(Conferring, moments before becoming Sen. Nelson and Rep. Fitzgibbon)
ORIGINAL 4:37 PM REPORT: We’re in the County Council chambers downtown, where State Rep. Sharon Nelson is about to become State Sen. Nelson, and where her former assistant Joe Fitzgibbon is about to take her soon-to-be ex-House spot. Former Sen. Joe McDermott is here – one week after his swearing-in as County Councilmember – so is County Executive Dow Constantine, who formerly held two of the jobs represented here – and there’s also quite the audience. More after the ceremony.

4:53 PM UPDATE: The ceremony’s over – the oaths for both were administered by King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu — and both have acknowledged the challenges they face ahead in Olympia. We’ll add video of the swearings-in – which included brief remarks from the County Executive as well as the new senator and representative – once we’re back at headquarters. (6:25 PM – video now added, and the following clip, added later, includes the legislators’ post-ceremony remarks)

The Seattle City Council Budget Committee (essentially the entire council) is about to launch into another round of votes on changes to the mayor’s budget proposal, leading up to a final vote that’s a little more than a week away. Among them, the issues that many West Seattleites have watched closely (mentioned again last night in our coverage of what Councilmember Sally Clark told the 34th District Democrats) – including canceling the closure of the Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction (budget doc here) and adding 15 more weekly drop-in hours back to Alki Community Center, explained here (for Alki and others) in an excerpt from that budget doc:

The increased Community Center drop in hours shall be in addition to the 15 – 20 hours of drop-in time included in the Mayor’s proposed 2011 and 2012 budget. Council intends that this additional funding will be supplemented by drop- in fees and class surcharges, in order to maximize the additional drop-in hours at these five Limited-Use Community Centers. These additional hours will permit these five Community Centers to be open for public use that includes access to gyms, classrooms, and other appropriate spaces at these centers.

Staffing effects of the Neighborhoods and Parks changes are not yet clear. You can follow along live in the video stream above (click “play”); the full agenda, with document links, is online here. We’ll add notes here as the morning goes on.

10:34 AM UPDATE: The community-center item has just passed – 8-1 with West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen opposed, stopping the otherwise-fast-moving proceedings to express concern that the Parks Department did not work closely enough with communities and staffers before these changes were proposed – he expressed particular concern about a since-amended plan to move office workers into some non-WS facilities.

10:39 AM UPDATE: They have just voted to cancel the proposed closure of the Junction NSC, to only cut 3 Neighborhood District Coordinators instead of 7, and to restore $300,000 to the Neighborhood Matching Fund. Those were the last of the items we were closely watching, but the votes continue – then the council plans to meet the media at 1 this afternoon, with the mayor doing the same at 3.

10:56 AM UPDATE: West Seattle isn’t directly affected by this, but of note – the council has also just voted to cancel the mayor’s proposal for paid parking on Sundays (where it’s pay-station or meter-controlled).

Tonight, we’re at a CityClub event downtown where Councilmember Sally Clark is speaking. More on that event later, but last night, she was in West Seattle, talking with the 34th District Democrats about the city budget – including the latest developments regarding two matters of intense interest in West Seattle: Proposed cuts in the Department of Neighborhoods budget, and big changes at Alki Community Center. We recorded the entire 34th DDs meeting on video – Councilmember Clark speaks for about 16 minutes at the start of the 2nd clip below (if you want to see any clip fullscreen, just click on the lower-third of the video image):

Councilmember Clark briefed the group on the newest developments in both major West Seattle-related budget issues, discussed at the City Council Budget Committee hearing hours earlier: While the council already had discussed dropping the mayor’s proposal to close the city Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction, they are expected to make further changes in the fate of the Neighborhood District Coordinators: The mayor planned to cut six positions (including the one held by Stan Lock, who works out of the Junction NSC); the council now is expected to cut three, keeping 10 to serve 13 districts citywide (West Seattle is split into 2 districts by the city for this purpose – eastern WS is considered the Delridge Neighborhoods District), and has not yet sorted out how that will be allotted. Regarding Alki Community Center, which was to be cut to 15 drop-in hours a week, the council now has signaled its intent to add back 15 hours, for a total of 30 hours a week; whether that means more hope for fewer program cuts (the Alki Art Fair is considered to be in jeopardy, for example) remains to be seen.

Another major part of the 34th District Democrats’ program; in the first segment of our video above, the group heard from State Sen. and County Councilmember-elect Joe McDermott; about 10 minutes into the third segment of video, you’ll hear from State Rep. Eileen Cody – just re-elected last week – and State Rep.-elect Joe Fitzgibbon. Rep. Cody said it’s going to be a tough year; she also noted she is now the most-senior member of the House, which, she added, lost 4 Democratic seats. Rep.-elect Fitzgibbon talked about the initiatives’ effect, saying he’s pleased about most of the results except for the income-tax measure’s failure and I-1053 (requiring a higher level of approval for tax increases); programs have to be moved closer to paying for themselves. The legislators also answered audience questions, with transportation one of the hottest topics.

For more of the meeting, check out the videos; the 34th District Democrats usually meet the second Wednesday of the month, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.

Tonight our partners at the Seattle Times report that the mayor’s made his choice for the site of a permanent homeless camp, and it’s not either of the West Seattle sites that were on the list revealed last month. The Times quotes Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith as saying the choice is the former Sunny Jim peanut-butter plant site on Airport Way (map) that was gutted in a September fire; the site’s been owned by the city since the early ’90s.

Live right now at www.seattlechannel.org: The City Council Budget Committee is talking about changes to the mayor’s proposed cuts in the Department of Neighborhoods. Assistants are presenting the proposed changes: First, they re-added a coordinator who was to be cut from the Historic Preservation program; next, came restoration of more than $300,000 that was to be cut from the Neighborhood Matching Fund program. None of this is final until the council votes on its official plan in about two and a half weeks. Still to come: A discussion of possibly canceling the plan to close the Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction and cut the job of its Neighborhood District Coordinator; we’ll continue to add updates here. The full agenda, with supporting documents, is here.

2:16 PM: They are now discussing the Southwest NSC’s fate. The council’s assistant is noting that the location in The Junction is on a month-by-month basis (because of the proposed Conner Homes development, which, she added, may be delayed further – “That hasn’t been moving too quickly,” observed West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen). “And if the development takes place, we’ll have the extra property taxes to fund the new location,” added Council President Richard Conlin cheerily. Now on to the proposed cut of Neighborhood District Coordinators’ jobs (including Stan Lock, who works out of the Southwest NSC in The Junction) – they’re talking about keeping those jobs, but at 80% time, and they want the mayor to explain how neighborhood engagement would play out without these jobs. “This allows us to make a rational policy choice, instead of just sweeping them away,” observed Councilmember Tim Burgess.

2:35 PM UPDATE: They’ve moved on to SDOT – and the first item is about the proposed street-parking changes. Councilmember Jean Godden has suggested she’d like to see the top parking rate be $4 instead of $5.

3:10 PM: Though no official votes are being taken, there seems to be more sentiment about NOT starting paid Sunday parking – studying it as a possible addition later. Councilmember Nick Licata says the public should be “cut a little slack” given they’ll already be asked to start paying for parking all the way till 8 pm on other nights.

4:22 PM: They’re still talking transportation – right now, the proposed increase in the commercial parking tax.

4:45 PM: Today’s meeting is over. Next week, it’s “Round 2,” which means final decisions on changes – so NOTHING is final till then, even items that were well-received in meetings like today.

(King County Councilmember-elect Joe McDermott thanking commuters at 35th/Fauntleroy this afternoon)
Without any really close local races, nothing has changed in terms of potential outcomes … but in case you’re tracking something else, we thought you’d want to know that King County is now out with today’s vote count. If you’re watching the statewide race for U.S. Senate, with the latest vote counts, Sen. Patty Murray is now two points ahead of Republican challenger Dino Rossi, 51% to 49%. P.S. The county says turnout already has exceeded projections – they thought they’d get about 68 percent of the ballots back, and they’re already up to 71 percent.

Though the final vote count will take weeks, most of last night’s King County/Seattle results were fairly clear, and further counting is not likely to change the outcome. One such issue: The defeat of County Proposition 1, which sought to raise the sales tax to get money that county leaders said would stave off more budget cuts for public safety and human services. With that measure failing 44% yes to 56% no, two county councilmembers involved in the budget process have just released a statement warning of “draconian” cuts as a result (note that many of these services are provided by the county for city residents too, so this isn’t just an unincorporated-area issue) – read on for the statement:Read More

7:59 PM: Here’s where we’ll track tonight’s other races – for example, 34th District State House Position 1, with incumbent Democratic Rep. Eileen Cody challenged by “reluctantly Republican” Ray Carter (those results will be here) – and the city/county/state ballot measures, just in case you are browsing here inbetween visits to regional/national sites (like The Seattle Times [WSB partner], with plenty of home-page election coverage). More to come!

8:15 PM: Early results show Sen. Patty Murray (D) behind Dino Rossi (R). But King County’s first batch of returns hasn’t posted yet.

8:27 PM: With the King County numbers now in, Murray is leading Rossi 52 percent to 48 percent, according to the Secretary of State’s office. In the 34th District State House 1 race, it’s Cody over Carter, 78 percent to 21 percent. The tallies on the Times home page show the income tax and liquor initiatives all losing, the candy-tax-repeal initiative winning. Per the King County site, the Seattle Schools levy is passing in a big way, 64 percent “yes.”

9:01 PM: Checked on King County Prop 1, the sales-tax increase for public safety. Losing big, with 56 percent “no.”

10:05 PM: You can check all the statewide ballot measures’ results by going here. The bail-denial measure is way ahead, with 85% yes. Referendum 52, which sought to validate a state bill to spend money to retrofit schools for energy efficiency (among other things), is losing. Both privatizing-liquor-sales measures are behind, though 1105 is losing bigger than 1100. And as for everything else – definitely an anti-tax mood.

Let’s say you get home from work tonight and realize you still haven’t voted but don’t want to take the chance it won’t get postmarked in time. The King County Elections drive-up dropbox alongside Boeing Field isn’t all that far. We hadn’t been there before, so we drove over a little while ago in order to be able to semi-coherently explain what/where to look for, in case you want to take your ballot there too. It’s at 9010 East Marginal Way, on the Boeing Field side of the street, a couple blocks north of the Museum of Flight. From south West Seattle, we took the Highland Park Way route to the 1st Avenue South bridge northbound, from which you take the Michigan exit and then an immediate right on East Marginal:

The dropbox is on the airfield (east) side of the Elections building, and signs will point you to the lot on the building’s north side that you must drive through to get there:

As you can see in the top photo, the dropbox itself is a mailbox-style “snorkel” setup- you can drive right up and put your ballot envelope in the slot. (No stamp needed if you do this, though you’ve probably burned gas worth more than the first-class stamp would’ve cost you.) Speaking of the U.S. Postal Service: The Riverton Heights branch in SeaTac is still open till almost midnight, so if you just absolutely can’t get to a dropbox (here’s the full countywide list) before 8 pm, you can try going to Riverton Heights – map and address here – by 11:45 pm – if your ballot really does get postmarked November 2nd, it’ll still count. But the first and only vote count for election night (with subsequent ones each afternoon thereafter) is scheduled for 8:15. Once the numbers are up, we’ll publish the results; you add the reaction!

Turnout doesn’t seem like the right word any more, since we vote by mail, but whatever you call it, King County Elections expects a record number of votes – 720,000, 68 percent of those registered, way beyond the 650,000 mail ballots returned for the presidential election two years ago. So far, King County says more than 400,000 ballots have come in – and you have about 23 more hours to vote. We say “about” because you might be able to get your ballot postmarked November 2nd if you get it late tomorrow night to the post-office branch that usually does that – but why take a chance? Drop it in the mail earlier in the day, or take it to one of the county dropboxes (which, KC Elections warns, will be closed promptly at 8 pm). If you already have sent your ballot in, you can check on its status by going here; the county also wants to remind voters that they may check with you regarding problems with the signature on your mail ballot, so if you get a message from them, get back to them fast to make sure your ballot will count, before the final vote is certified on November 23rd. First round of results is due out around 8:15 pm tomorrow night; we’ll be following key races here. P.S. If you’ve voted and you have a website or someplace else you want to display King County’s “virtual sticker” at left, grab the code here and go for it!

Five days to go till your ballot HAS TO be in – either by mail (postmarked no later than Tuesday) or by dropbox (by 8 pm Tuesday). One quick mention: If you are still making up your mind about the initiatives, there’s a new fact-checking site launched as a University of Washington project, assembled by graduate students, and it even looks at the refenda on the ballot. Check it out at factcheckwa.org. (Note – this is about the statewide measures only, not the local ones like the King County and Seattle Public Schools propositions.) P.S. King County is offering a digital “I Voted” sticker – get it here.

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.