We reported multiple times in recent weeks on the King Conservation District Supervisor vote, an almost-countywide election that’s conducted mostly online for an agency that doesn’t get a ton of attention. Voting ended last night and preliminary results are out: Incumbent Brittney Bush Bollay has 4,187 votes, 44 percent; Erik Goheen has 3,676 votes, 39 percent; Aaron Ellig has 1,564 votes, 17 percent. But even compared to the low turnout in our recent local elections, this turnout remains tiny: Those votes add up to three-quarters of a percentage point of the 1.3 million registered voters eligible to participate. This isn’t the final count; voters had the option to print and mail paper ballots, and those will be counted and added as long as they’re received by February 22nd.

P.S. Next election is the statewide presidential primary on March 12.

One last reminder about the election for King Conservation District Supervisor – a position you’ve probably heard little, if anything, about, but which helps decide how millions of public dollars are spent. Voting is all done online and ends at 8 pm tonight. As explained in last month’s election announcement:

KCD is a special-purpose district committed to helping people engage in stewardship and conservation of natural resources, serving over two million people in 34 cities and unincorporated King County (excluding the cities of Enumclaw, Federal Way, Milton, Pacific, and Skykomish that are not member jurisdictions). KCD assists private residents with forestry management, streamside and shoreline enhancement, farm conservation planning, and other environmental efforts. It works with cities and community organizations to support community gardens, urban forest canopy, and local food systems. KCD is funded primarily by a per-parcel rates and charges fee paid by residents of the district.

An all-volunteer, five-member Board of Supervisors is responsible for overseeing KCD operations, budget, and policy. Voters elect three supervisors and the Washington State Conservation Commission appoints two supervisors. Supervisors serve three-year terms.

Three candidates are contending for the one seat on this ballot – Brittney Bush Bollay, Aaron Ellig, and Erik Goheen. Last week we published their responses to eight questions posed via email by the Duwamish Alive! Coalition. Again, you have until 8 tonight to vote.

One more week remains for voting in a one-race election that again this year is being conducted entirely online, for King Conservation District Supervisor. Three people are running for one position . The Duwamish Alive! Coalition, a community organization that works on activities such as habitat restoration, sent the candidates eight questions, and in partnership with Duwamish Alive! we are publishing their questions and the candidates’ replies. The candidates are Brittney Bush Bollay, Aaron Ellig, and Erik Goheen (each name is linked to their candidate statement on the KCD website, which is the source of the photos below).

What follows are the eight questions, each one followed by the candidates’ answers in rotating order (as we would do in a “live” candidate forum), unedited, and then a reminder of how to vote:

1. Why do you want to be a KCD board member?

BUSH BOLLAY: I was elected to King Conservation District in 2021, and my love for the organization and the work have only grown over the past three years. I’m excited to serve another term on the Board, helping to support and grow the District. Environmental action and local government both impact every person, every day, and that’s why they’re my twin passions.

ELLIG: My purpose for running for this seat is not politically motivated and I have no financial incentives to gain from any of the programs offered. I enjoy the programs the King Conservation District offers and regularly volunteer at restoration events they offer. I fully believe in improving and advancing existing programs that align with KCD core values of supporting local food, clean water, healthy forests, better soil, and accessible open spaces. My combination of education and practical experience planning and implementing a wide range of environmental restoration projects makes me an ideal candidate to supplement the existing board. I am uniquely qualified to provide science-based solutions for complex issues around conservation of natural resources, sustainable food production, and long-term planning.

GOHEEN: At the request of the farming community. Dairyman Bill Knutsen is retiring and we need farmers on the board. To help build a local, institutional food supply where local food is served in our schools and cafeterias. To help prevent a big fire in King County. Smoke season isn’t normal. We can do better to restore the salmon run here with infrastructure jobs, I’d like to see more of that work getting done. I want to empower local champions of the environment to succeed at their goals and I can make a leadership improvement with regards to the board.

2. What are your qualifications for this position?

ELLIG: I have a master’s degree in environmental science and am a certified professional wetland scientist (PWS) that specializes in ecological restoration of riparian and aquatic habitats. For the past 10 years, I have worked as a private consultant and public sector biologist as a subject matter expert for wetland and stream restoration. I have been involved in projects big and small and understand the actual effort and costs associated with getting things off the ground. We need a candidate that understands the process of starting with a conceptual idea, permitting, design, and project development. I have proven experience working effectively with local cities and counties as a third-party consultant to ensure projects are code compliant and conducted in environmentally responsible ways. My current position with Sound Transit focuses on environmental mitigation that aims to maximize environmental benefits for communities we operate in.

GOHEEN: B.A. Political Science, Western Washington University. Farm owner/operator the last 7 years. I am a user of KCD services: plant sale customer, conservation planned, conference presenting, riparian planting, pea-patch volunteering, habitat building participant in the programs. Former site and stormwater researcher with Building Code Innovations database. Trained Firefighter Type 2 (wildland) and Eagle Scout, former IAMAW machinist in Alaska salmon industry. My background spans a wide breadth of KCD’s suite of services, programs and policy areas.

BUSH BOLLAY: In addition to my three years of on-the-job experience, including serving as Board Vice Chair and Auditor this year, I have nearly a decade of local and state environmental work to my name. I understand not only the science of conservation and climate change, but the political and economic forces that influence our environmental work in King County. I’ve also spent these years carefully listening to and developing relationships with community members, elected officials, and other conservation partners, which strengthens my work on the Board.

3. What are your priorities if you are elected?

GOHEEN: Vote NO, big westside fire. There are simple and holistic remedies to prevent fires, good science. Smoke season isn’t normal. King County should lead on this work.

Support a local food system. Farms have been swept aside by the KCD at the exact wrong moment. A workforce of young and aspiring farmers, but grants designed to support them aren’t moving the needle.

Clean Water Now. I like the Duwamish River’s wet weather treatment station and there are jobs to be had boosting salmon success in this field. The Duwamish river and the ship canal should be viable habitat, too.

BUSH BOLLAY: My top priorities are:
-Fixing our election process to make it easier for people to vote and to run
-Removing barriers that make it harder for small organizations, new organizations, and people not fluent in English to use our programs
-Finding new partnerships and funding opportunities and cutting red tape so we can do more conservation work, faster
-Protecting farmland by fighting climate change and our farms’ number one enemy, urban sprawl

ELLIG: As a certified professional wetland scientist (PWS), my priorities are supporting and advancing programs that focus on riparian restorations, wetland enhancement, and stream buffer enhancement across the county. The benefits gained from the relatively small investment are huge. This will involve partnering with local agencies, local community organizations, and private land owners through voluntary or subsidized conservation and restoration. Some projects will come to the board through grant applications, but others require outreach and partnership.

4. What would you like to accomplish?

BUSH BOLLAY: In my successful second term I’ll bring more cities into the Conservation District, so we can help more people in a wider area. I’ll bring our farmers and local food vendors a fairer, more effective grant process and greater economic growth. I’ll double and triple down on outreach so more King County residents will be familiar with the Conservation District and our work and will participate in our elections by either running or voting. Finally, I’ll address the number one concern of my constituents and bring our elections to the modern era — first by moving our three elected positions to districts, then to a paper ballot like every other election in Washington State.

ELLIG: The King Conservation District has many wonderful programs and services designed to benefit people and the environment, but many of these are underutilized. Raising awareness of KCD programs by providing public education and technical assistance will be a primary goal of mine. The election should also be more recognized by being on the standard election ballot held in November. This has been an ongoing objective many KCD board members have tried to initiate, and I intend to fully support that effort to receive legislative approval.

GOHEEN: Empower emerging leaders. Building trust with the non-regulatory, voluntary services offered for more meaningful projects. Speeding up Seattle’s clean water plan and infrastructure. Lots of jobs to be had in Clean Water Now. Seeing the local farmers scale up to send fresh food home with 10,000+ food-insecure kids in Seattle Public Schools every week. There are many aspiring farmers, and land to be worked sustainably.

Read More

King County’s lowest-profile – but not lowest-impact – election is happening now. You might already have seen the postcard inviting you to vote for a King Conservation District Supervisor position, which you can do online. Here’s the KCD announcement of what it’s about:

King Conservation District (KCD) is holding its annual Board of Supervisors Election. The election will use online ballot access for the 5th year. This is a mostly county-wide election that does not appear on the standard special elections ballot. The KCD Board of Supervisors oversees a roughly $8 million dollar budget paid by residents of King County through rates and charges.

KCD is a special-purpose district committed to helping people engage in stewardship and conservation of natural resources, serving over two million people in 34 cities and unincorporated King County (excluding the cities of Enumclaw, Federal Way, Milton, Pacific, and Skykomish that are not member jurisdictions). KCD assists private residents with forestry management, streamside and shoreline enhancement, farm conservation planning, and other environmental efforts. It works with cities and community organizations to support community gardens, urban forest canopy, and local food systems. KCD is funded primarily by a per-parcel rates and charges fee paid by residents of the district.

An all-volunteer, five-member Board of Supervisors is responsible for overseeing KCD operations, budget, and policy. Voters elect three supervisors and the Washington State Conservation Commission appoints two supervisors. Supervisors serve three-year terms.

Voting started Tuesday and continues through 8 pm February 13, with online ballot acccess at kingcd.org/elections for all King County registered voters (except residents within the city limits of the five cities mentioned above that are not member jurisdictions of the district).

The 2024 election has three candidates running for the position. Brittney Bush Bollay, Aaron Ellig, and Erik Goheen are competing for one seat. Candidate statements can be found at kingcd.org/elections.

For the fifth year, the King Conservation District election will primarily rely on electronic ballot access. Voters may return ballots electronically through the online ballot access system or reach out to KCD for assistance. Democracy Live operates the online ballot access portal and King County Elections will tabulate all ballots and report all results. To increase awareness of the election, for the fourth year, KCD has mailed out roughly 750,000 postcards to registered voter households in the district with information on how to vote in the board election.

For more information and to cast your ballot, visit kingcd.org