The official Election Day – with vote-by-mail, it’s more like Voting-Ends Day – is two weeks from tomorrow. You should have received your ballot by now; if you have already mailed it back in or dropped it off, King County’s online ballot tracker will start reporting today on whether it’s been received (here’s where to check). And if you’re still researching who and what to vote for – remember there are two voter guides this year – online, you can find the King County guide here (or a custom version by entering your info on the right side of this page), while the state guide is here. Your ballot has to be either in a dropbox by 8 pm Tuesday, Nov. 2, or postmarked by that date (we’ll check when it gets closer, but last election there was one post office in the city that was postmarking up till midnight). One more voting note: For those with disabilities, the county’s accessible voting center at Elections HQ in Tukwila is now open, weekdays through Election Day – full details, hours, and location here.

In our daily election countdown coverage this time around – on the same day King County sent out ballots, the two candidates in this area’s most closely watched race joined the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle for lunch. From left, Joe Fitzgibbon, club president West Niver, and Mike Heavey, with tokens of the Kiwanians’ appreciation – certificates, and books for One Page Ahead. It was a cordial forum for the two finalists in the 34th District State House Position 2 race – perhaps the strongest point of differentiation between the two Democrats that could have been drawn by someone with no prior knowledge of the race is that Heavey’s a West Seattleite and Fitzgibbon is not. Both were offered seven minutes for an opening statement, and were asked to focus on the jobs crisis – Fitzgibbon took almost the full allotment, Heavey ran about four and a half – we recorded both on video, minus a bit of their respective introductions (Heavey mentioning his father had been a Kiwanian, Fitzgibbon detailing his work with Rep. Sharon Nelson, whose seat they’re running for):

After each presented his statement from the front of the Kiwanis Club’s usual meeting place (back room at Be’s Restaurant in The Junction), the floor was open for Q/A. Among the questions – whether the state had squandered federal stimulus money. Both acknowledged that, instead of creating “new” jobs, much had gone to existing programs, but, as Heavey summarized it, “a job loss prevented is a job created.” Their answers more or less also dovetailed on a question about cuts in occupational training – they agreed on its value; Fitzgibbon noted, “We get stuck in a trap if we say ‘every kid needs to go on to college’.” Asked about liquor privatization, Heavey noted they both are on the record as opposing both current ballot measures; he said he’s morally opposed to anything that might mean young people have more access to alcohol, while Fitzgibbon allowed that while he’s not in favor of scrapping the state-run system, there are things that could be done better. In their closing statements before the one-hour lunch meeting ended, they both alluded to the grueling campaign, with Heavey saying, “It’s been a tough election, but a journey worth taking,” and Fitzgibbon acknowledging it’s “not an easy choice” between the two. The next candidates’ forum for these two in our area is a week from today, Oct. 21st, sponsored by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council at Greenbridge YWCA, doors open at 6 pm.

NOTE: With a few visitors on hand for the candidates’ forum, president Niver prefaced that part of the program with an overview of the many community efforts with which the Kiwanians are involved – you can check out their upcoming programs and events at their website, kiwaniswestseattle.org.

Our quick notes in the daily countdown to the November 2nd election is a few hours later than usual today because there are several things to preview: First, as we’ve been mentioning, King County expects to mail ballots today – so voting could start as soon as tomorrow … One of the two local races for open seats, 34th District House Position 2, will be showcased in West Seattle today – the weekly Kiwanis Club of West Seattle meeting includes a candidate forum with contenders Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey (more details in our original preview) … The 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting is tonight, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy; along with Get Out The Vote plans, their online agenda notes a guest appearance by King County Council chair Bob Ferguson for county-budget Q/A … And if you haven’t made up your mind in the 34th District House #2 and King County Council #8 races yet, remember to keep the calendar open for the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s doubleheader forum at the Greenbridge YWCA (just over the Highland Park/White Center line) a week from tomorrow, 7 pm October 21st. … “Social media” watch: Only Twitter/Facebook update in those two races in the past day – Fitzgibbon tweeted yesterday. … Election news to share? Let us know. (No attack/counter-attack, though, thanks, plenty of that elsewhere.)

In our daily/nightly election update, with three weeks till E-Day, and just days till voting starts, a grab bag of links: The county issued its official reminder of impending ballots … President Obama is coming back to Seattle Oct. 21 to campaign for Sen. Patty Murray (remember what happened last time) … The City Council endorses both ballot measures involving $ for schools (or projects in/at them) … “Social media” watch: Only 1 candidate of the 4 in our area’s Big Two races posted a social-media campaign-page/account update on Monday – King County Council District 8 candidate Diana Toledo posted a “ballot’s on the way” reminder on Facebook … Event watch: Next candidate forum in West Seattle is Wednesday, with 34th District State House Position 2 hopefuls Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey at the West Seattle Kiwanis luncheon (full details here).

In our daily/nightly countdown to the November 2nd general election, a reminder that your ballot likely will show up in the mail before the week’s over. You have till November 2nd to get it postmarked/mailed, or dropped off, but in case you’re an early-bird type: For the former, just remember, you need 1 first-class stamp. For the latter, while the county added more drop boxes for this election – after cutting way back for the primary, to only two, there are now 11 for the general election (listed here). None in West Seattle or White Center, however (before the cutbacks earlier this year, there had been one at Delridge Neighborhood Service Center and one at White Center Library); we asked the county why our area doesn’t merit one, and to date have not received a clear answer, just an explanation of the criteria in general:

– Voter use at previous location
– Population densities and distribution (existing and future)
– Proximity to transit services
– Access and safety
– Public facility available to host box
– Designated urban center per adopted regional land use and transportation plan

Without one in WS or WC, the nearest ones will be at the King County Administration Building downtown and county Elections HQ on East Marginal in Tukwila (here’s the map with all drop-box locations – they’re all scheduled to be open 24/7 until 8 pm November 2nd).

In our nightly/daily spotlight on the impending election – November 2nd is technically Election Day, but voting starts just days from now, since King County is scheduled to mail ballots at midweek – a quick look at one of the statewide ballot measures you’re not hearing so much about. Seems there are ads all over the place for the liquor and tax initiatives – but then there are a few others you’re being asked to vote on, including Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4220, which requires voter approval/rejection since it’s a proposed amendment to the state constitution. From the ballot:

This amendment would authorize courts to deny bail for offenses punishable by the possibility of life in prison, on clear and convincing evidence of a propensity for violence that would likely endanger persons.

You can read the full text of the proposed constitutional amendment here. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. 4220 is a result of last year’s Lakewood Police massacre, as this Tacoma News-Tribune editorial reminds us – the killer had gotten out on bail days before killing the four officers. You can read the arguments/rebuttals for and against, by choosing 4220 in the left-side list on the state Voters’ Guide page.

With so many cuts proposed in next year’s city budget, and so much concern over their potential effects – we’re working right now on the story of the Southwest District Council hearing last night from the Department of Neighborhoods‘ director, who frequently used the word “pain” – next Wednesday’s public hearing in West Seattle is bound to draw hundreds. If you are planning on going – and all involved urge you to! – you’ll want to see the full online agenda, which includes some of the plans for procedures and guidelines, as well as a note that the hearing is actually TWO hearings – the first one about where the city might get money (property-tax levy?), the second, comments on the proposal itself. The agenda also includes links to documents you might want to review. The hearing’s at 5:30 pm (sign-ins at 5) at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, next Wednesday, October 13th; the full agenda is here. (And even more budget info, including other ways to comment, can be found here.)

Continuing our nightly mini-updates looking ahead to the November 2nd election, with voting starting in just about a week, since the county says ballots go into the mail next Wednesday: If you’re interested in talking politics online with other West Seattleites, we call your attention to the WSB Forums, where we started a Politics section two years ago, by request. That year, perhaps not surprisingly, participants were far more interested in talking national politics than local politics. This year, it’s been a mix. You can browse the topics currently under discussion from the index page for this section of the forum – if you want to join in, you have to sign up, but it’s usually pretty quick. Meantime, if you want to talk politics in person – you’re in luck, since tonight (Thursday) is a special election-focused program by the Southwest Seattle Business and Professional Women, looking at how this year’s elections might affect women. Longtime political consultant Cathy Allen is the guest speaker. The event starts at 6 in White Center’s Greenbridge neighborhood; full details here, including how to RSVP. Meantime, as we will remind you in every update, you have more than three dozen races/issues to decide, so start preparing now, before your ballot arrives – here’s where to find your online “guide” (the general pamphlet’s linked on the left, or you can create your own custom version on the right).

In our nightly update/refresher course, as the November 2nd election approaches (with mail-in ballots scheduled to be mailed by the county one week from today): The ballot’s full of hot statewide ballot measures – but in terms of candidates, two local races are for open seats :

STATE HOUSE, 34TH DISTRICT, POSITION 2: If you didn’t pay attention in the primary, this is the seat that Rep. Sharon Nelson is leaving for the State Senate (where she is running unopposed, for the seat given up by State Sen. Joe McDermott, who is seeking election to the King County Council). Joe Fitzgibbon of Burien and Mike Heavey of West Seattle, both Democrats, are the two finalists from a four-person primary race. Much of the campaign action has involved doorbelling – but you can pick up other bits and pieces by following them on Twitter (Fitzgibbon here, Heavey here) or Facebook (Heavey here, Fitzgibbon here). Recent news includes Fitzgibbon’s endorsement by OneAmerica Votes Washington and Heavey’s endorsement by the Seattle Times.

KING COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 8: This is the seat Dow Constantine left to run for King County Executive; Jan Drago was appointed to the job early this year, after leaving the Seattle City Council, but never planned to run to keep it. So after what was also a four-candidate primary race, the nonpartisan position now has State Sen. Joe McDermott (see above) and Diana Toledo in the running, both from West Seattle. Recent news includes Toledo’s endorsements from the two candidates who didn’t make it out of the primary, Shawn McEvoy and Tim Fahey, and McDermott’s endorsement by IBEW Local 46. These two don’t seem to be tweeting, but you can follow them on Facebook for quick bursts of campaign notes – McDermott here, Toledo here.

Your full list of what/who is on the forthcoming ballot can be found online by going here. There’s one campaign forum coming up in the area with all four candidates on the same night – 7 pm October 21st, sponsored by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, at the Greenbridge YWCA, 9720 8th SW.

Four weeks till Election Night on November 2, but you’ll be able to vote much sooner, as King County plans to mail ballots for the general election on October 13. Though the election may not be top-of-mind for most people right now, there is much at stake, so we’re planning nightly updates/reminders – sometimes short, sometimes long. We start tonight with a quick overview: Go to the right sidebar here and put in your name and birthdate to bring up your online voter guide – you will see you have more than three dozen votes to cast: The U.S. Senate race, U.S. House, three State Legislative District 34 races (including the no-incumbent State House Position 2), 2 King County races including the no-incumbent County Council District 8, seven Seattle Municipal Court judgeships (two of them contested), 10 statewide judicial races (including one contested spot on the State Supreme Court), six statewide initiatives, one statewide referendum, two state constitutional amendments, three county charter amendments, one county proposition, and one Seattle Public Schools levy. In the “online voter guide,” there are links to information about every candidate and every ballot measure.

Tomorrow: The newest developments in our area’s two biggest races.

12:13 PM: Click “play” in the video window above, and you’ll see [now-archived] Mayor McGinn presenting his official 2011 Budget Address. We will be adding key points in the text of this story as we get them. Earlier, we got a preview from a source attending one of the meetings at which Seattle Parks employees were briefed – among the proposals, as reported here, Alki Community Center would be closed (though child-care and preschool programs would be proposed to continue through an ongoing partnership). (12:39 pm note – Alki CC was described as “limited-use status” in the mayor’s address)

12:16 PM: The mayor has begun. He mentions the $67 million budget deficit. He says he will talk about not only the decisions made, but how they were made.

12:20 PM: If you want to read ahead – the budget info’s all linked here. We’re just starting to read through it and will add highlights. The mayor’s speech at Rainier Beach Community Center, meantime, is still in the background/context stage. Here’s a section including some specific effects in West Seattle:

• Community Centers: Five community centers – Alki, Ballard, Laurelhurst, Queen Anne, and Green Lake – will have reduced operating hours. The drop-in hours for Alki, Ballard, and Laurelhurst will be reduced from 53 hours per week during the school year and 46 hours per week in the summer to 15-20 hours per week year round.

• Wading Pools: Wading pools at Green Lake, Lincoln, Magnuson, Van Asselt, and Volunteer Park will be open seven days a week in the summer months. Wading pools at South Park, East Queen Anne, Cal Anderson, Dahl, Delridge, Wallingford, Hiawatha, Bitter Lake, EC Hughes, and Sound View Parks will be open three days a week. …

• Seattle Public Library: The library is making 8.5 percent in cuts yet keeping all current hours of operation at 2010 levels by restructuring management of branches. A systemwide closure first instituted in 2009 will continue in 2011.

• Neighborhood Service Centers (NSC): Six of Seattle’s 13 Neighborhood Service Centers (those that serve as payment and information centers) will remain open. Seven centers will close, including the West Seattle payment and information center. The West Seattle site was selected for closure because the building lease expires at the end of 2010; it will merge with the nearby Delridge NSC. The remaining six payment sites are Delridge, University District, Central District, Lake City, Southeast, and Ballard.

12:35 PM: The mayor says that 30 police officers will be redeployed from lower-priority positions to patrol, so there will be more officers on patrol, even though they will not be hiring new officers (as had been proposed in the Neighborhood Policing Plan).

12:40 PM: The mayor describes Alki Community Center’s proposed status as “limited use.” Also, still reviewing the online documents related to the budget, here’s one case of proposed streamlining:

Currently, the Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE), the Department of Neighborhoods (DON), Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), and Seattle City Light each play a role in providing tree planting services to Seattle residents. The 2011-2012 Proposed Budget consolidates the OSE and DON portions of the program under the auspices of SPU, improving service delivery and making more effective use of utility funds and the General Fund. This change will provide the urban forestry program with dedicated staffing to better facilitate community engagement with the mission of increasing the city‟s tree canopy cover. Seattle City Light will continue to contribute to the program, as well.

12:45 PM: One more West Seattle detail regarding libraries – While Delridge will remain open 35 hours a week, it is one of the city’s “smaller libraries” that the mayor says will be shifted to “circulating library” status – no librarian on duty. The online overview explains that this means:

These branches
will offer collections, holds-pickup, and computer access. Access to specialized reference or collection
services will be provided on-line or by telephone access to staff at the Central Library. Programming will
be primarily focused on youth and provided by librarians from other locations.

South Park also is proposed for this status change. … While he says there are no “general tax increases,” there are fee increases – he mentions parking-meter rates and the “parking scofflaw” crackdown mentioned in our earlier story (though he says there will be an amnesty period). He also mentions, without elaborating – we’re still reading the documents – increases in various fees.

1:03 PM: The mayor just talked about neighborhood planning beginning with an analysis of “how we spend our money.” Meantime, we are continuing to find more details in the online overview: One big change – if you go downtown or to other neighborhoods where street parking is not free, Sundays now will be paid parking days (11 am-6 pm) as well as Mondays-Saturdays. The meter/pay-station rates will rise by $1.50 downtown and 50 cents (an hour) in other neighborhoods.

1:09 PM: The mayor’s speech is over. One more thing from the online overview – more details on fee increases:

FAS: FAS will increase the cat license fee in 2011. The current fee structure has been in place since 2003. The fee for altered cats will increase from $15 to $20 and the fee for unaltered cats will increase from $20 to $30. FAS will also restructure the driver-for-hire license fee and will levy a $50 charge on taxi drivers who have dual King County/City of Seattle licenses. Previously taxi drivers were not required to pay the City for dual licenses. Drivers licensed only in Seattle, who make up less than 1% of all licensed drivers, will see their fee reduced from $75 to $50.

Library: The Library will increase the daily fine rate on a variety of loaned materials including print materials, DVDs, inter-library loans, and reference materials. The Library will also increase the fees for patrons to print from Library computers. Additionally, the Library will authorize its collection recovery agency to send fine notices to parents of juveniles under the age of 13 who owe fines. Collectively, these measures will generate $650,000 in revenue.

Police: The Seattle Police Department will increase the fee charged to alarm companies who request a police response based on a false alarm. The purpose of this increase is twofold. First, SPD is attempting to reduce the number of false alarms as these responses constitute a large drain on available officers to respond to true emergencies. Given that the current percentage of alarms that are false is 97%, there is much room for improvement. Second, SPD is attempting to recoup a greater percentage of its costs related to responding to false alarms.

Fire: To maintain historical cost recovery rates for billable services, the Seattle Fire Department will implement fee increases of 10% to 15% for permits, conducting certification examinations for fire protection systems and code compliance inspections when multiple re-inspections are required. Additionally, a new $10 reporting fee for processing required fire protection system confidence testing documentation is applied. The increased fees will generate approximately $586,000 for the General Fund and will bring Fire Prevention Division fees to a 75% cost recovery rate, consistent with previous practices.

Seattle Municipal Court: The Seattle Municipal Court will generate additional revenue in 2011 through a variety of changes to its fee structure. First, the Court will continue a number of fee increases it implemented in mid-2010, including an increase from $1 to $3 to handle credit card payments made via the Internet (there is no charge for payments sent in by U.S. mail or made in-person); an increase from $100 to $122 in the administrative fee for deferred findings; and a $10 fee to set up time-payment plans. In 2011, the Court will increase revenue collections by working with its collection agency, Alliance One, to process a large volume of garnishments for people who have past due fines. The Court will also increase the monthly probation fee from $20 to $25. Lastly, the Court will increase revenue collections related to red light camera violations. Collectively, these increases will generate $1.2 million in revenue.

Parks and Recreation: The 2011-2012 Proposed Budget assumes $1 million in new revenue from increases in Parks fees and charges. The updated fees and charges set in this budget are based on Parks‟ new fees and charges policy, which seeks to align fees with the cost of providing the service. Higher percentage costs are charged where benefits of the service accrue primarily to the individual and a lower percentage where society also benefits. In addition to considering the cost of providing a service, Parks analyzed comparable fees charged by other public agencies and recreation service providers. As a result of this analysis, the following fees are increased in the 2011-2012 Proposed Budget: Japanese Garden, Camp Long, Amy Yee Tennis Center, swimming pools, athletic fields, boat ramps, community meeting rooms and gymnasiums, special events – ceremonies, picnics, and the Langston Hughes Performing Arts. A new fee for plan review is also proposed.

Official steps now include presenting the budget to the council this afternoon, and two months of public hearings, meetings, comments, and other forms of review. Again, the West Seattle hearing on the budget is at 5:30 pm October 13th, in the Brockey Center on the southern end of the South Seattle Community College campus (6000 16th SW).

1:55 PM NOTE: We are about to re-add the live video window, since it’s going to show the mayor’s formal budget transmittal to the City Council. Plus – if you’d like to read the detailed city budget overview, here’s the most informative link we’ve found so far (we’re STILL reading through other docs).

3 PM: The mayor’s City Council speech is over. The council’s regular meeting is continuing, so we’ll keep that in the live window for now. The full budget is here. We are working on a shorter bullet-point list too; here’s the overview from our partners at the Seattle Times.

3:26 PM UPDATE: The mayor is now taking questions from the media – and that event is what’s live in the video window atop the story. Also – from that media availability (and our ongoing reading of “the fine print” in the budget) we’ve learned of another major West Seattle effect: The Seattle Police Department Mounted Unit, based in Westcrest Park, is proposed for elimination – its officers would be transferred elsewhere in the department.

4:50 PM UPDATE: All of today’s live events are over – the archived city video atop this story is the mayor’s noon speech. Meantime, the next big discussion of the budget is less than two hours away – the City Neighborhood Council, chaired and co-chaired by West Seattleites (Chas Redmond and Jim Del Ciello, respectively – thanks to Jim for this tip), is discussing the budget during its meeting at 6:30 pm at the West Precinct downtown, with city budget boss Beth Goldberg scheduled to attend. Here’s the draft agenda.