White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Two hours since Sen. Barack Obama was declared president-elect; now, we watch state and local races. In White Center-specific races, 11th District State Sen. Margarita Prentice appears to be cruising to re-election despite another D challenger surviving the Top Two primary; her two fellow 11th District legislators are winning too. (All 11th District results here). If you’re in the 34th District, none of the three legislators had opponents; here’s their results.

King County says this is it, the last in-person election. So for the 1 in 3 who still votes that way, here’s all the info you need. We will post pictures and info throughout the day and night, but you can help by sharing White Center scenes: whitecenternow@gmail.com … the King County Votes website is promising to chronicle the grand finale of in-person voting, too. ADDED 12:06 PM: Voting photos from White Center Heights Elementary, still crowded five hours after voting began:

We even spotted a couple of apparent Republicans who didn’t appear eligible to vote:

Well, everything you need to know about the voting PROCESS, anyway - the King County Elections Department has put it all on one page. Chances are you’ve voted already; as of last night, the county had already received almost half the absentee (mail) ballots it had sent out. If you don’t vote by mail, but you don’t think you’re going to be able to get to your polling place on Tuesday, you can go vote tomorrow at county elections HQ in Renton, 8:30 am-6 pm, but it’s likely to be a long line, so the county’s suggesting you don’t do that unless you really have to — they do NOT expect long lines at regular voting places on Tuesday, since so many people vote by mail now, and they say they’ve staffed to handle anything up to 100 percent turnout. If you’re not sure where to vote, use this page to figure it out. However you do it, JUST VOTE - there’s a ton at stake beyond the president and governor races — statewide and local ballot measures, plus legislative races (two Democrats facing off in Legislative District 11 because of the new top-two primary).

A quarter-million of your King County neighbors already have, according to the latest Election Department stats on “absentee” ballots (the antiquated term for what’s just become the mail-in vote, supposedly the only way we’ll all be able to vote, one of these days) — see those stats here. (As you’ll see, that’s a third of all the “absentee” ballots that King County issued - all already turned in. If you have one and you don’t want to drop it in a mailbox, there’s a round-the-clock dropoff spot a few miles north, at the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center.)>

From the 34th District Democrats‘ website, Election Night potluck and viewing party at Big Al’s Brewing in White Center (with ice cream by Full Tilt) - read about it here. Any other WC parties on Election Night? Let us know!

I just got my ballot in the mail and I am going to fill it out and send it out, just as soon as I find out where they sell those things called stamps. Seriously folks, the last governor’s election was decided by just 130 votes, so your vote makes a difference. And it looks like this governor’s race is going to be a squeaker as well. So get your ballot, vote and then tell everyone you know to do the same. By the way if you are not registered to vote, TODAY is your last chance! You have to do it in person at King County Elections HQ, which is in Renton; here’s directions - they’re open late today, till 6.

If you aren’t currently registered to vote in Washington and want to vote in this November’s election, you have until the October 20 deadline to do so in person at your county elections office.

Secretary of State Sam Reed is urging eligible residents to register in person to vote by Monday’s deadline so they can take part in the highly anticipated November 4 General Election.

“The upcoming election will be extremely important for Washington voters,” Reed said. “Several interesting initiatives and key races will be on the ballot, including president, governor, most legislative seats and many local government offices. If you aren’t registered to vote and want to vote this year, you need to register by October 20.”

Reed said young adults in particular should not miss the opportunity to have their voices heard in the upcoming election.

“Whether you are 18 or 81, your vote counts,” Secretary of State Reed said. “If you have never voted before, this would be the perfect election to vote in for the first time. Your vote can make a difference.”

Registered voters in the state of Washington are required to be citizens of the United States; have lived in Washington State for at least 30 days; be at least 18 years old by Election Day; and have had their voting rights restored if they were ever convicted of a felony. Federal and state law requires citizens to provide identification to vote, such as a Washington driver’s license or Social Security number. Other ID forms are valid under the law.

Just back from the 34th District Democrats’ get-out-the-vote rally with Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray in West Seattle; they’re doorbelling in White Center today too, as are the 34th District Republicans, and at least one ballot issue (Sound Transit Proposition 1 supporters had a flyer on our stoop when I returned home). Just another heads-up. Rally coverage to come.

Ok, this is a heavily Democratic neighborhood but there seem to be some Rossi supporters in White Center land?  I am inviting comments on who would be better for White Center, Dino Rossi or Christine Gregoire?  Obviously, we have issues of housing, jobs, health care, affordability, crime, education, sustainability, greenspace etc… And I will gladly share my views.  Forum’s open.  Speak your mind.

After a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally in West Seattle on Saturday morning, canvassers will fan out toward White Center, Burien, and South Seattle, with U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell joining them. More info on the 34th District Democrats’ site.

From last night’s 34th District Democrats‘ meeting: Volunteers will be going door-to-door this weekend in White Center and southern West Seattle. (Disclosure, the 34th DDs are sponsoring our partner site, West Seattle Blog, this month to get the word out about the sample ballot you can access on their site, to see who and what they have endorsed; you can see it here.)

Here’s another reminder from the county; Saturday’s your last chance to register, if you’re not registered already. But you can do it online right now.

Brother can you spare $700,000,000,000????

The Conversation Cafe had a very productive discussion regarding the proposed Wall Street Bailout.  In the course of discussing the financial crisis that is animating the proposal to write out a Treasury check for $700 billion to Henry Paulson, someone brought to the group’s attention the recent book, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” by Naomi Klein.  Klein posits that crises are manufactured in order to push through unpalatable economic and political measures.  You can read her post regarding the current crisis here

1. Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation
2. Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries
3. Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:
a) resignations of management
b) givebacks of executive compensation packages
c) limitations on executive compensation
d) admission by CEO’s of what went wrong and how, prior to any government bailout
4. Demands for transparencey
a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down
b) with respect to Treasury’s dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout
5. An equity position for the taxpayers
a) some form of ownership of assets
6. Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.
7. A sunset clause on the legislation
8. Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.
9. A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts
10. A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts.

Join us next Saturday at 2 p.m. as we continue the conversation.

Are you concerned about giving away $700,000,000,000 to Wall Street?  Feel a need to understand what this means?  Perhaps just getting your mind around the mind-blowing amount of $$$ that 700,000,000,000 represents?  Well, join us for a conversation cafe on the Wall Street Bailout this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cafe Rozella.  We will pull together some materials and discuss just what the hell is this all about?  If you would like to contribute - materials, ideas or resources please contact Ricardo at email: guarnero@caferozella.com.  The conversation cafe on the Wall Street bailout will be held this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cafe Rozella.  Cafe Rozella is located at 9434 Delridge Way SW, Seattle 98106.  Directions at www.caferozella.com.

If you know someone who is not registered or who may have fallen off the voting rolls, bring them by Saturday or Sunday afternoon after 2 p.m. at Cafe Rozella as we will be hosting a voter registration drive.  No need to mince words here, the issues at stake could not be higher:  war, civil rights, economic collapse and a cool trillion for Wall Street just to hit the high low marks.  Drag your neighbor, your cousin or boyfriend/girlfriend and get them signed up so they can exercise their citizenship rights obligations!  Cafe Rozella is at 9434 Delridge Way SW (just north of Roxbury and Delridge).  Phone (206) 763-5805.

Note, it’s from the Obama campaign site, so you might not want to help if you’re supporting another candidate, but it’s a request for volunteers to help sign up voters at sites including Roxbury Safeway. Check it out here. (It’s also posted on our partner site, West Seattle Blog.) Meantime, if you still need to register, the deadline is two weeks from Saturday, and you can start at this page on the King County website.

King County Elections will release daily vote counts till all ballots are tallied. After this afternoon’s count, the race to see who will face 11th District State Senator Margarita Prentice in November is still fairly close - Juan Martinez was 237 votes ahead of Scott McKay. (The 11th starts south of SW 102nd, east of 4th SW - here’s the map.)

The latest King County results are linked from this page. We’ll add updates to this post as the 11th Legislative District (which includes part of White Center) races shape up; none of the 34th District legislators have challengers. 8:35 PM UPDATE: The main race to watch is 11th District State Senator, with three contenders, to be narrowed to two for November - incumbent Sen. Margarita Prentice is ahead, with Juan Martinez narrowly edging Scott McKay for second place right now. 10:30 PM UPDATE: More King County votes counted; Prentice and Martinez are still the top 2 in that race. 12:46 AM UPDATE: Martinez (27%) has started to pull away from McKay (24%) in the latest count - still quite some distance behind Prentice (49%).