White Center Now: The blog about White Center

(crossposted from partner site West Seattle Blog)
A change at the top in the 34th District State House Representative Position 2 results, after the latest vote count made public by King County Elections: Now Joe Fitzgibbon of Burien is ahead of Mike Heavey of West Seattle, by 186 votes out of more than 22,000 counted in this race so far. Again, the finishing order won’t change what happens next – both Fitzgibbon and Heavey are going to the general election, since it’s extremely unlikely that the 3,000-plus-vote gap between them and #3 Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy would completely close – but for politics-watchers, it’s interesting to keep an eye on the daily updates until the election is certified at month’s end. No change in the King County Council District 8 race, which has gaps big enough that none are likely – it’ll be Joe McDermott vs. Diana Toledo (both West Seattleites) in November.

We’re at the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting in West Seattle’s Fauntleroy neighborhood, on behalf of White Center Now and partner site West Seattle Blog, and Burien City Councilmember Brian Bennett – toddler daughter in arms – is currently speaking to the group. Among the topics he’s touched on: Annexation of the rest of North Highline, including White Center. Bennett told the group he feels that “North Highline has the potential to be one of the most thriving, dynamic communities in our region, and they need strong representation – we need to make sure they get that. Personally, I favor giving them the opportunity to join Burien … I think they would have a strong voice, and that we can provide strong services to them … but we’re going to have to provide a strong voice (in making that happen).” (Bennett says he grew up on what is currently the line between North Burien and the remaining unincorporated area.) Currently Seattle is on a not-too-fast-track to pursuing a possible annexation vote next year; Burien considered fast-tracking one some months back, but ultimately pulled back.

We published this report early today at partner site West Seattle Blog – but you’ll want to know, because you’ll be voting on them in August too: Two local races have candidates who hadn’t previously gone public – a South Park man is the fourth contender for King County Council District 8, and a West Seattle man is challenging Rep. Eileen Cody (34th District House Position 1). Full story here.

We get this in e-mail every week – but it’s not worth anything unless we share. So from hereon out – at least for as long as White Center remains an unincorporated area! (though county legislation also tends to affect those in cities, too) – we’ll bring you “This Week at the County Council,” as e-mailed on Fridays, for the week starting the following Monday. Click ahead to read the latest edition – take note of the parks item on Tuesday: Read the rest of this entry »

Just posted at partner site West Seattle Blog: Normandy Park City Councilmember Shawn McEvoy says he’s in the running for King County Council District 8, the seat currently held by Jan Drago, appointed last year but not planning to run this fall (as of last time she discussed it publicly, anyway). McEvoy joins State Sen. Joe McDermott in the race.

At the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting in West Seattle tonight, one of the highlights was the endorsement vote in the State House Position 2 race. Before the vote, one of the three Democratic candidates, Mike Heavey, withdrew from the endorsement process, leaving the 34th DDs to choose between West Seattleites Marcee Stone and Burien’s Joe Fitzgibbon. The membership and PCO votes both went for Stone. The three Democrats are in the race with one independent, White Center entrepreneur Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy; the top two vote-getters in the August primary will advance to the November general. Earlier in the night, State Sen. Joe McDermott formally kicked off his campaign for King County Council, with an event preceding the 34th DDs’ regular meeting.

Tonight’s 34th District Democrats meeting in West Seattle includes a candidates’ forum with the three Democrats who are among four declared contenders in the 34th District State House, Position 2, race this fall: Burien’s Joe Fitzgibbon and West Seattle’s Mike Heavey and Marcee Stone. The group’s also considering a change to its endorsement rules, among other items on a busy agenda (see it here), 7 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW; map).

The three Democrats who are still in the race for 34th District State House, Position 2, are expected to be at the next candidates’ forum for the race, during the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting this Wednesday night (7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy in West Seattle): Joe Fitzgibbon, Mike Heavey, and Marcee Stone. They’re vying for State Rep. Sharon Nelson‘s seat because she’ll be running for the seat that State Sen. Joe McDermott is relinquishing to run for County Council (which in turn is the seat to which Jan Drago was appointed but has reiterated she won’t run for). Here’s a page on the 34th DDs’ site with info on the candidates; here’s the full agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.

2 pm at Seattle City Hall, the Regional Development and Sustainability Committee – same one that heard two weeks ago that Mayor McGinn was no longer pushing for an annexation vote this fall – will take up this resolution. It outlines potential interest in a November 2011 annexation vote, depending on how the financial outlook goes. The meeting will be live online at Seattle Channel.

The State House Position 2 race in the 34th District, which includes White Center and environs, has four candidates now – Sabra Schneider has dropped out because of a serious injury that she says would limit her campaigning. The full story’s on partner site West Seattle Blog.

Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy, one of five candidates so far for State House Position 2 in the 34th District, is planning to kick off a “West Seattle Listening Tour” – first stop, though, is in White Center, not far from his Triangle Pub. He’ll be at Full Tilt Ice Cream, 9629 16th SW, 7-9 pm, on Tuesday, April 6.

So far, you have five candidates to choose from this August in the State House Position 2 race for the 34th District: Burien resident Joe Fitzgibbon, who’s been working for Rep. Sharon Nelson (who’s giving up the seat to run for State Senate), just announced his candidacy. More details on partner site West Seattle Blog.

Yet another candidate joined the race for 34th District State House today – West Seattle resident Mike Heavey, who works on County Councilmember Jan Drago‘s staff, and is the son of Judge (former State Senator) Michael J. Heavey. Others who’ve declared or indicated their intention to run for the Position 2 seat that Rep. Sharon Nelson (D-Maury Island) is leaving include White Center entrepreneur “Mac” McElroy, running as an Independent, Burien Democrat Joe Fitzgibbon, and West Seattle Democrats Marcee Stone and Sabra Schneider. Highland Park Action Committee chair Dan Mullins says all candidates running for the seat are invited to athe first candidates’ forum of the season in the district, next Wednesday, March 24, during the 7 pm HPAC meeting at Highland Park Improvement Club HQ. (For the second month in a row, a northern North Highline annexation presentation is scheduled at the meeting too – this time from Burien annexation supporters Liz Giba and Barbara Dobkin.)

(all photos by Dina Johnson – thank you, Dina!)

Participants at Sunday’s Democratic caucus for the 34th Legislative District had so many decisions to make, some got extra-comfortable to make them. The gathering was in the cafeteria at White Center’s Mount View Elementary School – part of the unincorporated area that might be in Seattle’s sights:

Liz Giba brought her sign to the event, and spoke with inquiring parties about her belief that Burien would be a better match for all of North Highline. Meantime, the caucus’s 70 or so participants heard from all three of their state legislators:

That’s Rep. Sharon Nelson, who intends to run for the State Senate job that Sen. Joe McDermott wants to leave to run for County Council – he was there too:

The only 34th District legislator not currently planning to run for something else is Rep. Eileen Cody:

Others who addressed the caucus participants included a 34th District-residing Democrat who currently has a mega-high-profile job, King County Executive Dow Constantine – we got his entire three-and-a-half-minute speech on video for earlier coverage on partner site West Seattle Blog:

In addition to choosing delegates to the state convention, caucus participants heard from candidates in upcoming elections. Among them, Kirk Prindle – a West Seattleite who is one of five people running for one seat in the King Conservation District board election this Tuesday:

The KCD election isn’t conducted like other countywide votes. No voting by mail; no close-to-everyone polling places. You have to go vote in person at one of several polling places; the nearest are Des Moines and Downtown Seattle – they’re all listed here. Back to the caucus: The 34th District Democrats’ website should have the final results of voting up soon.

One week from today, Democrats from around the 34th Legislative District – which includes White Center, West Seattle, Vashon Island, and parts of surrounding communities (map above is from Sen. Joe McDermott‘s website) – are invited to Mount View Elementary School in WC for the district caucus. In an e-mail announcement, Tim Nuse, chair of the 34th District Democrats, explains: “We will accomplish a number of responsibilities during our 2010 Caucus. We will elect 35 delegates and 18 alternates to the King County and Washington State Conventions, who will bring forward the issues and concerns of neighborhoods throughout the 34th District. We will develop our district platform, identifying and highlighting those issues and concerns in platform items and resolutions. And we will likely hear from candidates running for election this November. The Caucus is your chance to meet your Democratic colleagues old and new and weigh in on those issues and policies that are most important to you and your neighbors in the 34th District. Come share your voice and lend democracy a hand.” The caucuses start at 1 pm. Republicans in the 34th District, meantime, have their district caucus coming up at 9:15 am March 27 at Southwest Community Center in West Seattle (map).

Chances are that you’re in the 34th Legislative District. Your legislators, State Sen. Joe McDermott, Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson, are having a town hall meeting in nearby West Seattle this morning – 11 am at High Point Community Center (here’s a map).

Dropping by Cafe Rozella on Saturday, we learned from proprietor Leticia that a new neighbor was moving into their building in the Delridge Triangle. And we’ve just gotten confirmation – the campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sean Salazar says they’re indeed opening an office next to Cafe Rozella, probably within the next two weeks. Debra Churchill added in e-mail, “Our campaign is all about reaching out to communities in the inner cities. This is a campaign office for us to stay connected with ‘The People’.” Salazar is a Mountlake Terrace chiropractor, running for the seat held by Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray, who’s finishing her third 6-year term.

From a comment on our earlier report about last night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting – NHUAC president Greg Duff says new County Councilmember Jan Drago has accepted the invitation to be at the next NHUAC meeting, 7 pm March 4, North Highline Fire District HQ. (Also to be attended, as we mentioned earlier, by Kenny Pittman, who’s the current point person for Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn on the proposal for the north section of North Highline to vote on Seattle annexation this November.)

(1:56 pm note – will continue to add more as the day goes on – just now adding the PPT from today’s briefing)

11:35 AM: Lots of information in the briefing that just wrapped up before the Seattle City Council – first formal briefing since it was revealed last week (we broke the story at WSB) that Seattle’s new Mayor Mike McGinn wants White Center annexation to go to a vote this fall.

Despite what information was presented, it wasn’t enough for councilmembers including Council President Richard Conlin, who concluded by saying – “We need to have a LOT more information,” particularly regarding what the annexation would really cost Seattle. And concern also was voiced regarding whether enough information is getting to the White Center residents who would vote – mayoral adviser Kenny Pittman acknowledged he had not spoken to the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council yet, but had received “e-mail over the weekend” and was going to be on their agenda in March (though their February meeting hasn’t happened yet). The timeline is a fast one – it was explained that the Seattle council needs to vote by early March on expressing an interest in putting annexation to White Center voters, even though a final vote on asking the county to put it on the ballot would not happen until August. Between now and that March 8 vote, Council President Conlin’s Regional Development and Sustainability Committee will discuss the issue on February 19, then vote March 2nd on indicating an interest in a vote – again, no strings attached. The big gap between March and August, it was explained, is to pursue the rest of the process, including going before the Boundary Review Board.

ADDED 11:53 AM: A lot of data points from the meeting: Seattle leaders say White Center would get a higher level of police and fire services if annexed, and say that any existing King County Sheriff’s and North Highline Fire District employees who would stand to lose their jobs because of annexation would be first in line, depending on seniority and qualifications, for jobs with Seattle Police and Fire. As for sidewalks – that’s one big question, the capital needs of the potential annexation area.

Interesting note relating to a discussion that’s been ongoing in comments here: Seattle says they’ve been told by Burien that though the Memorandum of Understanding wasn’t officially finalized by Seattle council members, Burien intends to honor it, and not pursue annexation of White Center – if Seattle hasn’t done it by then – until after 2011, per the terms of the agreement. Also, existing card rooms in the area to be annexed would be allowed to continue to operate, though no new ones would be approved, and the revenues Seattle is counting on the area generating, it was noted, depend on those businesses, among others.

The annexation area would NOT include the South Park Bridge – that would remain an unincorporated small sliver under terms of a different city-county agreement sometime back that apparently says that once the SP Bridge is replaced, then the city would consider annexing the area.

And White Center schools would remain in the Highline Public Schools district, until and unless Highline and Seattle decided otherwise (with approval required by the Puget Sound Educational Service District).

The ideal scenario that Pittman described would include the annexation – if approved by White Center voters this fall – NOT taking effect till early 2012, so that the city budget process could proceed with detailed information on how to handle the transition.

ADDED 1:56 PM: After the briefing, we asked for a copy of the PowerPoint that Christa Valles from Council Central Staff had shown – just received it and converted it to PDF; you can see it here. During today’s briefing, Valles repeatedly said she was recommending that the mayor’s office commit more resources to the process – both to get information to the council, and to the people directly affected by the potential annexation.

When we broke the news Wednesday on partner site West Seattle Blog that Seattle’s new mayor wants White Center to vote on annexation this November, we got word that the Seattle City Council would get briefed during its morning meeting tomorrow (Monday 2/1). We now know from the online agenda that the discussion is set for 10:30 am. If you can’t be there, you can watch live online via the Seattle Channel.