09/20/2005 King County, Washington, USA Elections

It's time to vote and here are my picks. Remember, the election is 9/20/2005, go out and vote!

  • King County Sheriff – Sue Rahr

  • Court of Appeals Judge – Susan Randolph Agid

  • Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No 1 – Lawrence Molloy

  • Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No 3 – Lloyd Hara

  • Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No. 4 – Jack Jolley

  • City of Seattle Mayor – Greg Nickels

  • Seattle City Council Position No. 2 – Richard Conlin

  • Seattle City Council Position No. 4 – Jan Drago

  • Seattle City Council Position No. 8 – Robert Rosencrantz

  • Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – District No. 5 – Mary E. Bass

  • Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – District No. 7 – Linda Thompson-Black

  • Seattle Popular Monorail Authority – Board Member – Position No. 8 – Beth Goldberg

  • Seattle Popular Monorail Authority – Board Member – Position No. 9 – Jim Nobles

As I do not choose to align myself with either the Democratic or Republican parties I will not be voting for either in their party primaries.

King County Sheriff – Sue Rahr

  • Sue Rahr – I like that she is a long serving police officer and has experience in the position of Sheriff thanks to her appointment to replace the out going Sheriff but I can't find her ever saying anything of substance. Yes, Meth bad, o.k., so now what? I have read her statements, her website, her voter pamphlet entries and I don't find myself having learned anything substantive about what she plans to do. My general feeling is that because she is the incumbent, has the most endorsements and the newspapers have anointed her as the front runner her main concern is not saying anything that could hurt her, which means saying nothing at all. I eventually picked Rahr more because of the deficiencies of her competitors then her own strengths. If Mr. Schmidt in particular had shown stronger support amongst rank and file police as well as stronger administrative experience I would have voted for him.

  • Jim Fuda – My main take away from his voter pamphlet is that we are in serious danger and he will save us. Of course, it doesn't appear that crime is exactly out of control in King Country so I'm not sure what the fuss is. Still, he does have specific ideas around re-organization and funding. This PI article though makes me worry if Fuda plays loose with the rules, according to the article he lied about a partner who stole $300, he was less than forthcoming about questions about fair ground work and submitted a 'life experience' diploma from an alleged diploma mill to get a pay raise, the picture isn't pretty. More then that, I think the article's questions about his experience as an administrator are fair ones.

  • Greg Schmidt – Mr. Schmidt is only slightly less ambiguous than Ms. Rahr in his comments on what he would do. I am also concerned that someone who claims to be running on a platform of being a leader that rank and file police can respect didn't win the endorsement of any of the police unions. I also don't see any significant evidence that he has the kind of administrative experience the Sheriff position requires.

Court of Appeals Judge – Susan Randolph Agid

She is running unopposed so that's that.

Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No 1 – Lawrence Molloy

  • Wen Wu Lee – I believe that a mastery of the English language is required for this position. Both her voter's pamphlet statement and her answers to the League of Women Voter's questions makes me suspect she lacks such mastery.

  • John Creighton – His voter guide entry basically says he will heal the sick and raise the dead but leaves out exactly how. His website did provide more information but given his corporate background the tree hugging semi-socialist people power message just didn't ring quite true.

  • Lawrence Molloy – His votes against the port tax and his ideas on road tolls and congestion pricing are attractive to me. Over all I liked what I see with this candidate so he'll get my vote.

Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No 3 – Lloyd Hara

  • John R. Kane – I liked his voter's pamphlet entry, he makes reasonable proposals given the small space available. I like his ideas to focus the port on being a port rather than a real estate developer. But then he turns around and says that the port should help other folks in King County deal with brown field issues since it has experience there, of course, that's a real estate issue. I suppose it's a coincidence that Mr. Kane's day job is advising folks dealing with brown field issues? He also wants to keep the port tax.

  • Christopher Cain – His voter's pamphlet entry basically says 'something is rotten in Denmark but worry not, I'll fix it!' His website and League of Women Voter's answers weren't much more enlightening.

  • Richard "Rich" Berkowitz – As with Mr. Kane, Mr. Berkowitz also wants to get the port out of the real estate business. His answers to the League of Women Voter's questions were at least mildly enlightening, especially his analysis of the potential consequences of Southwest Airline's threatened move to Boeing Field. Over all he seems very reasonable but over all I felt that Mr. Hara was more compelling.

  • Lloyd Hara – His positions seem consistent with both Kane and Berkowitz and I like his background as a King County Auditor, FEMA director and Army Reserve Officer. I really liked his answers to the LoWV's questions, he had very explicit action points that made a lot of sense to me, especially getting rid of the port tax and building up port capacity. This is a candidate who seems like a really solid choice, he'll get my vote.

  • Peter M. Coates – His voter's pamphlet entry uses the old 'vote for me or you'll die' approach, always a favorite. Note much information in his LoWV's answers or his website. Um… next.

Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No. 4 – Jack Jolley

  • Robert Walker – Both his voter pamphlet and LoWV's answers point out what's wrong but he doesn't say anything substantive about how he would set it right. In addition his answer to the question about what to do about Southwest moving to Boeing Field seems a bit naive. I too love letting the market decide things but the reality is that any such move will likely involve enormous tax payer expenditure on things like new roads and could have a detrimental affect on the flight space rights of SeaTac, a property he would be responsible for managing. His answers didn't take those issues into account. I tried to check out his website but it was down. I like seeing normal citizens get involved in the political process but I want to also see that they are qualified to take on the position and nothing I've seen so far indicates that.

  • Jack Jolley – Of all the candidates his answers to questions have been the most focused and realistic sounding. Look, I'm no expert on port affairs and I can be snowballed easily but whatever, I have to make a choice and so far Mr. Jolley's answers make me think that he is the best choice.

  • Patricia "Pat" Davis – Reading Ms. Davis's voter pamphlet entry one could be forgiven for thinking the port was a source of unending joy, no port tax complaints, property concerns or Southwest evacuation issues here. But her answer to the last LoWV's question just scared me, she (unfortunately like many other candidates) sees the port as a job creation engine. I don't want my government creating jobs for me, I want my government providing me basic services and making it as easy as possible for me to run or be involved with successful businesses. Governments are uniquely awful at running economies. In that light her comment that the purpose of the port tax is to fund strategic projects to create jobs is just scary. She also apparently supports the ports efforts to get into the real estate business, a diversion that I think makes no sense.

  • Richard Pope – His entry and information didn't give the detail of information and insight that I got from Mr. Jolley's information so I'll go with Jolley.

A Change of Plan

It's now time for a change in plan. Going through each of these offices is taking me around an hour and with all due respect to my democratic duties that is just too bloody long. So I'm going to take a different, less accurate, tact. I'm going to read the position descriptions in the voter pamphlet for the remaining positions and based on that I'll pick the candidate I think is best. I will then look at the election guides from Seattle Weekly, The Stranger and the PI. I looked for the Seattle Time's picks but couldn't find them. If I see something in the guides that makes me think my choice may have an issue then I'll investigate further otherwise I'll go with my instinct. Think of it as electoral fatigue.

City of Seattle Mayor – Greg Nickels

  • Al Runte – Um… he'll hug our trees?

  • Christal Olivia Wood – You'd think the communists would have given up by now.

  • Chris Hoeppner – And the socialists.

  • Jeanne E. Dixon – No statement, no photo, no vote.

  • Luke Williams – I've never heard of the guy but I actually like what he has to say about greater government transparency, common motor pools and yes, city health insurance. O.k. so maybe some socialist lives in my corrupt capitalist soul. On the other hand in going to his website (which is down) and his blog (which is mostly empty) I've seen nothing that convinces me that he can actually do the job.

  • Greg Nickels – Shesh, a real socialist, his text clearly calls for government to run things, no thanks. Besides, I think burying the viaduct might have been an interesting idea if we were otherwise in sound fiscal shape but we aren't. Our road system is a nightmare and the last thing we need is to be blowing billions on our own version of the big dig. Unfortunately of all the candidates he is the only one I've seen who actually seems to be qualified to run a city of the size and complexity of Seattle. Sigh…

  • Richard Lee – Fighting density just seems the wrong way around. I would rather we learn how to manage density so that we can have tight livable cities and thus leave us more country side, provide us with more interesting cities and waste significantly less energy. And yes, I think government does have a job to reflect the citizen's interests in managing growth. Much like providing fire service or police there are certain fundamental issues that need to be directly controlled by the electorate.

Seattle City Council Position No. 2 – Richard Conlin

  • Darlene Madenwald – She seems like a one issue candidate, not that the environment is necessary a bad issue but I'd like to see a bit more breadth of concern.

  • Richard Conlin – Seems reasonable enough, although I dislike his support of the viaduct at least he wants to kill the idiotic monorail.

  • Paige Miller – I don't see much here that distinguishes her from Richard Conlin other than Conlin has experience on the council.

Seattle City Council Position No. 4 – Jan Drago

  • Angel Bolanos – He seems to be a socialist but he doesn't really say anything.

  • Linda Averill – Well, o.k., so she is a real socialist and a believer in institutionalized racism (otherwise known as 'affirmative action'). Um no.

  • Jan Drago – Seems fairly reasonable even if content free.

  • Casey Corr – Seems mostly like a content free, feel good statement, not much there.

Seattle City Council Position No. 8 – Robert Rosencrantz

  • Dwight Pelz – I'm sure his statement said something, but I can't figure out what it is.

  • Richard J. McIver – He seems to be a supporter of the viaduct disaster, no thanks.

  • Robert Rosencrantz – Of the three he seems to be the most interesting and the one most willing to state his views even if some (such as trying to over manage housing development) isn't exactly near to my heart.

Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – District No. 5 – Mary E. Bass

  • Jane Fellner – She said nothing.

  • Mary E. Bass – Um… o.k. she said more than Fellner but still not much.

  • LaCrese Green -Um… was she free associating or something when she wrote her text? I think I'll stick to people with coherent entries.

Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – District No. 7 – Linda Thompson-Black

  • Cheryl Chow – She didn't say anything but she does have previous budgeting experience, something our schools obviously need.

  • Theresa Cardamone – The "people" acronym trick was cloyingly cute. Her only real stance is that she wants the WASL removed.

  • Linda Thompson-Black – I like her background both with budgets and schools on the local level.

  • Alan Lloyd – Wow, he said nothing.

Seattle Popular Monorail Authority – Board Member – Position No. 8 – Beth Goldberg

  • Cindi Laws – I don't want the monorail built and she does so she doesn't get my vote.

  • Beth Goldberg – I like her experience and her clear eyed view that the project has to deliver or be shut down.

  • Stan Lippmann – He wants the monorail and I don't.

Seattle Popular Monorail Authority – Board Member – Position No. 9 – Jim Nobles

  • Jim Nobles – He wants to close it down!!! Yes! He gets my vote!

  • Dick Falkenbury – He wants to build it and I don't.

  • Cleve Stockmeyer – He wants to build it and I don't.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *