ELECTION EXTRA: 11 days to vote. 9 candidates on your ballot in Seattle City Council District 1. Take one last look if you’re still deciding.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Back in February, when campaigning for this year’s history-making City Council elections was just stirring to life, we presented a “First Look” forum featuring what were, at the time, four candidates in the race for the new District 1 (West Seattle and South Park).

Two of them are still in the running, with seven more who have since joined. Along the way, five others were in the race for a while. Now, phase one of the numbers game is almost over. Nine candidates are looking for your vote by August 4. When the votes are all counted, two will move on to the November 3rd general election.

Ballots were mailed last week. If you’re a typical voter, yours is still sitting on a table or shelf, unopened. You might be planning to sit down this weekend or next to take some time before voting.

That’s why we decided to bookend our coverage with a “Last Look.” Not another forum – you’ve had plenty of chances to go watch one of those, and if you couldn’t go in person, we’ve videotaped most of them (here’s the one that featured all 9).

Instead of a forum, we sat down with each of the nine candidates, with the goal being a conversation – not all “where do you stand on X?” nor “if you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you would be?”, but something inbetween. We recorded each candidate on video for the entirety of our conversation, and have written a story to go along with each video, including some other links that might help you, if not make up your mind, at least ratify – or re-evaluate – your choice.

The interviews were all done in West Seattle in the past two weeks; thanks to West Seattle Office Junction and Swift Media Solutions for providing quiet conversation spaces.

One candidate told us they don’t get the chance to “be ourselves” enough during the campaign, to show a little personality. This has a little of that. Because they were more conversation than interview, we didn’t ask everyone the same questions – this is not meant as a comparison guide so much as a chance to gut-check your decision/leaning/etc.

Click any candidate’s name (they’re listed in first-name-alphabetical order) to read, watch, listen.

Arturo Robles

Brianna Thomas

Chas Redmond

Jody Rushmer

Karl Wirsing

Lisa Herbold

Pavel Goberman

Phillip Tavel

Shannon Braddock

P.S. There’s been one forum in South Park – we have it on video via our partner site The South Park News.

P.P.S. Remember you’ll also be voting for at-large Positions 8 and 9. Wish we had had time to check in with all of those candidates too. Here’s our coverage of the at-large-candidates forum in nearby Georgetown back in May (with video), which also featured two local School Board candidates.

P.P.P.S. Not registered yet? Hurry! You can still register but you have to do it in person, today OR by 4:30 pm Monday – info on the King County Elections website.

Voting deadline is the evening of August 4th – get your ballots in the mail ASAP or to a van/dropbox by 8 pm that night.

58 Replies to "ELECTION EXTRA: 11 days to vote. 9 candidates on your ballot in Seattle City Council District 1. Take one last look if you're still deciding."

  • workdowntown July 24, 2015 (1:40 pm)

    WOW! What a wonderful service to the voters Tracy! I learned more reading the synopsis on each candidate than I had gathered over the last 6 months. Interesting people, all of them. Will you be endorsing any one in particular? Thanks!

    • WSB July 24, 2015 (2:36 pm)

      WD – Glad to be of service. Nope, no endorsement – we don’t believe news organizations (of any size or type) have any business publishing their own opinion as if it matters more than the reader’s, so we don’t do endorsements, editorials, or reviews. Our job is to try to present as much info as we can round up. And yes, they ARE all interesting people – and we’re glad that all nine agreed to interviews (another belief of mine, all candidates in a race should get consideration, rather than being subjected to artificial “well, we’re only talking to the ones we think have a chance” considerations that are applied sometimes to news coverage, forums, etc.) – TR

  • McBride July 24, 2015 (2:25 pm)

    There’s also a write-in line, in case you think 9 signatures short is an unacceptable reason for not being on the ballot.
    .
    Correct spelling is Amanda Kay Helmick.

  • Kathy July 24, 2015 (3:42 pm)

    I will be writing in Amanda Kay Helmick – she is the best candidate who truly understands the issues that face our community and I think that it’s an absolute shame that her ethical decision to not buy (or allow others to buy) her way onto the ballot and the election board’s ruling that she was 9 signatures short means she was denied a position on the ballot. She still has my vote.

  • Wes C. Addle July 24, 2015 (4:09 pm)

    No offense to those that write in Amanda as I would’ve probably given her my vote, but I think in a close race such as this it may do more harm than good. Kind of like when Nader was stealing votes from Al Gore. I’m leaning Tavel or Redmond myself.

  • Scott July 24, 2015 (4:50 pm)

    Which one of this candidates is against the attack on West Seattle and the bight idea to let developers build buildings with no parking or not having to pay for infrastructure to the road to handle all the extra people. Also road diets. Anyone of this candidates?

  • Peter L. July 24, 2015 (6:17 pm)

    Brianna Thomas: a renter who doesn’t own a car. That gets my vote. Most of the others only seem to want to represent SFH owners. Second choice is Shannon Braddock because she has the support of the business community and and probably has the best sense of how the city interacts with the region.

  • KT July 24, 2015 (7:18 pm)

    Phillip Tavel!

  • JoAnne July 24, 2015 (7:21 pm)

    Tavel!

  • CanDo July 24, 2015 (7:27 pm)

    Thanks WSB. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for and it has already helped me narrow down my choice!

  • RebeccaWS July 24, 2015 (8:08 pm)

    Brianna Thomas for me as well. I’m a renter and rely on public transportation. I like this idea of bridging the divide between people like me and those who already own houses in West Seattle. I want to be your neighbor, I’m not just “density”.

  • Nora July 24, 2015 (9:11 pm)

    Wes, I agree! Tavel is a little further to the left than I care to vote for, and between him and Redmond, Redmond wins, but I don’t think I’d vote against Tavel.

  • Lonnie July 24, 2015 (9:55 pm)

    I think it is ironic that Lisa Herbold would vote yes on Move Seattle even though her boss Lacata proposed a lesser amount with multiple-other means of funding instead of solely by the homeowners. It leads me to believe it would just be more of the same. For that reason I am voting Tavel.

  • Diane July 24, 2015 (11:16 pm)

    Lonnie, if you listen to the video of Lisa that was so generously provided by wsblog, you would hear Lisa’s explanation of why she would vote yes on Move Seattle even though she agreed with Licata’s proposal for multiple alternate funding sources; that alternative was shot down, which often happens with our current way too conservative city council; we need 5 progressive votes to get anything good passed; vote for Lisa and we will finally get the opportunity for more progressive taxes; listen to the video; wsblog put a LOT of time/effort into providing these videos

  • Diane July 24, 2015 (11:25 pm)

    Peter L.; it’s a bit baffling to see your 2 choices; VERY different; Brianna Thomas is awesome, progressive, incredible advocate for equity; she will stand up for the working poor and all of us who need affordable housing; Shannon Braddock, not so much, pretty much the opposite
    ~
    there are several excellent candidates; Lisa Herbold, Chas Redmond, Phil Tavel, and Brianna Thomas

  • Diane July 24, 2015 (11:33 pm)

    agree with Wes C. Addle; Amanda knows I adore her; I collected signatures for her; and it totally sucks that her campaign came up just 9 signatures short; but we have a big spread now among 9 candidates, several are progressive and bold and would really advocate for everyone in WS/SP; one who is predicted to be in the top two (and a highly financed campaign) not so much; every vote is vital; our lives are at stake here with who we vote into office

  • Diane July 24, 2015 (11:37 pm)

    fyi, Peter L.; Phil Tavel is a renter; so he’s clearly not out to only “represent SFH owners”

  • Diane July 24, 2015 (11:51 pm)

    Brianna Thomas is brilliant; this is so true re housing development right now; “we’re “building a turnstile” because the buildings are mostly studios and one-bedrooms.”
    ~
    all those thousands of apts being built; very few 2-bedrooms; nearly zero 3-bedrooms; and the studios (which they often call “open-1-bedrooms” are miniscule; for most, it’s temp housing; and/or there’s nothing bigger to evolve into when singles get hitched and have babies; as Brianna said so awesomely in one of the forums, “try living with a baby in an apodment”

  • Diane July 24, 2015 (11:59 pm)

    I totally agree with Lisa’s statement near end of her video interview; I wish there was WAY MORE discussion during the campaign about displacement of renters; there’s been lots of talk about growth and development and all the new apts, but very little talk about the 100’s of renters who have been kicked out of their long-term affordable apts, because they were demolished, in order to build all the new fancy expensive apts; where have all the renters gone? does anyone even care? how can we stop the rampant economic eviction of tenants? we need to care about all our neighbors, including those who are being forced out of their homes, and out of West Seattle

  • AmandaKH July 25, 2015 (12:28 am)

    Thank you McBride and Kathy, Diane and Wes. I can’t help but chime in here. I take issue with this idea that the only way you can advocate and help West Seattle is to be elected to office. In the past 3 months since not getting onto the ballot, I have been busy:
    *
    WWRHAH commented on the 2035 Comp Plan -This is crucial to not only transportation, but also affordable housing in the one Urban Village the City has completely ignored for the past 20 years.
    *
    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pblrwsi2dponieq/AAConIG3neiqy__ZA9v7igEda?dl=0
    *
    WSTC was able to advocate for – and get – Tom Rasmussen and the Mayor to create something called the West Seattle Transportation Corridor. This will be an active stakeholder group looking for solutions to our egress/ingress issues – not tied to ST3.
    *
    As Budget Committee Chair of the CNC – I have delved very deeply into Move Seattle and have tasked the City for a breakdown of the spending per district. I have championed Participatory Budgeting and been advocating for the Delridge district to be part of the pilot.
    *
    http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/07/08/22508806/kids-will-decide-how-to-spend-500000-of-next-years-city-budget
    *
    I helped the Delridge Triangle neighborhood find a voice and brought DPD, SPD and the neighbors together to find solutions to very serious crime problems in their area. Which had action taken just Yesterday!
    *
    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/06/all-we-can-promise-you-is-effort-neighbors-police-other-city-reps-talk-south-delridge-troubles-wwrhah/
    *
    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/07/what-seattle-police-swat-officers-are-doing-in-south-delridge/
    *
    While you have 9 candidates campaigning – raising money, filling out endorsements, and door belling – I have spent my time making progress advocating for the Peninsula. To imply that a write in vote for me would jeopardize your very life is dramatic to say the least. Do you want hyperbole – or do you want action?

  • Diane July 25, 2015 (2:18 am)

    not “dramatic”; it is true that city council-members are empowered to make decisions that impact our lives, as they have; the current mess we’re in with 1000’s of renters forced out of their homes all over Seattle, moved out of our city because they can no longer afford to live here, demolishing affordable housing, many of the displaced now homeless, and many homeless die; this mess is largely of result of actions and non-actions by our city councilmembers who have the power to make choices that impact our lives; the most negative result of impacts from their choices, people have died; I don’t want to see anymore of our residents dumped to the curb and left with no alternatives; that is current state of affairs for far too many in our city; we need bold leadership at city council to make sure every person in this city has a safe place to live; which, yes, can very well be life or death

  • M July 25, 2015 (6:58 am)

    All the candidates seem so similar. Would have liked to see a candidate that has a little more business and economic experience.

  • AmandaKH July 25, 2015 (7:29 am)

    Right Diane, exactly. And Lisa Herbold has been in City Hall for 17 years. So the “current mess” we are in, she’s seen it happen right under her very nose.

  • John July 25, 2015 (8:24 am)

    Although I often disagree with Diane on housing policy, she raises some great points about displacement.
    Any time the discussion gets down to gutter homelessness and death on the streets, it is obvious that we need to provide more housing for those most in need.
    Community support for more DESC housing, the one organization that is directed at those specific at-risk homeless, is what Seattle needs.

    Also, Diane should be commended (again) for raising the issue of AirB&B. It is quite alarming that some private residents are making huge profits by moving their units from the housing market to the lucrative and so far uncontrolled tourist and visitor housing. And there are now literally hundreds of people being denied housing because of this. And the popularity grows by the day.
    New codes should be developed to address this skyrocketing issue as other cities have already done. AirB&B will raise other interesting challenges if rent control is passed. What would stop renters from turning their low rent units into cash cows of AirB&B?

  • Marcee July 25, 2015 (9:00 am)

    Oh please, Amanda. Nobody here is saying that the only way to serve WS is to be elected to office. You didn’t collect enough signatures to get on the ballot. You took a principled stand against paying the filing fee to get on the ballot. So now you’re not on the ballot! Get over it. This is a close race and there are real differences between the candidates. Instead of singing your own praises here and trying to act as a spoiler, why don’t you assess the candidates that actually have a chance of winning?

  • JC July 25, 2015 (9:42 am)

    Scott,

    Watch the video or at least read the summary for Jody Rushmer. He is openly opposed to the road-diet proposals and very critical of laws that allow new buildings with no new parking spaces. He appears to be the only candidate that is frustrated with this city’s war on cars. I think if every resident of district 1 watched his video, he would win in a land slide. I want a candidate that understands cars are necessary and that upzoning will kill our neighborhood. Rushmer has my vote. Thank you to the West Seattle Blog for doing such a wonderful overview of the candidates. I was not familiar with Jody Rushmer before this posting, in fact I hadn’t even heard of him. I was leaning toward Tavel or Redmond since I like the idea of a non-insider, non-politician but found that Rushmer offers this benefit while better representing my concerns for traffic and zoning.

  • AceMotel July 25, 2015 (10:57 am)

    Thank you for posting this! It’s SO helpful. WE were all strong Herbold supporters, but in this household, most of us have changed our vote based on these write ups. WE are against the 900 million $ transportation levy, especially administered by SDOT. AS a result we are voting either Redmond or Tavel.

  • AceMotel July 25, 2015 (10:59 am)

    what Marcee said. Really.

  • Peter L. July 25, 2015 (11:07 am)

    Diane, I don’t think they’re opposites, just incomplete. I don’t feel that there any true urbanists in this race who reflect my personal views, but I think Thomas and Braddock are the best options regardless of where they fall on the spectrum. Tavel just doesn’t appeal me for several reasons, and being a repeat candidate for whatever office is open in any election is also turnoff.

  • DW July 25, 2015 (11:17 am)

    Why is it alarming that people are using Airbnb? I don’t see any connection between people choosing to make income of their privately owned residence and the lack of housing supply? Are we seriously suggesting that housing simply be given away?

    It’s a free market, pure and simple and the fact is that homeowners are choosing the technologically innovative solution that earns them additional income. It’s a fine alternative to rent control — imagine not being able to do what you want with your property because a municipal government has put artificial limits on you.

    I’m not blind to the current crisis, but feel that more creative solutions can be found that are alternatives to the city putting limits on economic growth and technology innovations.

  • G July 25, 2015 (2:59 pm)

    AirBnB is NOT soaking up affordable rentals in Seattle and contributing to the lack of affordable housing. These are private residences and people use the income to to help pay mortgages, etc. Most have no intention of being F/T landlords, like myself who have a house available for part of the year. Let’s live and let live, and come up with real solutions.

  • Diane July 25, 2015 (3:51 pm)

    wow John; I’m slightly shocked, and very pleased; thank you; really appreciate you also voicing concerns re displacement and Airbnb

  • devrim July 25, 2015 (4:19 pm)

    Amanda Kay Helmick, chair of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, may not be on the ballot but should DEFINITELY be written in. She’s done a ton of volunteer work, made it local, kept it local for all of our neighbors and friends. I seriously hope people will consider writing her in on the ballot.

    (this was copied from a West Seattle Blog write up of Helmick when she was working to get on the ballot)

    “Helmick co-founded the West Seattle Transportation Coalition, which launched in September 2013 as the WS Transit Coalition and expanded its focus weeks later while emerging as an early voice against proposed Metro cuts.

    Helmick also represents Delridge on the City Neighborhood Council, which she says needs to be strengthened and empowered. She is an eight-year West Seattleite whose full bio is on her newly launched website. From her official announcement:”

    “We have multiple and disconnected plans, and no one in the city is talking about how these plans overlay and affect the people of Seattle,” Helmick said of the city’s current transportation and land use initiatives. “I want to empower the under-served communities of West Seattle and South Park and give them a voice in these plans.”

    http://kuow.org/post/live-west-seattle-week-review-kicks-summer-tour

    Articles that are posted on WSB:

    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/04/photos-wall-to-wall-westwood-transit-hub-and-vicinity-tour-the-sequel/

    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/05/followup-final-results-of-amanda-kay-helmicks-city-council-district-1-signature-effort-9-names-short/

    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/02/for-your-west-seattle-thursday-night-first-look-at-city-council-hopefuls-design-review-board-looks-at-2-projects/

    https://westseattleblog.com/2014/02/west-seattle-transportation-coalition-why-theyre-backing-potential-ballot-measure-with-caveats-other-hot-topics/

    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/05/election-2015-city-council-district-1-candidates-forum-tonight-helmick-signature-challenge-update/

    https://westseattleblog.com/2014/11/southwest-district-council-report-1-rapidride-junction-reroute-yes-suggest-attendees-but-not-the-one-the-citys-proposing/

  • Diane July 25, 2015 (4:42 pm)

    Airbnb is definitely contributing to significant loss of affordable housing; there used to be many MIL units available for renters; I lived in one 8 yrs ago; almost none of these are available to Seattle residents anymore, because of some owners who have learned they can get QUADRUPLE their profits by leasing out via the borderline illegal Airbnb; that displaces renters from local affordable housing; Lisa has heard while out door-knocking, personal stories from older long-term renters who were sharing homes, being evicted, with no place to go, so the owner could get 4 times the income by leasing the home at very high nightly or weekly rates via borderline illegal Airbnb; every time I mention the Airbnb displacement of renters to friends or someone at the bus stop or wherever I go in Seattle, I hear “yes, I know someone doing that”; there’s no way to know how significant this particular loss of affordable housing, because it’s all underground/off-the-books, but it is HUGE; if the city and citizens remain in denial that this problem exists, it’s very likely more affordable Seattle rentals will disappear
    ~
    fyi, just a quick search through Seattle Airbnb; the average studio or 1 bedroom, going for $100+ per night; 2 night minimum; and mostly apts; all comments from tourists/visitors to Seattle
    ~
    not only does that remove affordable housing stock; it drives up rents
    ~
    AND, are any of these lodging rentals paying lodging taxes to city of Seattle? nope

  • Diane July 25, 2015 (4:54 pm)

    here is a perfect example of affordable rental housing removed from the market, right here in West Seattle, in Delridge; a “quaint 1940s” one-bedroom cottage in North Delridge; perhaps it used to be affordable rental for local Seattle residents; or it certainly could be; but no; this is renting as “lodging” via Airbnb for $120 per night, or a “discounted” $750 per week
    ~
    https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7239217?s=s5zF

  • ChefJoe July 25, 2015 (6:14 pm)

    These are much more informative than the voter’s pamphlet. Unfortunately, by reading that my desire for a candidate who is against the arena in sodo (for which a street vacation is still being pushed towards a council vote in a month or two) and actually mentions being for a bike license fee is Alex Tsimerman…. and he’s even more crazy/out there than goodspaceguy.

  • Kimmy July 25, 2015 (6:20 pm)

    Not anyone who has spent decades in politics already, who politics with “community involvement” to build their brand, not someone who sent a ton of mailers with lovely photos and PR-approved language.
    .
    Shout out to Jody for stopping by our house on a hot day, wonderfully kind, wonderfully not a big money or politically connected candidate. Good luck, you have our support!
    .
    AirBnB is awesome.

  • datadeficit July 25, 2015 (7:40 pm)

    Diane,

    I 2010 and 2011, I was an AirBnB host. It was weird to rent a room out. But it kept me from defaulting on my mortgage. During that time, I sent out 209 job resumes. Not one response. AirBnB kept me from bleeding out. So the city will initiate a tax for hosts. And I declared all income. You make rash generalizations. I understand you are desperate, seemingly. But do not think you have it all dialed in. You do not and you are a weird kind of self-righteous. I did not expect help. I powered through very hard times by being resourceful. You have no way of knowing current AirBnB hosts’ predicaments….at all.

    You pull a reasonable price for rent from two years ago. You need to look at national rental data. It is similarly rising around the country. Know your data. Local anecdotes are irrelevant at a certain level of discourse about development and housing when developers (via council members AND their staff) were greeted and given the run of the house.

    Too late. It will never go back. Ever. The decision makers made certain of it.

  • ChefJoe July 25, 2015 (9:08 pm)

    This afternoon I listened through the 34th dist democrats lightning round answers posted previously, specifically because I wanted to hear about candidates views on the SoDo arena plan (Tavel was endorsed by the Seattle times partly for being against the sodo arena but I had no idea where he’s stated that as it’s not in mailers or the voter’s pamphlet or the KCDem questionaire here). Turns out Tavel’s No was a “not liking SoDo dictated to us” waffle, Chas was a No, and Lisa was a Waffle saying she wanted a multi-use facility (maybe more multi-use than concerts, NHL, and NBA?). I wrote down the responses to all the questions as I went.

    The lightning round answers from that meeting follow –
    https://westseattleblog.com/2015/04/video-city-council-district-1-candidates-forum-34th-district-democrats-and-more/

    starts 17 min into video
    *Do you support homeless encampments in residential communities?
    SBrad- ?, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- N, BThom- Y

    *Will you vote for $900 million transportation levy?
    SBrad- W, CRedm – W, LHerb- Y, PTav- w, BThom- Y

    *If you lived in North Highline, would you vote for annexation to Seattle?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- W, BThom- Y

    *Do you support mayoral appointment of school-board members?
    SBrad- N, CRedm – N, LHerb- N, PTav- N, BThom- W

    *Should Myers wetland be preserved?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- Y, BThom- W

    *Do you support linkage fees for affordable housing and transit?
    SBrad- W, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- N, BThom- Y

    *Do you support having bicyclists pay registration fee for bicycles and have number visible at all times?
    SBrad- N, CRedm – W, LHerb- W, PTav- N, BThom- W

    starts at 43:38 in
    Would you support city building a hospital in West Seattle?
    SBrad- W, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- Y, BThom- Y

    Would you support the city requiring developers to pay a user fee?
    SBrad- W, CRedm – Y, LHerb- W, PTav- W, BThom- W

    Would you support creating public utility for Internet, similar to City Light?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – Y, LHerb- W, PTav- Y, BThom- Y

    Will you work to implement mandatory inclusionary zoning?
    SBrad- W, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- N, BThom- Y

    Do you oppose elephants at Woodland Park Zoo being sent to another zoo?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – Y, LHerb- W, PTav- Y, BThom- W

    Do you support a third sports facility being built in SODO?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – N, LHerb- W – requires facb be multi-use, PTav- W – not SoDo, BThom- Y

    Are you a member of your community council?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- Y, BThom- N

    Do you support building apartments or condos in the district that do not have offstreet parking?
    SBrad- W, CRedm – W, LHerb- W, PTav- W, BThom- W

    Will the next generation be able to fish and swim in the Duwamish?
    SBrad- Y, CRedm – Y, LHerb- Y, PTav- Y, BThom- W – hopes so

  • AceMotel July 26, 2015 (12:19 am)

    @ChefJoe, thanks for that. WAY WAY too many Ws. Do you support building apartments or condos in the district that do not have offstreet parking? They all W? WTH. It’s not that hard a question.

    @Diane, there are hundreds of airbnb places in West Seattle. Why do you want to call out one poor family, without presumably knowing anything about their circumstances (they could be on the verge of bankruptcy FGS); it’s unnecessary and frankly unprincipled. You have made your point a million times without resorting to that.

  • John July 26, 2015 (7:51 am)

    @AceMotel,
    Diane used the AirB&B example of a small house being removed from the residential market in a manner that has never before existed. It was not about who owns the house.
    In this case, it appears the owners moved to a second home and converted their former residence to a AirB&B. I gather this from the King County Records as I have no knowledge about what AceMotel calls this “one poor family.”
    The fact remains that in the last half dozen years, AirB&B has removed units of housing from the residential stock at heretofore unforeseen numbers.
    Just last week the Seattle Times Magazine featured a modern new Alki home built for a couple who intentionally built a ‘mother -in-law’ which they reported being booked out months in advance at $250 per night.
    There are now literally hundreds of AirB&B rentals in West Seattle with more added every day.

    • WSB July 26, 2015 (8:49 am)

      215, to be specific, if you go to the site and put in “West Seattle.”

  • AceMotel July 26, 2015 (8:54 am)

    Yes, I understand all that. I read ALL of Diane’s posts, and you said exactly the same thing she did. My point still stands.

  • ChefJoe July 26, 2015 (10:21 am)

    AceMotel, for the W’s they had up to 10 seconds to explain why, I just didn’t try to record those. For the parking question, they all were saying “depends where in the district” with Braddock even adding “depends on the neighboring developments and their situation too”. Shannon’s answer sounds helpful, but squishy rules with multiple building projects in an area could be problematic. Pavel, Jody, Arturo, and Karl weren’t in that panel so they may have differing/non-“waffle” answers…. Jody seemed pretty fired up about parking in his WSB interview.

  • dcn July 26, 2015 (2:58 pm)

    I found the videos to be very enlightening. After watching them all, I’m leaning towards Redmond. He seemed to have a good grasp of the issues and the workings of the city. He strikes me as a keen and critical (in a good way) observer of the people who currently run the city.
    .
    He didn’t waffle on the transportation levy (ChefJoe had him for a W on that, maybe due to the 10 second thing). He said he’ll vote no because he’d like to see the city re-tool it and make it better. I agree with that. I also like his views regarding the HALA recommendations for growth.
    .
    Anyone else have insights/opinions on the candidates (not AirBnB)?

  • ChefJoe July 26, 2015 (4:50 pm)

    dcn, I put in a W because he held up the waffle sign in that April lighting round, but his statements at the time were that he’d like to tweak it for West Seattle before voting yes. He might have changed into realizing he needs to vote No, first, if he wants to modify it in significant ways.

    I’m leaning towards Chas myself, although part of that is because I’ve not really done much research into the 4 candidates who weren’t in that April forum. 3 of those 4 haven’t filled out any questionnaires/provided them to Tracy, so that’s going to make me eliminate them from consideration.

    • WSB July 26, 2015 (5:13 pm)

      Just a clarification since you mention the questionnaires … No one “provided” any to us and we didn’t ask. The links are included because, while looking around for resources (post-interviews) to put together the stories in which to embed the videos, I found some candidate questionnaires indexed on Google, and some via recall, such as, the Chamber’s announcement of questionnaire responses, and the 34th District Democrats’ uploads of the King County Democrat questionnaire responses). Certainly what we found only represents a fraction of the questionnaires that candidates are asked to respond to – take a look at the link we included from Chas Redmond (again, not provided nor requested; it’s something I found via Google), where he uploaded the responses to *all* the questionnaires he answered. I looked at a lot of sites and search terms to find the ones we did link to … they’re not the only questionnaires you’ll find out there, but they were a ‘sampling’ as I titled the mini-lists. And, as described on the pages, I did not find any questionnaire responses for a few of the candidates. (If any of those candidates DID respond to any questionnaires, they are welcome to send us the links – Google of course is not infallible) … TR

  • Mark Schletty July 26, 2015 (7:35 pm)

    I am of the opinion that Tavel and Redmond are the best choices for those of us who want to preserve the livabilty of our neighborhoods. Herbold and Braddock are the worst choices. They area part of the faction that is trying to force upon us high density, no parking developments and traffic strangling road lane reductions on busy arterial streets to provide bicycle lanes for the very few.

  • wb July 26, 2015 (8:34 pm)

    if you do vote, be aware that others can easily look up your address, your age, and the last time you voted. I can’t afford this, so i have stopped voting altogether. I give support directly to the candidate.

    Look yourself up http://www.soundpolitics.com/voterlookup.html

    • WSB July 26, 2015 (9:00 pm)

      WB, I’m sorry that you had to make that decision, as we need more people, especially more informed people, to be making choices in elections and if privacy is your only concern, I hope you realize there are myriad other ways everyone’s personal information is catalogued and searchable online (property ownership, legal records among them), let alone the ways people voluntarily give up all that information these days. We have always been fans of some semblance of online privacy (which is why we don’t require real-name sign-ins) but we are on the losing side of that one – millions are voluntarily opting into social-media services that even require home addresses and credit cards, and are or will be selling their participant info to advertisers (something else we aren’t involved in)! Anyway, side note re: the Sound Politics link, they haven’t updated their parsing of the state’s public database in three years (note the top of the page), so it’s not an accurate record of the last time anyone voted, nor does it show people who are newer voters. – TR

  • Ivan July 27, 2015 (11:38 am)

    If this comment violates WSB’s community standards, I hope Tracy will remove it, but I cannot let Mark Schletty’s apparently willful misrepresentation of Lisa Herbold’s positions on density go unchallenged.

    Lisa is absolutely NOT “part of the faction that is trying to force upon us high density, no parking developments and traffic strangling road lane reductions on busy arterial streets to provide bicycle lanes for the very few.” Her positions are exactly the opposite.

    Braddock or her supporters can speak for themselves. If this is the kind of behavior foisted by downtown on West Seattle that you think should cease, Lisa Herbold, more than any candidate in this race, will help accomplish that.

    I won’t try to speculate on Mr. Schletty’s motivations, but his statements about Lisa’s positions are demonstrably false, every word of them.

  • houndsforhandlers July 27, 2015 (11:31 pm)

    I think what he meant, Ivan, was they are the two endorsed by 34th District Dems. They have more $$ donated than the other candidates and this aligns them with monied interests as listed. Or so it seems to this fellow. All so debatable isn’t it?

  • Ivan July 28, 2015 (6:28 am)

    Actually, it’s not debatable. The two candidates are pretty far apart substantively, and if they are the two who survive the primary, voters will have a pretty clear choice. Whatever his reasons, Schletty’s statements about them are just flat wrong.

  • WSDad July 28, 2015 (1:16 pm)

    These are the clearest statements I can find by the candidates on parking issues in the District (from the Seattle Transit Blog):
    _
    Brianna Thomas:
    _
    I’m content with rolling back parking minimums as long as we’ve got matching infrastructure to go with it in a timely, and I do mean timely, manner.

    Next to my apartment building, there are 28 units going in with seven parking spots, and everyone is just like, there’s no way only a quarter of these people are going to have cars. It’s impossible. In District 1, like in South Park, for instance, you’ve kind of got to have a car to get to the grocery store, your job, the bank, the post office. Until we pump up the jam on providing services to these pockets of neighborhoods, it’s impossible to make the argument not to have a car.
    _
    Lisa Herbold:
    _
    Parking in District 1 is a pretty hot issue right now, and before we make any changes to the parking policies in West Seattle, we need an area-specific study on what the impacts of our current parking policies are. I think our travel patterns are a little different than other places in the city. A lot of folks use buses to go to work but they drive to run their errands in West Seattle, and I think it’s difficult for people to get around right now. We really need to understand the traffic patterns in West Seattle before looking at changing the parking policies there.

    I also think we need to make sure that not only is there truly frequent transit service but that the folks who are living in these buildings really don’t have cars, and the city hasn’t done that analysis.
    _
    Shannon Braddock:
    _
    ’m open to discussing charging for parking, but I have not come to any conclusion yet. People will lose their minds, but yeah, I think we have to talk about it.

    We are going to need some sort of phase-in approach. It’s going to take a little while for people to get on board. We actually have more parking capacity than most people want to realize or admit to, so for me, it would be a matter of helping people realize, here’s where the cars are, here’s what the capacity is, and maybe we do more residential parking zones.

  • LivingInWS July 28, 2015 (2:06 pm)

    Tavel #1

  • ChefJoe July 31, 2015 (12:38 am)

    WSDad, that looks like the comments from the three candidates in D1 that Seattle Transit Blog asked to speak to, and they didn’t end up endorsing any of the three in particular.
    … to be honest, I’m not even sure why you got to post so many lines of quoted text, especially without a link.

  • KM July 31, 2015 (7:08 pm)

    If anyone is wondering how you can put a stop to the political mailings for all election cycles–it isn’t easy. Based on a conversation I had with a contact with a candidates team last election cycle, if you are registered to vote, your information is shared with those candidates running, or campaign groups for initiatives, etc. Unfortunately, there is not a choice to opt out and remain registered to vote. You’ll need to contact each campaign/candidate individually.

  • Mark schletty August 4, 2015 (12:11 pm)

    Voter turnout is embarrassingly dismall. PLEASE vote, even if it is for someone i dont support like braddock or herbold.

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