West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
Another local seat without an incumbent is being decided in this election – Leslie Harris is leaving the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors after two terms. She represents District 6 (West Seattle and most of South Park); in the general election, all board seats are decided by a citywide vote, so that means we’re tracking four seats tonight. Here’s tonight’s first and only round of results:
SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6
Gina Topp – 88,366 – 86.84%
Maryanne Wood – 12,946 – 12.72%
(updated) Here are the first results in the other three districts (asterisk marks an incumbent):
SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 1
Liza Rankin* – 61,290 – 60.77 %
Debbie Carlsen – 38,919 – 38.59 %
SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 2
Lisa Rivera Smith* – 68,870 – 68.00 %
Christina Posten – 31,995 – 31.59 %
SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 3
Evan Briggs – 51,788 – 51.08%
Ben Gitenstein – 49,122 – 48.45%
One big ballot measure in this election – the renewal/expansion of the Seattle Housing Levy, which would collecdt almost $1 billion over seven years. Here’s tonight’s first and only round of results:
SEATTLE PROPOSITION 1
Yes – 74,078 – 65.98%
No – 38,196 – 34.02%
By this time tomorrow night, we’ll see the first round of election returns. So far in our area, the percentage of ballots received is up to just under 22 percent. The turnout so far is higher than it was with one day to go before the August primary – at that point, only 16 percent of ballots had been received. Another number of note – according to one of the ballot-return breakouts, by far the largest group to have turned in ballots so far is voters 65+ – more than twice the next highest group, 55-64. Reminder that you have only nine decisions to make:
Seattle Proposition 1 (Housing Levy)
Seattle City Council District 1
King County Council District 8
Seattle School Board Districts 1, 2, 3, 6
Seattle Port Commission Position 5
Your ballot includes some uncontested races, too. For it to count, it has to be in a King County Elections dropbox – West Seattle has three – by 8 pm tomorrow, or in the USPS mail early enough tomorrow to be sure it’ll get a Tuesday postmark. Then we’ll get one round of results around 8:15 pm, and updates most weekday afternoons thereafter until the results are certified on November 28.
King County Elections is again posting frequently updated stats on how many ballots have been received. As of this afternoon – with exactly one week left to go – only 10.1 percent of ballots countywide are in, with the percentage slightly higher in our area (10.46 percent of voters in Seattle City Council District 1). That’s a lower percentage than at this point in the 2019 election, when 12 percent of D-1 ballots were in. As listed here earlier this month, you have nine decisions to make, and 8 pm Tuesday, November 7th, is the deadline to get your ballot into an official dropbox; send it earlier if you’re using USPS, because you need to ensure it’s postmarked by that date.
13 days left to vote; your ballot should have arrived by now.
EARLY VOTING: King County Elections is now updating stats on how many ballots have been received. As of right now, they have received 2,645 ballots from Seattle City Council District 1 (out of 74,329 registered voters). The leader right now is District 3 (Capitol Hill and vicinity, represented by outgoing Councilmember Kshama Sawant), with almost 4,000 ballots already returned. You should have received your ballot by now; if you haven’t – here’s what to do.
CANDIDATE FORUM: On Monday, D-1 candidates Rob Saka and Maren Costa had another side-by-side appearance, this time at the Senior Center of West Seattle, in a forum presented by Age-Friendly Seattle. Here’s our video of the event:
Tuesday, November 7th, is the deadline for voting. You can put your ballot in USPS mail or in an official KC Elections dropbox.
Your ballot likely has already arrived. You might even have voted already. If not – tomorrow (Monday, October 23) brings another opportunity to see the Seattle City Council District 1 candidates. Rob Saka and Maren Costa are scheduled to answer questions about topics of interest to older Seattleites during a forum presented by Age-Friendly Seattle. It’s set for 3 pm to 4:30 pm Monday at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Registration isn’t mandatory but if you sign up here you can also submit a question for consideration and list the topics you’re most interested in hearing Costa and Saka address.
Ready to vote? Your ballot could arrive in USPS mail as soon as today (Thursday) and you can vote as soon as you get it. The King County Elections dropboxes open today – 3 in West Seattle (here’s the map). So here’s what you’ll be voting on – one levy, and 8 contested races (you’ll see some unopposed candidates on your ballot too)
Seattle Proposition 1 (Housing Levy)
Seattle City Council District 1
King County Council District 8
Seattle School Board Districts 1, 2, 3, 6
Seattle Port Commission Position 5
Voting ends Tuesday, November 7th – the dropbox deadline is 8 pm, or get your ballot into the postal mail early enough that it’ll be postmarked no later than that date. (And if you haven’t registered to vote yet – it’s not too late.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Voting begins this week in the general election, with three major open seats in our area – Seattle City Council District 1, King County Council District 8, and Seattle School Board District 6.
At its monthly lunch meeting this past Thursday, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce hosted two half-hour mini-forums with the candidates in two of those races. We’ve already published our coverage of the Q&A with the County Council candidates (see it here). Here’s what happened when City Council D-1 candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka shared the stage to answer questions asked by local journalist/broadcaster, and Chamber board member, Brian Callanan. (The Chamber’s new executive director Rachel Porter made it clear first that the organization does not endorse candidates and was presenting this as an opportunity “for our business leaders to hear from those who wish to represent us.)
Below are brief summaries of the questions and responses; as with our usual coverage format for events like this, these are paraphrases except for any words/phrases inside quotation marks.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
While most of the local election-season spotlight has shone on the Seattle City Council District 1 race, two other major local positions are on the ballot, both also without incumbents. The candidates in one of those races, King County Council District 8, answered questions for half an hour at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly lunch meeting.
Burien Mayor Sofia Aragon and citywide Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda are the candidates for the seat that County Councilmember Joe McDermott is leaving. They answered questions asked by local journalist/broadcaster, and WS Chamber board member, Brian Callanan. We recorded the event on video:
From here down are our brief summaries of the questions and answers, starting with the introductory statements. These are summaries/paraphrases with the exception of anything you see in quotation marks.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
In just one week, ballots will be mailed out for the general election, and you can vote as soon as you get yours. The two West Seattleites contending in the highest-profile local race, Seattle City Council District 1, continue an intensive campaign schedule in the meantime, with another side-by-side Q&A forum Tuesday night.
This one was presented by Westside Interfaith Network, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the League of Women Voters, at OLG’s Walmesley Center, moderated by local journalist/broadcaster Brian Callanan (serving in a volunteer capacity). The questions for candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka spanned a variety of topics; after an hour of asking questions planned by forum organizers, Callanan turned to audience questions submitted in writing during the event. (We counted about 40 people in attendance.)
Our video, unedited, starts and ends with the opening and closing statements from each candidate. Below it, we briefly summarize the questions and answers, in the order they were asked and answered.
Unless a phrase/sentence is within quotation marks, it’s our summary, not a direct quote, and we’ve kept our summaries to the portions of the replies that answered or attempted to answer the questions. For the full replies, watch the video.
Prior to tonight’s 7 pm forum at Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Seattle City Council District 1 candidates’ previous side-by-side West Seattle appearance was last Thursday, in a “Town Hall” Q&A organized by the Harbor-Alki Neighbors group. We weren’t able to be there, but a volunteer recorded it on video for the organizers, and the video has just become available for publication, so here it is for anyone who wasn’t there but wants to see how candidates Rob Saka and Maren Costa responded to the Harbor-Alki questions. (We do plan to cover tonight’s forum, which the Westside Interfaith Network and League of Women Voters are presenting, and will have video of that tonight or tomorrow.)
General-election voting starts in just a week and a half, as soon as your ballot arrives. If you haven’t yet settled on a candidate in the Seattle City Council District 1 race, you can see the contenders side by side again in West Seattle tomorrow night. At 7 pm Tuesday (October 10th), Rob Saka and Maren Costa will be back in the spacious Walmesley Center at Our Lady of Guadalupe (same place we had our forum two weeks ago), this time for a forum presented by the Westside Interfaith Network and the League of Women Voters. West Seattle broadcaster/journalist Brian Callanan will moderate. All are welcome. The venue is on the northeast corner of 35th and Myrtle.
Ballots go out two weeks from today. Although we’ve been focusing on the Seattle City Council District 1 vote, you’ll be deciding another city matter in the general election: The renewal/expansion of the Seattle Housing Levy. You can read the ballot measure in its entirety here; its official explanatory statement begins:
Proposition 1 would authorize a seven-year property tax increase, replacing an expiring levy, to finance low-income housing and provide for housing needs of low-income persons. Approximately 51 percent of levy funding is anticipated to serve households earning 30 percent or less of Seattle area median income.
Over those seven years, as we reported earlier this year, the levy would raise almost a billion dollars. When councilmembers finalized it in June, we published a breakdown of where those dollars would go. Seattle has had a Housing Levy since 1986; that first one was for $50 million, while the one that’s expiring now totaled almost $300 million. If your house is worth about $900,000, this is projected to cost you about $32 a month. The arguments for and against are linked here. Projects funded at least in part by the expiring levy include Salish Landing, the 82-apartment Delridge complex that opened this year, built on the site of the former Lam Bow Apartments
General-election voting starts in less than three weeks. You have many decisions to make, and the top of the ticket is the Seattle City Council District 1 race between Maren Costa and Rob Saka.
We presented a forum with them last Monday night; this week, you have two more chances to see them side by side in West Seattle:
TUESDAY (OCTOBER 3): Seattle CityClub and GSBA will present a District 1 debate in the Brockey Center at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), 7 pm, in-person and livestreamed. More info here, as well as a registration link which the sponsors say includes a chance to suggest a question.
THURSDAY (OCTOBER 5): The Harbor-Alki Neighbors’ Group has announced an in-person “town hall” with the candidates at 7 pm Thursday. The venue will be Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill):
Town Hall Q&A with Rob Saka and Maren Costa with emphasis on issues of specific importance to residents of Alki and Harbor Avenues, Alki Beach, and Beach Drive. The public is invited but space is limited. It is not required but registration is recommended: email diedrehaines@gmail.com. Potential questions can also be submitted in advance to the same email contact.
A livestream is not planned for this event, but it will be recorded on video for later viewing.
P.S. Those aren’t the last West Seattle forums for Saka and Costa – the next one after these will be October 10th at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
(WSB photo – Ladder 13 on a call last January)
Last year, when the City Council finished its budget work, we noted that it included Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s push to keep expanded Seattle Fire resources that were added during the bridge closure, Ladder 13 (added to Station 37 in Sunrise Heights) and Medic 26 (added to Station 26 in South Park). Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s original proposal then did not include them. But today, when the mayor unveiled his proposed budget adjustments for the coming year, it affirmed funding for the extra staffing – 24 full-time equivalents – required to keep those resources permanently. Here’s the mayor’s budget speech, given at “affordable high-rise” Blake House on First Hill (he starts speaking six minutes in):
You can read a summary of the budget toplines here. Several city departments have sent out their own lists of highlights. Regarding public safety, the mayor’s proposal notes:
With record-low numbers of police officers in 2023, the City must use technological support to boost the effectiveness of public safety strategies. Mayor Harrell is reinvesting $1.8 million of salary savings in the SPD into a new crime prevention pilot to implement automatic license plate readers, CCTV cameras, and acoustic gunshot locator systems to deter criminal behavior and hold offenders accountable. These technologies will be most successful when strategically integrated with SPD’s Real Time Crime Center to triage and coordinate patrol/emergency responses to crime events. These technologies will require an assessment to comply with the City’s surveillance ordinance and approval by the City Council.
There’s some hope for increasing those “record-low numbers” – the mayor said in his speech that applications for open police-officer jobs are at a two-year high, averaging 150 to 200 a month. Meantime, for housing and homelessness, the overview says you have a role to play:
2023 is the final year of the 2017 Housing Levy. The 2023-2024 Proposed Mid-Biennial Budget Adjustments assume passage of the proposed 2023 Housing Levy by Seattle voters in November 2023. Passage of the new levy would generate an estimated $88 million for affordable housing in 2024. When added to other funding sources, including $137 million from the Payroll Expense Tax, the proposed budget adjustments include $334 million for affordable housing in 2024, a 32% increase from the 2023 Adopted Budget.
And on transportation SDOT, meantime, would get $1.5 million more to fill potholes. But, according to this excerpt from the overview, some bridge maintenance would be deferred:
Facing reductions in bridge maintenance funding in the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) Fund, SDOT is prioritizing staffing investments now that can build SDOT’s capacity to implement complex bridge maintenance activities on improved timelines and realigning planned spending accordingly. REET budget and planning assumptions for the Bridge Painting and Structures Major Maintenance capital projects are reduced by $2 million in 2024 and $1.8 million in 2026, deferring some maintenance work in these projects. Even with these reductions, SDOT will meet maintenance work planning expectations without impacting service levels or commitments relating to any grant awards.
There’s a lot more in the mayor’s proposal, and City Councilmembers start digging into it when they meet as the Select Budget Committee tomorrow morning, 9:30 am – the agenda is here, including the slide decks that will be used for the overviews to be presented during this first of many budget meetings over the next month and a half.
As promised, we’ve uploaded video from our Seattle City Council District 1 candidates’ forum as fast as we could. Thanks to the ~40 people who braved the intense rain tonight to come see Maren Costa and Rob Saka respond to questions for an hour at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Most of the questions we asked were sent to us by WSB readers; thanks again to everyone who suggested questions. We’ll add written summaries of the Q&A sometime soon. Upcoming forums in West Seattle include:
OCTOBER 3: Seattle CityClub and GSBA will present a District 1 debate in the Brockey Center at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), 7 pm, in-person and livestreamed. More info here, as well as a registration link which the sponsors say offers a chance to suggest a question.
OCTOBER 5: The Harbor-Alki Neighbors’ Group has announced an in-person “town hall Q&A” with the candidates at 7 pm Thursday, October 5th. The venue will be Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill).
OCTOBER 10: Westside Interfaith Network and the League of Women Voters co-sponsor an in-person form at Our Lady of Guadalupe (35th/Myrtle), 7 pm.
OCTOBER 23: Age-Friendly Seattle forum at the Senior Center (4217 SW Oregon), 3 pm. Go here to register and suggest a question.
10:47 AM: Tomorrow night – Monday, September 25 – we’re presenting your next chance to see the candidates in two major races that’ll be decided in the general election. Voting starts in mid-October, so if you haven’t decided yet, it’s a good time to see the contenders side by side. At 6:30 pm, we’ll talk with County Council District 8 (West Seattle, White Center, Vashon/Maury Islands, Burien) candidates Teresa Mosqueda (current Seattle City Council citywide rep) and Sofia Aragon (current Burien Mayor). After a short break at 7, City Council District 1 (West Seattle, South Park, Georgetown, part of south downtown) candidates Rob Saka and Maren Costa (neither of whom has previously held elected office) are in the spotlight. This is at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction (4217 SW Oregon), and you are welcome to be there in person. We’re planning questions in advance, so if there’s something you’d like us to ask, please email it by tonight – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
7:06 PM: We just got word that one of the COUNTY Council candidates will be unable to attend in person, due to illness, so the first part of the night will have to be postponed to a TBA date. However, the CITY Council candidates are still a go – we’ll start their forum at 7 pm Monday.
Quick reminder that we’re presenting a forum with our area’s Seattle City Council and King County Council candidates on Monday night (September 25th) at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). The night starts with County Council District 8 candidates Sofia Aragon and Teresa Mosqueda at 6:30 pm, and after a short break at 7 pm, City Council District 1 candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka. All are welcome to attend; we will be recording video to publish as soon as possible afterward. As with our primary forum, we’re collecting questions by email – thanks to everyone who’s sent suggestions so far! Please send yours – the more concise, the better to westseattleblog@gmail.com.
5:35 PM: In the fourth hour of today’s City Council meeting, councilmembers have just approved the bill that brings city law in line with state law, making public drug use potentially prosecutable. As reported last week, the bill co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis states that diversion is preferable to prosecution. Supporters say that’s an improvement on state law. But opponents say this criminalizes a health problem and that the diversion preference is meaningless because the city is not spending the money it wil take to make treatment and services available. The three “no” votes were Councilmembers Teresa Mosqueda, Tammy Morales, and Kshama Sawant.
7:15 PM: If you want to see what city reps are saying about the vote, here are links to the news releases:
–What the mayor says
–What Councilmember Herbold (a yes vote and co-sponsor) says
–What Councilmember Mosqueda (citywide rep, a no vote) says
–What Councilmember Sara Nelson (citywide rep, a yes vote) says
Both City Council District 1 candidates campaigned over the weekend, walking in South Park’s Fiesta Patrias parade, as our photos show. One week from tonight, Rob Saka and Maren Costa will be at the next WSB-presented candidate forum, Monday, September 25th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Starting tonight, we invite you to email questions – the candidates will have more time to answer than during our primary forum with eight candidates, but we still appreciate very specific questions. If you have a question to suggest, please email westseattleblog@gmail.com.
Same goes if you have any suggested questions for the candidates we’ve just added to the forum – we’ll open the night by talking with the two candidates for King County Council District 8, which includes West Seattle, White Center, Vashon and Maury Islands, and Burien. We haven’t seen many planned forums in this race, so we decided to add one to our event. We will talk with candidates Sofia Aragon and Teresa Mosqueda at 6:30 pm, and will switch to the City Council candidates at 7:15 pm. Again, this is all happening next Monday night, September 25th, at the Senior Center – you’re welcome to come watch either or both. And if you can’t get there in person, we’ll be recording and publishing video of both shortly after the event.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
King County Elections will send out ballots for this fall’s general election a little more than a month from now, so voting time is fast approaching.
Voters in West Seattle and vicinity will elect a new City Council District 1 representative; after eight years, Lisa Herbold, the first and only person to hold the seat since seven of the nine councilmembers started being elected by district, decided not to run again. The top finishers in an eight-candidate primary to succeed her are Maren Costa, who received 33 percent of the August vote, and Rob Saka, who got 24 percent.
As we did before the primary, we sat down with them for half-hour-ish interviews, recorded on video. We recorded each conversation at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Saka talked with us on Thursday, September 7th. The main topic for both conversations was public safety, and that’s where we began:
If you can’t or don’t want to watch the video, here’s our summary of the conversation:
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Less than five weeks remain until King County Elections mails ballots for this fall’s general election.
This time, top of the ticket for West Seattle and vicinity is electing a new City Council District 1 representative. Lisa Herbold has held the job for the eight years since the city started electing seven of the nine councilmembers by district, and she decided not to run for a third term. After an eight-candidate primary, two finalists remain in the running to succeed her: Maren Costa, who received 33 percent of the August vote, and Rob Saka, who got 24 percent.
Before the primary, we sat down with them and four other candidates for half-hour interviews, recorded on video. With the election approaching, and in advance of an intense schedule of forums and debates – including one we’re presenting on September 25th – we asked them to talk with us again. We recorded each conversation at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Costa talked with us this past Monday, September 11th. The main topic for both conversations was public safety, so that’s where we began:
If you can’t or don’t want to watch the video, here’s how the interview went:
More opportunities to see and hear Seattle City Council District 1 candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka before ballots arrive in mid-October:
FRIDAY AND BEYOND: We mentioned earlier this week that we have recorded new half-hour individual interviews with the candidates. We plan to publish them, with video and with written summaries, tomorrow (Friday) night, realizing that many may not have time until the weekend to watch half-hour interviews. Public safety was the major topic.
MONDAY: Morgan Community Association is part of a coalition sponsoring Seattle Fair Growth‘s forum for candidates from all districts, online Monday night (September 18th). The announcement says, “The questions will concern density, affordable housing, our tree canopy and how they fit in our Comprehensive Plan.” District 1, 2, 3, and 7 candidates will be questioned starting at 7 pm. The viewing link and other details can be found here.
SEPTEMBER 25: We’ll be presenting a West Seattle-focused in-person forum at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon) the night of Monday, September 25th. (Start time TBA – we’ll have logistics finalized shortly.) We’ll solicit questions from readers in the preceding week.
OCTOBER 3: Seattle CityClub and GSBA will present a District 1 debate in the Brockey Center at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), 7 pm on Tuesday, October 5, in-person and livestreamed. More info here, as well as a registration link which the sponsors say offers a chance to suggest a question.
OCTOBER 5: The Harbor-Alki Neighbors’ Group has announced an in-person “town hall Q&A” with the candidates at 7 pm Thursday, October 5th. The venue will be Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill).
If your organization is presenting an event with both candidates, open to the community and/or viewable via livestream, please let us know so we can add it to the list – thank you!
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