KCTS (Channel 9) announced tonight that it’s confirmed the first live TV debate between the King County Executive finalists, Susan Hutchison and West Seattle-residing County Council Chair Dow Constantine. 7 pm October 15th. It’ll be held in their studios, according to the station’s announcement.

Followup to last week’s update from a spokesperson for the homeless encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville”: The Port of Seattle has just published a statement saying it’s rejecting the encampment’s request for an “extended stay” at Terminal 107 Park in eastern West Seattle, and will post new trespassing notices this week, expecting the camp to clear out by the end of September. We’re checking with encampment organizers for their reaction/next steps; they moved to the site a month ago.

The election results won’t be final until a week from Wednesday, so daily counts are still coming out, and today’s total has Mike McGinn still on top of the Seattle mayoral race, almost a thousand votes ahead of Joe Mallahan, with incumbent Mayor Nickels (who conceded last Friday) two thousand votes behind Mallahan, in third. Here are those results; politics-watchers also had been noticing something we pointed out last week, the narrowing gap between the top two in the King County Executive race – Susan Hutchison now has 33% and Dow Constantine has 27% (full results here). As of the final Election Night count, it was 37% Hutchison, 22% Constantine. The county Elections Department estimates about 6,000 ballots remain to be counted.

Today was the day by which the Port of Seattle had said it had hoped to use legal action to evict the homeless encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville” from its latest location, at Terminal 107 Park in eastern West Seattle. Instead, encampment spokesperson Revel Smith just sent this news release:

ln a last-minute collaborative effort, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton, Port Commissioner Kurt Beckett, Michael Ramos, Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Paul Benz of the Lutheran Public Policy Office, Cecile Hansen, Chairperson of the Duwamish tribe and 4 Nickelodeons met together yesterday at the Duwamish Longhouse to discuss viable options for Nickelsville.

Speaker Frank Chopp asked the Port to work together with them. Speaker Chopp has worked on legislation for the Port before, and said he would introduce legislation clarifying the Port’s concerns so they were legally satisfied. In return, Port Commissioner Tarleton agreed to take a proposal to the rest of the Port Commission allowing extension of Nickelsville’s stay.

If allowed, the proposed agreement would allow Nickelsville to remain at the T-107 Park for an initial two months with a third month safety net. This would give parties who were at the table time to work together to find a permanent site for Nickelsville. The Port of Seattle and Nickelsville would seek a Temporary Use Permit from the City of Seattle for the three month stay at T-107 Park. Signals from the City are that a permit would likely be granted, and city police would comply.

Nickelsville thanks Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp for his advocacy and willingness to introduce clarifying legislation. Nickelsville continues to seek a stable permanent site, as well as sustain responsible stewardship of park land or sites which may become available in the near future.

No formal statement yet from the port. 7:33 PM UPDATE: Port spokesperson Charla Skaggs sent a note saying there’s “incorrect information” in the Nickelsville news release we posted verbatim above:

Speaker Chopp requested, and strongly urged, the port commission to grant an extension. In return for that extension, the members of the encampment would guarantee that they would leave willingly at the end of the extension. The port did not request that Speaker Chopp amend the port’s authority in any way.

The port has continuously stated that it is illegal for port land to be used for housing.

Please note that the commissioners have been asked to consider this request; no decision has been made.

Also, Kurt Beckett is the port’s director of external affairs, not a commissioner.

According to the port’s website, the commission has two meetings next week: a special meeting on Monday, a regular meeting on Tuesday. Agendas for both are linked here.

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 10:21 am)
Mayor Nickels has just announced at City Hall, with family at his side, and applause greeting him as he entered, that he’s called Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn to congratulate them on advancing to November’s general election. He is making his statement with a tone of “no regrets” and pride. He says he and city government has “made a difference each and every day” of his two terms. He says, “The Seattle today is stronger, better and kinder than the Seattle of yesterday” and says this is “an amazing place in an amazing time.” He says he will continue working hard for the “131 days left” of his administration. In response to the first question after his statement – why he lost – “I think the people of Seattle have decided it’s time for a new generation of leadership” and then he semi-joked, “I think there are dozens of issues” which caused people to vote against him. He said leadership means making tough decisions and “You get to make everybody unhappy – The Viaduct might be an example of that.” He says he hasn’t decided which candidate he will support in November. And regarding what he’ll do next – he says he has “no idea” yet. 10:19 AM: The mayor’s news conference just wrapped up. (Side note: In our photo above, in addition to family members with the mayor, that’s Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis near the center of his photo, also a West Seattleite, looking on.) ADDED 12:03 PM: Seattle Post-Globe has published a statement from City Council President Richard Conlin (who decided against a mayoral run, going for re-election instead; he faces West Seattleite David Ginsberg in November). ADDED 12:56 PM: You can see some of the humor that the mayor displayed, in this clip published to YouTube by the politics site horsesass.org:

ADDED 2:06 PM: Covering the announcement for WSB, Christopher Boffoli provides this transcript of what Mayor Nickels said this morning, including the questions that followed from the assembled media:Read More

King County Elections’ daily vote update has just come out, and Joe Mallahan remains in the lead for mayor, with Mike McGinn second, incumbent Mayor Greg Nickels third. See those results here. Here’s the table from the results website:

Joe Mallahan 28126 27.22%
Mike McGinn 27586 26.69%
Greg Nickels 26416 25.56%

Full results are all linked here. ADDED 4:36 PM: Browsing through the rest of the results – no big changes but in the King County Executive race, the gap between Susan Hutchison and Dow Constantine has narrowed again – she is now at 34.6%, he is at 24.9%. (Here are the full County Exec results.)

King County Elections has just published results of today’s vote count – first one since just before 10 pm last night – and the first of what will be mostly daily updates over the next two weeks. In the most closely watched race, the mayoral results are now Mallahan, McGinn, Nickels; see those vote totals here (scroll down the page a bit); we’ll add a few more notes here shortly, but in the meantime, all the results are linked here. ADDED 4:25 PM: In the King County Executive race, the Hutchison-Constantine gap is a little narrower – she has 36 percent, he now has 23 percent. Nothing else has changed significantly – for City Council, it still looks like Bagshaw/Bloom, Licata/Israel and O’Brien/Rosencrantz; the “No” votes are still way ahead on the bag fee, 57 percent against; for Port Commission, it remains Holland/Doud and Albro/Vekich. Back to the mayor’s race – here are the vote totals and exact percentages from the King County site:

Joe Mallahan 21101 26.76%
Mike McGinn 20880 26.48%
Greg Nickels 19864 25.19%

Next vote count around 4:30 pm tomorrow. 9:06 PM NOTE: The county’s released its nightly count of how many ballots have been received. The County Council district that includes West Seattle, 8, has the highest percentage – more than 34 percent – here are all the breakouts.

(WSB video added 9:17 pm, the first minute of Dow Constantine’s speech)
Latest results here – Susan Hutchison in first at 37 percent, Dow Constantine is in second with 22 percent.

(Constantine party, just before the first results were announced)
8:04 PM: We’re covering all tonight’s key results, but this is the marquee race – so your editor here is at King County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s event at Kells Irish Pub in Pike Place.

8:17 PM: The first results are in – as you see at the top of this post – huge cheers as Constantine is in second place (top 2 advance to November). Fred Jarrett is a distant third. Constantine is scheduled to speak in about half an hour.

8:44 PM UPDATE: Constantine entered a few minutes ago to a hero’s welcome. He says the early results are positive but the “campaign has just begun.” He says King County residents deserve a government “as innovative as they are.” He says the message is stand up for what’s right, persevere and good things are going to happen. He says he got this far because of “grass-roots momentum … 2,000 volunteers .. a small army of volunteers that broke all records” for voter contact. “We are headed for the general election!” he just shouted exuberantly. And he thanked people including his girlfriend Shirley, “who has been my rock.” He also says he wants to thank the other candidates – “the ones who showed up at every debate” in a clear jab at the person it appears he will face in the general, Susan Hutchison, who drew fire for not showing up at early campaign forums. “Tomorrow we begin Phase 2 of this campaign,” he says, “bringing our vision, our ideas, our passion to the hundreds of thousands of King County voters who did not vote in this election – who need to know the stark choice they face over the future of King County .. Susan Hutchison is too conservative, too out of step with the mainstream values of King County.” He adds, “This election is about who is best qualified. I have a track record of public service … I understand the enormity of the challenges … We must do what it takes to make government work better. My opponent has not had to make the tough choices, has not had to stand up and be counted, and has offered little of substance during this campaign.”

8:56 PM UPDATE: Constantine has just wrapped up his speech, saying he’s giving his supporters 12 hours to celebrate, and then it’s time to start work on the general election campaign. His last dig at likely general-election opponent Susan Hutchison: “You are nothing but platitudes … Celebrity is not a qualification for King County Executive.” (We will link to coverage from her party once we have it.)

9:39 PM UPDATE: Here’s the Publicola report from Susan Hutchison’s party, where she is reported to have vowed to win the support of those who voted for Larry Phillips, Ross Hunter and Fred Jarrett, with what she promised would be a “nonpartisan” campaign. (Voters decided last year to make the County Executive and County Council positions officially nonpartisan.)

9:59 PM UPDATE: The second and final vote-count update of the night is now posted. Nothing’s changed – 37 percent Hutchison, 22 percent Constantine, 12 percent Jarrett, 11.7 percent Phillips, 10 percent Hunter. (Though the candidate himself seems to have moved on, or at least isn’t in the main room right now, his parents are still here – dad John just came and looked over our shoulder at those new results.)

(added 9:56 pm – Publicola video, uploaded to YouTube, from Mike McGinn’s speech)
Latest results here.

8:17 PM UPDATE: The first run is almost a three-way tie but it’s Mike McGinn first, Joe Mallahan second, West Seattle’s Greg Nickels third.

9:38 PM UPDATE: We’ll have some mayoral candidate reports from Kathy Mulady later. In the meantime, from our favorite political site, Publicola – here’s their report from the Nickels party.

10:13 PM UPDATE: After a few more votes were added in the newest count, scheduled to be the latest of the night, here’s how that three-way race is going:

Mike McGinn 16891 26.58%
Joe Mallahan 16376 25.77%
Greg Nickels 15921 25.06%

ADDED 11:35 PM: Kathy Mulady‘s mini-report (and photo) from Mallahan’s party at Fado downtown:

Joe Mallahan celebrated at Fado as the early ballot counts put him in second place, a fraction of a point ahead of incumbent Mayor Greg Nickels. “His slur campaign hurt him more than it hurt me,” said Mallahan.”We just pointed out that he is a bad manager, and I am a good manager. He has got to go. I look forward to reaching out. I am pro-union and I am pro-business.

ADDED 11:56 PM: Also from Kathy, snapshots – that photo and the following words – from City Councilmember Jan Drago‘s election-night party; her mayoral bid has faltered, with 8 percent of the vote, placing her in fifth at this point (James Donaldson is fourth):

Jan Drago’s gathering at McCoy’s Firehouse bar and grill in Pioneer Square was low-key, warm and congenial as she thanked supporters and handed out copies of her richly detailed “Blueprint for Seattle.”

“I hope the next mayor of Seattle, whoever that is, will use it, refer to it,” said Drago.

“I’ll save it,” said Peter Steinbrueck, who was standing nearby. The former city councilmember is often mentioned as a mayor candidate.

ADDED 11:59 PM: Kathy also visited the Nickels event:

“It’s too close to call, there are still a lot of ballots to be counted,” Mayor Greg Nickels told the media and supporters gathered at the United Food and Commercial Workers hall in Georgetown.

Nickels, his family, and his closest advisors stayed in a back room until after the first results were announced. In a choreographed move, supporters stepped behind the podium holding Greg Nickels signs about five minutes before Nickels came into the room.

Among the people waiting for Nickels to appear were former spokesperson Marianne Bichsel, spokesperson Marty McOmber, Transportation Director Grace Crunican and Fleets and Facilities Director Brenda Bauer.

“We don’t know yet who will be our opponent, but we are confident that we will move on to the general election,” said Nickels.

“It will be a new ball game, it will be one-on-one, head-to-head,” said Nickels, who faced seven challengers.

Nickels said the next eleven weeks, leading up to the general election will be about more than pot shots and false accusations.

“We will ask who has the maturity, and the experience and the track record to put our values into action,” he said.

(added 9:31 pm, Position 4 candidate Dorsol Plants of Highland Park, at Dow Constantine’s party)
Position 4 results here, with Sally Bagshaw in first, David Bloom a distant second.

Position 6 and 8 results here. For 6, Nick Licata is leading, ahead of Jessie Israel; for 8, it’s Mike O’Brien followed by Robert Rosencrantz.

9:14 PM UPDATE: Dorsol Plants, West Seattle-residing candidate for Position 4, just stopped by our table at the Dow Constantine party. He’s not in the top 2 so far but is in “great spirits.” We’ll add a picture shortly.

In all of these races, the top two advance to the general election.

(photo of Max Vekich at Dow Constantine’s party, added 9:49 pm)
Port Commission: Latest results here. For Position 3, it’s Rob Holland followed by David Doud; for Position 4, it’s Tom Albro followed by Max Vekich.

For North Highline South Annexation – “Yes” is way ahead, 59 percent to 41 percent; latest results here.

9:45 PM UPDATE: Your editor here is still at the Constantine party, where we just talked to Max Vekich, who is a West Seattleite. He says his top issue for the general-election campaign is “reform.”

Here are the latest results. The bag fee is losing, 41 percent to 58 percent.

Just putting in another pitch. Mail your ballot ASAP, or get it in a dropbox by 8 pm. We’re on the road right now checking to see who’s waving signs during the evening rush hour. Team WSB also will be out and about tonight at Election Night parties as well as publishing results updates here (and tracking the annexation vote at White Center Now). If you’re at an Election Night party, we invite you to send photos – to editor@westseattleblog.com or, via Twitter to @westseattleblog (or Facebook, where we’re at facebook.com/westseattleblog). 6:25 PM UPDATE: No sign-wavers to be found in the 5-5:40 pm vicinity when we checked 35th/Fauntleroy, the Fauntleroy walkover, Admiral. Guess this morning’s sightings will have to do.

Really, it’s that important. All of our local governments have declared themselves to be in deep money trouble and have to make major decisions regarding how to spend what they have – the folks you vote for today will be making more big decisions when the winners are sworn in early next year. And if you’ve got a voting question, King County Elections has answers – in an earlier comment thread, it was asked if you can just put your ballot in the outgoing mail today – Barnaby at KC Elections’ Media Hotline told us, “If a postal worker picks up your ballot today, it will be postmarked today.” (And remember the dropboxes, till 8 pm.) If you never got a ballot, call 206-296-VOTE, ASAP. More info here. First vote count should be announced shortly after 8 pm, and we’ll track results here, as well as roving to some of the election-night parties.

With today being the first major all-mail election in King County, we wondered if the tradition of candidates and supporters waving signs during “rush hour” would go on anyway … it did. Here’s what and who we found in the 35th/Fauntleroy area on the way to The Bridge – King County Executive candidate (and King County Council Chair) Dow Constantine above, these two groups below (none of whom contacted us, by the way – we just went out looking):

The Fauntleroy walkover bridge had two volunteers with Constantine signs – didn’t get a photo. If you have photos of other sign-wavers in West Seattle this morning, editor@westseattleblog.com – we’ll be out looking when the afternoon commute gets close too. Remember, make sure your ballot gets postmarked today, OR take it to a dropbox by 8 pm tonight (locations listed here).

30 hours to go till the vote-counting begins. We have profiled candidates, covered forums and endorsement meetings, and now it’s in your hands – if you haven’t voted already, get your ballot in the mail or into a dropbox (no stamp needed for that option!) – there’s still time to prove the “low turnout” predictions wrong. Our pre-election coverage is all archived here, with contributors including veteran West Seattle-based journalists Kathy Mulady and Jack Mayne. Kathy looked into the latest campaign-spending information, with a West Seattle hook, to bring you this report:

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

West Seattle residents have already contributed nearly $121,000 to an election season that is shaping up to be one of the most expensive ever.

So far, candidates for mayor, city council, and city attorney have raised $2.4 million and spent $1.9 million.

Mayor Greg Nickels and challengers for his office have already spent more than $1 million, according to the Seattle Ethics and Elections website.

Read More

With 8 pm tomorrow your deadline for voting in King County’s first-ever all-mail primary, we have been wrapping up our close-up looks at candidates in races including the three Seattle City Council contests you’ll find on the primary ballot. Bobby Forch is the final council candidate in this series. Previous stories are in the WSB Politics archive.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Bobby Forch is running for Seattle City Council Position 4 with knowledge of city government from the other side – as a manager for the City of Seattle, specifically a strategic adviser in SDOT.

Forch, a 53-year-old Central District resident, says, “I am running because I believe the Seattle City Council can do more to turn around our economy while supporting the values we believe in as a city.”

He’s one of six candidates running for Position 8, held for more than a decade by Councilmember Richard McIver, who decided not to run again.

Read More

With more than 80 percent of the primary-election ballots yet to be returned, per King County’s daily updates, it looks like many voters are going down to the wire. WSB candidate-closeup coverage is concluding with last looks at the Seattle mayoral challengers (we interviewed the incumbent earlier in the campaign). We sent them five questions, 4 geared to West Seattle.

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Mayoral candidate Jan Drago knows what she is getting into. She has served on the Seattle City Council for 15 years, and worked on complex issues such as downtown and South Lake Union revitalization, transportation and economic development.

She’ll probably be remembered most for her push to build off-leash dog parks throughout the city.

Drago is firmly in favor of replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bored tunnel.

Read More

With more than 80 percent of the primary-election ballots yet to be returned, per King County’s daily updates, it looks like many voters are going down to the wire. WSB candidate-closeup coverage is concluding with last looks at the Seattle mayoral challengers (we interviewed the incumbent earlier in the campaign). We sent them five questions, 4 geared to West Seattle.

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

James Donaldson’s campaign for mayor plays off his three years as a center for the Seattle Sonics basketball team. He talks about teamwork, and about being the big man who can help the little guy.

Donaldson jumped into the election year as a candidate for City Council, then after a couple of months, made the switch to mayor. His main focus has been helping small business owners like himself, who are overburdened by the cost of doing business in Seattle.

Donaldson owns a string of physical therapy and fitness businesses, but said he had to close the Seattle office when it became too expensive to do business in the city.

Read More