West Seattle, Washington
03 Thursday
The precinct-by-precinct numbers are out for the November 3 (finalized Nov. 24) election, and our partners at the Seattle Times have made some maps. If you take a closer look at the one for the mayor’s race (direct link here, opens a PDF), you’ll see that, in general, the Joe Mallahan/Mike McGinn vote split east-west on the peninsula – Mallahan west, McGinn east. Earlier this week, Publicola put together a map that breaks down the McGinn/Mallahan support into several additional categories.
An unusual late-night announcement from the King County Council. An advisory committee has narrowed down the list of 11 candidates seeking appointment to the Council seat given up by Dow Constantine when he became King County Executive last week. They are recommending four candidates be interviewed for Council District 8, which includes West Seattle and White Center. All four are current elected officials; two say they’ll run for the seat in November 2010, 34th District State Sen. Joe McDermott (the only West Seattleite in the quartet) and 11th District Rep. Zack Hudgins,, while the other two say they will not run for the “permanent” job – outgoing Seattle City Councilmember Jan Drago (who ran for mayor instead of for council re-election) and 34th District State Rep. Sharon Nelson. Read on for the full announcement and what happens next:Read More
City Councilmember Tim Burgess‘s staff sends word that the “chronic nuisance” ordinance – one of two proposals that address some of the problems flagged in the Delridge problem-properties tour last April – has won unanimous approval. Here’s what Burgess wrote about it on his website; read the bill here.
At left, that’s Bob Warden of Kent, with the parks security employee who asked him to leave Southwest Community Center during his much-publicized challenge to the city’s parks-facility gun restrictions two weeks ago (here’s our coverage from that day). He said at the time he planned to file legal action as a result; now, he has, according to e-mail we just received from him, which included the complaint he says was filed in federal court this morning and served at Mayor Nickels‘ house. The mayor and the city are named as defendants, in Warden’s claim that the city rule violates the U.S. and Washington state constitutions. Read the entire 11-page document here. (City offices are closed so we might not get an official response today.)
(Still photos in this report are courtesy King County)
A photographer working for King County took that photo of West Seattleites Dow Constantine and longtime partner Shirley Carlson in the front row at Daniels Recital Hall downtown, moments before he went to the stage to be sworn in as King County Executive. From the balcony overhead, we caught the subsequent aerial view:
We added a long excerpt of his speech to our original as-it-happened report on this afternoon’s event. You can also read the full speech text here. The county’s photos also include parental congratulations:
And here’s a cutaway of the camera-laden crowd:
Afterward, the Total Experience Gospel Choir (which rehearses at West Seattle’s Kenyon Hall) sang:
And then, with the 5 pm news hour approaching, it was time for the new County Executive to meet the media, and talk more about his immediate priorities:
His move to the County Executive’s office leaves a vacancy on the King County Council for District 8, which includes West Seattle. We’ve reported before on the process planned to find his successor to cover the next year, till what was his term expires in fall 2010. This afternoon – just moments before he was sworn-in – the county announced the list of 11 applicants for the immediate appointment (the following is an excerpt from the announcement, with the descriptions exactly as the county provided them):
Jan Drago—A member of the Seattle City Council who is leaving the Council this year
· Helen Howell—Former Director of the state Department of Financial Institutions, served as Deputy Chief of Staff under Governor Locke
· Zack Hudgins—State Representative from the 11th District
· Jake Jacobovitch—Engineer in the Road Services Division of the King County Department of Transportation
· Arun Jhaveri—Former Regional Technology Manager with the Federal Energy Management Program and former Mayor of Burien
· Lucy Krakowiak—Burien City Council Member and a member of the King County Library Board of Trustees
· Joe McDermott—State Senator from the 34th District
· Shawn McEvoy—Mayor of Normandy Park
· Sharon Nelson—State Representative from the 34th District,
· Vlad Oustimovitch—A partner at VoKa Incorporated, and a former Development Program Manager for the Seattle Housing Authority
· Kathleen Quong-Vermeire, Commissioner, Highline Water District, former Mayor of Normandy Park
Only two West Seattleites on that list — Sen. McDermott, whom the 34th District Democrats support (as reported here) as Constantine’s successor, and Oustimovitch, who also currently serves on the group of “stakeholders” helping plan the South Portal end of the Viaduct/Tunnel project. Rep. Nelson has been a longtime Constantine staffer; she emceed this afternoon’s event:
According to the county’s news release about the applicants, they both say they would run for the job after the appointed year expires; the advisory committee that will review them is supposed to recommend at least one finalist who would run, and one who would not. The County Council, now chaired by Councilmember Bob Ferguson, will interview the finalists starting Dec. 7; the advisory committee plans interviews on Dec. 3. In the meantime, another sign of the changing of the guard: Some new features on the county website, including, of course, the County Executive section.
(Photo above courtesy King County, added 7:32 pm; original report and photos start below)
ORIGINAL 4:02 PM REPORT: We’re at Daniels Recital Hall downtown, the former 1st United Methodist Church, where West Seattleite Dow Constantine is about to be sworn in as King County Executive. As you’d expect, it’s a who’s-who of local politics here – we’ve seen West Seattleites Mayor Greg Nickels, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis and State Sen. Joe McDermott (who’s hoping to succeed Constantine as King County Councilmember for District 8) so far, as well as State Rep. Sharon Nelson. 4:08 PM UPDATE: The chair of his transition team is giving introductory remarks. And now (4:11), State Rep. Nelson is speaking – starting by saying, “This is a new day for King County” and then talking about the fight to protect Maury Island (where she lives) and the rest of Puget Sound. 4:18 PM: Constantine has been sworn in and is giving his “100-day plan” speech. “These are challenging times,” he says. He’s talking about “growing up in West Seattle, the son of two schoolteachers.” … “The era of government by mere good intention is over. Starting today, we will begin to build partnerships … to lead to fundamental change in the way King County government does business. … and we promise to preserve quality of life … in a way that is sustainable.” He speaks of green jobs, environmental protection, and is thanking his family as well as his “army” of campaign volunteers.
4:26 PM: Constantine says he wants “a culture of performance” to change county government and says that Deputy Executive Fred Jarrett (the eastside State Senator who ran for the County Executive job in the primary) will lead the effort to create that culture. He also stresses an emphasis on customer service. “My administration will represent all of King County — rural, suburban, urban.” That includes “reprioritizing Metro transit services,” he promises. He says he rode the number 56 bus (from West Seattle) today. He says it’s time to stop allocating Metro services based on old formulas and “political divisions.” Reducing costs, improving customer services – he says county employees “will be our best partners” toward making that happen. “We know that you know how to make things work better” – in a “culture of continuous improvement.” He promises a program to have the County Executive “walk a day in the shoes of a county employee.” He mentions having cut 15% of the staffing levels in the County Executive office and says that he and other staffers in the office have taken salary cuts from what people who held those jobs before were making. He says county government will be more user-friendly and transparent … “This is a tall order, and we will need all hands on deck.”
4:33 PM: He is quoting Bill Gates and Jimi Hendrix – the latter, “In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first.” He promises to harness the “innovation and spirit that built this region” — while protecting values including stewardship, sacrifice, service, rights. “This belief that we can do it, and do it right, is why we’re here today. … I want to thank the people of King County for their vote of confidence.” Short speech, less than 20 minutes, and after that sentence, plus several rounds of “thank you” – it’s over.
4:37 PM: The Total Experience Gospel Choir is singing now (another West Seattle touch – they practice at Kenyon Hall). “Lean On Me” — appropriate since Constantine told the crowd, in the final lines of his speech, that he and his administration would need everyone’s help. (We’ll publish a separate report later with video from the speech and clearer photos – the ones in this story were iPhone on-the-spot pix.)
The county’s on furlough tomorrow, and has certified election results today – this is it, three weeks after Election Day, the final count. Dow Constantine, who’ll be sworn in at 4 pm (more here), beat Susan Hutchison for County Executive with 325,777 votes (59.04%) to 224,467 votes (40.68%); for Seattle Mayor, Mike McGinn (who takes office in January and just announced 3 town halls – none in West Seattle – today) beat Joe Mallahan with 105,492 votes (51.14%) to 98,302 (47.65%). Countywide voter turnout was 53.2%, half a percent point less than the last major off-year general election in 2005 (after which the vote-by-mail proposal was made). See all the results here.
Update on the plan for tomorrow’s ceremony to swear in West Seattleite Dow Constantine as King County Executive – he’ll also announce his “100-day plan”:
King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine will be sworn in as the eighth County Executive in the history of King County’s charter form of government on Tuesday, November 24, in ceremonies at the former First United Methodist Church, a downtown sanctuary and landmark he helped save from demolition.
King County Elections is scheduled to certify the results of the November general election on Tuesday.
Immediately upon being sworn-in, Constantine will outline plans and initiatives for his first 100 days in office.
The ceremony and speech will be held:
Tuesday, November 24
4:00 p.m.
Daniels Recital Hall
Fifth and Marion Street [map]
People elected in November aren’t usually sworn in till January, but because of the nature of the transition before him – Ron Sims leaving before his term ended, Kurt Triplett taking over till the election – Constantine takes office tomorrow. With the ballot count almost final, Constantine’s victory has a 19-point margin – 59% of the vote, to 41% for Susan Hutchinson; in raw numbers, he got 101,000+ more votes than she did.
Later today, the King County Council is scheduled to adopt the county’s 2010 budget. One component of the most recent budget revisions could endanger programs the county doesn’t even pay for, according to a rep for the King County Food and Fitness Initiative – they explain that the county budget calls for the complete severing of King County’s ties to the Extension program (which also involves Washington State University), because the small amount of remaining funding was cut completely. (Originally, the budget called for 84% less funding than the year before – leaving about $100,000 – but that was cut late last week.) They explain that if Extension is left with NO financial relationship with King County, they will lose a $1.2 million grant just offered to the Food and Fitness Initiative (which has been sponsoring programs in West Seattle and White Center), and they will be unable to offer even volunteer-run programs such as Master Gardener and 4-H. They say even a tiny amount of funding will keep the county’s Extension ties alive and allow them to continue pursuing outside grants. So they’re asking for support in hopes the budget will be amended before this afternoon’s scheduled final vote by the council, whose contact information is here.
The Seattle City Council just announced who’ll be in charge of which committee once its two new members, Sally Bagshaw and Mike O’Brien, are sworn in after the holidays. One change of particular note to West Seattleites – WS-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen is moving from the Parks Committee chair role to lead the Transportation Committee (whose former chair, Jan Drago, ran for mayor instead of council re-election); Bagshaw will be the new Parks chair. A few committees are changing names/focuses too – read on for the full council announcement about those changes, and who’s running what:Read More
That’s Mayor Nickels‘ first post-election TV interview, with KING5‘s Jean Enersen, broadcast tonight. Only a few minutes long, but you hear him say why he thinks he lost, and what he considers his biggest failure. Meantime, his successor, Mayor-elect Mike McGinn, has posted a video on YouTube with a message to citizens:
We linked that video in the WSB Forums earlier today along with the transition team’s request for your answers to three questions – see them here.
Update from the King County Council – looks like they’ve agreed to consider candidates who want the permanent job, as well as those who don’t. They’ve now fully laid out the process for appointing a successor to Dow Constantine in the County Council 8th District seat once he becomes King County Executive a week from tomorrow – read on to see the full process, who’s on the advisory committee that’ll recommend finalists, and how to apply:Read More
It’s all over – Bob Warden went into Southwest Community Center with his concealed weapon (backstory here), a parks security staffer came up to him and asked him to leave, he left, now he says he’s got grounds to sue. Big media circus, of course, including TV, newspaper and new-media crews. Here’s the TV contingent (photo added 12:58 pm – sorry we didn’t get the photojournalists’ names, but at left and right, reporters Theron Zahn from channel 4 and Chris Daniels from 5):
Adding more shortly, video and photos. The reason Warden said he chose SWCC at noon was because they were having the Dogs in the Hood show; as of 12:30, the people and dogs who showed up for the show left when they saw all the commotion. (Photo above – TV reporters asked to see his gun, after he’d been asked to leave; when he entered the center, it was under his jacket.) ADDED 12:55 PM: Here’s video as we followed Warden entering the center, after spending about 15 minutes talking with the media outside, then leaving as he’d said he would if asked:
(Despite what you heard him say there toward the end of our clip, he had sent a letter to the city Parks Department informing them he’d had a gun, so you could say they DID know.) Police were standing by inside the center but did not get involved at any point.
With Warden was one of his young-adult children, Casey. A few people showed up to support him, including a man who worked the media sidelines handing out pamphlets for the Museum of Flight, where he said he was a docent. We asked Warden if he’d be going home and starting to draw up legal papers immediately; he said, no, he’d probably watch some sports.
Following this morning’s vote to raise electricity rates, another high-profile budget action’s been taken by the Seattle City Council: Councilmembers voted to restore $860,000 in funding to the Seattle Public Library budget. According to the Friends of Seattle Public Library website, here’s what that means in terms of library operations in West Seattle: The Southwest and West Seattle (Admiral) branches will remain open 7 days a week, 10 am-8 pm Mondays-Thursdays, 10 am-6 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 1-5 pm Sundays. But the Delridge and High Point branches (South Park too), currently open 6 days a week, will be reduced to 5 days a week (closed Fridays and Sundays) – 1 pm-8 pm Mondays and Tuesdays, 11 am-6 pm Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 am-6 pm Saturdays. Read more here about what the library budget action means.
8 months ago, just weeks into his campaign for King County Executive, Dow Constantine won an early endorsement and donation from this area’s biggest political group, the 34th District Democrats. Tonight, as you can watch in our video above, he gave a triumphant, thankful six-minute speech to the group for its role in helping him win a “long, tough campaign” that at the start, he admitted, seemed like “a long shot.” He also laid out a few priorities in moving toward what he promised would be “fundamental reform,” and invited everyone to a swearing-in ceremony that’ll break with tradition – around 4 pm on Nov. 24th, after the certification of the election (which as of tonight has him up 59%-41%), not in County Council chambers, but likely at the historic First United Methodist Church that he helped save downtown.
Meantime, as you can hear him say at the end of the speech, his election sets off something of a chain reaction, provided subsequent events go the way the 34th DDs hope they will. They passed a resolution tonight urging the County Council to appoint State Sen. Joe McDermott to the District 8 Council seat Constantine is leaving. McDermott made an appeal to the group at the start of what was on the agenda as a legislative preview from him, and State Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson (who in turn was mentioned as a likely State Senate successor if McDermott moves to the County Council):
This is no slam dunk for a variety of reasons: The County Council is looking at a process that would mirror what they did with the interim County Executive appointment of Kurt Triplett – seek to fill the job for the remaining year of its current term with someone who wouldn’t be interested in running for the full term next year. (They’re scheduled to take up legislation regarding the process next Monday.) Bad move, in the view of 34th DDs chair Tim Nuse: “The caretaker role doesn’t work,” he declared toward the start of tonight’s meeting. “Our interests won’t be represented as strong as possible in the council. … A year from now, regardless of the decision the council makes, Joe will be our county councilmember – he’s gonna run and gonna win – so it’s a very clear message to (the County Council) ‘let’s do it right the first time’.” That message may be coming from hundreds of voices – the resolution passed tonight called for every supporter to call every councilmember about the appointment.
(34th District Democrats’ champagne toast tonight to last week’s election wins)
7:10 PM: We’re at The Hall at Fauntleroy for the first 34th District Democrats meeting since the election, and planning a few as-it-happens updates: First, even before we entered the hall, flyers expressing concern about the new Seattle Public Schools assignment plan were being handed out by a volunteer on the sidewalk. Second, on the tables is text of a proposed resolution supporting the appointment of State Sen. Joe McDermott as Dow Constantine‘s successor on the King County Council. Third, the meeting started with a tribute to veterans, twinned with a memorial bell rung 12 times for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre last week. More as it happens. 7:28 PM UPDATE: The group just heard from County Executive-elect Constantine, who got 34th DDs support early on and expressed major thanks for that. He says he’s planning to move the swearing-in ceremony outside County Council chambers so more people can attend – around 4 pm on 11/24 at the First United Methodist Church downtown, which he had fought to change from demolition. 8:17 PM UPDATE: Before the three 34th District state legislators present a preview of what’s ahead in the new session, Sen. McDermott told the group he’s hoping to win the County Council job. 8:50 PM UPDATE: The 34th DDs have just approved a resolution urging that McDermott be appointed, and promising that members will start calling County Councilmembers to voice their support. The resolution makes a point of saying that the 34th District has a majority of the 8th Council District’s population (a reference to what’s been mentioned several times here tonight, that 11th District State Rep. Zack Hudgins is another potential candidate for County Council; even if he is appointed, 34th DDs chair Tim Nuse declared, Hudgins would find himself running against Sen. McDermott, and losing, in a year). 9 PM UPDATE: As the meeting draws toward a close, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen was introduced, and from the sidelines, he said, “I look forward to working with County Councilmember McDermott.” (A few minutes later, the meeting ended; look for breakout stories to come.)
At last night’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting, president Erica Karlovits told WSB she’d heard from the office of City Councilmember Bruce Harrell – 
who leads the Energy and Technology Committee — saying the proposed Seattle City Light rate hike will be discussed at the Budget Committee meeting tomorrow morning. She says that if you’ve got anything to say about a possible rate hike, you’re urged to get your comments to Harrell ASAP: bruce.harrell@seattle.gov. That’s echoed by Patti Mullen of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, who passed along this link to Harrell’s website, where he spells out the possibilities – anywhere from 7 percent to almost 14 percent, under a variety of scenarios. (He discussed rate-hike scenarios at a WS Chamber brownbag in July, where we took the photo at left.) Mullen points out that it’s important for businesses to pay attention to this as well as residential ratepayers: “Local businesses are barely able to claim ‘recovery’ mode at present, and this level of increase could be devastating to West Seattle ’s small business community.” She attended a City Hall discussion yesterday and heard a variety of viewpoints, including businesses saying they’d like to see City Light’s strategic plan first, and workers saying the utility needs money to pay for infrastructure upgrades.
Our area’s biggest political group – the 34th District Democrats – meets tonight for the first time since the election. Lots to talk about there; they’re also scheduled to look ahead to the legislative session. Here’s the agenda; the meeting’s at 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
Quick followup on the political position that’s not settled yet, West Seattle/White Center/Vashon (etc.) District 8 County Councilmember (succeeding County Executive-elect Dow Constantine): Last Thursday, we reported that the council might take action today to set a process for appointing someone to serve till next year’s elections. But council spokesperson Frank Abe says that action’s been postponed a week “as a courtesy to councilmembers who requested time for further consideration.” (Who will seek the job, given the council may decide to only appoint someone not running for the permanent job? Maybe, just maybe, there’ll be a hint at this week’s monthly meeting of West Seattle’s largest political group, the 34th District Democrats, 7 pm Wednesday, The Hall at Fauntleroy.)
We asked this morning for information on the process to fill the County Council seat – representing West Seattle, White Center, Vashon Island and other areas – once Dow Constantine is sworn in as King County Executive on Nov. 24th. The info just came in – according to the process that’s being proposed, they’d be taking applications shortly for an appointed councilmember to serve until next year’s fall elections – read on for the details:Read More
King County Elections has just published its latest results, and the Seattle mayoral race hasn’t changed: Mike McGinn, 65172, 49.78%; Joe Mallahan, 64657, 49.38%. (Statewide, “yes” on 71 is further ahead of “no” than this time yesterday.) 5:18 PM: The Associated Press has officially declared Referendum 71 as having passed.
(Photo by Mike Siegel/THE SEATTLE TIMES [WSB partner])
West Seattle-residing King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine has just announced his transition team – including another West Seattleite, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. Read on for the official announcement (p.s. regarding the main not-settled-yet race, Seattle Mayor, the next vote count should be out within an hour or so):Read More
(original photo replaced 9:46 pm with our clip of Constantine arriving at the podium – speech video to come)
Dow Constantine vs. Susan Hutchison – results here. Constantine starts off with a big lead. We’re at his campaign party – huge cheer as the results were announced; he is not expected to speak until after 8:30. Rep. Sharon Nelson is speaking now (8:21) – saying it’s been “a long campaign against a Republican stealth candidate.” She says Dow came in and fought “for what is right … for King County.” 9:01 PM: Constantine gave an energetic, resolute speech – declaring this a “new beginning” for King County – but also exhorting Hutchison supporters to “join us.” We have it all on video from about 1 foot away (thanks to Teri from Furry Faces Foundation for assisting in crowd maneuvering!) and will upload the whole thing when we are back at HQ.
He stood next to his partner Shirley at the podium during his speech, after sharing the podium briefly with two of the state legislators who were among his primary opponents – Sen. Fred Jarrett and Rep. Ross Hunter. Now he’s giving TV interviews a few feet away from where we’re sitting in the media zone. 9:56 PM UPDATE: The crowd has gathered again here in the media zone – as the presumptive King County Executive-elect is back to give another round of interviews to TV people (and others), with the late news nearing; other camera-wielding types are starting to gather. We’ve added a video clip atop this story before finally attempting to leave the venue – his arrival at the podium, introduced by Rep. Nelson. 10:11 PM: Just talked to Constantine for a brief moment as he continues making the rounds – we noted that his presumed election means that West Seattle will remain home to one of the area’s top elected officials – he smiled, “It’s my turn to represent.” 12:20 AM UPDATE: Susan Hutchison has not conceded. Here’s the remainder of Constantine’s speech – 10 minutes, starting with some humor:
ADDED 1:33 AM: Our partners at the Times have a clip from Hutchison’s election-night remarks:
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