I never got a voter pamphlet but thankfully King County has a really nice service that lets you enter your name and address and get back a customized listing of what will show up on your ballot.
- County Positions
- City of Seattle Positions
- Judicial Positions
- School Positions
- District Positions
- Measures
County Executive – Ron Sims
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Ron Sims (Democrat) – Reading his ballot text he apparently heals the sick and raises the dead. Is it just me or do other people also hate third person ballot statements? I like to hear 'from' the candidate not 'about' the candidate.
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David Irons (Republican) – His text points to the previous election as being a big 'disaster' and he uses this as the primary basis for his claim to election since clearly Ron Sims must have screwed up to let it happen. I think Mr. Irons is just plain wrong. The previous election was no disaster, it was a classic example of what happens when you have an election whose results are within the error margins. Yes, there were screw ups, but honestly they weren't the primary cause of the problem. So in my opinion Mr. Irons' claim to the position is no claim at all and so I won't be voting for him.
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Gentry Lange (Green) – Mr. Lange also makes arguments about voting and again I think he's wrong. In fact, the flaws in our nation's voting system has been a major source of concern to me for a long time and it is why I support organizations like Verified Voting who work to get laws passed to ensure fair elections. It so happens, btw, that Senate Bill S.B.5395 has already passed in Washington State. If you read the actual text (it's short) it mandates a physical paper trail and random audits. This is pretty much the gold standard for verifiable voting so Mr. Lange and Mr. Irons are running on non-issues in my opinion.
Sheriff – Sue Rahr
(These comments are taken from my comments on the primary)
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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.
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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.
County Council District 2 – Morgan Catha
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Larry Gossett (Democrat) – His position is mostly about law and order which I do worry about at the high level but I would have liked to see him address more issues of direct relevance to the new district 2.
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Brian Thomas (Republican) – He said even less than Mr. Gossett, although he brings up the election canard as well. There just isn't anything here to make me want to investigate him more.
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Morgan Catha (Libertarian) – He didn't say much either but at least I like the general tone of what he said. I went to his website and read up on his positions and I like his strong Libertarian line. He'll get my vote.
Port of Seattle Commissioner – Position 1 – Lawrence Molloy
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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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.
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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 3 – Lloyd Hara
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Lloyd Hara – His positions seem consistent with 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.
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Richard "Rich" Berkowitz – Mr. Berkowitz 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.
Port of Seattle Commissioner – Position 4 – Jack Jolley
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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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.
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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.
Mayor, City of Seattle – Al Runte
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Greg Nickels -His main point is that "people are no longer fearful at public gatherings". That's his message? You aren't scared of something you should never have reasonably been scared of in the first place?!?! But for me the killer issue is the Alaskan Way Viaduct. He wants to dig a billion dollar disaster in the middle of an earth quake zone. It's an insane project that I can only understand as being an ego driven monstrosity. We have to stop it.
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Al Runte – Since the primaries he has had the opportunity to refine his message (or really, get one) and I like what he has to say. I especially like his opposition to the 'big dig' Alaskan Way Viaduct project.
Seattle City Attorney – Tom Carr
He is running unopposed.
Seattle City Council Position No. 2 – Richard Conlin
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Paige Miller – I don't see much here that distinguishes her from Richard Conlin other than Conlin has experience on the council.
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Richard Conlin – Seems reasonable enough, although I dislike his support of the viaduct at least he wants to kill the idiotic monorail.
Seattle City Council Position No. 4 – Jan Drago
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Jan Drago – Seems fairly reasonable even if content free.
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Casey Corr – Seems mostly like a content free, feel good statement, not much there.
Seattle City Council Position No. 6 – Nick Licata
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Paul Bascomb – His pamphlet statement says nothing beyond some feel good blather.
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Nick Licata – He doesn't say much either beyond the fact that he likes the tunnel option for the Viaduct and doesn't want to dump money on the South Lake Union trolley. The last position I like the first scares me. He is also a supporter of the monorail (yuck). Still he has a long record fighting stupid unfunded city mandates and generally trying to make sure semi-reasonable things happen. For example, he supports the viaduct tunnel but only if there is enough federal money to make it happen. He also likes to do things I care about such as keep libraries open. He has a decent record and he seems a reasonable enough person to re-elect.
Seattle City Council Position No. 8 – Richard J. McIver
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Richard J. McIver – His voter pamphlet statement is more about what he has done then what he would do. His website however is a bit better and shows someone who has been effective in protecting the interests of our poorer citizens. A health city is an equitable city so Mr. McIver will get my vote.
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Dwight Pelz – Other than saying the city should maintain schoolyards and some vague promises about affordable housing I'm not quite sure what this guy really wants to accomplish on the city council. I went to his website but I can't say it helped either.
Court of Appeals – Position 2 – Susan Randolph Agid
She is running unopposed.
Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – Position 4 – Michael DeBell
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Astrid Adair Gielen – I like the fact that she is a 19 year old college student who actually attended Seattle City schools. Her experience would be recent and relevant. But, like any candidate, she needs to show she has relevant knowledge to be successful in her position and unfortunately her website fails to prove that.
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Michael DeBell – His background as a former PTA leader is a solid one. But his website indicates that he is against school busing because of the expense and therefore would like to get rid of the ability for people in the city to choose their own schools. That really scares me. If Ms. Gielen had shown herself to be more ready for the position I would have given her my vote but alas she has not and so I will pick Mr. DeBell.
Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – Position 5 – Mary E. Bass
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Jane Fellner – She said nothing.
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Mary E. Bass – Um… o.k. she said more than Fellner but still not much.
Seattle School District No. 1 – Director – Position 7 – Linda Thompson-Black
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Cheryl Chow – She didn't say anything but she does have previous budgeting experience, something our schools obviously need.
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Linda Thompson-Black – I like her background both with budgets and schools on the local level.
Seattle Popular Monorail Authority – Position 8 – Beth Goldberg
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Cindi Laws – I don't want the monorail built and she does so she doesn't get my vote.
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Beth Goldberg – I like her experience and her clear eyed view that the project has to deliver or be shut down.
Seattle Popular Monorail Authority – Position 9 – Jim Nobles
(These comments are taken from my comments on the Primary)
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Jim Nobles – He wants to close it down!!! Yes! He gets my vote!
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Cleve Stockmeyer – He wants to build it and I don't.
Seattle Proposition No. 1 – No
This proposition would raise property taxes to pay for stuff for all sorts of worthy folks. I hate 'lock box' funds where money gets dumped for a specific purpose and can't otherwise be touched. There are some cases where this kind of fund locking makes sense but this isn't one of them. All it does is just remove flexibility in the city's funding needs. This is a bad idea and a bad proposition.
City of Seattle Advisory Measure No. 1 – No
This advisory measure doesn't do anything but it asks the city council and others to try to lobby for universal health care. I really think the city has enough issues without sticking its nose in things that aren't relevant to it.
Seattle Popular Monorail Authority Proposition No. 1 – No
The only thing I care about this proposition is that if it is rejected no monorail will be built. That is wonderful! I'm voting no! BTW, what this proposal would do is allow the monorail authority to keep shrinking and shrinking and shrinking the monorail until they finally get something they can manage to build without bankrupting the city even if the resulting line is useless. Here's a thought, why not just not build the silly thing and use our money in more cost effective ways?
Seattle Popular Monorail Authority Proposition No. 2 – No
This proposal would make more of the monorail board positions elected rather than appointed. This looks like a great chance to vote in more people to kill the silly thing in case proposition no 1 actually passes. My only real concern is that I think we are creating an insane situation where every ballot has an infinite number of elected positions. A ballot that takes multiple days to get through isn't democracy, it's a denial of service attack. Therefore, as much as I'd like to nix the Monorail, I'm voting against this proposal.
Is Tom Carr a Republican or Democrat
Theoretically he’s neither since the position of city attorney is non-partisan but I do notice that the democracts endorsed him for the last election so that’s probably a decent hint.