City of Seattle Council District Elections 2015: It's the equity, stupid

The current council and those running in the 5th should pay close attention to what it has meant to not have representation on the council and in the mayor's office. Read that again, this is the very definition of Seattle City Council District 5, unrepresented.

This election, and all other going forward will eventually become about equity. Each of the 7 district is made of about 80,000 residents, with the boundaries cut along geographic lines. The two at-large council seats represent all of the residents, in theory.

What will become more obvious is that the districts that have always gotten pretty much whatever they have wanted under the antiquated notion that what is good for downtown, Capital Hill, and South Lake Union is a benefit to all of Seattle. That may have been true 50 years ago, but the neighborhoods and districts constrained mobility has isolated neighborhoods. A general fund expenditure may result in a neighborhood amenity, and not a general city asset. The council has, more or less, turned city government into a not-for-profit subsidiary of the for-profit and out of town investors. 

There is a reason citizens voted in council by district, and that Sally Bagshaw doesn't have an opponent.

The ideas and ideals that city government consider to be preferable simply do not exist throughout the city, and never have. The question now becomes, does an investment by the entire city from the general fund actually benefit the entire city, or not?

Is a city investment equitable?

I've seen a particular comment more than a few times, in regard to our district thinking and believing that the city is obligated to deliver some sidewalks as part of the annexation of north Seattle, that the city doesn't owe north Seattle sidewalks because it wasn't written into the annexation ordinance.

Well, do you know what else isn't in a city ordinance back in the 1950's?

A streetcar line to Capital Hill, light rail to West Seattle and Ballard.

But, somehow the 80,000 residents of those districts are not only getting that infrastructure but they have the city politicians advocating and lobbying for it.

How about everything in South Lake Union, was that in an ordinance back in the 1950's?

NO.

The strawman argument that since sidewalks (SIDEWALKS) weren't written into a 1952 ordinance means we shouldn't get sidewalks in 2015 while other districts are getting trains is absurdity bordering on madness.

I ask you to remind anybody else that the city doesn't owe downtown a waterfront promenade, or Capital Hill streetcar, or SLUT.

It is a question of equity now.

If the rest of Seattle, and in particular the developers, want the district with the most land mass to participate in increasing the city density then it will take infrastructure, basic safety infrastructure, stop signs, cross walks, side walks, you know, things commonly found in the other Seattle.

The rest of Seattle needs to wake up and ask if city expenditures are equitable, are the 80,000 residents in each district are benefitting?

Are the people that live inside the city limits are benefitting from the business wealth as the people that live outside of the city limits?

This election, and all that follow, are about equity.

Let's revisit Crosscut's summary profile of our fine district and definition of the districts in general, by Knute Berger, Benjamin Anderstone, demographic data provided by Richard Morrill.

District 5 (Lake City, Northgate, Northwest Seattle)

The only district currently lacking representation on City Council, District 5 is anchored by two of North Seattle's remaining working-class neighborhoods, Lake City and Northgate. Outside of these core areas, District 5 ranges from lower middle class to fairly wealthy, especially at the city's northwest corner. Seniors are also a powerful bloc here: At 36 percent, their representation is a few points higher than the rest of the city.

District 5 had a mediocre showing for both Obama (83 percent) and same-sex marriage (77 percent). There are more conservatives, and more conservative Democrats, as you get this far from city center. District 5 also trends conservative on municipal races. Murray received 53 percent, Conlin 52 percent, O'Brien only 64 percent and public financing was defeated by a 55 – 45 percent margin.

Nonetheless, District 5 could make for a very interesting open-seat race. This is an area underserved in city politics, famously frustrated by lack of basic services (like sidewalks), and with significant populations of renters and working people. Frustration abounds; it's yet to see how it will translate politically.

Demographic highlights: Third most families with kids (34 percent), third fewest poor (10 percent), median household income at $63K.

Berger, Knute. "Meet the Districts." Crosscut.com. N.p., 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2015. <http://crosscut.com/2013/12/meet-districts/>.

Well, north Seattle appears to largely be moderate, working class. Liberally spending, or neo-liberally spending is not popular.

Below, The Stranger reintroduces you to city council districts by talking down to you.

The only redeeming quality of this random story from The Stranger is the map depicting how much money candidates currently have on hand, and who is currently running where. For other districts, it also indicates which current councilmember will run for re-election and in which district.

District 1 is the other district that doesn't have an incumbent councilmember running. Tom Rasmussen lives there but works in and for downtown, and couldn't get re-elected in the 1st District.

Seattle Has a New Way to Elect City Council Members

click to enlarge

Here. Listen, I get it. It can be really hard to care about local elections. Especially when they're still months away. Especiallyespecially when you don't totally understand what's happening. I'm here to help. See that map? Put it on your fridge, take a photo of it. This stuff is going to be important.
Last time you voted for members of the Seattle City Council, you were presented with just a few candidates, who were running for seats representing the whole damn city. That meant that no matter where you lived, you could vote for whichever among the council's nine seats were up for grabs that year. (And you are registered to vote, right? If not, you need to get on that right now at vote.wa.gov.) That free-love nonsense will never happen again. There are rules now.
Thanks to a city charter amendment voters approved in 2013, we now have a partially districted city council. This means that instead of all nine city council members being elected by people all over the city, just two of them will be elected this way. The other seven will be elected by voters in the area of town where they live. What that means is that you'll get to have a say in picking three of the nine city council members—the one who represents the district where you live and the two who represent the whole city.
Are you still here? Good, because this is actually a huge deal.
Districts won support
Because this year's election is the first one under the new system, all nine council seats are up for election at once, and it's getting nuts. Three established incumbents—Tom Rasmussen, Sally Clark, and Nick Licata—have already dropped out, creating a free-for-all for their seats. West Seattle has 11 candidates. And we haven't even passed the deadline for candidates to declare that they're running (that's May 15).
It won't always be quite this hectic. In the future, only the seven district-elected members will be up for election at once, and that'll happen only every four years (and when it does, you'll have to pay attention only to the one race in yourdistrict). Then in a year in between those district elections—the same year the mayor is elected—you'll vote for the two citywide seats (the first time this will happen is 2017).
This year, though, everyone is on the ballot, and the results could dramatically change the city council.
Some political types say the new system will offer an easier, cheaper path for grassroots, candidates, giving us a more progressive and diverse council. Others say it'll stoke hyperlocal support for neighborhood types, allowing a slate of NIMBY candidates to push the council to the right. And the real cynics say it'll do nothing more than give those same rich power brokers more sway, since they can spend less on each district race and therefore influence more of them. I know! Big stuff!
So pay attention and mark these dates on your calendar: The primary election is August 4. The two top vote-getters in that election will be on your general-election ballot on November 3.Again, if you're not registered to vote, get on it. Or we're not speaking anymore! 

Groover, Heidi. "Seattle Has a New Way to Elect City Council Members." The Stranger. N.p., 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://www.thestranger.com/news/feature/2015/03/18/21921708/seattle-has-a-new-way-to-elect-city-council-members>.

Follow me here: @sccd52015