News
Campaign Fizz: Ranking the Candidates, Sick Leave, and the Metro Vote
Your one-stop shop for the day's city election news.
• Jean Godden opponent Bobby Forch, who has been outspent by his fellow challenger Maurice Classen, dropped $10,000 into his campaign last week, bringing Forch's fundraising total to just over $58,000. Classen has raised just over $88,000 so far, including more than $32,000 of his own cash.
• The Seattle Municipal League released ratings today in the city council elections. (The League, a nonpartisan group, rates candidates on a scale of "not qualified" to "outstanding.") The highlights:
Council incumbent Jean Godden received a ranking of merely "good," behind both Classen and Forch, who were both ranked "very good." (A third Godden opponent, Michael Taylor-Judd, received a rating of "adequate.")
Three sitting city council members received "outstanding" ratings: Sally Clark, Tom Rasmussen, and Tim Burgess. Bruce Harrell was ranked "very good."
Harrell's opponent Meacham, meanwhile, was ranked just "good"---a surprising snub of the first-time candidate, who until recently was chair of the League.
Only two candidates were ranked "not qualified": Rasmussen challenger Dale Pusey, who listed his greatest accomplishment as biking across the country on his candidate questionnaire, and Clark challenger Fathi Karshi, who apparently did not fill out a Muni League questionnaire.
Full results, along with candidate web sites and questionnaires, here.
• In a statement released today, the King County Labor Council blasted Godden opponent Classen for what they characterized as his failure to support the city council's paid sick leave ordinance. "Classen’s inability to show clear, unambiguous leadership about the health and welfare of Seattle’s working families is a troubling development," KCLC executive secretary David Freiboth said. "I would hope that those we elect to sit on the Seattle City Council would be more concerned about the long term prosperity of our city, regardless of what’s convenient for the next election cycle."
Last week, Classen told PubliCola that he does support paid sick leave.
• Predictably, the Seattle Times editorial board weighed in today against a two-year, $20 vehicle license fee that would preserve King County Metro bus service, arguing that the county needs to "adapt to the new, slower-growing economy"... by eliminating 600,000 hours of bus trips that serve thousands of King County commuters.
"Part of 'sustainable' means not continually asking for more money," the Times concludes. For all those commuters to lose their jobs because they don't have another way of getting there is hardly a solution to the "new, slower-growing economy" we'd expect the pro-business local paper to advocate.
• Jean Godden opponent Bobby Forch, who has been outspent by his fellow challenger Maurice Classen, dropped $10,000 into his campaign last week, bringing Forch's fundraising total to just over $58,000. Classen has raised just over $88,000 so far, including more than $32,000 of his own cash.
• The Seattle Municipal League released ratings today in the city council elections. (The League, a nonpartisan group, rates candidates on a scale of "not qualified" to "outstanding.") The highlights:
Council incumbent Jean Godden received a ranking of merely "good," behind both Classen and Forch, who were both ranked "very good." (A third Godden opponent, Michael Taylor-Judd, received a rating of "adequate.")
Three sitting city council members received "outstanding" ratings: Sally Clark, Tom Rasmussen, and Tim Burgess. Bruce Harrell was ranked "very good."
Harrell's opponent Meacham, meanwhile, was ranked just "good"---a surprising snub of the first-time candidate, who until recently was chair of the League.
Only two candidates were ranked "not qualified": Rasmussen challenger Dale Pusey, who listed his greatest accomplishment as biking across the country on his candidate questionnaire, and Clark challenger Fathi Karshi, who apparently did not fill out a Muni League questionnaire.
Full results, along with candidate web sites and questionnaires, here.
• In a statement released today, the King County Labor Council blasted Godden opponent Classen for what they characterized as his failure to support the city council's paid sick leave ordinance. "Classen’s inability to show clear, unambiguous leadership about the health and welfare of Seattle’s working families is a troubling development," KCLC executive secretary David Freiboth said. "I would hope that those we elect to sit on the Seattle City Council would be more concerned about the long term prosperity of our city, regardless of what’s convenient for the next election cycle."
Last week, Classen told PubliCola that he does support paid sick leave.
• Predictably, the Seattle Times editorial board weighed in today against a two-year, $20 vehicle license fee that would preserve King County Metro bus service, arguing that the county needs to "adapt to the new, slower-growing economy"... by eliminating 600,000 hours of bus trips that serve thousands of King County commuters.
"Part of 'sustainable' means not continually asking for more money," the Times concludes. For all those commuters to lose their jobs because they don't have another way of getting there is hardly a solution to the "new, slower-growing economy" we'd expect the pro-business local paper to advocate.
