I left the 34th District Democrats' meeting around 9:00 last night, after standing around in the sweltering room for two hours watching the group make its endorsements for city council and Seattle school board, so I didn't get a chance to find out how they voted on the tunnel referendum.

Not surprisingly, the West Seattleites  voted "yes," the pro-tunnel position. (A yes vote upholds a single section of the 140-page legislation adopting three agreements on the tunnel; that section says the council can issue a notice to proceed with the agreements). The vote was 68 percent in favor, 32 percent opposed; city council member Tom Rasmussen made the case in favor of the tunnel.



City council member Jean Godden was the only council incumbent who didn't speak on her own behalf. Instead, Washington Public Campaigns activist Marcee Stone (a onetime candidate for state rep from the 34th) made the case for Godden, calling her "a true treasure of Seattle" who singlehandedly "went to work and got Russell Investments to come up from Tacoma, and that [downtown] corridor is now vibrant and our downtown core is not a ghost town."

Stone also made a dig at Mayor Mike McGinn, adding pointedly, "We all fell in love with change in 2008, and in 2009 we took it further and we had a huge change in Seattle City Hall. So how's all that working out for you? It's not the time to go with the rookie team." The group ultimately issued a dual endorsement for Godden and challenger Bobby Forch after voting 34 percent for Godden, 32 percent for Forch.



Sally Clark challenger Dian Ferguson, seemingly veering from the pro-tunnel position she expressed at her campaign kickoff, warned about the potential for cost overruns on the project, and accused Clark and the council of supporting endless process instead of working for outcomes. "We're a process-oriented city and we don't have a lot to show for that process," Ferguson said.

Bill Schrier, head of the city's Department of Information Technology, prompted hisses from the crowd during his statement on behalf of Seattle School Board member Steve Sundquist, who voted to allow recruits from Teach for America, a controversial organization that places teachers in schools after just five weeks of training, to teach in Seattle schools. "Look around this room," Schrier said after the hissing died down. "This room is mostly white people, but our schools are not. ... We need someone who is going to bring our teachers, our students, and our schools together and that innovator is Steve Sundquist."

The Dems ultimately endorsed Sundquist's opponent, Marty McClaren.



After all the council candidates had spoken, district chair Tim Nuse needled them to "participate, in one way or another," in the group's upcoming softball fundraiser, prompting Jean Godden opponent Michael Taylor-Judd, who's gay, to joke that he, council council incumbent Tom Rasmussen, Rasmussen challenger Sandy Cioffi, and  council incumbent Sally Clark, who are all gay, should "form a gay cheerleading squad."

Clark, standing in the back of the room, grumbled, "I'm a lesbian. We don't cheerlead, we play." When her turn came to say whether she'd participate, Clark shouted, "These are my people. It's what we do!"