After four rounds of ballot counts, most of the votes cast in Tuesday’s special election have been tallied. King County Elections has received 38.5 percent of the ballots it sent out, and counted 35 percent. In the Seattle Public Schools levy-renewal votes, Prop 1, the operations levy, has 81 percent approval – up from 77 percent election night – while Prop 2, the BEX VI capital levy, has 75 percent approval, up from 71 on election night. On the City of Seattle multi-part measure about “social housing” funding, the first part – whether to fund it at all – has 72 percent approval, up from 68 percent on election night, while the second part has 1A, a new tax for companies with $1m-plus earners, getting 62 percent approval, up from 57 percent on election night.

Other stats of interest are viewable via the ballot return statistics, which are spread across 12 pages, not just the return stats. Page 5, for example, shows via a shaded map which precincts had the highest turnout (we found 34-1465 west of The Junction with 53 percent of ballots in so far; page 3 shows that 52 percent of ballots have come in via drop boxes and 48 percent via USPS Mail; page 8 shows that the West Seattle Junction drop box is the fourth busiest in the city (surpassed only by Ballard, Seattle Central College on Capitol Hill, and Green Lake).

The February election results will be finalized and certified on Friday (February 21).

Before we get to the rest of what’s up for today and tonight, one more reminder – it’s Election Day, the deadline for you to vote on two Seattle Public Schools levies and a two-part City of Seattle measure on how, or whether, to pay for “social housing.”

The school levies are the 6-year, $1.8 billion Building Excellence Capital Levy (BEX VI for short) and the 3-year, $750 million Educational Programs and Operations Levy. How their approval would affect property taxes is explained by the district on this page – it’s somewhat complex, depending on whether the Legislature allows the district to collect more than the current limit.

The two-part city measure first asks you whether funding should be approved for the (created after approval in a previous election) Seattle Social Housing Developer, and regardless of whether you vote yes or no on that, which type of funding it should get if funded – a new tax on companies with wealthy employees, or diversion of part of an existing payroll tax.

You probably know how this next part goes – get your ballot into a King County drop box (West Seattle has four) by 8 pm, or get it into USPS mail really early in the day to ensure it’ll have today’s postmark. As of early this morning, King County Elections had received only 20 percent of Seattle ballots.

(Photo courtesy Caroline Goodell)

“We are biased — our bias is toward democracy,” Caroline Goodell says about West Seattle Indivisible, which sent WSB an announcement to let the community know about their meeting Sunday afternoon (February 9). “Our democracy is under threat,” she told WSB by phone. “Our intention is to stand together and fight back in defense of our rights, our communities, and our values.” While the group doesn’t currently organize protests, Goodell says members have participated in demonstrations and encourage civic engagement through actions like calling and writing to senators, in-person advocacy, and voter education. They provide a space for community members to come together, discuss issues and commit to tangible steps toward change. The group meets every two weeks, typically on Sundays. Meetings include check-ins and action-based discussions, where participants gather at tables focused on different political issues and commit to specific actions before the next session. The next meeting is tomorrow from 2:30-4 p.m. at the West Seattle (Admiral) Library (2306 42nd SW).

Is your ballot for the February 11 election gathering dust on a table or shelf? This weekend is prime time to get it into a King County Elections drop box or USPS mail. Tuesday evening is the deadline for votes to count – 8 pm is when the drop boxes close, or mail it early in the day to ensure it’ll be postmarked for Tuesday. West Seattle has four drop boxes – by Morgan Junction Park along the west side of California SW about a block north of Fauntleroy, by High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond), in the West Seattle Junction (south side of SW Alaska just east of 44th), and at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW, take one of the main entrances, it’s right out front of the admin building). Here are our stories on the decisions you have to make on this ballot – a multi-part city measure about funding social housing (our story is here) and two Seattle Public Schools levies (our story is here). Both are renewals, one for operational funding, the other for capital funding (BEX VI), with only one major project proposed in West Seattle this time, a $50 million addition at Chief Sealth International HS for career/technical education.

(Added: WSB photo, drop box this afternoon)

ORIGINAL MONDAY REPORT: Thanks for the tip. SFD and SPD were at the West Seattle Junction ballot drop box for a while before 9 o’clock this morning; we asked King County Elections what happened, and here’s the summary from spokesperson Halei Watkins:

This morning was the first of the drop box pickups for this February Special Election and one of our driver teams found a small bag of white powder in the drop box at Alaska Junction in West Seattle. It was spotted when they removed the large blue collection bin, as it was lying on the floor under the slot opening. The driver team didn’t touch it and immediately called their supervisor and law enforcement was alerted. Both police and fire went right out to collect it and speak with our drivers. Our understanding is that the next step is testing and we hope to learn more about what it was exactly.

Our driver team stayed with the box until law enforcement was completely done with documenting what they needed, and then our team relocked and sealed it so it’s ready for voters once again. The bag with the powder was separate from the ballots so those were transported back to Elections HQ (after given the all-clear from law enforcement) for processing.

Again, the ballots in the box were unharmed, and the ballot box remains in service. (Same box had a contamination incident back in 2020.)

TUESDAY UPDATE: Watkins tells WSB, “The white powder in question was determined by law enforcement to likely be crushed-up Tylenol. We’re so glad that it wasn’t anything harmful or dangerous and, as always, really glad that our team said something when they saw something.”

After five rounds of voting, the Seattle City Council has just appointed Mark Solomon to fill the District 2 seat from which Tammy Morales recently resigned. You might recall Solomon from his years as Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator, a civilian role he has continued to fill for the South Precinct. He’s sought council positions before, both in elections (losing to Morales in 2019) and in application/nomination processes like this one (such as the citywide Position 8 process a year ago), but this will be his first time serving. Solomon was the choice of District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka throughout this morning’s voting and was the top votegetter throughout, but stuck at four of eight votes until the last round. He will have the job until someone is elected in November to fill the remaining two years of Morales’s term.

You’ve likely received your ballot for the February 11 election, so you can vote any time. Above is the newest of West Seattle’s four King County Elections drop boxes, by Morgan Junction Park along the west side of California SW about a block north of Fauntleroy. I opened last year and is the newest one in our area, after High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond), West Seattle Junction (south side of SW Alaska just east of 44th), and South Seattle College (6000 16th SW, take one of the main entrances, it’s right out front of the admin building). We’ve published stories on the decisions you have to make on this ballot – a multi-part city measure about funding social housing (our story is here) and two Seattle Public Schools levies (our story is here). Your deadline to vote is February 11 at 8 pm if you’re using a drop box; if you’re going to use USPS mail, you’ll want to be sure the ballot will be postmarked no later than Election Day.

Just in from Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s office, an announcement of multiple cabinet appointments, including an interim SDOT director, plus a West Seattleite as chief public-safety officer.

(WSB photo, Adiam Emery at RapidRide H Line launch in White Center, March 2023)

First – deputy mayor Adiam Emery is promoted to interim SDOT director as of February 4, succeeding Greg Spotts, who is leaving to return to Southern California. The mayor is quoted as saying, “Over the last three years working in our office – and nearly 30 years at SDOT from intern to division director – Adiam Emery has proved to be one of the Seattle’s most effective advocates for transportation safety.” Here’s further background from the announcement:

Originally from Ethiopia, Emery came to the United States as part of the African Diaspora to pursue an education. After earning a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Washington, she began her career with the City as an engineering intern. Over the years, she has risen through the ranks at SDOT, serving as a transportation engineer, manager of the Transportation Operations Center, and division director for Transportation Operations.

We asked a followup question about whether the interim appointment is a stepping stone to permanence; mayor’s office spokesperson Callie Craighead tells WSB, “Later this year, after she has an opportunity to become established as interim director, we will decide whether to seek Council confirmation or launch a national search.”

Following Emery as deputy mayor will be Jessyn Farrell, who’s been leading the Office of Sustainability and Environment; as deputy mayor, the announcement says, Farrell will be “overseeing a portfolio that includes transportation, parks, and climate action.”

(WSB photo, Natalie Walton-Anderson at Alki public-safety forum, June 2024)

Among the others announced with a new role is West Seattleite Natalie Walton-Anderson, the mayor’s Director of Public Safety, who “will become Chief Public Safety Officer, a member of the mayor’s Executive Team and the portfolio manager overseeing the Seattle Police Department, Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department, and the Office of Emergency Management, effective immediately.” Here’s the summary of her background:

Walton-Anderson previously served as a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington Criminal Division, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Criminal Division, and Criminal Division Chief for the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, she is a champion for keeping people safe, including supporting survivors and victims of crimes such as domestic violence and sexual assault, holding offenders accountable, and designing and implementing diversion strategies. Walton-Anderson has a Juris Doctor from Seattle University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington.

Other appointments include waterfront office director Angela Brady adding the title of Sound Transit Designated Representative for the mayor – see the full list here.

By Aspen Anderson
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

King County Elections starts sending out ballots tomorrow for the February 11 special election. Your ballot will include four measures related to two issues. First, we’re looking at Seattle Propositions 1A and 1B, which involve funding for the Seattle Social Housing Developer created by a vote two years ago.

The nonprofit coalition House Our Neighbors coalition spearheaded Initiative 135, approved in February 2023 with 57 percent of the vote. This measure established the Seattle Social Housing Developer, tasked with building, owning, and maintaining affordable “social housing.” However, due to Washington state’s single-subject rule, a single ballot measure could not both create the public development authority and provide funding. As a result, Initiative 135 did not include funding for the agency to carry out its mission, aside from startup costs.

Propositions 1A and 1B aim to fill that gap by proposing different ways to fund the Developer.

Social housing in Seattle refers to publicly owned, permanently affordable housing that serves residents across a broad spectrum of incomes, from extremely low to moderate. This mixed-income approach allows the developer to generate more revenue by including tenants from varied income levels, enabling rents to cover maintenance and operational costs while reducing reliance on government subsidies. As a theoretical example, House Our Neighbors, in partnership with Neiman Taber Architects, unveiled a preliminary design for social housing in Seattle. It features eco-friendly buildings offering a variety of housing options, including family-sized apartments, townhouses, and co-living models with shared kitchens and bathrooms on each level.

Tasked with getting social housing built is the Developer, governed by a 13-member board composed of renters, housing experts, and equity advocates. Most members were appointed by city leaders and by groups like the Seattle Renters’ Commission. The board oversees planning and finances, with meetings open to the public. Since its formation, the Developer has focused on building its organizational structure but has not yet constructed any housing due to a lack of consistent funding. Propositions 1A and 1B offer competing solutions to address that.

Proposition 1A
Proposition 1A, introduced through citizen initiative I-137 and signed by thousands of Seattleites, proposes a new payroll tax on employers who pay employees over $1 million annually. The tax is estimated to generate around $50 million a year for the Developer, providing a long-term funding source to build and maintain social housing.

Proposition 1B
Proposition 1B, proposed by the Seattle City Council, proposes to use funds from the existing JumpStart payroll tax to allocate $10 million annually for five years to the Developer. This approach avoids creating a new tax but provides less funding and imposes additional oversight requirements.

Key differences:
Funding Source: Proposition 1A establishes a new payroll tax on high-earning employers; Proposition 1B allocates funds from the existing Payroll Expense Tax.

Funding Amount: Proposition 1A estimates to raise approximately $50 million annually, while Proposition 1B limits funding to $10 million per year for five years, adjusted for inflation.

Income Range: Proposition 1A allows for a broader range of incomes, serving low- to moderate-income households. Proposition 1B focuses on developments catering to lower-income residents, limiting eligibility to those with more restricted financial means.

Oversight: Proposition 1A grants the Social Housing Developer greater autonomy, while Proposition 1B requires the Developer to apply for funding and adhere to conditions set by the Seattle Office of Housing.

Support for proposition 1A (full support/opposition statements are linked here)
Supporters of 1A, including State Senator Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle), argue that the proposal provides the necessary resources to address the city’s housing crisis.

“This dedicated revenue stream will create more than 2,000 units, including family-sized units, of social housing over the next 10 years,” Saldaña and others wrote. They emphasize that social housing prioritizes workforce and community stability, helping essential workers like teachers and firefighters stay in Seattle.

They add: “Proposition 1B takes $10 million from affordable housing and essential services to keep taxes low for our wealthiest businesses. It also dismantles the proven business model for social housing, guaranteeing that it fails before producing any of the housing we desperately need. “

Support for proposition 1B
Supporters of 1B, such as Al Levine, an instructor at the University of Washington, advocate for a cautious approach.

“We need more affordable housing and accountability,” Levine and others wrote. “Proposition 1B provides $10 million a year of existing tax revenues for five years to test if the concept works.”

“We need more affordable housing and accountability, but the social housing Public Development Authority (PDA) was only created in 2023 and uses an unproven concept for building and managing housing. Social housing has never been tried in Seattle and is done in one other place in the United States. This concept may have merit, but can it deliver $50 million worth of housing every year when it hasn’t delivered any?”

Opposition to both
Critics, including former housing nonprofit director Alice Woldt, oppose both measures, arguing they fail to prioritize the city’s most vulnerable residents.

“New tax revenues should assist truly poor residents,” Woldt and others wrote. “Social housing advocates want $520 million over 10 years for higher-income apartments, leaving only 60 units for the homeless.”

In February 2024, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, led by President and CEO Rachel Smith, criticized Initiative 137 (I-137). Smith described the initiative as a “blank check” for an “unprepared” social housing developer, expressing concerns about the lack of a concrete plan and the potential financial burden on Seattle residents.

Social housing in practice

Vienna, Austria, is often highlighted as a global leader in social housing, offering a potential model for long-term housing affordability. In Vienna, the city owns and operates a significant portion of the housing stock, providing affordable rentals to a broad range of incomes. Rents are below market rates and tied to household income, ensuring inclusivity while reducing stigma. Revenue generated from tenant rents is reinvested into maintaining and expanding the housing stock, creating a self-sustaining system that addresses affordability and housing stability.

How the Ballot Works
The ballot will ask two questions:

Should one of the two propositions be adopted?

If yes, which proposition — 1A or 1B — should be implemented?

If a majority votes “No” on the first question, neither measure will pass. If “Yes” prevails, the proposition with more votes on the second question will be adopted.

Election Day is February 11. Ballots must be postmarked by that date or dropped off at a ballot drop box (West Seattle has four) by 8 pm.

Register to vote, if you have not already. Online and mail registrations must be received by February 3 to vote in the election. Or register to vote in person by 8 pm on Election Day.

Also on the ballot
Two Seattle Public Schools levies. We’ll look at those in our next election preview.

(Images via King County TV)

After a process that started less than four weeks ago when new Gov. Bob Ferguson chose then-State Sen. Joe Nguyen to become Commerce Director, our area has a new State Senator and State House Representative, appointed this afternoon by King County Councilmembers. Above is newly appointed State Sen. Emily Alvarado; below is her subsequently appointed successor as State House Rep., Brianna Thomas, who is a policy adviser in the Seattle mayor’s office.

Sen. Alvarado followed her swearing-in by saying, “Let’s get to work on making life better for Washingtonians”; Rep. Thomas followed hers hours later – and moments ago – with a few rounds of thank-yous and “I’m having a ‘Miss America’ moment; I’m going to go before I cry,” noting that her dad was watching the livestream from out of state, and that she is looking forward to going to Olympia tomorrow morning.

The appointments were the culmination of daylong proceedings in the county council’s chambers downtown. The council had three appointments to make, these two for the 34th Legislative District, as well as one for the Eastside’s 41st Legislative District. They convened at 11 am for public comment on all the appointments, then interviewed the three candidates recommended for each position by the districts’ Precinct Committee Officers, and then made the appointments, each of which was immediately followed by a swearing-in. These are all interim appointments, until the positions can go to the full electorate.

Both women appointed today are West Seattle residents, but the 34th District spans beyond WS, to White Center and Burien as well as westward to Vashon and Maury Islands. The third state legislator for this district is House Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, who did not seek the Senate appointment. Alvarado was the only serious candidate for it, as noted in our Sunday report; the other two finalists for the House appointment were Seattle School Board president Gina Topp – who was the 34th District PCOs’ top choice, though that did not bind the county councilmembers – and Burien Deputy Mayor Sarah Moore.

If the King County Council goes with recommendations made today by the 34th District Democrats‘ Precinct Committee Officers, State House Rep. Emily Alvarado will succeed Joe Nguyen as this district’s State Senator, and Seattle School Board president Gina Topp will succeed Alvarado. The PCOs – who themselves are elected to those roles – voted in a special meeting held today in Bellevue and online, facilitated by the King County Democrats. (Since state legislators serve in partisan positions, when their jobs become open between elections, state law and party rules govern the process for choosing replacements.) The process required that three names be sent to the County Council, even if three people hadn’t declared interest in the positions, so although Alvarado was the only declared candidate for State Senator, her name will go to the council along with 34th chair Jordan Crawley and member Drew Estep (both of whom made it clear in brief speeches that they wholeheartedly support Alvarado for the job); for the job she would be vacating, five candidates were nominated – the PCOs chose to use ranked-choice voting, and Topp was the leader, followed by Seattle mayoral adviser Brianna Thomas and Burien deputy mayor Sarah Moore (final round of ranking ended at Topp 35, Thomas 14, Moore 4), so their names will go to the county council. (Side note: Topp said that if she gets the legislative appointment, she’ll stay on the School Board.)

WHAT’S NEXT: After ratification by the KC Democrats, the names go to the County Council, who will make their decision Tuesday. Public comment will be accepted at the council’s 11 am meeting, either in person or online – the agenda explains how; county councilmembers then will interview the candidates for both positions, make their decisions, and the appointees will be sworn in immediately. They’ll serve until these positions can go before voters this fall. The 34th District includes West Seattle, White Center, Burien, and Vashon/Maury Islands; Alvarado and Topp are both West Seattle residents.

(Photo courtesy Postcards 4 Democracy – L-R, P4D’s Kathy Rawle, House candidates Brianna Thomas, Sarah Moore, Stephanie Tidholm)

Two of our area’s three state legislators might be new to their jobs within days. We’ve been reporting on the process involved in choosing a successor to former State Sen. Joe Nguyen, now state Commerce Director, and possibly the successor to the State House Representative who is the only person in the running for Nguyen’s seat. State House Rep. Emily Alvarado is the only candidate for the Senate seat, while those interested in succeeding her in the House are assistant Attorney General Ben Carr, Seattle city hall staffer Brianna Thomas, state government analyst Colton Myers, engineering manager Geoffrey Wukelic, Seattle School Board president Gina Topp, Burien City Councilmember Sarah Moore, Highline School Board vice president Stephanie Tidholm. (The photo above is from an unofficial forum at which three House Rep. hopefuls were in attendance, during last Tuesday’s Postcards 4 Democracy gathering.) The 34th DDs published this document with the candidates’ statements.

Next step is a meeting convened tomorrow (Sunday, January 19) by the King County Democrats, during which Precinct Committee Officers from throughout the 34th Legislative District – which includes West Seattle, White Center, Vashon and Maury Islands, and Burien – will vote on who to recommend to the County Council, which officially makes the appointment(s). Tomorrow’s meeting is at 10 am at Bellevue College, for the PCOs and candidates to attend in person, and online (here’s the link) for everyone else. Once those recommendations are made, they go to the County Council for a special meeting Tuesday morning (January 21) – here’s that agenda.