For those concerned about the big cuts looming in the state budget, Su Docekal sends word of “West Seattle Neighbors Against the Budget Cuts” gathering this Saturday “to do flyering to let people in this neighborhood know about the inhuman cuts that are being proposed for the upcoming special legislative session and about the protests that they can participate in.” The gathering is at noon Saturday at Salvadorean Bakery, 1719 SW Roxbury. She says they are looking ahead to “Occupy the Capitol,” a week of protests planned November 28-December 2. She says the demand will be:

— Oppose all cuts to jobs, services and education!
— Restore services, jobs and benefits by taxing corporations and the rich!
— Pressure the federal government to end U.S. wars and redirect military spending to the states!

If you want to find out more, you can contact Su at sudocekal@comcast.net or 206-953-5601.

One full week into the vote counting for the 2011 election in Seattle, there’s suddenly another School Board challenger ahead of an incumbent: Sharon Peaslee is leading Peter Maier – by 91 votes (67,385 to 67294). Here’s the latest count, released minutes ago. Previously, West Seattle’s Steve Sundquist had been the only incumbent losing; his share of the vote behind Marty McLaren is now down to 46%, vs. 54% for her. (No other races in our area have changed.)

A new campaign for marriage equality in our state, Washington United for Marriage, officially kicked off today. And the highest-ranking politician residing in West Seattle, King County Executive Dow Constantine, has just issued a statement supporting it:

“Now is the time to take action, to finally recognize the equality and protect the rights of all the people of Washington.

“I will work in whatever capacity I can to see this legislation passed in Olympia, or if necessary at the ballot box, and look forward to the day I can sign marriage certificates for all adult couples in King County.”

The marriage-equality campaign is on Facebook here, and on the web here. There is not a specific proposal yet, but supporters are lobbying legislators, and saying they’ll go to voters if the Legislature doesn’t step up.

It’s all but impossible to tell how many ballots are still “out there,” but the ones counted as of 4:30 this afternoon now equal 28 percent of the registered voters in Seattle, 30% of those in the county. No outcome has changed in the races we’re watching, but here are those races, by percentage, after another vote count was released late today:

SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DIST. PROP 1 ($60 car-tab tax):
59% no
41% yes

SEATTLE PROP 1 (Families and Education Levy)
59% yes
41% no

STATE INITIATIVE 1183 (liquor privatization)
60% yes
40% no

STATE INITIATIVE 1125 (tolling)
51% no
49% yes

STATE INITIATIVE 1163 (home care)
67% yes
33% no

See other statewide ballot measures’ results here

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD:
Position 1 – Maier* 52%, Peaslee 48%
Position 2 – Carr* 55%, Martin 45%
Position 3 – Martin-Morris* 61%, Buetow 38%
Position 6 – McLaren 51%, Sundquist* 48%
Today Marty McLaren answered our request from last night for an early comment: “The thing I know for sure, if I am elected, is my intention to start visiting WS Schools right away, and figuring out how best to communicate best with parents and staff. That goes for the wider community as well; there are many groups, organizations, and constituencies to connect with. Also, of course, educate myself more thoroughly on our issues…”

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL:
Position 1 – Godden* 53%, Forch 47%
Position 3 – Harrell* 62%, Meacham 37%
Position 5 – Rasmussen* 73%, Pusey 26%
Position 7 – Burgess* 81%, Schraer 18%
Position 9 – Clark* 66%, Ferguson 34%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
McDermott* 67%
Toledo 32%
(At right, the incumbent at 35th/Fauntleroy tonight with a “thank you” sign.)

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION
Position 2 – Tarleton* 56%, Pope 43%
Position 5 – Bryant* 62%, Willard 37%

(Asterisks denote incumbents.) Next King County results release: Around 4:30 pm Thurssday.

(UPDATED 11:07 PM WITH MORE REACTION)
Tonight’s first and only round of election results from King County is now published. Here are the toplines on major issues/races (including the latest statewide numbers):

SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DIST. PROP 1 ($60 car-tab tax):
60% no
40% yes
Reaction from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen: ““It’s clear that voters support better transit and safer streets, but it’s also apparent that we need more progressive options for how cities fund building our transportation systems. That’s why despite tonight’s setback, this is just the beginning.”

SEATTLE PROP 1 (Families and Education Levy)
59% yes
41% no
From statement by Mayor Mike McGinn: “This Levy is focused on outcomes. We will design programs to achieve clear outcomes and hold service providers accountable, ensuring that the programs we fund are delivering measurable results. We will make our investments based on data, and we will adapt those investments if the data shows something is not working.”

STATE INITIATIVE 1183 (liquor privatization)
60% yes
40% no
Reaction from Gov. Gregoire: ““The voters have spoken. I remain concerned about Initiative 1183’s unintended consequences. This initiative expands the sale of liquor, which can present risks to our public safety. Additionally, we know that Washington has one of the nation’s highest ‘no sales to minors’ compliance rates at 95 percent – compared to the private sector, which has a 76 percent compliance rate. We must closely monitor the implementation of Initiative 1183 and work to avoid any unintended public safety risks.”

STATE INITIATIVE 1125 (tolling)
51% no
49% yes
Reaction from County Executive Dow Constantine (via WSB partner The Seattle Times): “It means that we have once again said to Tim Eyman and his wealthy backers, ‘We are not gonna take it from you any more’.”

STATE INITIATIVE 1163 (home care)
67% yes
33% no

See other statewide ballot measures’ results here

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD:
Position 1 – Maier* 52%, Peaslee 48%
Position 2 – Carr* 55%, Martin 45%
Position 3 – Martin-Morris* 61%, Buetow 39%
Position 6 – McLaren 51%, Sundquist* 48%
Reaction from Marty McLaren (via WSB partner The Seattle Times): “I’m thrilled … It seems like the voters have heard the message.”

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL:
Position 1 – Godden* 54%, Forch 46%
Position 3 – Harrell* 62%, Meacham 38%
Position 5 – Rasmussen* 73%, Pusey 27%
Position 7 – Burgess* 81%, Schraer 19%
Position 9 – Clark* 65%, Ferguson 34%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
McDermott* 67%
Toledo 33%

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION
Position 2 – Tarleton* 56%, Pope 44%
Position 5 – Bryant* 63%, Willard 37%

(Asterisks denote incumbents.) Next King County results release: Around 4:30 pm Wednesday.

If you’re like us, and still in mourning for in-person voting – or, if you’re a classic procrastinator OR extremely busy person – you might still have your ballot sitting around, waiting to be marked/mailed. If so, here’s our reminder: TOMORROW is the deadline to get it postmarked. If you’d rather get it directly into a county dropbox, the only one anywhere near here is downtown (500 4th Avenue, county photo at right); the full list (with maps for each one) is on this county webpage. Your ballot must be in a dropbox by 8 pm tomorrow or else it won’t count. Though this is an “off-year” election, there still is plenty to be decided, including Seattle Transportation Benefit District Prop 1 raising car-tab fees for transportation projects, Seattle Prop 1 aka the “Families and Education Levy,” three statewide initiatives including I-1183 (liquor privatization), I-1125 (tolling), and I-1163 (home health care), five Seattle City Council positions, four Seattle School Board positions, two Seattle Port Commission positions, one King County Council position, and a few more issues/races (see your full sample ballot by filling in the fields on the right side of the County Elections home page – that “sample ballot” will have direct links to all the candidates and measures, if you need to read up on any before voting). The first round of results will go public shortly after 8 tomorrow night, with daily updates after that, till everything’s counted.

This past week, the City Council listened to presentations about possible changes to the mayor’s budget plan for next year. Next week, they start making decisions about possible changes, before finalizing a plan around November 21st. A group of Southwest Community Center users concerned about the mayor’s proposal to change it into a Teen Life Center and Neighborhood Service Center invited councilmembers to visit – and Councilmember Tom Rasmussen accepted their offer, visiting SWCC on Friday afternoon, to talk and tour.

The Family Learning Program is particularly concerned; their program has grown since starting earlier this year at SWCC, and while they have been told they can keep using space there, they told Rasmussen that much of the functional space they use will be taken away by changes to the building that will be necessary to turn it into a Neighborhood Service Center. They believe the city used bad data in deciding that SWCC was underutilized, as it’s had frequent closures in the past few years for upgrades and repairs, some of which aren’t even fully paid off yet, though their availability to the public will be curtailed if these changes are made.

Rasmussen asked if the SWCC supporters had reached out to other councilmembers; yes, they said, but nobody else responded. He suggested they try again, and promised to convey what he had heard. And when asked what else they could do – he suggested offering other money-saving or revenue-raising ideas, to show what could be done to save money instead of changing operations at SWCC.

You can keep an eye on the ongoing council budget process here.

The City Council hasn’t taken its final budget vote yet, but the plan to move West Seattle’s lone Neighborhood Service Center into what is now the Southwest Community Center may already be considered a done deal, if you consider the fact that the space has just been put up for lease. We got the word from real-estate broker Kelsey Diller at City Closers, who sent us the link to the new listing for 5405 Delridge Way SW (see it here, including a photo from inside the NSC), describing it as a followup to this story we published in September, after the budget proposal for community-center changes was announced. Just this afternoon, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen visited SWCC to meet with community members who don’t want it to be changed into an NSC and Teen Life Center (separate story coming up later); the council is supposed to start finalizing budget tweaks next week, with a final vote due two weeks later.

When Mayor McGinn arrived outside West Seattle High School Wednesday morning to campaign for the Families and Education Levy (Seattle Prop 1 on next Tuesday’s ballot), some of the citywide media swarmed him to ask about a different ballot measure – Seattle Transportation Benefit District Prop 1, which would raise money for transportation projects via $60 added to car tabs. They were following up on Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Mike Lindblom‘s story about $400,000 of that money possibly going to revise the Bicycle Master Plan, more than its original cost. Plans change all the time, the mayor was heard to explain. Eventually, the event got back on topic – the levy; specifically, the funding it includes for school-based health centers. That’s what brought a couple of industry executives to join the mayor, including Neighborcare CEOMark Secord:

His company runs clinics at all of West Seattle’s public middle schools and high schools. They offer service beyond what the traditional “school nurse” offers – they run centers that offer services to students including so-called “confidential” care such as mental and reproductive health, as well as vaccinations and other checkups. He says flatly that if the levy loses, those centers close. Photographers were invited into the WSHS clinic after the news conference ended. Physician assistant Auky van Beek was on duty:

The clinic funding has been singled out by levy supporters for months; when we covered the first PTSA meetings of the year at both WSHS and Chief Sealth, we noted that both groups were addressed by the Neighborcare staffers at the respective school health centers, pointing out the levy’s relation to funding their services. A news release following Wednesday’s event said the health funding portion of levy proceeds would total more than $40 million over the measure’s 7-year lifespan.

(Photo courtesy Kathleen Lonergan, from 10/26 City Council budget hearing)
As reported here previously, the mayor’s proposal for next year’s city budget – currently under review before the City Council – changes the Southwest Community Center into a shared space with Southwest Teen Life Center and West Seattle’s lone Neighborhood Service Center (moving from its Delridge location). SWCC supporters are trying to get the Council to change the plan and keep the center open for general community use. Among them is Kathleen Lonergan, who shares the news that …

… City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has accepted our invitation to visit SWCC! He’ll be there this Friday, November 4th, at 2:00pm. He will do a meet and greet/Q&A session with members of the community for about 1/2 hour. Around 2:30, he will tour the center with me and other Family Learning Program representatives.

We’d love to have plenty of people there for his visit. Most of our homeschoolers will be gone home by that time, since so many have small kids who need to nap. This would be a GREAT opportunity for West Seattleites to get out and show their support for SWCC.

Lonergan was one of dozens of SWCC supporters who went downtown last week to plead their case at the City Council’s most recent public hearing on the budget. This week, the council has moved into a round of presentations about potential budget alternatives – you can check them out under “Green Sheets,” in the Budget Documents section of their website. Tomorrow morning, when the budget meetings resume at 9:30, Parks (which runs community centers) items are on the agenda, including one titled “Enhanced Hours at Community Centers”; the Green Sheet for that does not appear to be online yet. Next week, the council starts making decisions on potential changes to the mayor’s plan, and final approval is expected on or by November 21st, so if you have something to say, this is the time, as they start locking in on changes (or non-changes) – here’s how (as well as being at SWCC if you can on Friday).

Election Day is only three weeks from tomorrow, but your ballot will arrive in the mail a lot sooner. And you’ll get three more chances to have a look at some of the people vying for your vote:

SCHOOL BOARD: First, tomorrow night is the School Board candidates’ forum sponsored by local PTA/PTSAs at Madison Middle School, moderated by KUOW’s Phyllis Fletcher (latest preview here – mixer at 6:30 pm, forum at 6:55).

CITY COUNCIL, SCHOOL BOARD: At 1 pm Wednesday, the Senior Center of West Seattle will host a forum with City Council and School Board candidates.

EVERYBODY! One week from tomorrow (on October 25th), VIEWS presents its next West Seattle Candidates’ Forum at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, co-sponsored by the West Seattle Kiwanis, with 24 candidates running for city, county, port, and school spots – meet the candidates at 6:30 pm, while the moderated debate starts at 7:30 pm.

(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
This past hour, both of our state’s U.S. Senators were at South Seattle Community College‘s main campus here in West Seattle to announce a $20 million federal grant that “will train 2,600 more workers with the skills needed by Washington state aerospace employers,” according to the official announcement. SSCC President Gary Oertli was among those with Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for the announcement at one of the training facilities expected to benefit – the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee’s Advanced Inspection and Manufacturing Mobile Training Unit at SSCC. After the formalities, we photographed Sen. Cantwell inspecting an SSCC goodie basket from Pres. Oertli – with some of the college’s trademarked food/beverage creations:

We covered the announcement; our video is here.

That’s Sadie, 6 1/2. You might remember her from our story about Southwest Community Center users – including the Family Learning Program she attends – concerned about the big changes ahead for SWCC if the mayor’s 2012 budget goes forward unchanged. The day we visited Sadie’s program, she showed off the donations brought in by her new weekly food drive. Tuesday night, she and other SWCC supporters went downtown for the first of two City Council public hearings on the budget. It wasn’t an overflow crowd, but did include supporters of other community centers facing changes.

As first announced last month, the budget proposes changing SWCC into a Teen Life Center and Department of Neighborhoods’ service center (basically relocating West Seattle’s lone remaining NSC from Delridge to the SWCC building). We’re awaiting the Seattle Channel‘s video of the hearing, to link here. (added midday Wednesday – here’s that video)

The next one is same time, same place, October 26th (more on the council’s budget page).

But that wasn’t the only budget event of the day. The City Council is well into its schedule of presentations from individual departments, and Tuesday’s lineup included the Seattle Police Department presentation. Among its line items of note: “Maintain current number of Crime Prevention Coordinators …” which is good news for neighborhoods (though still not the former level of one coordinator per precinct). We also are checking on whether the proposal to add six more red-light cameras and relocate two would affect West Seattle. The budget also would keep the West Seattle-headquartered SPD Mounted Patrol Unit officers, as PubliCola reports here.

(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
It’s not too rare for rock ‘n’ roll and politics to mix these days – and that’s what happened tonight at Morgan Junction’s rock-themed Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), location tonight of a fundraiser for the man considered to be the Democratic frontrunner for next year’s governor race, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee. (Suggested donations, per the original invitation, ranged from $75 to $1,000.) Other top local Democrats showed up to lend their support:

That’s State Rep. Eileen Cody (top left), with Marcee Stone, 34th District Democrats board member; next photo, County Councilmember Joe McDermott (below right), with Pigeon Point’s über-involved Pete Spalding (left) and 34th District Democrats board member Les Treall:

Unless the campaign takes an unexpected turn, it’s considered likely to be Rep. Inslee vs. Republican state Attorney General Rob McKenna in November 2012 in the race to succeed Gov. Chris Gregoire. Inslee represents the 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of King, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties, mostly north of Seattle.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Click anywhere on the image to play the clip – our workaround to avoid the previous “auto-play” problem)

2:06 PM: Mayor McGinn‘s second budget speech of the day is under way – this time, he’s speaking to the City Council, which will spend the next 2 months working on it. Click the “play” button above to join the live feed. (UPDATE: The archived video is now available.) Details are also supposed to be available online here any minute now – we’re continuing to check around and will make note here when the documents are published publicly (then we’ll add toplines while going through them).

2:12 PM: Budget documents now available at the city Finance Department website. The executive summary is here. Speaking to the council, the mayor says his proposal is about “priorities” and “morals,” not just about “balancing” the spending plan.

2:40 PM: Some toplines:

*155 “full-time equivalent” positions cut, 96 of which are currently filled
*43 “full-time equivalent” positions added
*If previous community-policing staffing goals had been met, and if open positions were filled, SPD would have 86 more officers by next year than it will have. Its budget is being cut by $2.4 million. But the budget’s executive summary says that key goals are being met or exceeded – such as “priority 1 call response times,” 6.3 minutes through June compared to the 7-minute goal of the “neighborhood-policing plan.”
*Of interest if you use city parking outside West Seattle (where there is no pay-station/meter parking) – there will be rate changes in some neighborhoods, depending on usage trends. Capitol Hill, for example, will go down; Ballard will go up. The city plans to start a “pay by cell phone” program next year. And parking tickets will cost you more – $44 starting next month, up from $39.
*Various grant programs administered by different departments will come under the umbrella of the Department of Neighborhoods
*Winter preparedness spending will include installation of temperature sensors on seven bridges (we’re still looking for the list)

2:52 PM: Mayor’s speech is over; when archived video is available, we’ll replace it atop this story. In the meantime, we’re reading the SDOT proposal from the full-details budget docs. For those who think the mayor is all-bicycles, all-the-time, note that his previous 2012 proposal called for 300 new bicycle-parking spots; this plan cuts that in half. He also would drop chip-seal maintenance for some non-arterial roads, and will no longer inspect city-owned stairways.

More to come… And remember that the public hearings start one week from tomorrow (October 4th); the schedule and other info about the process is on the City Council’s budget website, here.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Click the image to play the video – our temporary fix for previous “autoplay” problem)

11:25 AM: Click the “play” button to watch Mayor McGinn‘s first of two budget-plan speeches, live. [UPDATED: The clip is now his archived speech, recorded live.] He’s at Seattle Central Community College (and will speak to the City Council inside City Hall at 2 pm), following introductions by people including community-college-system Chancellor Dr. Jill Wakefield, familiar to West Seattle as former South Seattle Community College president. According to his website, details won’t be available until 2 pm – here’s the link to watch; we’ll plan on a separate story then, but if any advance word emerges, we’ll add to this one first.