West Seattle, Washington
28 Monday
The first results have just been posted (find the link here), from mail-in ballots counted today. Meantime, just noticed King County – which is really getting out ahead in the online game, with County Executive Ron Sims‘ blog and Twitter feed among other things – has an election-night blog. We’ll watch it as well as the basic numbers. (If you’re in the 11th Legislative District area of White Center, we’re tracking that at White Center Now.) 10:27 PM UPDATE: King County has just posted its second batch of updated results – follow the links to see the latest. Countywide, looks like I-26 will pass, meaning another vote in November. 2:41 AM UPDATE: No more results till the next count late Wednesday afternoon. No surprises that we’ve seen except that Public Lands Commissioner might be a hot state race in November – incumbent Doug Sutherland (R) is less than a percentage point ahead of challenger Peter Goldmark (D) so far.
DIRECT RESULTS LINKS:
Governor (statewide here; King County here)
State Superintendent of Public Instruction (statewide here, King County here)
State Public Lands Commissioner (statewide here, King County here)
King Co. Initiative 26 (whether to have a November vote on making certain county offices nonpartisan)
7th Congressional District
34th Legislative District (all three positions)
One more reminder, it’s Primary Election Day – with Top Two voting in the contested races. According to County Executive Ron Sims’ Twitter feed, they’re now projecting 40% voter turnout. Complete county election info here; we’ll post about the results here tonight.
For the first time in four years, the Seattle Port Commission and Seattle City Council are sitting down together – it’s happening right now and you can watch live via the Seattle Channel (online, or cable channel 21). We’ve been told City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen plans to bring up the proposal he backs to keep the “low bridge” from routinely opening during rush hours — since Port of Seattle management is on record as opposing it.
(photo by Dina Johnson)
If you still think the primary election – next Tuesday, or maybe you’ve voted by mail already – is a snoozer, last night’s 34th District Democrats 
meeting would have cured you of that notion. With sometimes-raucous debate and questioning, our area’s largest political organization settled on some endorsements and budgeting decisions, looking ahead to both the primary and general elections. Five of West Seattle’s own elected officials were there, along with one of the most controversial statewide politicians running for re-election, and a city leader – read on to say what was said, decided, and revealed, including their recommendation on the primary’s most convoluted ballot measure:Read More
TONIGHT: 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting, with guests including City Council President Richard Conlin and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, plus a jail-sites-fight update from Highland Park Action Council, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
TONIGHT: “Project Runway” week 5 and Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne is still in the running, so that means another viewing party at Ginomai (42nd and Genesee). Doors open 8 pm, show at 9 pm.
TOMORROW: West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk, 6-9 pm. More than 30 venues – and not all in The Junction! – get the map and find out about some of the artists, at the official Art Walk blog (here’s a direct link to the map).
We’ll spotlight some of the Friday and Saturday events later today – Saturday in particular has some mega-events, such as Picnic at the Precinct and the High Point Neighborhood Center groundbreaking – in the meantime, you can check the WSB Events calendar list for dozens of happenings in the days/weeks/months ahead.
If you vote by mail, you may have cast your ballot already. If you’re old-fashioned in-person voters like us, 12 days till polling places throw open their doors for the August 19th primary. Here’s all the ballot info you could possibly want; we also included some highlights in this WSB update a few weeks ago. (If you’re not registered, it’s too late for the primary, but you can follow the links on that same page to get signed up in time for the November 4th general election.) Meanwhile, West Seattle’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, reminds us that tomorrow night is their biggest fundraiser of the year — the Garden Party and Auction, 6 pm @ West Seattle Nursery. And if you feel like talking politics right now, the never-dull 2008 Elections section of the WSB Forums has a provocative topic in progress: “Why vote?”
We reported here late Friday night that Mayor Nickels was expected to announce this week that Alki will indeed have a “Car-Free Day” before summer’s out (a source told us it’ll be September 7th). And now it’s confirmed that the mayor is making an announcement at Alki tomorrow morning, though it’s described only as an event where he “will announce the dates and the streets chosen for the city’s Car-Free Days. As part of the city’s ‘Give Your Car the Summer Off’ campaign to combat global warming, selected roadways will be open to only pedestrians and bicyclists on designated summer Sundays.” We’ll be there to bring you the official word as soon as it’s announced.
Here’s the official news release from the council – the fee kicks in next January (added late afternoon, the mayor’s news release, after the council’s version):Read More
Tomorrow afternoon at its 2 pm meeting, the City Council is expected to vote on the bag-fee and foam-ban proposal — you can read the full details here. If it’s approved as currently written, it’ll kick in the first of next year, and you’ll pay 20 cents for every nonreusable shopping bag you get at the store. So you may be in the market for reusable bags if you don’t have them already. No shortage of places to buy them – got one to recommend? (In addition to every supermarket imaginable, we know of at least two other places: WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits sells Envirosax for $9.50; PB&J Textiles told us a few months back about bags they were selling for $4 at the time – haven’t checked lately if the price/availability has changed.)
Given the fact some burglars seem to case their potential targets first by knocking on doors, the level of jumpiness is understandable, and when we get advance word of a legit door-to-door campaign, we want to share it. Like this one:Read More
Near the expected southern end of the future West Seattle RapidRide bus route, we caught up this morning with a city delegation including Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen and Jan Drago (at right, with various SDOT and council administration staff, two of whom live in West Seattle, as does Rasmussen). Our last major update on RapidRide came from a briefing presented to the city council last month (WSB coverage here); as a bus service to be provided by Metro, RapidRide is a county operation, but city leaders are trying to keep close watch on the plans. As Drago — who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee — put it, “This is the first of three (RapidRide routes) in the city and we want to make sure it’s done right – it’ll set a precedent for a long time to come” During that briefing in June, she had expressed a lot of concern that RR wouldn’t really live up to the “rapid” in “bus rapid transit” because it will still have a fair number of stops; this morning, Drago told WSB her concern about that has lessened a bit, because there are far fewer stops between Morgan Junction and downtown, than along the southern stretch between MJ and WV. She also said the bus-route tour was eye-opening in one respect: “There’s a lot more development going on over here than I realized.” As we discussed that development — particularly in the booming Triangle area — for a few minutes, Rasmussen noted that he wants to be sure developers are involved in the discussion before the RR design and other aspects are finalized, since so much will be changing in the area in the next few years before RR is scheduled to be ready to go in 2011. Drago said the city is sending Metro a letter with many followup questions regarding this RapidRide route (you can see a map here – the late-spring version that the city delegation was reviewing this morning matched that one except for a few additional stops between the ferry dock and Westwood Village). She also revealed there’s some talk of leasing parking lots – where and whose, we don’t know – to alleviate the parking crunch that’s already been caused by “park-n-hiders” who drive to The Junction and leave their cars in neighborhoods, to catch buses downtown. As for what’s next from the city standpoint, Drago expects her committee to revisit RapidRide late this year or early next. And with that, the delegation re-boarded its van, and headed back to City Hall.
Tomorrow’s the day the Sound Transit board (members listed here) is expected to vote on whether to put a money measure on the November ballot. You can read about the proposal here; it would raise the local sales tax half a cent on the dollar.. West Seattle’s County Councilmember Dow Constantine is on the Sound Transit board; he just sent a news release saying he’ll vote to send it to voters – here’s his statement:Read More
The primary election, that is — August 19th, our state’s first “top two” primary since the court fight shook out. The candidates and ballot measures already are listed online; among the notables you’ll see on your ballot, Seattle’s 7th Congressional District Rep. Jim McDermott (now described on the ballot as “Prefers Democratic Party”) has five challengers (including perennial candidate Goodspaceguy Nelson); Gov. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi are just two of 10 people going for governor; all three of West Seattle’s state legislators (34th District Sen. Joe McDermott and Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson; scroll down this page) are opponentless. On the ballot-measure front, you’ll only face one in August — King County Initiative 26, which seeks a November vote on a proposal to make the county executive, council, and assessor jobs all nonpartisan. If you’re not registered to vote, it’s too late for August unless you’ve never registered in WA before, in which case you have till August 4th (more info here)
Though Mayor Nickels has publicly expressed opposition to sending a new parks levy to Seattle voters before 2010, a majority of City Council members just voted to ask you to vote on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy this November, which is when the current Pro Parks Levy expires – a unanimous vote by all 7 councilmembers (with Sally Clark and Richard McIver absent). The current version, which has undergone a tweak here and a tweak there since the Citizens’ Advisory Committee approved it a few weeks back, totals $145 million over six years, which reportedly will cost the average homeowner about $70 a year. “The reason we’re doing this is is that parks are the affordable place to go in renewing our spirits,” said Council President Richard Conlin. West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the Parks Committee, thanked the many people who took the time to attend public hearings and offer comments, saying, “It’s been a very good public process,” even if it didn’t “take as long as the usual Seattle process” and, in looking ahead to what a new park levy might accomplish, reflected on the excitement that surrounds the opening of a new park – just nine days ago, he was at the dedication of Ercolini Park west of The Junction (below left, with Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher):
Back to the pre-vote speeches: “This is a very deliberative process we’ve gone through (with public hearings and a citizens’ advisory committee),” said Councilmember Tim Burgess. “Some of the greatest public works projects in our country have been done during tough economic times.” Councilmember Nick Licata said, “There’s been some criticism our citizens have become overburdened with levies … (but) this was not created by council alone.” Councilmember Jean Godden said, “Everybody cares about parks … parks touch everyone.” Councilmember Jan Drago said, “I have reservations about placing this on the ballot … because of (a) lack of prioritization, I believe we will have three competing ballot issues,” but she added, “I have decided to let the voters decide.” Councilmember Bruce Harrell said he has “faith” voters will make the right decision after “scrutinizing” everything on the ballot. The council already approved the mayor’s proposal to put a Pike Place Market renovation-money levy on the same ballot, November 4th; the other one to which Drago referred is a likely Sound Transit levy. The mayor could veto the levy, but only six councilmembers’ votes would be needed to override (and as we mentioned, seven voted “yes” today).
On your ballot this November, you’ll find the city levy to raise $73 million over the next six years to fix up the Pike Place Market; the City Council approved it unanimously today. Right now, the council’s Committee of the Whole is discussing the proposed Parks and Green Spaces levy (live via Seattle Channel online or cable channel 21) – a final vote is due before the end of the month; this one’s future is iffier because the mayor doesn’t support sending it to voters this year – if you feel strongly one way or another, you’ll want to contact the mayor and council now (through seattle.gov).
Latest in the process of deciding where the city might build a new jail for misdemeanor offenders – with “final four” potential sites including two in southeastern West Seattle: City Councilmember Sally Clark made this point while speaking to the Delridge District Council last month (WSB coverage here) – the city contends that even if the county extends its jail-space agreement with Seattle and other cities – as the County Council wants to do — that doesn’t stop the city’s jail-planning process. Here’s the news release just issued by the city, in which officials explain why: (ADDED 5:02 PM – following the city news release, we’ve added the one the county just sent, which notes toward the end that the county is currently below once-projected jail population)Read More
Six days after the first city-organized public meeting about the two proposed misdemeanor-jail sites in West Seattle (photo above; complete WSB coverage here), the city sends word of two online updates: “written feedback” and video from the meeting, posted here, and what’s described as “a document describing the public forum format,” posted here (the format itself generated some controversy and complaints during last week’s meeting). The next scheduled city-organized meeting is July 12 at North Seattle Community College and is intended to focus on the Aurora site; WSB coverage of the jail-sites fight, stretching back to first word of the “final four” location list including the two WS sites, is archived here.
-The proposal for King County to reopen talks with cities regarding extending the agreement for jail services – potentially pre-empting the need for the Seattle city jail that might wind up sited in West Seattle – moved out of the county council Committee of the Whole today and goes next to the full council. (Dow Constantine represents you there; here’s how to contact him.)
-We’re watching the Seattle City Council meeting (live on cable 21 or online here) and they’ve just passed the somewhat-controversial Multi-Family Tax Exemption for developers, 7-1 (Licata, no) and a bill on condo conversions, 8-0. Will add links shortly. P.S. The council’s Viaduct briefing is finally about to start (4:05 or so).
-The environmental assessment on the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s South End project – the reason for the upcoming July 15 hearing at Madison Middle School – has just been published online. Find it here.
-If you have something to say about whether a new parks levy should be on this fall’s ballot, and whether what’s in the levy proposal is what you’d want to pay for, another hearing has just been set – July 10 (a week from Thursday), 5:30 pm, City Hall, before the city council’s Parks Committee (chaired by West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen).
The jail forum (much more to come) was tonight’s biggest event but not tonight’s only event. At Youngstown Arts Center, area Democrats gathered to help West Seattle’s three state legislators kick off their re-election campaigns: left to right, it’s State Sen. Joe McDermott, State. Reps. Sharon Nelson and Eileen Cody.
And on the other end of Delridge, at Cafe Rozella, that’s Branden Born and Alon Bassok from the University of Washington, who will be there for the next few Thursday nights to chat with anyone and everyone about how the Delridge and White Center areas could be even more livable, framed in the issues central to the King County Food and Fitness Initiative. (6:30 pm next Thursday, join ’em there!)
Belated report on last night’s monthly meeting of the Delridge District Council, one of two “district councils” in West Seattle (as per the city’s “district” map) – Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle is getting ready for the second year of its program to harvest fruit from residents’ trees; City Councilmember Sally Clark talked about the latest changes in the process for reviewing neighborhood plans (and got to hear about some hot local issues since she arrived early, including the jail-sites fight); details ahead:Read More
That’s longtime Highland Park resident Monica Cavagnaro, talking to the 34th District Democrats last night about how her neighborhood has evolved, and why HP is fighting the inclusion of two nearby sites (map) on the city’s list of four finalists for a potential new city misdemeanor-offender jail. The jail-sites fight was the big item on the 34th Dems’ monthly meeting agenda; more ahead on that, and other items:Read More
You’ll hear about this in citywide media but with so much park land and other city property in West Seattle, it seems important to link here too — Mayor Nickels just announced a proposal “to prohibit firearms on all property owned by the city of Seattle, including parks and community centers,” according to the official city news release; read it here. The announcement says a public hearing is planned, but also notes that City Council approval is not required for the rules the mayor wants to put in place. You can send comments to the mayor’s office here.
Two notes on the fight over whether the city will build a new misdemeanor-offenders jail on one of 2 sites in southeast West Seattle, a site elsewhere in the city, or not at all: First, the mailing list for project info got an update today, noting that the city’s Municipal Jail web section has several new links. We’ve already told you about two of them — a summary of interviews with community leaders before the four “finalist” sites were chosen, and the announcement of upcoming public meetings. The others include: Collections of comments the city already has received online (broken out by day); questions city reps have been asked at meetings including May 20 in Highland Park (no answers yet, those are promised later; here’s the WSB coverage of that meeting); an aerial photo of the King County Regional Justice Center in Kent which the city calls “an example of how a jail can be a good neighbor”; a federal study of crime rates in neighborhoods with jails. Meantime, the next West Seattle meeting to take up the jail issue will be the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting this Wednesday night, 7 pm, The Hall @ Fauntleroy.
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