This wasn’t in our morning roundup but in case it’s a subject about which you’re passionate – a reminder that the Seattle City Council‘s public hearing on the proposed Seattle Public Library levy is tonight, City Hall downtown, 5:30 pm (they’re taking signups starting at 5). Lots more info here. If finalized, the levy to raise $17 million a year would go to voters this August. If you can’t make it to the hearing, you’ll be able to watch it live via Seattle Channel, cable 21 or online.

By our count, there are about two dozen people participating in the Occupy West Seattle rally in The Junction. Police are there too – including Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen. Our crew at the scene says it’s gone as the group had said it would – they walked from KeyBank to Chase, and are now on the California/Oregon corner.

The announced 4 pm start time of the rally coincided with a blast of snow and hail.

ADDED: Our video from the event, and a few more photos:Read More

Local filmmakers made that video clip (featuring actors from the West Seattleites-featuring “The Collectibles“) to educate you, entertain you, and inspire you to give them a hand. Not the applause kind – the making-a-call or writing-e-mail kind. ASAP. They’re trying to save their industry from an unhappy ending.

As West Seattleite Todd Downing explains, SB 5539 – regarding incentives for the film industry in our state – is hung up in the State Legislature. The State Senate has passed it (including a “yes” vote from our area’s Sen. Sharon Nelson) but it hasn’t come to a vote in the State House, and it might fade to black if that doesn’t happen by Thursday. A phone call or note from you might help it get there. Todd elaborates:

Just about every state in the US has a film industry tax incentive program to entice productions to the state, and local areas within the state. Washington’s program is about mid-range in comparison to other states. What it does is refund a certain percentage of a production’s expenditures based on budget level and local talent/crew hired.

As we are sandwiched between Oregon and BC, both of which having superior incentive programs, much of our talent and skilled crew end up leaving the WA film community for jobs in Portland or Vancouver. Our existing incentive program is the baseline that we must build on to create more jobs for skilled crew and support personnel, as well as keeping performance talent in the state … Anyway, the numbers are pretty overwhelmingly in favor of continuing the current incentives by a huge margin of return per dollars spent.

Want to give SB 5539 a boost? We noticed on the Legislature’s website that it’s scheduled for a public hearing in Olympia at 10 this morning, before the House Ways and Means Committee (whose members include West Seattle State House Rep. Eileen Cody). You might not be able to get there, but you can call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000, and e-mail/call Rep. Cody to urge that she support getting the bill to a vote.

(9:15 PM UPDATE: Statewide and countywide results continuing to show up here)

10:11 AM: We’re at West Seattle High School, one of two sites in the 34th Legislative District where Republicans are gathering to participate in their party’s statewide precinct caucuses this morning. 34th Republicans chair Jim Clingan had told us they expected the WSHS Commons to be packed; the tables here, each for a specific precinct, are indeed full, maybe 300 people by our count. Craig Keller, who is leading this meeting, is just starting to speak, to explain the rules; he’s been presiding over sign-ins. The gathering is scheduled to continue till noon.

11:22 AM UPDATE: We stayed at WSHS until all the individual tables were about to get down to business. Keller (above) explained to participants that they had two things to accomplish: Elect delegates to the next level of caucusing (one or two delegates per precinct, depending on each precinct’s “Republican voting strength” in the 2008 election), and participate in the presidential “straw poll.” (Participants would have to pledge that they were Republicans – since we don’t have formal party registration in this state – and that they weren’t participating in any other party’s caucuses.) Results were not to be announced at individual caucus locations; they were to be reported to county and then state headquarters, which is expected to announce them tonight. After WSHS, we headed south to White Center to check out the caucusing location that also included precincts from south West Seattle:

This one was run by Jim Clingan, who told us they’d counted about 200 people. One thing of note: We looked at both locations for evidence of presidential-candidate preference, and the only candidate whose logo we noticed was Ron Paul: Somebody wearing a Ron Paul hoodie at WSHS: a stack of Ron Paul signs outside the doors at Evergreen.

4:16 PM UPDATE: The Paul campaigning – he was the only Republican presidential candidate to come to Seattle – seems to be showing in the early results; he’s a close second to Romney. You can watch statewide results updates on this State GOP website.

9:15 PM UPDATE: Statewide, it’s Romney 37 percent, Paul 26 percent, Santorum 25 percent, with 90 percent of the vote counted. King County is listed as 75 percent counted, also with Romney in first place, Paul in second.

Just after opening Village Green Perennial Nursery for the season, owner Vera Johnson has a quick out-of-town trip ahead – way out of town. Eight months after her very public foreclosure fight with Bank of America, she is going to Washington, D.C. – and if you too have been through something similar, she would like to take your story along for the ride. Vera explains, “I was asked to go to D.C. to meet with the Obama Task Force next week. We have meetings scheduled with folks at DOJ, HUD, and other agencies involved in the newly created mortgage-fraud task force. We’re going to spend some time together talking about the work happening in our cities and states, AND there’s going to be a Senate Banking Committee hearing on “public and private solutions to the mortgage crisis” (ie. Principal reduction) on Wednesday 3/7 – perfectly timed for us! I was asked to collect personal stories with photos of people who are dealing with this personally.” She is representing WA-CAN (Washington Citizens Action Network) and asks, “E-mail me your story of any Fannie/Freddie nightmares. Include a family photo. By Sunday ….. vjvillagegreen7@gmail.com.” She heads out on Monday.

With the Republican presidential nomination still undecided, the party’s precinct caucuses in our state tomorrow, 10 am-noon, are getting national attention. If you are interested in participating, our partners at the Seattle Times have put together a pretty good primer. There’s an FAQ on this party-owned site. And there’s a lot of good information from WSB’er JoAnne in new comments she has added following our caucus preview published last weekend. As she mentions, West Seattle High School (3000 California SW) is the major caucusing spot for this area – but if you are in south WS, your precinct may be caucusing in White Center, at the Evergreen Campus (830 SW 116th) – doublecheck your location here. We’ve checked in with 34th District Republicans chair Jim Clingan, who explains that results will NOT be announced at the caucus locations – they’ll go to the party’s county HQ, then on to the statewide GOP, which should announce statewide results tomorrow evening.

P.S. Democratic caucuses are NOT on the same date as the GOP this year; theirs are on April 15th.

Since the Republican presidential-nomination race seems far from settled, expect a lot of national-media attention on our state in the coming week, with the party’s precinct caucuses set for one week from today – 10 am to noon, Saturday, March 3. To get your Republican caucus location online, you have to use the “caucus locator” lookup; we tried a sampling of precinct numbers (using this map) and so far it looks like north West Seattle goes to West Seattle High School, south West Seattle to the Evergreen Campus in White Center (let us know if your precinct comes up with someplace different). Though in 2008, both parties caucused on the same day, this year they’re more than a month apart; Democratic precinct caucuses are on April 15th, also 10 am-noon, location list and times to come. And in case you’ve forgotten, there’s no presidential primary; it was called off to save an estimated $10 million.

After exploring non-elected roles in the 2 years since he left the Seattle Mayor’s office, West Seattle’s Greg Nickels is going before voters again. It’s just been announced he is indeed going to run for Secretary of State. Here’s the news release:

Former Seattle Mayor and King County Councilmember Greg Nickels, a Democrat, will run for Secretary of State. Nickels’ entry ends weeks of speculation and resets the fields in the race to replace retiring incumbent Sam Reed.

Read More

(Photo by KING 5’s Drew Mikkelsen, via Twitter)
Minutes ago in Olympia, Governor Gregoire signed the marriage-equality bill. West Seattleites there to witness history included King County Executive Dow Constantine and Anne Levinson, who shared this photo:

Constantine’s official statement:

This is an historic day for our state, as we finally recognize the equality and protect the rights of all the people of Washington.

We can all take pride in our status as the seventh state in the U.S. to recognize that marriage is a basic civil right.

This legislation has been fully and fairly debated. I congratulate Governor Gregoire for signing it into law.

No doubt this law will be challenged. I will work in whatever capacity I can to ensure its approval by Washington voters, just as I fought against the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” more than a decade ago.

I look forward to the day when I can sign King County’s first marriage license for a same-sex couple.

A referendum petition drive is expected, which would mean no weddings until and unless voters upheld the law in November. Meantime, other reaction includes this from West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen: “”This achievement is the result of decades of tenacious and courageous work by people throughout Washington. I especially want to thank Sen. Ed Murray, who has worked tirelessly for fairness and equality for the passage of this landmark law.”

ADDED 2:11 PM: We’ve also heard from West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who shared the photo above:

“Arriving at today’s bill signing was a long road. It took almost three decades to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals had the same basic civil rights and protections as every other Washingtonian.

“But that hard work and years of debate brought us to today.

“Business, faith, civic and labor organizations, straight allies, and gay and lesbian advocates worked together and demanded equality. This morning their applause echoed through the Capitol.

“I commend Governor Gregoire for sharing her own personal journey and championing this historic legislation. She, like many people, realized marriage equality is about fairness and justice.

“Washington now joins only six other states granting lesbian and gay couples the same legal right to a marriage license as straight couples. And I look forward to marrying my partner, Michael, in the great state of Washington.”

He and Michael are in this photo with Executive Constantine and Anne Levinson (who were also shown above):

More details on today’s signing, and what’s next, in this Seattle Times (WSB partner) story.

From tonight’s meeting of the area’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, at The Hall at Fauntleroy:

APPLAUDING THE MARRIAGE-EQUALITY VOTE: Chair Tim Nuse opened the meeting – after agenda approval – with what you see in our video clip, a short celebration of the State House vote earlier in the day finalizing State Legislature approval for marriage equality. The district’s three legislators, all Democrats, all were “yes” votes for the legislation, which now awaits the governor’s signature, and a possible referendum challenge.

Other summaries from the meeting, ahead:Read More

“This is truly a historic day in Washington state, and one where I couldn’t be more proud. With today’s vote, we tell the nation that Washington state will no longer deny our citizens the opportunity to marry the person they love. We tell every child of same-sex couples that their family is every bit as equal and important as all other families in our state. And we take a major step toward completing a long and important journey to end discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

So said Governor Gregoire in the statement she just issued following the State House’s vote passing the marriage-equality bill, one week after it gained State Senate approval. She is expected to sign it within days. What happens then depends on whether opponents threatening a referendum get enough signatures for one, in which case the law would be on hold pending November election results.

ADDED 6:03 PM: Reaction from West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Joe McDermott:

“I thank the leaders who came before us, those who stood up and demanded equality following the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The community that took shape that night paved the way to today’s historic vote. I commend the courageous leadership our elected officials displayed. But most importantly, I commend the families who live their lives openly across King County and Washington State. This nation was founded on the premise of individual rights. The House of Representatives’ vote today is another step toward a more perfect union. Today is a historic and joyous day. But the fight for full equality under the law continues.”

ADDED 7:15 PM: We’re covering the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting tonight, and it opened with chair Tim Nuse mentioning today’s vote, and the membership responding with a standing ovation.

Last night, we reported on two signs – almost simultaneous, but apparently not linked – of the economic-inequality protest movement heading this way. One was word that the newly announced “Occupy West Seattle” plans its first meeting in Seattle this Saturday. All we had at the time was a line or two from social media; tonight, we’ve received an announcement via e-mail, with details on the first meeting and word of a second. Read on:Read More

(From left with Rep. McDermott, 34th District Democrats activists Jackie Dupras, Marcee Stone, Tamsen Spengler)
For West Seattle’s highest-profile politicians and political activists, Beveridge Place Pub was the place to be tonight. The occasion: A fundraiser for the Seattle area’s longtime Congressional representative, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, that also drew contributions for the West Seattle Food Bank. If a media alert about the event went out, we didn’t receive it, but big thanks to Dina Lydia Johnson for sharing photos and info – more ahead:Read More

West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Joe McDermott has a new high-profile role – leading the council through the budget process. Read on for the official announcement:Read More

West Seattleite Sage Wilson at Working Washington tells WSB it’s just a coincidence that his group’s mini-protest outside a local bank today came the same day that the “Occupy” movement announced an official “Occupy West Seattle” branch. But it’s notable that the economic-inequality protest movement is reaching outside downtown.

First, the protest: Working Washington stationed Sera and Abdi outside Wells Fargo in The Junction with signs and flyers about WF’s tax history (based on this report). Its news release also said WW hopes to attract West Seattleites to participate in a protest targeting WF downtown tomorrow, meeting at Westlake at noon and marching from there.

At the same time, though apparently not related, “Occupy West Seattle” turned up for the first time on Facebook (here) and Twitter (here). They have announced their first “General Assembly” meeting for this Saturday at Alki UCC (6112 SW Hinds, time TBA). Their motto: “We are taking what we learned downtown and bringing it to the local neighborhoods.”

As shown in that video clip from the Seattle Channel, five Seattle City Councilmembers who were just re-elected in November took their oaths of office this afternoon, and right afterward, one of them – Sally Clark – was elected Council President. The other four include West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. Along with choosing a new president, councilmembers finalized who’s in charge of which committees this year. Just in case you want to keep track of who to contact on which topic, here’s the list; among the topics most often discussed here, Rasmussen continues to chair the Transportation Committee, Sally Bagshaw chairs what is now the Parks and Neighborhoods Committee, while Councilmember Richard Conlin is now in charge of development/zoning issues among other things as chair of the Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee.

Meantime, with the leadership change, the council also made some changes to its home page – check ’em out here.