Six days after our District 1 City Council “First Look” candidates’ forum, a fifth candidate has officially declared herself in the race as of this morning: Brianna Thomas, who, like the other four to formally declare so far, lives in West Seattle.

Thomas’s official announcement describes her as a housing advocate and community organizer “in and around Seattle for the last decade,” quoting her as saying, “West Seattle has been known as a community where people can get to their jobs quickly, find affordable housing and know their neighbors while enjoying the benefits of a big city. I’m running because I’m worried that’s changing.”

She currently works as field director for the Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund and lists past work as campaign manager for the SeaTac $15 minimum wage measure as well as for No on Initiative 1185. She just joined the 34th District Democrats‘ board and is moderating (updated) coordinating a panel on housing at its meeting tonight. Thomas also volunteers at the Senior Center of West Seattle.

IN THE DISTRICT 1 RACE NOW: Brianna Thomas (declared 2/11/15), Phillip Tavel (declared 2/4/15), George Capestany (declared 11/11/14), Amanda Kay Helmick (declared 10/20/14), Chas Redmond (declared 12/20/13). Filing deadline is May 15th; primary election to cut the field to two candidates is August 4th. In addition to voting on D-1, West Seattleites also will vote in the two “at-large” races, Positions 8 and 9.

9:31 PM: Just wrapped up at Highland Park Improvement Club, the first forum of a campaign season which will result in West Seattle/South Park electing its first District 1 City Councilmember. Participating were the four candidates who have officially declared so far – from left to right in our photo below, Phillip Tavel, George Capestany, Amanda Kay Helmick, and Chas Redmond.

(WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)
If you couldn’t be there, you’ll be able to watch it all on video, thanks to Edgar Riebe from West Seattle-based Captive Eye Media, and we’ll publish that in another report when it’s ready.

Thanks to HPIC for allowing us to have the event there, and thanks to the 80 or so people who came from all over the city (including some of the at-large candidates that West Seattleites also will vote on – we noted Councilmember Sally Clark, Bill Bradburd, Alex Tsimerman – sorry if we missed someone). The candidates answered about 20 questions, two-thirds asked by us (many suggested by readers) and one-third in the audience-asked final half-hour, wide variety of topics. Next forum we know of is planned for Saturday morning, March 14, presented by VIEWS – we’ll publish more about it when their official announcement is out.

ADDED 10:56 PM: Thanks to Michael Oxman for a snippet of video – this was a question asked by Hildegard Nichols from the local Green group, asking the candidates about their grass-roots cred.

11:46 AM FRIDAY: First version of the video is up. (Added: Also published to YouTube:)

We still intend to post a separate story later (report #2) with embedded video as well as more text highlights as well and a few additional photos. It should be noted that the filing deadline is still a ways off – May 15th – while the primary election is August 4th.

9:42 PM: Another West Seattleite has announced he’s joining the District 1 City Council race. Phillip Tavel sent his official announcement tonight, describing himself as an “attorney and entrepreneur.” Tavel says he is ready to “make tough decisions for our community and our city” on “existing projects,” singling out the Highway 99 tunnel: “Stopping the existing tunnel project is the most responsible decision we can make. The remaining project money should be used to increase transit and implement a lower-cost alternative that actually delivers on the promise to reduce traffic.” He lists a professional background including teaching high-school physics, co-founding an entertainment company, and working as a trial lawyer, now in private practice, as well as serving as a court-appointed advocate for children. He also leads the long-running Wednesday trivia night at Talarico’s in The Junction. This is not his first run for office; Tavel ran for District Court Judge last year.

We are waiting to hear whether he’ll accept our invitation to join previously announced candidates Chas Redmond, Amanda Kay Helmick, and George Capestany in the District 1: First Look candidates’ forum, presented by WSB, tomorrow (Thursday) night at Highland Park Improvement Club, doors open at 6:30, forum at 7.

12:01 AM UPDATE: Tavel has confirmed he’ll participate.

(Sustainability-award-winning Highland Park Improvement Club, location for Thursday night’s forum)
Before the day’s done, here’s one more invitation to e-mail us any question(s) you’d like to hear the District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) City Council candidates answer during the “First Look” forum we’re presenting tomorrow night – editor@westseattleblog.com. The format includes time for questions to be asked by attendees from the floor, too, but the time will go fast. Here again is the list of declared candidates:

George Capestany
Chas Redmond
Amanda Kay Helmick

We’re exactly six months from the deadline for casting your first vote (August 4th primary), so come see and hear from the contenders Thursday night at Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden), doors open at 6:30, forum at 7.

(Screengrab from Seattle Channel webcast of committee meeting; we’ll substitute SC video when available)
Just wrapped up at the City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee meeting: The first discussion of the new encampment proposal that emerged from Mayor Murray‘s office.

As mentioned here last Friday, the proposal specifies commercial and industrial areas of the city as possible locations for encampments; there would be a limit of three (not counting any hosted by religious institutions) in the city at any one time, no closer to each other than a mile, no closer to a residentially zoned site than 25 feet, with each encampment having gone through an official permitting process and occupied by no more than 100 people. (See the full list of toplines in the slide-deck PDF.)

The team that briefed councilmembers today was led by Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim and Department of Planning and Development director Diane Sugimura. Deputy Mayor Kim reiterated multiple times that the intent was not to “aggressively recruit” new encampments/sites, but to find a temporary way to get at least a few hundred more people off the streets. She mentioned the “alarming increase … in unsheltered homeless people on (Seattle’s) streets,” as most recently documented in the One-Night Count.

The briefing team said that within a month of the ordinance’s passage, they expect to have a list of city-owned sites that could be considered by groups interested in managing encampments. While, as shown on the zoning map, private sites could be proposed, the city briefers said there was no intent to “recruit” them. Sugimura said DPD would have a “streamlined” permit process so that encampment proposals did not get hung up in endless reviews.

In the public comment period that preceded the committee discussion, many of those commenting identified themselves as affiliated with current encampments and unhappy that the proposal excludes residential-zoned areas from consideration.

The committee didn’t vote; chair Mike O’Brien decided the measure would be discussed again when they next meet on February 20th, which will be less than a week before the 5:30 pm February 26th public hearing devoted exclusively to the proposal. That is expected to be followed by a March 3rd committee vote, with full Council consideration after that.

Since City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen announced a week and a half ago that he wouldn’t run for the new District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) seat, speculation has abounded about who, if anyone, would join Chas Redmond, Amanda Kay Helmick, and George Capestany in the race. The name most discussed in citywide politics coverage has been Highland Park resident Lisa Herbold, longtime assistant to City Councilmember Nick Licata, who, like Rasmussen, has decided this is his last year on the council. Herbold has taken a step toward running, as noted by PubliCola earlier today and as now shown on the city Elections website:

But she has NOT formally declared candidacy, Herbold clarified in an e-mail exchange with WSB today, characterizing what she has filed as “… a preliminary step to declaring candidacy, which I have not yet done. … It’s just smart (I think) to get an infrastructure – to the extent possible – in place while I’m still deciding.”

Three months remain before the May 15th filing deadline, but who’s in/out is of special interest this week because our long-scheduled get-the-conversation-going-early “District 1: First Look” candidates’ forum is coming up this Thursday (February 5). We’ve said all along that anybody who declared their candidacy by forum time would be welcome to participate (with a committee created, our offer remains open to Herbold). Meantime, candidates (L-R below) Helmick, Capestany, and Redmond have been confirmed since we set the date in December, and we hope you’ll be on hand.

Though it’s not the traditional way to do things, we wanted to schedule an early forum because there’s SO MUCH to talk about, so much facing the first-ever District 1 councilmember – transportation, housing, growth, public safety, education, more … We’ll be asking questions for about an hour (including some already suggested by readers – send yours ASAP! editor@westseattleblog.com) and then we’ll open the microphone to attendee questions. Doors open 6:30 pm Thursday at Highland Park Improvement Club, 12th/Holden (overflow parking at Riverview Playfield just a block north; nearest bus is Route 131 on 9th SW), forum at 7, see you there!

The recent “One Night Count” showed 2,800 people sleeping on the streets of Seattle. City leaders agree there has to be someplace for them to go, and Mayor Murray is pursuing a proposal to allow more encampments. Under the zoning-related rules in his proposed ordinance, they could be allowed in The Junction, at Westwood Village, even, ironically, on the site long home to the encampment calling itself “Nickelsville” until the city evicted its residents more than a year ago. The agenda made public today for a City Council committee meeting next week includes the map you see above, showing the areas of the city where Mayor Murray’s new proposed policy would allow up to 3 “transitional encampments” at any one time. Click the image to see the full PDF version, which you can use to zoom all the way in to specific streets and blocks. It’s in essence a zoning map, as the gist of his proposal is to allow them in “Industrial, NC2, NC3, Commercial (C),Downtown (except DMR, PSM and IDR), and Seattle Mixed Zones.” But this wouldn’t just mean someone can show up, set up a tent and start an encampment – there are a variety of other rules in the proposal, about how they would be managed, how close encampments could be to each other, and more – see documents here and here. While those documents are for a briefing at 2 pm next Tuesday during a meeting of the Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee, the committee’s public hearing isn’t scheduled until 5:30 pm February 26th – here’s the official notice. P.S. Here’s the list of currently authorized encampments in Seattle.

We’ll forgive you for having trouble concentrating on anything but The Big Game.

We’re looking ahead a few days past it – to the District 1: First Look city council candidates’ forum that we at WSB are presenting eight nights from now, February 5th, 7 pm (doors and mingling at 6:30) at Highland Park Improvement Club.

Five days after Councilmember Tom Rasmussen surprised politics-watchers by deciding not to run after all, the race remains with a field of three, listed here in order of their announcements:

*Chas Redmond, who was first to announce, in December of 2013
*Amanda Kay Helmick, who announced her candidacy last October
*George Capestany, who announced his run in November

They’re confirmed, and we’re looking forward to it. Yes, the field may well change between now and the filing deadline on May 15th. Doesn’t matter – it’s well past time NOW to find out what those who are running have to say in response to your questions and ours. This is the first time West Seattle and South Park get to elect a councilmember by district and you might as well make the most of it. You’ll have time to ask questions during the forum and you are also welcome to get suggestions in now (editor@westseattleblog.com). Meantime, there’s lots of room at HPIC (12th/Holden) – full transportation info to come. We’ll have beverages and treats. See you there on February 5th.

10:18 AM: West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has just announced he’s changed his mind about running to stay on the council. Here’s his statement. The field of candidates for West Seattle’s City Council District 1 seat is now down to three, with the first forum less than 2 weeks away. More to come.

10:29 AM: Rasmussen has been on the council since 2004 (here’s his bio), and currently chairs the Transportation Committee. His statement (linked above) says in part, “This wasn’t an easy decision but, it is the right one. It is now time to direct my efforts toward the same causes I have always been most passionate about — in exciting new ways.” He is the second councilmember to announce this week that he’s not running to stay on the council, which has all nine seats going to voters this fall, seven for the new districts, two at large. Nick Licata made his not-running announcement on Wednesday.

11:04 AM: Mayor Murray‘s statement:

Councilmember Rasmussen has been deeply engaged in public life as long as I can remember. As an advocate for seniors, human services, parks and innovative transportation solutions, Tom demonstrates active and effective leadership for our City. He was instrumental in our successful campaign last year to expand bus transit – for which I’m very grateful. I am especially thankful for his partnership in our effort to secure civil rights and marriage equality for the LGBT community. Seattle is losing a major champion on the council, but we know his community activism will find new outlets as he writes his next chapter.

11:14 AM: We contacted Councilmember Rasmussen to ask about his decision. In a phone interview a short time ago, he told us it was “very difficult – I love my job, I love working with the community and in the community, but I was torn” between spending the next year doing that job AND campaigning, or focusing on the work. He points out he still has almost a full year left in office, and he vows that he won’t be “slacking off” – most days, he says, he’s “out of the house by 5, back after 6” (back on Wednesday night, he was at the Delridge District Council meeting, which ran until 9) and after his final year, he looks forward to a “more balanced” life.

He says he felt the need to announce this early because he was receiving donations and offers of volunteering, endorsements, and other campaign help already, and because “other folks who might be interested can step up.” No, he’s not endorsing a candidate yet, but says he’ll be looking for one who also will be out in the community – “you can’t just sit in your office, you have to be a problem-solver.” As quoted above, he said he hopes to focus more on the causes for which he has long worked; we asked which might be his major focus in post-council life, and he said that “working on issues relating to seniors and people with disabilities is really fundamental.”

Four people want your vote in their quest to become the first City Councilmember for District 1, representing West Seattle and South Park (listed this time in first-name reverse-alphabetical order):

*Tom Rasmussen
*George Capestany
*Chas Redmond
*Amanda Kay Helmick

Though voting in the first-ever district elections (explained here) is six months away (August 4th primary), now’s the time to start finding out what the contenders are all about. And so, two weeks from tonight, WSB invites you to get your first look at them side by side as we present “District 1: First Look,” the first candidates’ forum in the race. Hope to see you at Highland Park Improvement Club on Thursday night, February 5th – doors open 6:30, forum at 7, admission and refreshments free, bring the question(s) you want to be sure get answered!

ADDED 10:35 AM FRIDAY: As noted in comments, Rasmussen has just left the race, leaving Redmond, Helmick, and Capestany. If anyone else files before the forum, they’ll be invited to participate.

Last year, the city’s draft proposal for Pedestrian Zones was circulated to neighborhood and district councils around West Seattle and the rest of the city via a series of briefings, several of which were covered here, starting with one almost a full year ago in Morgan Junction.

It’s meant to tweak zoning in some business districts to ensure that future development is more pedestrian-friendly. And tonight, the mayor’s office has announced the final proposal is ready for review. The announcement came via a news release you can read here, and a sheaf of documents linked here. Maps show the 11 sections of West Seattle where changes are proposed; you can see the maps here. There are five maps – scroll through the first 25 until you get to:

*Exhibit Z, showing a stretch of Delridge Way from north of Juneau to just north of Brandon
*Exhibit AA, showing stretches of 35th SW in Morgan, Gatewood, Westwood
*Exhibit BB, showing a section of South Delridge
*Exhibit FF, showing a section of Admiral
*Exhibit GG, showing part of The Junction

(Specific information about each area proposed for tweaks can be found in this report.) None of the proposed rezoning shown would change maximum allowable height for development in the affected areas. This all goes now to the City Council, which will set dates for hearings and votes.

2015 is here, and its elections (August 4th primary/November 3rd general) will bring Seattle voters’ first chance to choose 7 of 9 City Councilmembers by district. The field of candidates for District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) has remained at four for some weeks now – in reverse-alphabetical order this time, they are:

*Chas Redmond
*Tom Rasmussen
*Amanda Kay Helmick
*George Capestany

Today, we’re exactly one month away from what will likely be your first chance to see and hear from all four in one place. As announced last month, WSB is presenting the campaign season’s first announced District 1 Candidates Forum, on Thursday, February 5th (6:30 pm mingle/7 pm forum), at Highland Park Improvement Club. We hope you’ll be there, and we’re hoping you’ll participate in the preparation too. For starters: Which issue(s) do you think matter most in this race? Comment here when you have a moment, or e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!

The banner at 7551 35th SW announces the new name of what had been Mars Hill Church-West Seattle since fall 2006 – Trinity West Seattle, officially launching with services tomorrow morning. It’s been just two months since Mars Hill announced it would disband, leaving its churches to close or go independent. It appears they’re making the transition with familiar faces/voices, including Pastors David Fairchild and Cliff Ellis, who are on the new website’s list of “elders and staff” (the former preached last Sunday, the church’s last as MH-WS). Pastor Ellis was among the signatories on this August letter calling for MH’s controversial founder Pastor Mark Driscoll to permanently step down, which he did in October, not long before the entire church announced it would disband. The new Trinity West Seattle website says the church will launch with a seven-week series of sermons under the title, “Long Story Short: Finding Ourselves in the Biblical Drama,” described in part as “a particularly good series for both seekers and skeptics while shaping and forming our church to embody the biblical story.”

2015 will make history in West Seattle for at least one reason: Our area’s first-ever District 1 City Councilmember will be elected. Today, there’s a change in the list of who’s in the running: According to the city’s election-information website, one of the five declared candidates, David Ishii, has moved his candidacy to one of the city’s two at-large seats, so that leaves four District 1 candidates so far (with other changes likely of course since the deadline for declaring is months away) – in alphabetical order:

*George Capestany
*Amanda Kay Helmick
*Tom Rasmussen
*Chas Redmond

And this gives us the chance to mention that all four candidates are confirmed for an early City Council District 1 Candidates’ Forum that we at WSB are presenting on February 5th – get it on your calendar now! It will start with mingling and refreshments at 6:30 pm, forum 7-8:30 pm, at Highland Park Improvement Club – we thank HPIC, one of West Seattle’s great historic community venues, for agreeing to provide the space for the forum!

Though West Seattleites will vote on three City Council seats in August and September 2015 – District 1 plus two at-large – we are focusing this forum ONLY on D-1, the one seat that will be accountable directly to this area. Stay tuned to WSB for more details as it gets closer. (P.S. If anyone else files to run in District 1 before then, s/he will of course be invited to participate too – contact us at editor@westseattleblog.com if we don’t contact you first!)

From tonight’s meeting of the 34th District Democrats, a look back at the November election, a look ahead to the Legislature in January, and more, ahead:

Read More

A fifth candidate just announced he’s in the running for West Seattle’s new City Council District 1 seat next year: George Capestany. He’s made news here as owner of the well-known Jacobsen Road goats, and now he’s jumping into politics. As described in his official announcement, Capestany is also “a longtime West Seattle resident, active community volunteer, and US Navy Veteran” and “professional artist, teacher, a small business owner, … coach for Pony & Little League Baseball, West Seattle Soccer, and West Seattle Football.” The announcement notes that Capestany would be the first councilmember of Hispanic descent, as the “son of Hispanic immigrants forced to leave (Cuba) due to communist rule.” He says, “For a long time, West Seattle residents have been left out of virtually everything that goes on at City Hall. … I will work to ensure the unique needs of West Seattle are heard and addressed.” (Photo courtesy Capestany campaign)

Also in the running so far for District 1, which includes South Park as well as West Seattle, in order of their announcements/filings: Chas Redmond, David Ishii, Tom Rasmussen, and Amanda Kay Helmick. The filing deadline is May 1st of next year.

Today (Sunday) will be the first day King County Elections has *not* released updated results since Tuesday night. That night’s ballot count was followed by two daily Wednesday-Friday and one more Saturday evening. Here are three notes following the latter:

TRANSIT FUNDING (Transportation Benefit District Prop 1):
Yes 61.14% – 109,139 votes
No 38.86% – 69,380 votes

What’s next? Since Wednesday’s media briefing (WSB coverage here) with the mayor and county executive, Metro general manager Kevin Desmond has sent an e-mail message to bus-alert subscriber lists, including this:

… We’re working with the city now to flesh out the agreement, including the exact route improvements. It will be submitted to the city and county councils in December for adoption early next year.

The need is clear. Seattle voters, like transit riders across the county, undoubtedly have experienced the packed buses that have come with growing ridership. Metro is on track to deliver 120 million rides countywide this year—a record high—and our financial situation has not allowed us to expand to meet the demand.

Our just-released 2014 Service Guidelines Report, which analyzes the performance of our transit system and identifies investment needs, found that Metro should be providing 15 percent more service to meet current demand countywide. …

(That report does not appear to be online yet; it wasn’t linked, and we could only find the 2013 version. We’ll check on Monday.)

PRESCHOOL (Seattle Propositions 1A/1B):
Prop 1A – 31.29% – 49,393 votes
Prop 1B – 68.71% – 108,477 votes

What’s next? Thanks to Diane for forwarding e-mail about meetings to discuss how the resulting Seattle Preschool Program will be planned and implemented. Two meetings, both on December 6th, are in West Seattle, at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the first focused on curriculum, the second on teacher training/coaching. They and others around the city, starting later this month, are listed on this flyer.

SMALLER CLASS SIZE (Statewide Initiative 1351):
Yes 50.49% 945,851 votes
No 49.51% 927,356 votes

What’s next? This trailed on election night, but now supporters have declared victory. How this will be made to happen, the Legislature has to work out, as the text says.

SEE FULL, UPDATED LOCAL AND STATE RESULTS: If there’s something else you want to check on, King County’s results are all linked here; statewide races and measures are all linked here.

Waiting to see what the second round of vote totals looks like? King County Elections just announced plans for TWO daily updates for the rest of the week:

King County Elections will post two sets of general election results reports today and for the rest of this week due to the volume of last-minute voters returning ballots. The Elections Department will issue a first set of results by 4:30 p.m. as planned, along with a second set of results by 8:00 p.m.

King County Elections has received about 518,000 ballots to date for the general election, not counting a substantial number of drop box returns yesterday. Ballots will continue to arrive, however, they must have valid postmarks indicating that they were mailed on or before election day in order for them to be processed and counted.

Each voter’s signature must be verified before a ballot is opened, inspected, scanned, and ultimately tabulated. Ballots that come in that are damaged, reflect write-in votes or were not voted consistent with the directions, require additional handling and time to process. On average, a ballot takes a little more than a day to process so it can be added to the results report.

You can use the King County Ballot Tracker to see if your ballot was received and signature verified. (Example: We dropped ours at one of the vans on Monday. Ballot Tracker shows they’ve been received.) And you’ll find the latest results update here.

The election-night vote count for King County is in, and here’s how the local ballot measures are going:

TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DISTRICT PROPOSITION #1 – results here
59 percent yes, 41 percent no

*Added 9:13 pm: Mayor Murray issued a statement saying in part, “Great cities need great mass transit – and Seattle is a great city. Seattle voters understand that, and today’s passage of Prop 1 is the next step to getting the transit system that Seattle wants and that Seattle needs. With today’s vote, we are now able to do something that has eluded elected leaders of this City for decades, and that’s significantly add to existing transit service in Seattle.”

*Added 11:52 pm: Murray, County Executive Dow Constantine, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and others will meet the media downtown Wednesday morning to talk about what’s next now that Prop 1, which includes a car-tab fee and sales-tax increase, has passed. We’ll be there.

PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, CITIZENS’ PETITION (MONORAIL) – results here
80 percent no, 20 percent yes

SEATTLE PRESCHOOL MEASURES – This is a two-part set of results – here (“should either measure become law?” and here (which is preferred, 1A or 1B)
Should one become law? 65 percent yes, 35 percent no
Which one? 67 percent for 1B, 33 percent for 1A

HIGHLINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOND MEASURE: Results here
57 percent yes, 43 percent no (note: 60 percent approval is required for passage)

MORE RESULTS: Other county results are here.

In this story, we’re tracking the big statewide measures for starters, and will add other regional results, including Legislature and Congress races. The initiative numbers, you should note, will change often, since results are coming in from counties all over the state, and some will be counting all night long (unlike here in King County, where there won’t be a second count until tomorrow). We’ll update the initiative results, with time notations, as often as we can, in the hours ahead.

I-594 (FIREARMS) – results here
9:09 pm – 59.72% yes, 40.28% no

I-591 (FIREARMS) – results here
9:09 pm – 45.44% yes, 54.56% no

I-1351 (CLASS SIZE) – results here
9:09 pm update – 49.43% yes, 50.57% no

STATEWIDE ADVISORY VOTES – results linked here

U.S. HOUSE, DISTRICT 7 – results here
Jim McDermott, 80%
Craig Keller, 20%

STATE SENATE, 34TH DISTRICT – results here
Sharon Nelson, 98% (unopposed)

STATE HOUSE POSITION 1, 34TH DISTRICT
Eileen Cody, 98% (unopposed) – results here

STATE HOUSE POSITION 2, 34TH DISTRICT – results here
Joe Fitzgibbon, 81%
Brendan Kolding , 18%