Two topics of much discussion here go before City Council committees next Tuesday (December 10), as confirmed by agendas just made public:

EVERY-OTHER-WEEK TRASH PICKUP: Last week, many WSB’ers had something to say about a council proposal that paves the way for Seattle Public Utilities potentially changing to every-other-week garbage service citywide, following a test last year that included part of Highland Park. That proposal, adding an every-other-week option to the city’s contracts with haulers including Waste Management, will be considered by the Libraries, Utilities, and Center Committee at noon Tuesday. This would not be a final decision; as we reported last week, the council is committing itself to deciding by next March whether to pursue the plan, and would have to approve additional legislation to make it reality – but it’s never too soon to speak up if you feel strongly about it, pro or con.

(WSB Monday photo by Patrick Sand)
TRANSPORTATION TROUBLE: Remember the bridge shutdown back on Monday, after de-icer applied in relatively warm afternoon sunshine led to multiple crashes? City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen promised that the Transportation Committee, which he chairs, would seek an SDOT briefing at its next meeting – and there is indeed an agenda item titled “SDOT planning and procedures for roadways during inclement weather” toward the end of the agenda for Tuesday’s 9:30 am meeting.

Both of the above meetings have public-comment periods at the start; both are in council chambers at City Hall downtown; both will be live via Seattle Channel, seattlechannel.org online or cable channel 21.

(WSB photo from November 2012 Spokane St. Viaduct celebration; SDOT’s Peter Hahn is at right)
As Mayor-elect Ed Murray continues his first transition team meeting, the media has received a first list of which city department heads are staying (for now) and which are going. Among those leaving: The head of SDOT, Peter Hahn. Here’s the full announcement:

Mayor-Elect Murray began meeting individually with the heads of city departments to discuss his plans and priorities for when he takes office in January. These are ongoing meetings that will continue through December.

“I mentioned earlier in the week that there would be some changes in personnel, as can be expected with any transition to a new administration. I wanted (to) share where things stand in that regard at the present time,” Murray said.

The following department heads will be not be returning once the new administration takes office:

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The state senator who represents our area, Sen. Sharon Nelson, has just been elected leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus, a position held by State Sen. Ed Murray, leaving after his election to be Seattle Mayor. Click ahead to read the news release:

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After this afternoon’s added ballot count put Kshama Sawant 1,640 votes ahead of Councilmember Richard Conlin, he has just conceded. Here’s a tweet from Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Brian Rosenthal:

Standing behind Conlin at concession: Councilmembers Tim Burgess and Sally Bagshaw pic.twitter.com/oTVSwIDvwd

— Brian M. Rosenthal (@brianmrosenthal) November 16, 2013

See the newest vote total for this race here. Another note of interest: Though it’s not close enough to change the outcome, the gap has tightened in the mayor’s race since election night, and it’s now 52 percent for Ed Murray, 47 percent for Mike McGinn.

4:39 PM: Just in – today’s ballot count shows Kshama Sawant widening her lead over incumbent Councilmember Richard Conlin to 402 votes; see the new numbers here.

P.S. The one-sheet with every race in the county is here. Next ballot count, about this time tomorrow.

ADDED 5:16 PM: A media-advisory excerpt from the Sawant campaign, with some context and the numbers as they’ve shifted since Election Night eight days ago:

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(Added: Seattle Times photo by Greg Gilbert, republished with permission)
4:23 PM: The newest ballot count is just in from King County Elections, and the race that has had the city on the edge of its election-watching seat has continued going the challenger’s way: Kshama Sawant now leads incumbent Richard Conlin in the Seattle City Council Position 2 race. Numbers here – 79,751 for Sawant, 79,710 for Conlin:

4:41 PM: If you haven’t been paying close attention, Sawant is a community-college economics teacher who ran as a Socialist. If she wins, she will be the first Socialist member of the Seattle City Council; she would be the fourth woman and second person of color on the current council. She would have to run again in 2015 because of Seattle Charter Amendment 19, which won in a landslide, setting up elections by district for seven of the council’s nine seats, including the creation of West Seattle’s District 1. (A Facebook group is already active for discussing ramifications – find it here.)

Meantime, the numbers from the next batch of ballots will be announced tomorrow around 4:30 pm. As our partners at The Seattle Times note, Sawant had 46 percent of the vote on Election Night, but has been closing the gap daily ever since.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One of West Seattle’s three state legislators, just back from the short special session in Olympia, shared insights today at a West Seattle Chamber of Commerce-sponsored brown-bag-lunch discussion.

As noted here on Saturday, the session led to approval for extending Boeing tax breaks but inaction on a transportation package that could save Metro from slashing service.

State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, a Burien Democrat who’s on the House Transportation Committee, told today’s “Lunch with LEO” (local elected official) gathering at ArtsWest that he didn’t think transportation “was ever likely to get resolved” in this special session: “We’re not close enough to a deal on a transportation package,” between the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate. “We have some philosophical differences on things. … The Senate does not believe transit, pedestrian (etc.) is a state responsibility.”

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If you haven’t taken the quick and easy online step of checking to see whether your ballot from last week’s election was received and validated, you might consider doing it now. You’ve probably heard that one City Council contest has narrowed dramatically since the original Election Night count – Position 2 incumbent Richard Conlin and challenger Kshama Sawant are now 1,237 votes apart, – and the ballot-counting isn’t over yet, so it could come down to a handful of votes.

Both campaigns have suggested that while we await the next round of ballot totals tomorrow, you check to make sure your ballot has been counted. It can get lost on its way to Elections HQ; one West Seattleite tells us his was dropped into a box at the Junction post office on Election Day – but came back marked “return to sender.” He contacted King County Elections and received an e-mail reply explaining that he needed to bring it in ASAP; the reply included, “We have heard of this happening to other voters …” Other things that can go awry include the possibility your signature wasn’t validated (happened to us a couple elections ago). Don’t wait to see if yours turns up back on your doorstep. Just go here – it’s really quick.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: Though this was published Tuesday night, you can still get the NEWEST results at any point afterward, by clicking the headline for each race*

(ADDED – KIRO-TV raw video of Ed Murray’s speech after 1st round of results)
UPDATE, 8:15 PM: The first numbers are in. Ed Murray has a big lead in the Seattle Mayor’s race; incumbents are leading in the City Council races. Results below.

UPDATE, 8:30 PM: Citywide reporters say Mayor McGinn is conceding. (Or something similar to it.)

SEATTLE MAYOR
Mike McGinn 43 percent
Ed Murray 56 percent

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 2
Richard Conlin 54 percent
Kshama Sawant 46 percent

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 4
Sally Bagshaw 83 percent
Sam Bellomio 16 percent

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 6
Edwin Fruit 12 percent
Nick Licata 87 percent

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8
Mike O’Brien 64 percent
Albert Shen 35 percent

Next round of results, Wednesday around 4:30 pm. See separate WSB stories for other results.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: Though this was published Tuesday night, you can still get the NEWEST results at any point afterward, by clicking the headline for each race*

8:24 PM UPDATE: Here’s where we’re tracking key ballot measures. Though King County only updates once tonight, the state numbers on I-522 will change throughout the night as multiple counties come in, so we’ll update those as long as they keep changing.

STATE INITIATIVE 522 (GMO labels on food) – 9:02 pm update
Yes 45 percent
No 55 percent

STATE INITIATIVE 517 (changing initiative procedures) – 9:02 pm update
Yes 40 percent
No 60 percent

Other state-ballot-measure/advisory-vote results are linked here

SEATTLE CHARTER AMENDMENT 19 (electing councilmembers by district)
Yes 64 percent
No 36 percent

SEATTLE PROPOSITION 1 (public campaign financing)
Yes 46 percent
No 54 percent

KING COUNTY PROPOSITION 1 (Medic One)
Approve 83 percent
Reject 17 percent

KING COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT 1 (Office of Public Defense)
Approve 59 percent
Reject 41 percent

Also of interest:

SEA-TAC PROPOSITION 1 ($15 minimum wage)
Yes 54 percent
No 46 percent

Other results from around King County and its cities and other jurisdictions are here – or, in a quick all-in-text page, here.

Tuesday night is your deadline to vote – and if you want to save the cost of a stamp, you have two more chances to use the King County Elections dropoff van in West Seattle. Today was the first of three days in the West Seattle Stadium parking lot (4432 35th SW); by mid-afternoon, Cindy (above) and Sharon were almost up to 100 ballots. The van will be back 10 am-5 pm Monday and 10 am-8 pm Tuesday; those same days/times, you can also find one in White Center’s Greenbridge, just south of the city/county line (9720 8th SW). All the other options for returning your ballot are listed on this KC Elections webpage.

With nine days until voting ends and vote-counting begins, mayoral candidate State Sen. Ed Murray rallied supporters this afternoon at West Seattle’s Beveridge Place Pub. It was more an appearance to energize supporters than to win new ones; though Murray’s been leading in polls, he and supporters warned that victory “is not a done deal.” Three West Seattle-residing backers – State Rep. Eileen Cody, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, and SEIU 775NW health-care-workers-union president Dave Rolf — spoke for twice as long as Murray’s four-plus minutes; you can see our entire video clip, starting with their speeches, by clicking here, or hit “play” in the window below to skip ahead to what Murray said:

The mayoral hopeful harkened to his West Seattle roots, and singled out a locally hot topic, transportation, as an issue he thinks he can sort out: “We can have a transportation system where we can actually make bicycles, cars, buses, streetcars, pedestrians, all be able to interact … it’s going to take a different vision and a different approach … the ability to think differently about public policy, and not just say, ‘oh, we (already) have a plan for transportation’ …” Among the catch phrases in his remarks: He says he would be a mayor who “doesn’t fight Seattle, but fights for Seattle.” The event concluded with a request for volunteers to work the phones and/or walk the precincts to help “get out the vote.” Murray’s opponent Mayor Mike McGinn is scheduled to campaign in West Seattle next Saturday (November 2nd), with a 2:30 pm “town hall”-style gathering at Delridge Branch Library.

Hasn’t been much campaigning on this side of the bay during this year’s race for Seattle Mayor – some quiet fundraisers, only one public forum (WSB coverage, with video, here). But both candidates have sent word they’re headed this way in the next week:

SEN. ED MURRAY: “Get Out the Vote” rally, all invited, 3-4 pm tomorrow (Sunday, October 27th) at Beveridge Place Pub. The Murray campaign says local supporters including King County Councilmember Joe McDermott and State Rep. Eileen Cody will be there.

MAYOR MIKE McGINN: He’s on a pre-election town-hall tour, with a West Seattle stop next Saturday (November 2nd), 2:30 pm at Delridge Branch Library.

Remember that ballots are due November 5th, and the county will have dropoff vans at West Seattle Stadium and in Greenbridge in White Center; addresses and hours (the days are Nov. 2, 4, and 5) are on this King County Elections infopage.

While Election Day is almost three weeks away, the voting begins at your home as soon as tomorrow – since King County Elections has announced that ballots for the November 5th election are going out in the mail today. Once again, they’ll have drop vans in West Seattle and White Center, this time on November 2nd, 4th, and 5th. More information here on how to get your ballot back to the county – remember that if you mail it, it needs a stamp.

Toplines from last night’s meeting of our area’s largest political group, the 34th District Democrats, at The Hall at Fauntleroy:

WEST SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION COALITION: Speaking to the 34th Dems on behalf of the just-launched, and now renamed, advocacy group were Mat McBride and Joe Szilagyi. “We want to do the greatest good for the greatest number of folks,” explained McBride – not just advocating for the peninsula with Metro, but also addressing issues such as development density without transportation capacity. 6:30 pm November 12th at High Point Center/Neighborhood House (6400 Sylvan Way SW) is the next meeting, Szilagyi announced, and there will be work to build a transportation-improvement plan “and bring everybody together, come hell or high water, to solve these things” – they’re hoping for all stakeholders, everyone interested, to come and be part of it. (The WSTC website is here.)

SPEAKING OF TRANSPORTATION: Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen spoke toward the start of the meeting regarding the state Senate Transportation Committee‘s upcoming public hearing, Monday 10/14, 6-9 pm at a new location – First Presbyterian Church at 1013 8th Ave. downtown, larger than the original location. “They said they want to hear from regular people – they want to hear from you,” he said. County Councilmember McDermott included concerns in his brief speech toward the meeting’s start, too.

Ahead, other topics from the federal shutdown to immigration reform, and more:

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That’s our video of King County Executive Dow Constantine and Councilmember Joe McDermott (who chairs the county Board of Health) in White Center at noontime today, speaking out against the federal-government shutdown as it threatens a program that serves 38,000 pregnant women, new mothers, and young children. Layoff-warning notices went out today to 82 King County employees who work on the Women/Infants/Children nutrition program, since federal funding expires October 31st if the situation doesn’t change. “It’s time for Congress to stop holding America’s future hostage,” declared Constantine. Also speaking to reporters at the media briefing was Crystal Ruegger, a WIC client and spouse of a furloughed federal employee.

Lots to decide in the November 5th election – from Seattle Mayor to ballot measures including electing councilmembers by district and adding info to food labels. But you won’t have a say if you’re not registered to vote, and with one big deadline days away, King County Elections has just shared a raft of reminders:

Count yourself in by voting in the next election. Be sure you’re registered to vote and that your voter registration information is up to date.

Monday, Oct. 7 is the deadline for mail-in and online voter registration and address changes. King County Elections will mail ballots to all registered voters on Oct. 16 for the general election, so it’s important that citizens register to vote and keep their address and other information, including their signature, updated.

King County residents not currently registered to vote in Washington can register in person at the King County Elections office or the Voter Registration Annex through 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28.

Voters can check to make sure their registration information is current by:

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