Chamber Plans for 2015 City Elections
The Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy, the political arm of the Seattle-King County Chamber of Commerce, held a closed-door "business leaders' luncheon" today to discuss, among other things, "Rumors and Lies: Who will run for City Council in 2015?," "Policy and political plans for 2015 district elections," and "Campaign infrastructure, candidate recruitment, communication strategy, fundraising, [and] district partnerships."
The group reportedly didn't name many specific potential candidates, but they did make it clear that they want to see the entire council get strong challengers—or, at the very least, to hold off on contributing to incumbents, who the Chamber usually supports, until they're assured the council has the chamber's back. (Read the rest here: http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/publicola/articles/chamber-plans )
Friday, August 15, 2014
Chamber of Commerce is planning on being an active player in Seattle District Elections
It will be hard to tell the difference, really. I suppose this is some kind of leverage they are holding over the incumbents that aren't socialists, and aren't actively doing whatever the Seattle Downtown Association wants.
The reality here in the 5th District is that the idea that whatever benefits downtown benefits the entire city was just dismissed by citizens voting for districts.
The other group looking to influence candidate selection and election will be the Democratic (and I suppose Republican) state parties.
The state LD's are breeding grounds for political insiders, and in the case of our local county district representative, inbreeding.
That whole system creates incumbents by appointment, rather than open elections.
The 2015 elections, especially in the 5th, are one of the few chances for anybody not inside somebody's system to run for an open seat.
That uncertainty is likely to make people that are used to having their way do some fairly extreme things to keep control of the city council.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
The heavy handed and offensive rhetoric used by proponents is a long-lasting mistake
I did not vote in favor of this effort to create a Metropolitan Parks District. I expected a majority would not agree with me. I didn't expect to be insulted by the proponents with such a gross mischaracterization.
But that's exactly what happened, and I'm not likely to every forgive and forget it.
Without the least bit of irony rumor blog Publicola chose to dislike something they facilitated.
Here is the dislike:
3. I DISLIKE that the "yes" side of the parks campaign is creating a narrative that the "No" vote is the result of some kind of Tea Bagger-Eyman-Seattle Times plot. Lots of people were honestly skeptical of the governance structure that relies on the city council as the governing body. Defenses like saying that the council already votes on the parks budget only fueled skepticism about whether the council (the same council that fell all over itself to build the tunnel and is flummoxed by how to deal with housing) is up to the task of running another taxing district.
Seattle Primary Election Results | Seattle Politics | Seattle Met
Here is an opinion piece by Michael Maddux they they posted that goes out of its way to paint opposition as part of a Tim Eyman mindset.
How Park District Opponents Channel Tim Eyman
Here is Publicola's editorial:
Isn't It Weird That: The Times "Loves" Parks, But...
I can't remember the last time I have read a Seattle Times editorial, and I don't know that can remember agreeing with their reasoning for just about anything. But this was Publicola's frame at work.
And here is the Publicola reader poll, note how different it is from the voter poll.
The risk any candidate takes is conflating the desire of citizens that prefer to vote for some specific things with people that want to be able to vote down every specific thing.
The folks that framed this as an "us" against against "them", as if Seattle were Missouri, may have insulted voters that are both Democrats and democratic.
Representative democracy begins with setting and executing policy as well as budgets for such things. Some folks fear that an abuse of power and position leads to waste and abuse.
For the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, they want to control and kill everything that moves within government, and prefer making it as difficult as possible for people to participate in government (including the Right to Vote), and actively stop government when elected.
For everybody else there is a broad spectrum of people wanting various degrees if representative and direct democracy. Seattle has had a very long and distinguished history of democrat activists wanting direct democracy, not to kill something TEA Party style, but to ensure that a given thing that is so personal and precious isn't diminish by broad political desires of representatives tasked with broad responsibilities, by using something specifically important to them, like libraries, trading away part of it to gain something somewhere else.
Plenty of people wanted a Metropolitan Parks District, but not run by the same people with broad political relationships as the city council obviously has. This was obviously stated in commenters in Publicola, the Stranger, and even the Seattle Times that it was shockingly tone deaf for proponents to paint all opposition the way that they did.
Were they afraid of an independently elected body would make independent decisions?
That's what it looks like.
The heavy handed rhetoric used by insiders that benefit from back scratching will not be quickly forgotten, it just never really is.
That's as much a part of Seattle as is activist democrats.
Do all of these people think that 46% of the voters in Seattle are TEA Party folks?
That's darn near the percentage of people the voted for Mike McGinn in last year's mayoral race. Maybe McGinn is a closet TEA Partier.
[edited to update with a chart from The Economist]
I doesn't really matter if the endorsers do or do not support the rhetoric supporting that side of the campaign because they endorsed a campaign that did.
Own it.
Public Officials:Seattle Mayor Ed Murray
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Sally Clark
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
State Senator David Frockt
State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles
State Representative Brady Walkinshaw
State Representative Jessyn Farrell
State Representative Gerry Pollet
State Representative Ruth Kagi
King County Executive Dow Constantine
King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski
King County Councilmember Larry Gossett
King County Councilmember Larry Phillips
King County Councilmember Joe McDermott
Former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn
Former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
Former Seattle Mayor Paul Schell
Former Seattle Mayor Norman B. Rice
Former Seattle Mayor Charles Royer
Former Councilmember Richard Conlin
Former Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck
Former King County Executive Ron Sims
Congressman Adam SmithCommunity Organizations11th District Democrats
32nd District Democrats
34th District Democrats
36th District Democrats
37th District Democrats
43rd District Democrats
Alliance for Pioneer Square
Allied Arts of Seattle
Arboretum Foundation
Aquarium Foundation
Berger Partnership
Cascade Bicycle Club
Downtown Residents Council
Downtown Seattle Association
Earth Corps
ECOSS (Environmental Coalition of South Seattle)
El Centro de la Raza
Feet First
Forterra
Freeway Park Association
Friends of Athletic Fields
Friends of the Seattle Waterfront
Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks
Green Plate Special
Groundswell NW
IBEW 46
Imagine Permaculture Food Forest
King County Conservation Voters
King County Democrats
King County Young Democrats
Laborers Local 1239
Municipal League of King County
Martin Luther King County Labor Council
Nature Consortium
Neighborhood House
North Central Little League
Northwest Ultimate AssociationNube9Professional and Technical Employees, Local 17
Recreational Adult Team Soccer (RATS)
Sierra Club
Senior Services
Seward Park Audubon Center
Seattle Fire Fighters Union, Local 27
Seattle Human Services Coalition
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
Seattle Parks Foundation
Seattle Tilth
Seattle United FC
Seattle Youth Lacrosse Club
Seattle Youth Soccer Association
Skate Like a Girl
South Park Neighborhood Association
South Park Area Redevelopment Committee (SPARC)
Southwest Youth and Family Services
Student Conservation Association, Northwest Region
Teamsters Local 117
Transportation Choices Coalition
Trust for Public Land
United Association Local 32 - Plumbers and PipefittersUrban Sparks
Volunteer Park Trust
Walker Macy
Washington Bus
Washington Conservation Voters
Washington State Council of County &
City Employees PAC
Washington BikesWashington Trails Association
Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition
West Seattle Green Spaces Coalition
Woodland Park Zoological Society
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Seattle Prop 1 Parks District likely to pass
Here is a link to the KC Elections page for this measure.
What will be interesting will be the by precinct voting data showing how Seattle's 5th voted. Data will be available in a few weeks.
Now that this is a parks district where each council member participates, rather than a council sub-committee made up of 3 members and alternates, every candidate will have to express a city-wide as well as a district specific vision for what is being grouped together as "parks".
Friday, August 1, 2014
Two or four more names floating around for the 5th CD seat in Seattle
Today's Publicola Likes and Dislikes provided more names to the rapidly deepening pool of almost-candidates for Seattle City Council Position 5.
Since I do not know who the source of this rumor comes from I have to just treat it as a consultant or political party hack floating names.
"I like that the speculation of who will run for Seattle City Council in the 5th District [North Seattle] includes not only rumors of Jordan Royer and David Miller running again, but also murmuring that their wives Julianna Ross and Donna Hartmann-Miller would be welcome candidates."Seattle Metropolitan Parks District in Trouble | Seattle Politics | Seattle Met
http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/publicola/articles/morning-fizz-high-strung-friday-fizz-august-2014
Who are these people? Um, not sure, so here is a random list of stuff on the internet that I am pretty sure is about these people.
Jordan Royer is interested in boats and water for a living.
Here is his LinkedIn profile:
Jordan Royer | LinkedIn
David Miller ran for city council in 2009, I thought I would repost endorsements from his candidate page here before it gets scrubbed (imagine him 5 years older).
But wait, there's more.
Here is David Milker's Facebook page where he states that he is a Politician.
David Miller
David Miller is committed to making Seattle's economy stronger and greener, its streets safer, and its government more responsive to its citizens.
About Me
David is a Washington native who has lived in Seattle for over 20 years and in District 5 for over 17 years . He married his college sweetheart, Donna Hartmann-Miller, in 1993. David and Donna live in the Maple Leaf neighborhood.
David grew up in Hoquiam, a small town on the Washington coast. His mother, Rachel, was a grade school teacher's aide for many years at Washington Grade School. His father, Jack, retired after 42 years of service from Grays Harbor Paper Company. Jack was one of the co-founders of the AWPPW union as a shift worker, and eventually served as the mill's Industrial Relations and Personnel Manager. David manages the Rachel and Jack Miller Memorial Scholarship Fund benefiting Hoquiam High School students in their name.Favorite Quotations
"Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent." - Indra Nooyi, CEO, Pepsico
"First, always ask for the order. Second, when the customer says 'yes', stop talking - Michael Bloomberg
"If you're not living on the edge, you are already dead." - American Indian sayingWork Info
Employer: Biotech Stock Research, LLC
Position: Founder
Time Period: 1999 to 2013
Location: Seattle, WA, United States
Description: BSR was an independent research firm covering publicly traded development-stage biotech companies for professional and individual investors. Founded 1999.
Employer: University of Washington - Bothell
Position: Adjunct Professor
Time Period: 2000 to 2010
Location: Seattle, WA, United States
Description: Co-taught Entrepreneur's Workshop each spring. Formerly taught BBUS-301, Business Writing and Presentations. Over 100 businesses launched out of this program.
Employer: Seattle Parks and Green Spaces Levy Citizen Advisory Committee
Position: Member
Time Period: April 2008 to June 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, United States
Description: Volunteer Position. The Seattle Parks and Green Spaces Levy (PGSL) Citizen Advisory Committee was formed by the Seattle City Council to investigate the possibility of placing a parks levy on the ballot in 2008. After three months of debate, the PGSL recommended a $140 million package be placed on the ballot. This is a reduction from the $200 million ProParks levy expiring this year in recognition of the less trong economy facing Seattle residents.
Employer: Alpine BioVentures
Position: Portfolio Manager
Time Period: 2013 to present
Location: Seattle, WA, United States
Description: Alpine BioVentures invests in development-stage biotechnology companies working to cure cancer, heart disease, and childhood orphan diseases.
Activities
Biking, softball, volunteering in the neighborhoodInterests
Pedestrian safety, land use, local politics, good beer, parks and open space
Julianna Ross looks like she is living a full life doing important things so I'm not sure why she would take a thankless job like ay city council. But, you never know.
Experience
– Present (1 year 8 months)Warren G. Magnuson Park Executive Director
Sand Point Arts and Cultural Exchange
Continually advocate on behalf of arts, cultural and educational activities and facilities at Warren G. Magnuson Park to the benefit of the public. Maintain productive relationships with the City of Seattle, Seattle Parks & Recreation, City Council and any other official entities influencing the quality of life at the park.
Conduct public outreach and build strong relationships with other regional arts and/or cultural facilities, neighborhood organizations, artists and the community at large.
Develop and execute strategic plan, operating budget and programming goals.
Establish operating procedures.
Maintain organization in compliance with 501(c)(3) laws and guidelines.
Cultivate funding sources including grants, individual giving and sponsorships.
Build relationships and strengthen partnerships across diverse groups.Artists spread out in new 'gourmet' space at Magnuson Park
Donna Hartman-Miller most likely rented videos to me about a decade ago before and after Reckless Video burns to the ground and my family moved to the other side of I-5. She works with David Miller for Ace Hardware next to Reckkess Video (the one that didn't burn to the ground).
I had nothing to do with the fire, other than be concerned and a little depressed.
Here is her LinkedIn profile, but that's not nearly as interesting (no offense) to a blog post about her from 2012.
In 2012 she was honored with something that is mentioned in the story, but the obvious thing here is that she is into cosplay.
See here, the story from 2012.Magazine names Donna Hartmann-Miller as Maple Leaf's neighborhood hero
Maple Leaf now has a "neighborhood hero," named by Seattle magazine earlier this morning.
She's Donna Hartmann-Miller, shown here in her trademark Park Suit. (Photo courtesy Dane Doerflinger Photography.)
The magazine piece notes Donna is a member of the Maple Leaf Community Council (as is her husband, David Miller) and works at Maple Leaf Ace Hardware.
The ubiquitous Donna is also a force behind Friends for a Greater Maple Leaf Park (hence the Park Suit, which represents the park as it should be by this summer) and the annual Maple Leaf Parade of Costumes.
It's the first time the magazine has polled readers to find neighborhood heroes, and it didn't name any for neighborhoods where not enough residents voted.
Other heroes include Jeff Bezos and Phoenix Jones (as "superhero," natch).
You can read our interview with Donna here.
Some of that text just might be blue, or it might be links, whatever.
So, that makes 5 maybe names for city council.
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