Licata says if he runs for council it's at-large

Maybe Nick Licata can win against Tim Burgess or Sally Clark, maybe he knows for sure that he would lose to Mike ÓBrien.

There is still only one candidate for the 5th District, Halie Watkins. It is hard to believe Watkins would run unopposed for an open council seat. We will just have to wait and see.

There are potentially three candidates running at-large. It is very likely that more people jump into those two races. Sally Bagshaw, too, could draw challengers.

Licata says if he runs in 2015, it will be at-large

If the long-time councilmember does run for one of the two at-large seats, he would have to compete against two of his current colleagues.

Longtime Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata says that he will make a decision in January about whether to run for re-election in 2015.

Licata told Crosscut yesterday that if he does run, it will be for one of the two at-large seats available under the City Council's new election system, which is partially district-based. Council President Tim Burgess and Councilmember Sally Clark have already filed paperwork with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission to campaign for the at-large seats. This means that if Licata does decide to run, he would find himself in a competitive race against a colleague, which could get even more complicated if candidates from outside the Council emerge.

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Licata and O'Brien both reside in Council District 6, which includes north Seattle neighborhoods such as Green Lake, Fremont and Ballard. By running at-large, or not running at all, Licata would avoid a race against his district-mate. The two are generally regarded as among the most liberal members of the council.

Apart from Burgess, Clark, Licata and O'Brien, the other five council members have registered to campaign for four-year terms in their newly established districts. Charter Amendment 19, which passed in last year's city election, ushered in the new district election system for the Council. 

North Seattle's Council District 5, which includes Lake City and Northgate, is the only district in which no current council member lives. Halei Watkins, a Planned Parenthood organizer, has registered to run for that seat.

In his West Seattle district, Tom Rasmussen already faces two challengers, David Ishii and Charles R. Redmond III. And community activist Tammy Morales is planning to run against Bruce Harrell in District 2, which encompasses Southeast Seattle.

Licata says if he runs in 2015, it will be at-large | Crosscut.com

http://crosscut.com/2014/09/23/politics-government/122015/licata-2015-ill-decide-january/

Publicola: Halei Watkins, announced her candidacy for North Seattle's new city council District 5

We have a candidate!

See her site here: http://www.haleiwatkins.com

SDOT Director Addresses War on Cars | Seattle Politics | Seattle Met

http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/publicola/articles/morning-fizz-septemberbeyondthecar-2014

Morning Fizz: Beyond the Car

 3. Planned Parenthood organizer and former field director for 2012's gay marriage law, Halei Watkins, announced her candidacy for North Seattle's new city council District 5 seat this morning. 

District 5 includes Maple Leaf, Lake City, Broadview, and Watkins' neighborhood, Northgate.  No City Council members currently live in the 5th, under Seattle's brand new districted system. 

"I'm running because I believe that Seattle is quickly becoming the tale of two cities: one city for the wealthy and one for the rest of us.  Like many Seattleites, my husband and I wonder if we will be able to afford to continue to live here, to raise a family here, to grow here," Watkins said in a press statement. 

Watkins husband Jaret is a grocery worker and member of UFCW Local 21, the leftiest union in town.

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.

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 )