West Seattle, Washington
10 Friday
(Scroll down for updates – now that numbers are in, we’re off visiting campaign parties)
(King County Elections photo from their HQ, cars lined up to drop off ballots by 8 pm)
The first and only results that King County is making public tonight have just come out. In our area’s two major races – each with four candidates going for an open seat, and the top two advancing to November once ALL the votes are counted and the election is certified:
34TH DISTRICT STATE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE, POSITION 2
(Rep. Sharon Nelson isn’t running for re-election – she’s unopposed for State Senate)
Heavey first 34%, Fitzgibbon second 33%, McElroy third 19%, Stone fourth 14%
KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 (nonpartisan)
(Councilmember Jan Drago isn’t running for the seat to which she was appointed early this year)
McDermott first 59%, Toledo second 20%, McEvoy third 13%, Fahey fourth 7%
All King County results are linked here. We’ll add other highlights of interest shortly, and we’ll be adding candidate reaction as we get it. Meantime, if you still haven’t voted – it’s not too late – you can mail it till midnight at Riverton Heights (near Sea-Tac; see our earlier story).
(Tim Fahey being interviewed by Q13’s Parella Lewis, with Mac McElroy looking on outside his pub)
8:41 PM: We were at Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy‘s party at his Triangle Pub in White Center when the results came in – with at least four other members of the media sighted. Now we’ve moved on to Fauntleroy, to Mike Heavey‘s campaign party, 
a gathering of family and friends (iPhone photo at right, as the candidate posed with varying combinations of people from both those groups). Both locations so far have been full of good cheer, despite the varying results. McElroy’s party also was visited by two other candidates – Ray Carter, the “reluctant Republican” challenging Democratic Rep. Eileen Cody, and Tim Fahey, who is currently fourth of 4 in the King County Council race. We are moving on to other locations shortly. Just interviewed Heavey, who foresees the general-election campaign, apparently against Fitzgibbon, as “a battle for the ages” – with voters being asked to choose “what kind of Democrat” they support. 10:16 PM: We’ve also caught up with Joe Fitzgibbon, whose supporters were celebrating at Heartland Café in the Admiral District:
Video from the frontrunners, coming up. And again, tonight’s vote is nowhere near final – King County Elections will release vote totals daily, until the final results are out on September 1st – two weeks away. ADDED 12:25 AM: Quick comments on video from Heavey, Fitzgibbon and McElroy:
Procrastinating voters, don’t despair – there really is a way to vote **UP TILL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT**. We have just confirmed with the Riverton Heights branch of the U.S. Postal Service – near Sea-Tac Airport – that you can mail something there up until midnight, and it’ll be postmarked today – the King County Elections Department says your ballot DOES count as long as it’s postmarked (by) August 17th. Here’s more on the branch, including a map. Otherwise, the West Seattle USPS branches at Westwood and The Junction are about to close; the county dropboxes downtown and in Tukwila will ONLY accept ballots till 8 straight up. After that, you’re out of luck. Meantime, as for results: The county plans first results tonight around 8:15 pm – we’ll publish/link them here and bring you candidate reaction.
Polling places may be history but one Election Day tradition lives on … signwaving at busy intersections. We checked out 35th/Fauntleroy and the Fauntleroy overpass to get a Primary Morning overview, and, in addition to State Sen./King County Council candidate Joe McDermott, we found three candidates in the election’s most-watched race, with a sign-waver on behalf of the fourth:
At left, that’s Marcee Stone at 35th/Fauntleroy – while on another corner at the intersection, Mike Heavey had a costumed campaigning companion:
(Why a lion, you ask? It was a little loud for conversation along the bridge entrance, but we’ve got a message out to inquire.) Then to the north, on the Fauntleroy pedestrian overpass, Joe Fitzgibbon swiveled for a smile while maintaining the wave:
The overpass also held a signwaver on behalf of Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy:
If you’re a candidate and plan to sign-wave during the pm commute – let us know – we’ll likely be back out on patrol. Meantime, MAIL YOUR BALLOT (procrastinators that we are, we are heading to the Post Office right now ourselves)! Infolinks, including the online voters’ guide, are here. (Advertising disclosure: The Heavey, McElroy, and Stone campaigns are running paid political ads on WSB.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Just two days left to vote in the primary election.
But one West Seattleite who’s running for office isn’t on your ballot.
Even before the 2010 election season has kicked into high gear, former Highland Park Action Committee chair Dorsol Plants has declared his intention for 2011.
He turned a lot of heads with his City Council Position 4 run in 2009 (that’s when we snapped the photo at right) – almost 18,000 people voted for him in the primary (third place, so David Bloom made it to the general election ultimately won by Sally Bagshaw) — and cites a still-burning city need for change, so he’s trying again.
He hasn’t had a big campaign kickoff, but word’s gotten around.
(Photos by Evan Miglorie)
Get any get-out-the-vote doorbellers at your house/apartment today? Here’s one group that set out from Delridge Community Center this morning – volunteers from the Washington Bus, which is trying to encourage younger voters to participate more in the political process. They rallied before hitting the streets:
Stacy and Tunny are the leaders of this year’s Washington Bus fellows – a political-organizing summer camp of sorts (explained here):
After several hours of GOTV’ing throughout the 34th Legislative District – including White Center and Burien – the group planned an afterparty at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Meantime – voted yet? Don’t let your ballot just sit there on top of the TV console (or kitchen table, or wherever) till it’s late. 80 percent of ballots aren’t in as of last night, says King County! If you need more voting info – it’s all linked here.
The most impassioned campaign speech at tonight’s 34th District Democrats meeting came from a semi-surprise visitor – and he wasn’t even speaking on his own behalf, though he’s on the ballot for next Tuesday’s primary. Our clip includes most of what U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott had to say, mostly on behalf of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, and why McDermott believes this may be the most important election of his lifetime. Also campaigning, State Sen. Joe McDermott (no relation), making one more pre-primary pitch for his King County Council District 8 campaign (vs. three opponents). And there was a mini-fundraiser for Reps. Eileen Cody (running for re-election against Republican Ray Carter) and Sharon Nelson (running unopposed for State Senate) before the meeting. But the hottest race on the ballot – 34th District State House, Position 2 (for which the 34th DDs have endorsed Marcee Stone, one of 4 candidates) – did not come up at all, and we didn’t spot any of the candidates in attendance. That may be a different story this Friday, when the group throws its annual fundraiser Garden Party at West Seattle Nursery – Chris Porter, who’s heading the effort, got up to talk about it twice. But the heart of the evening’s program was a panel on transportation – from current projects, to future possibilities – with a trio of panelists, including WS-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, chair of the council’s Transportation Committee. In addition to the Spokane Street Viaduct offramp-opening announcement we published as a separate bulletin earlier, they talked tolls, taxes, transit, and more – read on:Read More
Tonight’s marquee event in West Seattle – the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly gathering (7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy). And a timely topic, too – transportation, from the Alaskan Way Viaduct to the city’s future vision (which could include more taxes to pay for improvements). Here’s the full agenda, which includes West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, chair of the council’s Transportation Committee. (You’re also bound to hear an update on the 34th DDs’ biggest annual event, the Garden Party dinner/auction, coming up this Friday.)
Quick reminder this afternoon: If you are not currently registered to vote in the state of Washington, you still have a few hours left to register if you want to vote in the August 17th primary. The King County Elections page explains where to go – you have to do it in person before they close at 4:30. Meantime, Election Day is one week from tomorrow. You have till that day – Tuesday, August 17 – to mail your ballot or drop it off at one of the two remaining dropboxes; more info here. (As of Friday night, the county says, about 10 percent of all voters had returned their ballots.)
For the second consecutive Saturday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will visit West Seattle tomorrow – not for an event this time (he was here last Saturday to help celebrate the Camp Long Lodge reopening), but to find out more about our area, specifically the Delridge neighborhood. His tour guide: Ron Angeles, Delridge Neighborhood District Coordinator for the Department of Neighborhoods and longtime West Seattleite; the tour starts at Ron’s HQ, the Neighborhood Services Center in the same building as the Delridge Library (5405 Delridge Way), 10 am tomorrow, and will end about an hour and a quarter later at the Delridge P-Patch – all welcome – one of the first stops will be the Clean Greens produce-sales stand alongside Super 24, which is open 10 am-6 pm every Friday and Saturday this summer.
Two days after King County Elections announced the August 17 primary ballots were in the mail, they’re arriving (ours just showed up). The big decisions for West Seattle (and neighboring communities) are in two open races with four candidates each, which the primary results will narrow to two for November: 34th District State House Position 2 (WSB coverage archive with “candidate conversation” stories here) and King County Council District 8 (WSB coverage archive here; watch for “candidate conversation” stories in the next week). Two candidate forums are coming up – tomorrow on Vashon Island, the candidates from both races are expected at Courthouse Square (see the end of this article) for a forum to focus on the State House race 7-8 pm and the County Council race 8-9 pm; then next Thursday, August 5th, the Seattle League of Women Voters presents a candidates’ forum downtown, with the County Council race (and those vying for two Supreme Court seats). Back to voting: August 17th is the deadline to postmark your ballot; the county has a list of voter resources on this webpage.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We mentioned earlier that we had assigned a reporter to ride along on Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s open-invite bike commute today. Here’s his story, with photos along the way)
Story and photos by Johnathon Fitzpatrick
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Seattle Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, an eight-year West Seattleite, has invited the public to bike-commute in with him all week as part of Mayor McGinn‘s Walk-Bike-Ride initiative. He has been writing online about his experiences; this morning at 7 am, he stood at Weather Watch Park with his Univega (rain bike) waiting for traveling companions.
A low fog clung to the shoreline across the sound as a ferry horn bellowed and seagulls picked their way across the early-morning low tide along Beach Drive. A group of four cyclists rode along with Rasmussen in the slightly chilly morning he considered to be more like October weather. “I sure hope summer’s not done,” he muses.
There’s a brief moment of awkwardness as the group navigates around a trash truck and yet another as a cyclist shouts “on your left! ON YOUR LEFT… (Expletive)!” Yet these are minor annoyances as Rasmussen plays tour guide and discusses transportation issues.
(The story continues, with more photos too)Read More
West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen just wrote about Day 3 of bicycling to work (as part of the Walk/Bike/Ride Challenge) – 2 people showed up to join him (as did reporter Johnathon Fitzpatrick, a transportation bicyclist we’d assigned to cover this morning’s ride). Rasmussen writes that as they pedaled along, somebody swore at them – NOT a driver! Read about it here (and look for Johnathon’s story on WSB later). P.S. The councilmember won’t be riding tomorrow, but will on Friday, and you’re welcome again that day to join him, meeting up at 7 am at Weather Watch Park (4035 Beach Drive SW).
On Sunday, West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen issued an open invitation to you to join him bicycling to work from Beach Drive’s Weather Watch Park any morning this week (7 am) as part of the Walk/Bike/Ride Challenge. So what happened the first two mornings? Read his vividly written update here. (P.S. Rasmussen really isn’t a biker-come-lately. We have pictorial proof including this February story, when he biked up to Pigeon Point to look into the development-detour dilemma that caused consternation back then.)
Add to your list of November ballot measures a King County proposal to raise the sales tax by two-tenths of one percent – that’s 2 extra cents on 10 dollars spent. The County Council says it’s now up to voters – raise the sales tax, or face cuts in criminal-justice services. Read on for their official announcement, to which we’ll be adding the county and city – cities get a share of the $ – reactions that are rolling into the inbox:Read More
(EDITOR’S NOTE: With a week and a half till ballots are mailed for the August 17th primary, we’ve been taking a closer look at the candidates in two contested local races. Today, we conclude a weeklong series of stories about WSB conversations with the four contenders for 34th District State House, Position 2. Previously: Our report on Joe Fitzgibbon ran here); our report on Mike Heavey was here; and our Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy interview here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
She has the official Democratic Party nomination and the endorsement of the 34th District Democrats.
Marcee Stone also has something that Democratic legislative candidates in the 34th District (map) don’t usually have: Same-party challengers.
According to King County’s online election records, this is the first time in a decade that any 34th District legislative race has had more than one Democrat (in 2000, 2 Democrats challenged Dow Constantine in his winning State Senate campaign). But then again, it’s been pointed out, this is the first open seat in almost two decades. And until the “Top Two” primary system was implemented two years ago, there was no chance for two members of the same party to make it to general election.
Stone, a 57-year-old West Seattle resident, says it “means a lot” to voters when they hear she’s “the official Democratic candidate” – and when they hear about her “deep roots in the community.”
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.
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.
(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.
From 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
(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.
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.
(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.
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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