West Seattle, Washington
04 Friday
(TwitPic from McGinn campaign – new one substituted 9:13 pm)
Joe Mallahan vs. Mike McGinn – results here. McGinn has a narrow edge in the early going. King County Elections is not planning to release a second vote count tonight, so the next update won’t be until tomorrow afternoon. Meantime, here’s a photo of Mallahan from independent journalist Johnathan Fitzpatrick (the Mallahan party is also at the Edgewater, where we are still at Constantine HQ – they’re two floors down) aka @jjtweets:
Johnathan says Mallahan says he “is hoping to be a successful candidate” — way too early to know how this will turn out. 10:06 PM: Adding a video clip published on YouTube by The Stranger’s crew, with McGinn speaking to supporters:
(Early Wednesday, substituted Christopher Boffoli‘s video – which starts with two West Seattleites! – for the original early-going photo that held this spot)
“Approve” means that the domestic-partnership rights law will take effect; “reject” means it won’t. Results here. Referendum 71 supporters planned a live stream from their Capitol Hill party here. Yes on 71 is ahead in the early going. WSB contributing journalist Christopher Boffoli is at the pro-71 party and says it’s jampacked. 11:44 PM: Adding more photos from Christopher. Here’s West Seattleite Anne Levinson, who chaired the Approve Referendum 71 campaign:
State Sen. Ed Murray and partner Michael Shiosaki:
Sen. Murray said, “This is the side of the mountain, not the top of the mountain. We have a lot of work to do. This is an important step but it is still not fully equality. So tonight my friends, we celebrate, but tomorrow we go back to work.”
City Attorney – West Seattle incumbent Tom Carr vs. Pete Holmes
Council Position 2 – Incumbent Richard Conlin vs. West Seattle resident David Ginsberg
Council Position 4 – Sally Bagshaw vs. David Bloom
Council Position 6 – Jessie Israel vs. incumbent Nick Licata
Council Position 8 – Mike O’Brien vs. Robert Rosencrantz
8:19 PM – Leaders after the first round of results are Holmes, Conlin, Bagshaw, Licata, O’Brien.
9:25 PM: Conlin is at the Edgewater right now at the Dow Constantine party and just said hello – long enough for us to get a photo.
11:52 PM: In the city attorney’s race, Carr – a West Seattleite – has conceded to Holmes. He told the Seattle Times (WSB partner) he thinks this was just an “anti-incumbent year.” (Here’s their story; here’s a brief Publicola report on Carr’s Alki gathering.)
Seattle Port Commission results are here. Early results: Creighton, Holland, Albro leading.
Seattle School Board results are here. Early results: DeBell, Smith-Blum, Patu ahead.
State Initiative 1033 results are here. Early results: No on 1033 has the lead.
All King County races (which includes Seattle city races) are linked from here.
All state races are linked from here.
For national results, we recommend MSNBC.com – go here.
That dropbox outside the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center at 5405 Delridge (map) is the one place in West Seattle you can take your ballot all the way up till 8 tonight. If you get there before 7, go inside for the Voters’ Open House and meet folks like Delridge District Coordinator Ron Angeles (left in the photo below) – cookies, coffee, and tote bags while they last.
Just before sunset, we went out to look for afternoon sign-waving (here’s who we found this morning) – nobody in Admiral when we went through; on the Fauntleroy walkover, we found county assessor candidate Bob Rosenberger with supporters:
And at 35th/Fauntleroy, kitty-corner from where West Seattle-residing King County Council Chair/County Executive candidate Dow Constantine campaigned this morning, a supporter of his opponent Susan Hutchison stood with signs this afternoon:
Here’s the schedule for results tonight: King County plans just ONE release of results, around 8:15 pm. We will have all the major results here on the WSB main page, along with coverage from some of the biggest Election Night events, including the Constantine party at the Edgewater downtown, and the Approve Referendum 71 party on Capitol Hill. (They’ve also announced they’ll have a live video stream online – here’s a link.)
That video shows the scene this morning at the Fauntleroy/35th entrance to The Bridge – with King County Council Chair/County Executive candidate Dow Constantine joining supporters including State Sen. Joe McDermott. A bit east from there at the Fauntleroy walkover, sign-wavers included one of his top supporters:
That’s the candidate’s mom, Lois Constantine. Also on the overpass, City Council candidate David Ginsberg (shown here last night) and sign-waving on behalf of mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan:
The Constantine and Mallahan election-night parties will be at the Edgewater on the downtown waterfront – they’re among the many parties on this map compiled by West Seattle activist Brian Allen, who’s added more updates since we showed it to you early yesterday morning:
Whomever you’re voting for, tonight’s the deadline, though vote-counting will take days. You can mail it if you’re sure it’ll be postmarked today, but the really foolproof way to get it in, if you haven’t already, is via dropbox up till the 8 pm deadline; the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center (5405 Delridge) has one and will be the site of a Voters’ Open House 3-7 pm, and there’s also one at the White Center Library (full countywide list, with addresses, here). While this area (County Council District 8 in the breakout) has returned a higher percentage of ballots than any other – according to the county’s running tally – that still amounted to only 25 percent by last night.
The Fauntleroy Way/West Seattle Bridge approach walkover is a must-visit on Election Eve and Election Day morning – if you’re looking for photo ops, anyway. And that’s where we found City Council candidate (and High Point resident) David Ginsberg just before sunset tonight. We’ll check back on sign-wavers at bridge approaches in the morning. Remember to get your ballot in by the end of the day tomorrow – if you have to push up right against the deadline, you can get it to a dropbox by 8 pm (visit the one in Delridge between 3 and 7 and you can check out the Voters’ Open House). [Disclosure: The Ginsberg campaign has a paid political ad on WSB.] Another sight tonight:
J. Leddy got the photo – the 74 is the giveaway as to the carrier – it’s the Bremerton-based John C. Stennis.
Haven’t voted yet? If you drop off your ballot at the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center tomorrow afternoon/evening, you’ll find an extra touch – it’s one of six NSCs around the city offering Voters’ Open Houses. Delridge Neighborhoods District Coordinator Ron Angeles explains, “When people drop by with their ballots, we hope to provide them with some information about the role of Neighborhood District Coordinators, and other Department of Neighborhood Programs. We also hope to engage people to find out more about their areas of interest, i.e. Land Use, Transportation, Public Safety, Housing, Parks/Open Space, Human Services, Emergency Preparedness, and particularly, Citizen Participation, Involvement, and Volunteerism. We’ll have coffee, juice, and cookies.” The Delridge NSC is at 5405 Delridge (map), and tomorrow’s open house is 3-7 pm – the dropbox itself is available around the clock till the voting deadline, 8 pm tomorrow.
SOUTHWEST POOL SCHEDULED TO REOPEN THIS MORNING: What was supposed to be a 3-week project to install federally mandated drain upgrades at West Seattle’s only city-run year-round pool turned into an 2 1/2-month shutdown after problems were found – but today, it’s over, and Southwest Pool planned to reopen starting with 6 am lap swim. They’re offering some special “welcome back” pricing – read about it here. One other note:
TWO DAYS AND ONE NIGHT LEFT TO VOTE: That map compiled by West Seattle activist Brian Allen shows the announced Election Night parties for key candidates and campaigns. (Note there’s one scheduled in West Seattle – for city attorney Tom Carr, at Christo’s.) So – have you held up your end of the deal? Vote by end of day tomorrow! TONS of info here.
This afternoon marked not only Joe Mallahan‘s first campaign visit to The Junction since he started running for Seattle Mayor, it also marked what was undoubtedly the first campaign stop at the “Hole Foods” site on the Junction/Triangle border:
More photos from Mallahan’s tour – covered for WSB by contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli – ahead – but first (added 9:33 pm) here’s his video of scenes from the tour:
Two major campaign events in West Seattle today, with just a little over 48 hours to go till the voting ends and the vote-counting begins. One of three West Seattleites on your ballot is Dow Constantine, King County Council chair running for King County Executive in what’s been a tooth-and-nail race against former TV newsperson Susan Hutchison. At a party just wrapping up at West 5 in The Junction – same place we interviewed him in February, the day he started officially campaigning – he rallied supporters and declared his campaign on the threshold of victory. You’ll hear that in the clip above; here (added 7:20 pm) is the rest of the speech, in which he lays out what he believesto be the key differences between himself and his opponent, one more time:
Later, we’ll have coverage from mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan‘s West Seattle walking tour this afternoon. Whoever you’re voting for, get your ballot in the mail by end-of-day Tuesday, or take it to a drop box – the ones in this area are at the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center and White Center Library (full list, with addresses, here).
This was announced before the Seattle Police tragedy Saturday night, so we’ll be checking later this morning to make sure it hasn’t changed, but for now: One day after Mike McGinn‘s North Admiral town hall, opponent Joe Mallahan plans to visit West Seattle today. That word comes from Vlad Oustimovitch, who says Mallahan plans to start in The Junction at about 2:30 pm (starting around Easy Street Records), continue on to Youngstown Arts Center around 3:30 pm, and Seacrest Pier around 4, and anyone is welcome to join in, though this is a walking tour rather than a Q/A sitdown.
(Mike McGinn answering a question about working with city councilmembers if he’s elected mayor)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
When the final weekend of a campaign rolls around, a major candidate is often seen in just a few ways – a TV ad, a mailer blitz, shouting amplified exhortations to supporters at one or two last big rallies.
Emblematic of the way Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn has run his campaign, with just a few days to go, he was in the basement of the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library on Saturday morning, speaking softly and casually with about a dozen people. We published a quick update on this as it happened, but now, for those who missed it and are still making up their minds, here are the details of what he said, and what he was asked.
A clever melding of Halloween and the impending election — Bob Anderson sent us that photo of his North Admiral decorations. That part of the peninsula must be the political epicenter this Halloween – North Admiral is also where Mike McGinn had a town hall this morning, and where we bumped into County Council Chair/County Executive candidate Dow Constantine this afternoon (he was just leaving Halloween Howl at Hiawatha – our photos from that are up next).
About a dozen people are in the basement meeting room at the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library (and two citywide-TV photojournalists), where mayoral candidate Mike McGinn is hosting his third WS “town hall,” till about 11 am – he’s moving on to another area of the city at 11:30. He’ll be doing Q/A after the opening speech he’s giving right now – we’ll add highlights later. 11:07 AM: The town hall’s over. Always a big difference between in-person events and what you see in the “media” campaigns (TV and other forms of advertising) – he didn’t say anything about his opponent Joe Mallahan until more than a half-hour into the session. Most questions were about transportation, business and schools. *We will publish details of this as a separate article and will add the URL here when it’s up.
Thanks to Keri for sharing a shot of the “pirate ship” that will be the main set of Skeleton Theatre again this year, tonight and tomorrow night, 6-9 pm at 36th/Hanford (directions & map) – West Seattle’s one and only animatronic Halloween extravaganza (2008 coverage here; 2007 coverage here; tons of behind-the-scenes info and videos on the ST website). That’s just one of the Halloween events in store — we have two separate ways for you to check the complete list of everything that’s going on this morning, afternoon and evening:
GROUPED BY TYPE OF EVENT – See the WSB Halloween page
ALL EVENTS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER – See the West Seattle Weekend Lineup
As for the non-Halloween happenings, there’s mayoral candidate Mike McGinn‘s “town hall” at West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library at 10:15 this morning, the third one he’s had in West Seattle. And remember that today’s the last day of the 2009 season for the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle-to-downtown run; here’s the schedule, if you want to catch one last ride.
King County Elections is again keeping a running count of how many ballots have come in – and so many are still out, it looks like a big weekend of last-minute voting is ahead: As of last night, 18.11 percent countywide had been returned; in the jurisdictional breakdown, our County Council district – #8 – has the second-highest percentage of ballot return, but that’s still only 18.97 percent, behind metro-eastside District 6‘s 19.87 percent. If you’re still struggling with who and what to vote for, pretty much all the endorsements are made by now – for example, West Seattle’s biggest political group, the 34th District Democrats, have a paid political ad here on WSB this week to point you to their voting recommendations; you can find endorsement lists on almost every campaign website – the city voters’ guide lists weblinks for each city candidate as well as other information – you can also get a complete voter guide through the county website. Once you’ve made your decision, you can either mail your ballot by Tuesday or take it to a drop box – here’s the full list (including one in Delridge and one in White Center).
Two more events of note tonight: We’ve talked more about the city budget here than the county budget, but the latter is in the works too and tonight there’s one last public hearing before the King County Council Budget Committee– 7 pm in their chambers on the 10th floor of the King County Courthouse downtown – more here. (If you can’t be there, you’ll be able to watch live video on cable channel 22 or online here.) And tonight here in West Seattle, it’s the first performance for West Seattle High School‘s fall play “Invasion from Mars,” a recreation of the radio play that seemed too real to be a play when broadcast decades ago: 7:30 pm, WSHS Theater. Yet more of today/tonight’s events are on the WSB Events calendar.
Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn has already had two “town hall” meetings in West Seattle – the photo above is from October 4th at Hiawatha; here’s our story about his first one at High Point Library in September. Today he announced a final round of meetings, including one in West Seattle – 10:15 Saturday morning at the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library, 2306 42nd SW. Opponent Joe Mallahan has not had a comparable series of public chats; his last West Seattle public appearance that we know of was the October 8th housing-issues forum at Youngstown Arts Center.
This morning we conclude our city-candidate closeups; we took a look at them all before the primary election, and with voting under way now for next Tuesday’s general election, we’re checking back in with the finalists in five city races – mayor and council. We’ve already looked at mayor (Mike McGinn here, Joe Mallahan here), City Council Position 6 (Nick Licata here, Jessie Israel here) and City Council Position 8 (Mike O’Brien here and Robert Rosencrantz here); then it was Council Position 2 (Richard Conlin here and David Ginsberg here), and we’re concluding now with Position 4.
By Jack Mayne
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
City Council Position 4 candidate David Bloom thinks the transit system serving Seattle is in pretty rough shape and would like to see the council pressure the county-run agency to stop being downtown centric and adopt more cross-town service.
“(The City Council) does not run Metro, but we certainly can have strong influence over decisions that are made,” says Bloom, a minister and longtime social-justice activist. “We have bus lines in the city that are running at capacity all the time.”
Bloom sees a problem in Metro’s current method of allocating new bus routes under a 40, 40, 20 system, or 40 percent of buses for east King County, 40 percent for south King County and 20 percent for Seattle. That formula was put in place in the 1990s when the eastern and southern suburbs were growing rapidly and Seattle was not. Now, of course, Seattle is growing at a rate some would say outstrips the Eastside and southern suburbs.
One week from tonight, 8 pm, the voting’s over and the vote-counting begins. Remember there’s an alternative to mailing your ballot – drop boxes (here’s the list, including Delridge Neighborhood Service Center and White Center Library). Also be sure NOT to miss some important issues on the ballot – the King County Elections home page explains why you might accidentally overlook at least one. (WSB city-candidate closeups continue with the last pair, Council Position 4, tonight.)
(Referendum 71 supporters demonstrated in The Junction again Sunday – from left, WSUU members Rose Fitzpatrick with her dog Rivet, Cynthia Townsend, and president Paula vanHaagen)
You can’t have a say on Referendum 71, Initiative 1033, King County Executive and Seattle Mayor – among other hot issues – if you’re not registered to vote. Today is your absolute last chance – if you’re not registered in this state but want to be, today’s the deadline but you have to go to the King County Elections office in Tukwila – here are the directions; they’re open till 4:30 pm.
Another big West Seattle real-estate deal reported by McQuaid Real Estate: The Halcyon Apartments on Lincoln Park Way (Google Street View above) have sold for $2.8 million. The 23-unit building had never been up for sale before – the sellers were the couple who built it more than 40 years ago, according to McQuaid’s announcement of the deal.
That’s Seattle Parks HQ at Denny Park downtown – and it’s the place to be at 7 pm tonight for the next meeting of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee, which has reviewed a LOT of West Seattle projects in recent months. Tonight’s big agenda item – draft criteria for use of the levy’s Opportunity Fund (once the draft criteria get approval, they’ll be published tomorrow, and a public hearing is set for November 9, as reported here).
(Twitpic from @springhill_ws, showing the winner in Spring Hill‘s staff pumpkin-carving contest, by Xuan)
A quick reminder that it is now The Week Before Halloween, and you can scare up all the fun that’s leading up to the big night, as well as what’s happening on Halloween itself, by checking out the WSB Halloween page. Two October 31st notes that have nothing to do with Halloween, but we should mention them now so they don’t sneak up on you – 1. Saturday’s the last day of the season for the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle run; 2. Daylight Saving Time ends that night (technically 2 am Sunday – you’ll “fall back” an hour).
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