1. Last week, managers and strategic advisors at Seattle City Light signed an agreement to unionize with a unit of the AFL-CIO—the last step before the union is certified by the state. The City Light employees are the first group of managers in the city to unionize. The union push came out of Mayor Mike McGinn's threat earlier this year to eliminate 200 strategic advisor and manager positions from the city.

2. King County Council member Reagan Dunn—a Republican who said last week that he would vote against putting a sales tax to pay for public safety and health programs on the ballot—made remarks at a fundraiser attended by other county employees last week. According to several accounts, Dunn referred to King County government as a "work-free drug zone"—a reference to the county's description of itself as a "drug-free work zone" that has offended other county council members.

3. At 1:00 this afternoon, the county council will vote on the sales tax, which is expected to fall one vote short of the six votes it needs to go on the August ballot. As we reported Friday, there are several potential alternatives to the sales tax that could save the county from having to cut 10 to 12 percent from departments across the board. Any alternative to the tax, however, would involve replacing an existing tax, and every alternative has strong proponents and opponents. Should be an interesting meeting.

4. A new statewide Washington Poll shows Democratic US Rep. Patty Murray slightly leading Republican Dino Rossi, who reportedly plans to run against her. According to the poll, 44 percent of respondents said they supported Murray or leaned toward voting for her, compared to 40 percent for Rossi.

The poll also showed strong support for the high-earners income tax, which would impose a new tax on people making more than $200,000 ($400,000 for couples): 58 percent supported the tax, and just 30 percent opposed it. Additionally, 52 percent said they would support privatizing liquor sales, with just 37 percent opposed to privatization. And fully 52 percent said they supported Arizona's recently adopted immigration law, which allows police to check on the papers of any person who "appears" to be in the country illegally.