Joe McDermott, who’s represented West Seattle and vicinity – from White Center to Vashon – in the King County Council since 2010, is now its chair. He spent a decade in the state Legislature before joining the council, to which he was re-elected without opposition last fall. Here’s the full news release. He hasn’t yet announced, though, if he’s still considering running to succeed the area’s “other” McDermott (U.S. House Rep. Jim).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Most of what happened at the first 2016 meeting of our area’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, involved two topics: This year’s elections, and the city/county-declared homelessness emergency.

First, the elections:

Marcee Stone-Vekich, starting her fourth year as chair, noted that U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott‘s decision not to run for re-election caught her by surprise. “And I’m hoping another fellow named McDermott may run for that seat” – referring to County Councilmember Joe – a statement that drew applause.

Joe McDermott is usually at the 34th DDs’ meetings but missed this one due to illness and as of this writing has not announced whether he’ll run or not; in November, he won re-election to the County Council, unopposed. Other candidates in other races were in attendance, though:

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Another election is now less than a month away: The February 9 vote for two Seattle Public Schools levies. Proposition 1, the Operations Levy, would bring in more than three-quarters of a billion dollars over three years; you can read the details here. Proposition 2 is the six-year Buildings, Technology and Academics Capital Levy (BTA), raising more than $475 million for projects in the district including these in West Seattle, as we reported in November:

*$6.7 million for EC Hughes upgrades to enable it to reopen as a 550-student elementary school (to which, the district has said, it will move the Roxhill Elementary program)
*5.4 million for Gatewood Elementary, most of that for HVAC, also some $ for cladding work
*1.8 million for athletic-field lights at Southwest Athletic Complex (ID’d in the documents as Chief Sealth IHS, which is across the street)
*$1.5 million for the roof at West Seattle HS
*94,000 for doors at Sanislo Elementary

Both are replacements for expiring levies, though at higher sums. If you’re not registered to vote, tomorrow’s the deadline to register online, with a later deadline for signing up in person – details on the King County Elections website. Ballots will go in the mail January 20th.

West Seattleite Brendan Kolding, who challenged 34th District Position 2 State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon in 2014, says he’s running for the State House again. This time, he says he’s seeking the Position 1 seat long held by Rep. Eileen Cody. Kolding, a 33-year-old Democrat and father of three, says education is his top priority. From his announcement:

It is unacceptable that the State continues to be in violation of its Constitutional obligation to fully fund public K-12 education. The Supreme Court has made it clear that education funding is priority number one within the operating budget, and there is more than enough money to meet the additional four to five billion dollars that is needed. Once education is fully funded, then tough decisions will have to be made regarding cuts to other entities that fall within the operating budget. If the citizens of Washington are willing to accept more taxes to augment the budget, then funding can be restored to the non-education entities, but withholding resources from education until new funding sources can be identified is completely untenable.”

Kolding is a member of the Holy Rosary School Commission and says he sees private schools as complementary to public schools:

“Private schools save the taxpayers over $800 million annually. If we can make these schools more accessible to the families who are interested in enrolling their children in them, the funding and class size requirements of McCleary will be easier to attain. It’s a win-win. For that reason, I am proposing legislation that will incentivize donations that support private schools.”

Kolding is a former substitute teacher who is now a sergeant in the Seattle Police Policy Unit. He also volunteers as a youth-basketball coach. The position he’s running for will be on the August 2nd ballot.

(January 2012 photo of Rep. Jim McDermott and Councilmember Joe McDermott, by Dina Lydia)
You’ve probably heard by now that Seattle’s U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott has decided not to run for re-election, after almost 30 years. Might his successor be from West Seattle? King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (no relation) confirms he is thinking about it. In response to inquiries including ours, he e-mailed this:

“I have enormous respect for Jim McDermott, Whether it was tackling the HIV/AIDS crisis or Congressman McDermott’s long-term advocacy for health care reform, he has been a true champion for progressive causes. I was honored to receive a call from him yesterday so I could express my appreciation personally.

“Since his announcement, I have received dozens of calls from constituents and local and national leaders encouraging me to seek this office. I will not take this decision lightly and will be discussing it with my husband and family over the next few days.

“Seattle is the greatest city in the world. My regional experience, progressive values and proven ability to work across the aisle position me to advance the issues important to our city and tackle the obstructionism and dysfunction that have sadly become the hallmarks of Congress.

“My focus will remain tackling homelessness, ensuring an efficient transit system, and addressing the growing income inequality that threatens our middle class.”

Joe McDermott is a 48-year-old third-generation resident of West Seattle, where he lives with husband Michael. He spent 10 years in the State House and Senate before moving in 2010 to the King County Council, to which he was re-elected last November, unopposed.

IN THE RACE SO FAR: North Seattle State Rep. Brady Walkinshaw is already running, having announced four weeks before Jim McDermott went public with his decision.

(UPDATED TUESDAY AFTERNOON with text of Councilmember Herbold’s speech)

3:43 PM: We’re at Seattle City Hall, where a hour and a half of oaths of office and speeches by the nine members of the City Council and their subsequent short business meeting have just concluded. Above, District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold was the first to take the oath, administered by former City Councilmember Nick Licata, for whom she worked for more than a decade and a half; her daughter, grandchildren, and husband joined her for the occasion, as shown in our video above; below, her subsequent four-minute speech, in which she vowed to ensure no one is “left behind”:

We’ll replace our phone video with better-quality versions of the clips, and more details, including key points of what was said by her new colleagues – including Councilmember Lorena González, a West Seattleite elected to citywide Position 9 – when we’re back at HQ a bit later.

5:01 PM: Here’s the archived Seattle Channel video of the entire event, all nine councilmembers (by district/position number, so Herbold was first, González last):

ADDED 7:38 PM: Photos – Councilmember Herbold’s mom Donna fastening the official city pin on her daughter:

Her grandchildren Jamaya and Jamil and husband Bob with her at the post-ceremony photo op:

And outside the post-meeting reception at the Bertha Knight Landes Room at City Hall, her entire group, also including daughter Megan at right:

In her speech, Councilmember Herbold spoke of income inequality, and the stark effect of housing unaffordability – the declining percentage of Seattle workers who are able to live in the city. Those who help make our region’s prosperity happen should have the chance to prosper too, she declared. She vowed “to pass laws to ensure that those who benefit most from the prosperity also invest in a fair deal for our city.” That includes impact fees and protection for renters “from some of the excesses of a very hot housing market,” she said. And on another money-related note, she thanked volunteers for helping her win “despite being outspent three to one.”

ADDED 8:05 PM: Councilmember González had been sworn in back in November, since her position was to succeed temporary appointee John Okamoto, so this was a second ceremony. City Clerk Monica Martinez Simmons led her through the oath, and partner Cameron was at her side:

You can see her speech at 1 hour, 10 minutes into the Seattle Channel clip above. “It’s my most sincere wish, hope, and resolution that this group of determined people will … put our heads together to solve Seattle’s most pressing issues” – gender and income inequality, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, “much more. … We must make this city a better place to live, work, and play. … We must be a voice for those so often forced into the shadows, only to be silenced. We must make this city the progressive beacon of our nation – where unfettered opportunity and shared prosperity for the working class, communities of color, immigrants, and refugees is the rule, not the exception.” 2015 was a year of change, she noted, but 2016 must be “a year of action.”

Councilmembers González and Herbold are two of the five women who make this a female-majority Seattle City Council for the first time in almost two decades. That, and the new makeup of the council – seven district representatives, two at-large, when all members had previously been at large for a century – are part of what the official news release trumpets. That and key points of other councilmembers’ speeches, ahead:

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Another look ahead, now that it’s a brand-new year:

Two months after the election, and one month after recount results were finalized, Lisa Herbold officially becomes the first Seattle City Councilmember for District 1 (West Seattle and South Park) on Monday. As our screengrab at left shows, her official city webpage is already up (though not yet linked from the council’s index page, which we wouldn’t expect before Monday, anyway).

The oath-of-office ceremony for Herbold and other councilmembers is scheduled to start off the afternoon session, and is expected to draw a full house, so early arrival is advised (well before the official 2 pm start). Herbold told us in our post-election interview (published here December 7th) that she has chosen outgoing Councilmember Nick Licata, for whom she has worked more than a decade and a half, to administer her oath. The ceremony’s published order is numerical by district, so she’s up first.

On Monday, the council – with four new members and five returnees, albeit in different roles given the new seven-district-and-two-at-large makeup – also will finalize committee chairs/members. According to the mid-December announcement, Herbold is expected to chair the Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development, and Arts Committee, whose first meeting of 2016 is at 9:30 am January 12. During the campaign, she said she was interested in chairing what will now be the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee; that role instead is slated for new District 4 (Northeast Seattle) Councilmember Rob Johnson, with its former chair Councilmember Mike O’Brien as vice chair, but Herbold is listed as the committee’s third member. She is also expected to be vice chair of the Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods, and Finance Committee, and alternate member of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee. (Each committee has a chair, vice chair, member, and alternate, though any councilmember can show up at a committee meeting to participate.)

BACKSTORY: In case you’re new, or otherwise just tuning in, Herbold, a Highland Park resident, won election by a hand-recount-verified 39-vote margin over Shannon Braddock in the general election, following a nine-candidate primary (with five prospective candidates dropping out before the primary, and one falling just short of the number of petition signatures required to make the ballot in lieu of a $1200 fee). She’ll be one of two West Seattleites on the council, along with Lorena González, elected to at-large (citywide) Position 9.

CONTACTING YOUR NEW COUNCILMEMBER: As seen on Herbold’s webpage, her e-mail address is lisa.herbold@seattle.gov, her office phone number 206-684-8803.

P.S. If you’d like to hear from her in person and/or ask a question, Herbold is also scheduled to be at next Wednesday’s Southwest District Council meeting, 6:30 pm (January 6th) at the Sisson Building/Senior Center, California/Oregon.

It’s not final until after the first of the year, but the Seattle City Council has just announced the tentative plan for which councilmember will head which committee next year. That includes the choice of District 1 City Councilmember-elect Lisa Herbold as chair of the Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee. Here’s the full announcement, which includes some committee-name changes (note Sustainability and Transportation, for example – it’s currently just Transportation):

Seattle City Council announced its tentative plan for committee assignments today, in preparation for work in 2016. Each Councilmember is responsible for chairing a Council committee and managing legislation related to the committee’s focus. Councilmembers also serve as a vice-chair on one committee and as a member on another. Councilmembers can also sponsor legislation on other committees under certain conditions. Committee assignments are made official at the first Full Council meeting of the year, on Monday January 4, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. Councilmembers will also elect their 2016-17 Council President at the meeting. Committee assignments last for two years.

Councilmember Sally Bagshaw will chair the Human Services and Public Health Committee. Councilmember Bagshaw will oversee Council’s work on issues relating to services provided by the Human Services Department, including programs that meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable people in our community. The committee will also consider matters involving public health and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), which allows law enforcement officers to redirect low-level offenders engaged in drug or prostitution activity to community-based services.

Councilmember Tim Burgess will chair the Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods and Finance Committee. As chair of this committee, Councilmember Burgess will focus on issues relating to housing—investing and promoting the development and preservation of affordable housing, and building strong neighborhoods through outreach and engagement. Councilmember Burgess will also chair the Budget committee, overseeing the review of the Mayor’s proposed budget.

Councilmember Lorena González will chair the Gender Equity, Safe Communities and New Americans Committee. As chair, Councilmember González will consider policies to address gender equity and help improve the lives of Seattle’s immigrant and refugee residents. The committee will also focus on fostering safe communities, improving police accountability, crime prevention, criminal justice, emergency preparedness, and fire and medical services.

Councilmember Bruce Harrell will chair the Education, Equity and Governance Committee. As chair, Councilmember Harrell will focus on issues relating to public schools and improving student success rates, intergovernmental relations, technology, ethics and elections, prisoner reentry and equity issues for underserved communities.

Councilmember Lisa Herbold will chair the Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee. Councilmember Herbold’s committee will manage issues relating to labor standards, civil rights, Seattle Public Utilities, and economic development. The committee will also manage issues relating to arts and culture in Seattle, which includes nightlife issues.

Councilmember Rob Johnson will chair the Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee. As chair of this committee, Councilmember Johnson will take up issues involving City zoning, planning, major institutions, quasi-judicial decisions, community development, and land use regulations.

Councilmember Debora Juarez will chair the Parks, Seattle Center, Libraries and Waterfront Committee. As chair, Councilmember Juarez will focus on issues relating to City parks, community centers, and public grounds, including the Seattle Center. Her committee will also manage legislation relating to the Seattle Public Library system. Councilmember Juarez will also chair the Central Waterfront committee.

Councilmember Mike O’Brien will chair the Sustainability and Transportation Committee. Councilmember O’Brien’s committee will handle matters pertaining to city-wide and regional transportation policy and planning. These issues range from pedestrian and bicycle programs, traffic control and parking policies, and overseeing the City’s coordination with regional and state departments of transportation. The committee will also have a shared-focus on Seattle’s Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon emissions.

Councilmember Kshama Sawant will chair the Energy and Environment Committee. Councilmember Sawant’s committee will handle policies relating to Seattle’s energy usage, as well as issues relating to alternative energy sources, air pollution regulation, energy utility rates, and Seattle City Light finances. In addition, Councilmember Sawant will take up matters that relate to climate and environmental protections, conservation programs, and green infrastructure.

During the campaign, Herbold had said she was interested in chairing the Land Use Committee.

See the full list of committee memberships here.

When King County went to all-mail voting seven years ago, it was hailed as a way to make voting easier, bound to increase participation. That hasn’t turned out to be the case, especially this year – countywide, 75 percent of registered voters sat out the August primary, 60 percent didn’t vote in November.

Is inconvenience the problem? West Seattle, for example, hasn’t had a permanent ballot dropbox – one where you could take your ballot any time, free – since this one:

That’s our photo of the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center ballot drop in 2009, months before it was removed. Now, either you drop your ballot in the postal mail, with a stamp, or you wait for the county’s dropoff van to come by for three of the last four days before the voting deadline.

That might change as soon as next year. Today, the County Council approved “a motion requesting the development of a plan that will expand access while ensuring geographic equity and convenience for voters,” according to a news release from County Councilmember Rob Dembowski, who made the motion. Also quoted is County Elections Director-elect Julie Wise, saying, “Additional ballot drop box locations are a priority for my office and will be a great start in expanding access for the voters of King County.” The announcement notes that 39 dropboxes were authorized around the county at the time by-mail voting began, but budget cuts led to far fewer boxes (though that wasn’t the reason cited when we inquired in 2010), so county councilmembers are seeking a plan for more, and they want it to include:

1. A proposed number of additional drop-off locations to ensure geographic equity;
2. Proposed sites for the drop-off locations;
3. Estimated costs; and
4. An implementation timeline.

B. The plan should include an analysis of the feasibility and desirability of using all public library locations in King County, including Seattle Public Libraries and the King County Library System, as a means to ensure geographic equity and convenience for voters.

C. The plan should include an option for deployment of the expanded drop boxes for the November 2016 general election.

The plan is due to the council by next April. Documents from today’s council meeting note that the county provided 25 dropboxes this year, and only 13 were fixed; the other 12 were the temporary, just-before-election vans, including the ones deployed to West Seattle and White Center (which also used to have a fixed dropbox, at its main county library branch).

9:54 AM: King County Elections confirms this morning that the actual counting has concluded in the by-hand recount of the first-ever Seattle City Council District 1 race. “The tallying portion of the recount is done, but there is still additional reconciliation work to do,” KCE’s Kim van Ekstrom tells WSB. By multiple accounts, the “tallying” left Lisa Herbold on top; you’ll recall that she had a 39-vote lead over Shannon Braddock when the official results were certified a week and a half ago. That was a close-enough margin for a mandatory recount by hand, and the vote counting started, and finished, yesterday. Publicola reports that Braddock already has called Herbold to congratulate her. KC Elections says the final certification is still scheduled for Monday, and promises an update on that later today. (WSB photo from Herbold’s Election Night party)

10:28 AM: From KCE via e-mail: “An official announcement on the outcome of the recount will be made on Monday, Dec. 7 by 2:30 p.m. following the Canvass Board meeting at 1:00 p.m.”

(Click image for zoomable view)
Though the City Council District 1 race isn’t officially settled yet, and won’t be until after the recount, now that the election is certified, precinct-by-precinct results are available, and that’s what you see in the map above. It was made by Ben Anderstone, a political consultant with Progressive Strategies NW, who granted our request for permission to republish it here. The tones are green for Shannon Braddock and red for Lisa Herbold, on a graded scale, so that the lightest of each is closest to the almost exactly 50-50 split that the election became on a raw numbers basis. In all, per the final results sheet from the county (page 45), 45 percent of the registered voters in District 1 – West Seattle and South Park – returned their ballots. That’s 27,757 ballots out of 60,991 registered voters; almost 10 percent of them – 2,714 of them did not include a vote in this particular race.

4:52 PM: The election is certified but the Seattle City Council District 1 race still isn’t settled. The “final” count has Lisa Herbold over Shannon Braddock by 39 votes, 12,459 to 12,420, and that’s close enough to require a recount by hand. King County Elections says that will start December 3rd and be completed December 7th.

ADDED 5:23 PM: KC Elections has clarified the recount process after announcing two start dates:

The recount process will begin on Monday, Nov. 30 and be completed on Monday, Dec. 7. The first few days of the recount process will involve staff and observer training and ballot sorting in order to obtain the votes specific to this District No. 1 race. Ballots are not stored by district. Actual counting of the ballots is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Dec. 3 and is expected to continue through Friday, Dec. 4 and possibly the morning of Monday, Dec. 7. After the manual hand count and reconciliation is complete the Canvassing Board will meet to certify the recount on Monday, Dec. 7 at 3:00 p.m. Final results will be announced by 4:30 p.m. that day.

The recount-bound race for Seattle City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) is now a 36-vote contest, as of today’s count:

Lisa Herbold – 12,452 – 49.74%
Shannon Braddock – 12,416 – 49.60%

That’s 7 more votes for Herbold, 3 more for Braddock, since Friday. One final count tomorrow by 4:30 pm (they’ve actually been happening just before 4 pm), and then the election is certified. An official recount decision comes after that. Here are the rules; unless there’s some big burst of ballots before tomorrow – which would be against the recent trend – it would seem this race will wind up within the parameters for a mandatory by-hand recount, at public expense.

Two more weekdays until the election is certified, and a recount is expected to follow. As of today’s ballot count, Lisa Herbold is now 32 votes ahead of Shannon Braddock for the new Seattle City Council District 1 seat:

Lisa Herbold – 12,445 – 49.74%
Shannon Braddock – 12,413 – 49.61%

It’s the only not-yet-settled race left in this election. The full results list shows 27,733 ballots counted, of 60,991 sent out. (Almost 300 additional ballots came in but have problems such as unverified signatures.) After the initial count on Election Night (November 3rd), Braddock had a 733-vote lead.

With the election headed for certification next Tuesday – after which a recount will surely follow in the City Council District 1 race – today’s results have Lisa Herbold gaining three more votes over Shannon Braddock:

Lisa Herbold – 12,437 – 49.73%
Shannon Braddock – 12,409 – 49.62%

A few hundred ballots with problems (unverified signatures, for example) are still being dealt with. In all, about 28,000 ballots were turned in by District 1 voters, who number almost 61,000, and that’s a ~45% turnout. You’ll notice by doing the math, more than 2,000 did not vote in this race at all; 164 are tallied as write-ins, though the county doesn’t report whose names were written in.

Eleven more ballots were added to the Seattle City Council District 1 vote totals before today’s results came out a short time ago – five for Shannon Braddock, six for Lisa Herbold, who now is 25 votes ahead:

Lisa Herbold – 12,428 – 49.72%
Shannon Braddock – 12,403 – 49.62%

As noted previously, the election is now down to ballots that have problems such as signature verification; if that happened to your ballot, there’s still time – until the election is certified next Tuesday – for you to fix it and have your vote count. If you haven’t checked on yours, you can do that here – but this is important: The last message it will give is that your ballot “will be counted.” It will never say “has been counted.” If it says “will be counted,” that means you’ve been verified.

Almost two weeks after Election Day, the Seattle City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) winner isn’t decided yet. The county doesn’t certify the election for eight more days and just went public with another count. It’s the second consecutive count with a lead for Lisa Herbold:

Lisa Herbold – 12,402 – 49.74%
Shannon Braddock – 12,367 – 49.60%

The 35-vote lead is up from Herbold’s 27-vote lead on Friday. The full-results list shows 27,629 votes have been counted in this race; that’s the total number of “ready to count” ballots listed in the county’s last “ballot returns” list, but 373 ballots fewer than the total number received from District 1. The race remains within recount range.