can to make Seattle a beautiful place to live. Right now, I still firmly believe that we need a change in City Hall. For too long we have been complacent in allowing individuals to make policy without have real lived experience. Our system is broken and if you really want change, you need to have different people leading the way. While I appreciate the service of those that have dedicated themselves in the past, what we have right now is broken.

Seattle’s homeless issue is out of control, our spending & tax policy is out of control, and our drug dependency issue is out of control. Our citizens do not feel safe and do not feel like they have a voice. I agree with many, many people that now is the time for change. That is why I have decided to strongly endorse Phil Tavel for Seattle City Council, District 1.

While I know that this might come as a shock to some, this is something I believe is necessary. Now is not the time for egos or for hard feelings because Phil and I did not agree on everything in the race. Now is the time to say that we require someone with the compassion needed to humanize problems, who comes to the table with new solutions, and ensures that everyone has an opportunity to express their positions. Just because someone descents from your views, it does not mean their voice is not valid.

To me, Phil Tavel is our best opportunity to bring reason back into City Hall decision making. He has the business experience needed to make sound economic decisions and to be fiscally pragmatic with how money is spent. He cares about creating an environment that welcomes all but knows accountability and transparency in all aspects of government are essential. I encourage all of my supporters and those that want change to consider Phil as the best representative for our community.

Thank you to my wife, my children, my family, and all my friends for the sacrifices endured during this time. I am also moved by all those that have supported my candidacy and want them to know I will continue to fight for those most vulnerable in our community. Let’s ensure that compassionate hearts and clear heads are leading our beautiful city into the future.

Greene’s departure leaves four candidates who have registered campaigns – Tavel, incumbent Lisa Herbold, and challengers Brendan Kolding and Isaiah Willoughby (the only one who has not reported any fundraising). The official filing week is less than two weeks away; August 6th is the primary election that will winnow the field to two candidates.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The questions were similar but the format different as the 34th District Democrats put four of the Seattle City Council District 1 candidates side by side last night for the second time in two weeks. From left, Phil Tavel, Brendan Kolding, Jesse Greene, and incumbent Lisa Herbold spent an hour an a half in what was billed as a debate, with rebuttals and counter-rebuttals.

So far, as with previous events, the debate at Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School generally ran along the lines of the challengers criticizing city leadership in general and, at times, Herbold in particular, rather than any of the three non-incumbents taking on the others. It’s all in the video above; the 34th’s Jordan Crawley and Chris Porter moderated (the video begins with Crawley explaining the rather intricate rules). Our toplines are after the jump:

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Another levy will be on the August 6th ballot: The Seattle Public Library levy. Councilmembers voted unanimously today to send it to voters. (The item comes up 25 minutes into the video above, Seattle Channel‘s recording of this afternoon’s council meeting.) They expanded the original $210+ million proposal by about $2 million to add one weekly operating hour for each of the city’s 26 library branches as well as adding extra support for children’s programming. You can read the documents, including the amended levy text, by going here. The levy plan was announced last month; it would follow a seven-year levy that expires this year. The August ballot also will include a vote on the King County Parks levy, as reported here last week.

(WSB photo, April 10th)

After two Q&A forums, District 1 City Council candidates will appear in the first debate-format event of the campaign tomorrow night. It’s the second event presented by the 34th District Democrats, but this time it’s not part of a regular meeting – it’s a standalone event – nor is it at the group’s usual event venue. All are invited to attend, 6:30 pm Tuesday (April 23rd) at Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School (9615 20th SW). Four of the five current candidates (the field’s not final until “filing week” in mid-May) are participating – Jesse Greene, incumbent Lisa Herbold, Brendan Kolding, and Phil Tavel – same as the 34th DD’s forum on April 10th (WSB coverage here).