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Mayor, City Council president visiting Delridge soon
July 19, 2010 11:41 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Two reminders: City Council President Richard Conlin is one of the guests scheduled for this week’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, 7 pm Wednesday at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center; and Mayor Mike McGinn will be touring Delridge on August 7th. Neighborhood District Coordinator Ron Angeles has just announced new information about the mayoral tour – it’ll leave from the office where he’s based, Delridge Neighborhood Service Center (by the library), at 10 am on that day (a Saturday). Planned stops on the walking tour include Brandon Natural Area, Greg Davis Park, Cottage Grove Commons, and Delridge P-Patch – you’re welcome to meet the group and come along.

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Not registered to vote? Today’s the deadline for most
July 19, 2010 9:04 am
|    Comments Off on Not registered to vote? Today’s the deadline for most
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Finishing up our next story about the August 17th primary, we’re reminded that today’s the deadline for most voter registration in King County, if you want to vote in this election – details here.

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Race for the 34th: Candidate conversation – “Mac” McElroy
July 15, 2010 9:59 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   34th District State House 2 | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: With less than two weeks till ballots are mailed for the August 17th primary, we’re taking a closer look daily at the candidates in two contested local races. This week, we are bringing you stories about WSB conversations with the four contenders for 34th District State House, Position 2. We began Tuesday with Joe Fitzgibbon (story here); continued Wednesday with Mike Heavey (story here); tonight, Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“Do something different,” exhorts the white lettering on the back of Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy‘s campaign uniform, a black T-shirt.

After all, he did something different.

For one, the 46-year-old entrepreneur filed to run as an “independent” in the heavily Democratic 34th Legislative District (map), running against three D’s.

For two, instead of more classic campaign activities, he’s focused on one that’s led us to bump into him multiple times each week for the past few months: He’s been attending neighborhood council and association meetings around the district.

When it came time to sit down and do an official interview for our series of candidate conversations, though, we wound up on his turf – Mac’s Triangle Pub, feet from the West Seattle/White Center line.

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34th District Democrats: Initiative 1098 briefing, and more
July 15, 2010 8:07 am
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

checkbox.jpgFrom last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting in Fauntleroy: The main event was a presentation in support of higher-earners-income-tax initiative I-1098, which the group already has endorsed; meantime, they took stands on two other ballot measures – read on for the details:Read More

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Race for the 34th: Candidate conversation – Mike Heavey
July 14, 2010 8:22 am
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   34th District State House 2 | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: With two weeks till ballots are mailed for the August 17th primary, we’re taking a closer look daily at the candidates in two contested local races. This week, we are bringing you stories about WSB conversations with the four contenders for 34th District State House, Position 2. We began Tuesday with Joe Fitzgibbon (story here); today, Mike Heavey.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When a candidate takes his/her turn speaking at a political group’s endorsement meeting, you might liken it to a baseball slugger stepping to the plate, ready to hit one out of the park.

When Mike Heavey spoke to the 34th District Democrats the night they decided who to endorse in the 34th District State House Position 2 primary, his speech – which startled some people to the point of audible gasps – was more like an announcement he wasn’t taking a swing in this particular stadium: He said he wouldn’t seek the endorsement, facing two rivals who were “known quantities” in that arena.

By name alone, Heavey, a 30-year-old West Seattle resident, is hardly unknown. His father is a former state senator and current King County Superior Court Judge. He has been working for King County Councilmember Jan Drago in recent months, representing and/or assisting her at high-profile events dealing with current top-of-mind issues like the South Park Bridge.

But when we talked about that notable night during our recent conversation at a coffee shop in White Center, he had no regrets about withdrawing from that particular endorsement process. Instead, he told a family story or two about triumph despite the absence of a certain endorsement or two.

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Mayor unveiling ‘Nightlife Initiative’ tonight – read it now
July 13, 2010 5:15 pm
|      21 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Tonight, Mayor McGinn will officially announce what’s being called the Seattle Nightlife Initiative. According to advance word from the mayor’s office, it has eight key points:

1. Code compliance enforcement
2. Flexible liquor service hours
3. Noise ordinance enforcement
4. Security training requirements
5. Precinct community outreach
6. Professional development
7. Late-night transportation alternatives
8. Targeting public nuisances

In advance of the announcement, the mayor’s office has put the details online – read them here. And the city plans to take comments through mid-September, including via an online survey you can access here.

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Race for the 34th: Candidate conversation – Joe Fitzgibbon
July 13, 2010 5:40 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   34th District State House 2 | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: With two weeks till ballots are mailed for the August 17th primary, we’re taking a closer look daily at the candidates in two contested local races. This week, we are bringing you stories about WSB conversations with the four contenders for 34th District State House, Position 2. We begin with Joe Fitzgibbon.)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Joe Fitzgibbon is running for the State House of Representatives seat that his recent boss, Rep. Sharon Nelson, is leaving to seek a State Senate spot, and he has her endorsement.

Sound like a shoo-in? Nope. This year, for the first time in 18 years, the 34th District (map) has an open seat and a spirited race, with Fitzgibbon running against two other Democrats – one of whom has the official party nomination and district endorsement – plus an Independent.

So what’s Fitzgibbon, a 23-year-old Burien resident, doing to set himself apart in the race to succeed Rep. Nelson in State House Position 2?

First, as we sat down in a White Center coffee shop to talk for an hour (the same time we allotted each candidate conversation), we asked what he had been up to earlier that day.

Another media interview, a news release about endorsements, and the “daily grind of doorbelling and taking phone calls,” Fitzgibbon replied. As of this past weekend, when we talked with him at West Seattle Summer Fest (photo below), he estimated he had knocked on about 5,000 doors – more than half the 9,000 he hopes to hit before the August 17 primary.

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Todd Shipyards joins call for feds to reconsider NOAA move
July 8, 2010 12:14 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Under the hottest-day-of-the-year-so-far sun, in Herrings House Park on the Duwamish River shore, the citywide media came to West Seattle to see a ceremonial letter-signing by Mayor Mike McGinn, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, City Councilmembers Jean Godden and Nick Licata, Harbor Island-based Todd Pacific Shipyards‘ Adm. (retired) John Lockwood, and King County Labor Council‘s Dave Freiboth. The letter (read it here) asks Commerce Secretary (and ex-Washington governor) Gary Locke to reopen the process that resulted in NOAA moving ships from Seattle to Newport, Oregon. Adm. Lockwood had the most fiery rhetoric – calling the move “bureaucratic arrogance” among other things:

The shortest speech – Councilmember Godden, who chairs the council’s Budget Committee, kept it to 30 seconds, ending with a vow:

A little cold water was thrown on the proceedings when a reporter told the mayor during Q/A that he’d just received a statement from Commerce reiterating they have no intention of reopening the process, but the mayor reiterated in turn that “it’s not over.” More shortly; the reason they chose Herrings House is that Federal Center South, right across the Duwamish, is considered to be a prime spot if NOAA did reconsider and stay in Seattle. (added) Here’s the official news release about the event.

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West Seattleites in Burien parade – but wait! Santa Claus?
July 4, 2010 7:37 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   34th District State House 2 | West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

We’ve never covered the Burien 4th of July Parade before, but we heard about enough West Seattle participation that we headed down for a few photos. Before we get to the West Seattleites – we had to start this off with the guest appearance by Santa Claus. Who could be more appropriate on a rainy, chilly holiday, summer or not? Now, on with the West Seattleites. First, the much-acclaimed West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float and its entourage:

Then, the political participants – First, the 34th District Democrats (whose turf includes Burien, though the main monthly meetings are usually in WS):

Now, the candidates – in our candid shot from the staging area, that’s State Sen. Joe McDermott (who’s running for County Council) at left, a West Seattleite as is Marcee Stone (running for State House Pos. 2) next to him, and at right, Rep. Sharon Nelson (from Maury Island), who’s running unopposed for the Senate seat McDermott is leaving:

Also from the State House Position 2 race – West Seattleite Mike Heavey:

And Burien resident Joe Fitzgibbon:

We didn’t see the 4th candidate in the race, West Seattle entrepreneur Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy, there (if we missed him – our apologies!). We did see one of McDermott’s three County Council opponents, West Seattleite Diana Toledo — we had a photo of her marching, but her campaign just sent this one with Seafair Pirates right after the parade:

Toledo marched in the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade earlier in the day. If we missed any of the other County Council candidates, Shawn McEvoy or Tim Fahey, again, forgive us. (P.S. With the August 17th election nearing, we start in-depth coverage Tuesday – we’ve sat down recently to talk with each of the four candidates in the House race, for starters, and you’ll see a story a day, Tuesday through Friday.) One more parade participant of West Seattle note:

That’s a RapidRide bus – of the variety we’ll supposedly see here in about two years. In case you want a better look, we’re checking to see if it’ll be part of the big West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade on July 24th. ADDED MONDAY MORNING: Thanks to Mark for sharing this photo of another West Seattleite in the parade:

Mark photographed West Seattleite Bruce Hart in wife Stacie’s new MINI Cooper, adding, “Bruce and Stacie are part of the Puget Sound MINI Motoring Club, which participated in the parade for the fourth straight year. The club annually escorts Burien Rotary Club dignitaries. Bruce also has a MINI, which was in the parade and being driven by a relative.”

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2 West Seattleites help raise rainbow flag atop the Space Needle
June 25, 2010 1:37 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people | West Seattle politics

(Photo by Aaron Last)
As Pride Weekend arrives in Seattle, the rainbow flag is flying over the Space Needle for the first time. And as you see in the photo above, two West Seattleites helped raise it. The photo is courtesy of one of them, State Sen. (and King County Council candidate) Joe McDermott (right) – that’s West Seattle resident and Seattle Storm owner (among many other high-profile roles) Anne Levinson just left of Sen. McDermott, with City Councilmember Sally Clark and State Rep. Jamie Pedersen. Sen. McDermott adds, “People are welcome to email me at Joe@JoeMcDermott.org if they want to walk with me in the Pride Parade at 11 am Sunday morning in Downtown Seattle!”

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4 businesses offer support to marijuana-initiative drive
June 23, 2010 3:01 am
|      23 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Time’s running out for initiatives to get enough signatures to make the statewide ballot. Those who support Initiative 1068 to decriminalize adult use of marijuana are trying one last big push to get more names: The new print edition of The Stranger, 80,000 copies, is supposed to have an I-1068 petition in each and every one. So organizers hope that each reader will sign, and gather some signatures, and drop off the petitions ASAP. They say 2 West Seattle and 2 White Center businesses have agreed to be dropoff spots for the petitions; click ahead for the locations and hours, as sent in organizers’ announcement:Read More

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Cutting down on phone books, junk mail: Council reviews options
June 21, 2010 1:51 pm
|      14 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

We’ve talked before about phone books and junk mail, and how to try to opt out of them. The city council’s Public Utilities and Neighborhood Committee (which had a special meeting on another topic here in West Seattle last week – here’s our report) is taking up the topic tomorrow, with several options before them. In case you want to let them know which sounds best to you, here’s the “draft memo” listing the options. They range all the way up to passing a new law that would allow some phone books to be delivered on an “opt-in” basis only. The preferred option, according to the memo, is to contract with a company called Catalog Choice that would provide an online “enhanced opt-out service” for both city and county residents via Web access; the memo says it would cost $30,000 to get that going next year. Tomorrow’s committee meeting is at 2 pm at City Hall downtown; here’s the full agenda.

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Sen. Maria Cantwell in West Seattle @ WA Public Campaigns event
June 19, 2010 10:44 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell was in West Seattle tonight – our photo shows her on the big-screen at Brockey Center on the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) campus as she keynoted the 4th annual awards banquet for Washington Public Campaigns. She reiterated her support for public campaign financing – suggesting we wouldn’t have had to endure damaging deregulation-related debacles if we had it – and recalled her largely self-financed, political-action-committee-contribution-free 2000 campaign. Cantwell’s in her second term, which runs till 2012. The event was described as the biggest banquet for the group yet – more than 300 people (its “Dessert Dash” alone raised almost $6,000). WPC has a strong West Seattle link because its past president is Marcee Stone, who gave up that role in order to run for office – eschewing corporate and political-action-committee money in keeping with what she’s been fighting for – in the 34th District House Position 2 race. Stone emceed tonight’s event; award recipients (listed here) were State Sen. Eric Oemig (45th District) accepting the Public Leadership Award, Washington Community Action Network honored as Organization of the Year, and Elsie Simon as Volunteer of the Year.

P.S. Public campaign financing is on the agenda for another West Seattle event that’s just two nights away – Washington Public Campaigns will be featured at the next Community Forum presented by Sustainable West Seattle, 7 pm Monday at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction (more details on the SWS website).

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Councilmembers visit West Seattle, told of assistance ‘disconnect’
June 18, 2010 11:50 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Story and photos by Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Last night, at a special West Seattle joint meeting of the CIty Council’s Energy/Technology/Civil Rights, and Public Utilities/Neighborhoods Committees at the Chief Sealth/Boren campus, it was brought to the attention of councilmembers Mike O’Brien, Bruce Harrell, and Richard Conlin, that there’s a large disconnect between the discount utility, emergency shut-off, and home improvement services available to the community and those qualified that actually use them.

Presenting this info to the councilmembers and the audience of about 60 were various staff from Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities, Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens, Seattle Human Services, Seattle Office of Housing, St. Vincent De Paul, Central Area Motivation Program, and Council central staff.

Councilmember O’Brien opened the meeting with a call to the community. Read More

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Update: City announces midyear budget cuts
June 14, 2010 10:46 am
|      14 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | West Seattle politics

(We’ll continue to update this story through the afternoon as reaction comes in – scroll down)
ORIGINAL 10:46 AM REPORT: The City Council’s special Budget Committee meeting has just begun; this will be the first official word of what cuts will be made to make up for extra red ink in the current budget year; We’ll post as it happens. It’s being pointed out that these cuts do NOT require council approval. Note: The presentation is online, according to our friends at My Green Lake – see it here. We’re reading it now.

ONGOING COVERAGE: Budget boss Beth Goldberg‘s first announcement: In light of the Fremont fire that killed five over the weekend, NO reductions in the Fire Department.

From the budget document – wading pool effects: Lincoln Park remains open 7 days a week. (Goldberg is telling the council that the decision was based on keeping the most-used wading pools fully open. Other decisions, she says, were made based on “geographic equity.”)

Wading pools open 3 Days per week (in our area – there are other 3-day schedules around the city):
Delridge, EC Hughes, Hiawatha, South Park (Goldberg says the scheduling decisions were made based on the busiest day of the week and the days on each side of that day; as of this writing, the Parks website is not updated)

Highland Park wading pool remains closed (it’s set for conversion to a spray park; Goldberg is noting during the briefing that spray features are cheaper to operate than regular wading pools; she says the city’s total wading-pool budget is just under half a million dollars a year)

ALSO FROM PARKS: No community center/swimming pool closures this year, no lifeguard cuts. The description of cuts does not mention any program cuts, but does note a 5% reduction in maintenance (no elaboration yet)

LIBRARIES: Current hours will be maintained at all locations (but there are cuts, like $500,000 cut from the collection fund)

(added 11 am) POLICE: From the document linked above:

Leaves 21 new sworn officer positions related to the neighborhood policing program vacant, saving $2.1 million

(added 11:19 am) Goldberg says there are more SDOT cuts to come – “as we go deeper, the decisions get uglier.” The document linked above goes into detail about that department’s challenges.

11:56 AM: The meeting’s over. The mayor has a media availability at 12:15 to comment on the cuts.

12:19 PM: News releases are starting to come out with reaction to the cuts. We’ll publish the ones we get – starting with, after the jump, Councilmember Jean Godden, who says she’s concerned about the 21 police jobs that won’t be hired:Read More

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Also this morning: County hearing on animal services
June 14, 2010 9:59 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Pets | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

We’ve mentioned the City Council‘s upcoming briefing on midyear budget cuts – watch for word on that after the meeting starts at 10:30 – but there’s something else governmental to keep an eye on this morning: We know of at least two West Seattleites planning to testify at the animal-services-proposal hearing at the County Courthouse downtown – details after the jump:Read More

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New candidates in County Council, State House Position 1 races
June 12, 2010 2:51 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   King Co. Council District 8 | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Friday was the final day for candidates to file to run in the August 17th primary, and the online lists – which we have reason to believe aren’t final yet – show two local races with candidates who hadn’t surfaced earlier: In the County Council District 8 race (the job to which Jan Drago was appointed to but isn’t running for), checkbox.jpgjoining State Sen. Joe McDermott of West Seattle, Normandy Park City Councilmember Shawn McEvoy, and political newcomer Diana Toledo of West Seattle, we see Tim Fahey of South Park, whose campaign focus – via the Web and Facebook – appears to be on the soon-to-close SP Bridge. In the State Legislature races, Rep. Sharon Nelson remains unopposed for State Senate; the State House Position 2 job she’s giving up has drawn the previously announced candidates – Joe Fitzgibbon of Burien, Mike Heavey of West Seattle, Marcee Stone of West Seattle are on the online list; Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy, also of West Seattle, isn’t, but he says he filed Friday afternoon, so we’ll assume the online list has some lags. But there is one extra entrant, in Rep. Eileen Cody‘s State House Position 1 race; Ray Carter of West Seattle filed on Friday afternoon. He doesn’t appear to have a website, so we don’t know much about him yet, except that he declared his party preference as “Prefers Reluctantly GOP Party.” That makes him the only person mentioned in this story to have declared with GOP or Republican; the County Council race is nonpartisan, so no declarations there, but in the other state races, everyone has declared a Democratic preference except McElroy, who has said he’d run as an independent (since he’s not showing on the state page yet, we don’t know how it will show). In all races, the top two votegetters in August will move on to Nov. 2.

ADDED 10:43 AM: In comments and via e-mail, it’s pointed out that the county candidate-filing list page is showing McElroy’s registration, even though the state page hasn’t caught up yet. And indeed, “prefers independent party” is the designation. We also have heard from newly filed State House candidate Ray Carter, who e-mailed us an explanation of his “reluctantly GOP” preference and his campaign – click ahead to read:Read More

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34th District Democrats, report #2: City leaders talk $, and more
June 10, 2010 4:36 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

That’s Mayor Mike McGinn at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting, warning again that the city budget picture remains ugly. He also said the much-awaited (albeit nervously awaited, by many) midyear cuts are soon to be “rolled out” – and this afternoon, we’ve learned the “rollout” is set for Monday morning — city budget boss Beth Goldberg is scheduled to brief the City Council Budget Committee on the midyear cuts at 10:30 am Monday, according to the agenda just sent out. McGinn was at the 34th DDs’ meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy along with Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Bruce Harrell – read on for notes on what else they said, including their answers to audience questions (besides the Admiral crosswalk Q/A we reported separately this morning):Read More

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34th District Democrats, report #1: Admiral Way signal pitch
June 10, 2010 5:40 am
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

As previewed here Wednesday morning, an Admiral Neighborhood Association delegation took the mike at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting to make a pitch to Mayor Mike McGinn, City Council President Richard Conlin, and Councilmember Bruce Harrell: Make the 47th/Admiral intersection safer with a pedestrian-activated street light. Our clip shows ANA president Katy Walum making the pitch (applauded by the 34th DDs) and the mayor’s reply – which boiled down to, he needs to ask SDOT what they think. Just a few hours earlier, it turns out, Walum had received some new information from SDOT:

She forwarded us a Wednesday afternoon note from SDOT’s Luke Korpi, who wrote that the department “will be conducting another study for a pedestrian signal at Admiral Way at 47th Ave SW. This will probably be completed in about two to three months.”

As for the 34th DDs – we’ve got another story in the works, focusing on the rest of the group’s hour-plus discussion with the mayor and councilmembers – topics ranged from the Viaduct/Tunnel situation to whether the city will step up to fund the White Center Food Bank for the work it does on behalf of in-city residents.

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Happening now: 34th District Democrats, South Park biz, more
June 9, 2010 7:31 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

7:31 PM: That’s Mayor Mike McGinn at the South Park businesses-coping-with-bridge-closure meeting – one of four events we’re covering right now. One of the others is the 34th District Democrats’ meeting in Fauntleroy, where the mayor is expected to arrive within the next hour. We’ll add any big news that emerges – with full stories to come later. 8:43 PM UPDATE: 34th DDs is a great meeting so far. But the big news – the Molly Moon’s Ice Cream truck, which tweeted earlier that it was thinking of coming to West Seattle tonight, has turned up OUTSIDE The Hall at Fauntleroy – and the 100+ people in here are suddenly distracted! 8:49 PM: After a brief discussion of the previous point, the Admiral Neighborhood Association leadership asked their question about the 47th/Admiral stoplight request. The mayor said he’s not prepared to answer that question but will check with SDOT. Councilmember Bruce Harrell, who is also here, as is Council President Richard Conlin, says he’d like to know more, but it belongs with Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s committee (Transportation). Conlin says, “We must be more creative, innovative and responsive in dealing with neighborhoods on these issues.” 10:09 PM: Meeting ended about half an hour ago. Full story to come, as well as separate coverage of the Triangle, Water Taxi and South Park meetings.

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Mayor, city attorney, council president all in West Seattle soon
June 8, 2010 10:32 am
|    Comments Off on Mayor, city attorney, council president all in West Seattle soon
 |   Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

The list of city-government luminaries who are coming to West Seattle soon just got longer. The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s next meeting – one week from tonight – now has City Attorney Pete Holmes on the agenda. (More on the WSCPC site.) And as noted earlier, Mayor Mike McGinn and Council President Richard Conlin are on the agenda for tomorrow night’s 34th District Democrats meeting, along with Councilmember Bruce Harrell. After that, Conlin, Harrell and Councilmember Mike O’Brien return to West Seattle next week, for a special evening joint meeting of two council committees (handling energy, technology, utilities, and neighborhoods). The agenda’s not online for that meeting yet but it’s at Chief Sealth/Boren on Thursday, June 17th, starting with a resource fair at 5 pm, followed by the committee meeting at 6, public comment at 7.

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West Seattle politics: Three 34th District candidates file on Day 1
June 8, 2010 12:27 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle politics: Three 34th District candidates file on Day 1
 |   34th District State House 2 | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Monday was the first day of the official “filing week” for anyone who wants to be on the August 17th primary-election ballot. Candidates have been able to postal-mail their forms since May 21st, but online and in-person filing didn’t open till this morning. checkbox.jpgFor the West Seattle (and surrounding areas)-specific races, here’s who’s filed so far: In the 34th Legislative District (map), Rep. Sharon Nelson has filed for State Senate, listing her affiliation as “Prefers Democrat Party”; for the State House Position 2 spot she’s leaving, Marcee Stone and Mike Heavey (who tweeted a photo of his online-filing moment) both filed Monday, both listing their affiliation as “Prefers Democratic Party.” (Remember, we’re in the “Top Two” primary mode now, meaning the top two vote-getters in each race advance to the Nov. 2 general election, regardless of affiliation.) The state list of “who’s filed so far” can be seen here; the King County list is here – no filings yet for the County Council District 8 seat, though at least three people have said they intend to run. We’ll update the filings nightly as the week goes on; you can also expect to hear more about this year’s elections at Wednesday night’s meeting of our area’s biggest political group, the 34th District Democrats (whose endorsements are here), 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy, with the agenda so far including Mayor Mike McGinn, Council President Richard Conlin, and Councilmember Bruce Harrell.

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Special guest for health-reform Town Hall screening in West Seattle
June 7, 2010 2:48 pm
|    Comments Off on Special guest for health-reform Town Hall screening in West Seattle
 |   Health | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Tomorrow morning’s presidential Town Hall addressing health reform and seniors will be viewed at senior-serving facilities across the country, including Providence Mount St. Vincent here in West Seattle. The Mount’s Arlene Carter sends word that Susan Johnson, the Health and Human Services regional director for Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho, will be at the Mount for the event, starting at 8 tomorrow morning. The National Council on Aging is sponsoring “satellite town halls” like the one in WS to try to get questions answered about health-reform changes. (If you can’t get to The Mount, the event itself, led by President Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from a Maryland senior center, will be streamed on whitehouse.gov and healthreform.gov, 8:15 am-9:45 am our time tomorrow.)

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