Morning Fizz
"I Don't Believe I Said That."
1. The 36th and 43rd District Democrats both met last night---the 36th, to grill the candidates for Seattle City Council positions 1 (held by Jean Godden) and 3 (held by Bruce Harrell), the 43rd to make their endorsements in all of the local races. (The 36th will make its endorsements tonight.).
You can catch a live minute-by-minute of all the action on our Twitter feed, but here are some of the highlights:
• At the 36th, held at the Labor Temple in Belltown and hosted by tough and funny emcee Jason Bennett (who made candidates hold up Eggo waffles if they didn't go with a "Yes" or "No" card during the lightning round), both council incumbents Jean Godden and Bruce Harrell, asked if they would vote for Mayor McGinn, said "No."[pullquote]Jean Godden, who didn't even show up to the 43rd meeting, came in last place in the four-way vote, with less than 10 percent.[/pullquote]
• At the 43rd, held upstairs at the University Heights Center off the Ave., Jean Godden, who didn't even show up, came in last place in the four-way vote, with less than 10 percent. Ultimately, King County Deputy Prosecutor Maurice Classen won the nomination, with 63 percent.
• At the 36th, Godden, asked about statements she made opposing the reappointment of police chief John Diaz, said, "I have changed my mind. I think that we probably should reconfirm the police chief. At the time [I made that statement], it looked like the police did not have confidence in the police chief."
• After failing to even get nominated in the 34th District or 37th District, Sandy Cioffi was a no-show last night at the 43rd, and incumbent Tom Rasmussen received the endorsement with 81 percent of the vote. Cioffi, a lefty documentary filmmaker, announced this morning on Facebook that she's dropping out of the race.
•At the 36th, two candidates acknowledged giving money to Republicans---Maurice Classen (who didn't say who he'd given to) and Bruce Harrell (who said he gave $200 to Norm Maleng, someone he said he "admires greatly.")
• At the 43rd meeting, Rob Dolin, secretary of the Washington State Democratic Party, was the main speaker in support of incumbent Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton. "I don't know a lot about the Port, but I'm on the board with Gael at the Northwest Progressive Institute..." Tarleton eventually got the district's endorsement.[pullquote]The 43rd took two votes on the issue last night and eventually decided on "No endorsement" on the tunnel referendum.[/pullquote]
Along the same lines, U. District activist Ginamarie Emanuel challenged incumbent Tim Burgess' seemingly sole nomination by nominating his little-known opponent David Schraer, saying: "I don't know who David Schraer is or why he's not here."
To her credit, Emanuel did go on to give an impassioned speech, saying she didn't like the way Burgess headed up the public safety committee. She said the police "treat people like garbage" on the Ave. Burgess, who spoke about cracking down on sex trafficking, won with 63 percent. In addition to Rasmussen, incumbent Sally Clark also got the endorsement with 74 percent.
Harrell was the only other incumbent at the 43rd (along with Godden) who didn't win endorsement. Harrell got 50 to challenger Brad Meacham's 43. Neither was endorsed.
• At the 36th, Bruce Harrell had some tough words for the Seattle school board regarding financial mismanagement: "Silas Potter was a crook. I don't mince words. Silas Potter was a dishonest person and I don't think the school board can be blamed for his dishonesty. Let's not just throw them all out because of the actions of a few corrupt people."
• At the 43rd, School Board candidate Kate Martin gave the angriest speech of the night, accusing incumbent Sherry Carr of supporting the "corporate reform agenda" and "the Gates Foundation-funded agenda." She also dropped one of the most stunning sound bites of the night: "Of my son's 50 friends, only four have graduated from Seattle Public Schools." The rest all dropped out. Martin didn't get the endorsement, but she stalled Carr. The district chose no endorsement in the race.
• At the 36th, more contrasts in the Harrell/Meacham race: Meacham opposes body cameras for cops, while Harrell supports them; Harrell thinks there should be more controls on food carts, while Meacham supports more liberal rules; Harrell (like Jean Godden) opposes reelecting Mayor Mike McGinn, while Meacham waffles; and Harrell waffles on privatizing the city's community centers, while Meacham opposes the idea.
• At the 43rd, there was some comedy over the tunnel referendum, which the no one in the room seemed to understand. Housing activist John Fox quipped: "Vote yes for a tunnel or no for a tunnel"—riffing off the idea that the vote, legally speaking, can't actually stop the project.
Longtime activist Kris Nyrop also had a funny line, telling the confused crowd: "In the crudest terms, if you're against the tunnel vote no, if you're for the tunnel vote yes. But my question is, what are we endorsing if we endorse the measure?" District Chair Scott Forbes actually read the referendum language out loud, to which someone in the audience broke the stunned silence with a "Huh?"
The 43rd took two votes on the issue last night and eventually decided on "No endorsement" on the tunnel referendum.
2. A cautionary note to Godden challengers Bobby Forch and Maurice Classen, who've now won endorsements in the 37th (Forch), 34th (Forch) and 43rd (Classen): David Bloom, a candidate in the open seat to replace Jan Drago two years ago, received endorsements from five different local Democratic groups, but ended up losing to Sally Bagshaw with just 31 percent of the vote.
3. In non-city council campaign season news, Fizz followed up on Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner's intriguing report yesterday afternoon. In the wake of yesterday's big news that Ron Sims is resigning his gig in the Obama administration as Deputy Secretary at HUD, Brunner reported that "Sims did not rule out a future run for office locally—including the 2013 Seattle Mayor's race."
We asked Sims: "Brunner says Sims maybe for mayor. Any reality to that?" Sims said: "I don't believe I said that."
4. Don't miss this week's PubliCola ThinkTank. The debate—should the state privatize booze?—is still raging.
You can catch a live minute-by-minute of all the action on our Twitter feed, but here are some of the highlights:
• At the 36th, held at the Labor Temple in Belltown and hosted by tough and funny emcee Jason Bennett (who made candidates hold up Eggo waffles if they didn't go with a "Yes" or "No" card during the lightning round), both council incumbents Jean Godden and Bruce Harrell, asked if they would vote for Mayor McGinn, said "No."[pullquote]Jean Godden, who didn't even show up to the 43rd meeting, came in last place in the four-way vote, with less than 10 percent.[/pullquote]
• At the 43rd, held upstairs at the University Heights Center off the Ave., Jean Godden, who didn't even show up, came in last place in the four-way vote, with less than 10 percent. Ultimately, King County Deputy Prosecutor Maurice Classen won the nomination, with 63 percent.
• At the 36th, Godden, asked about statements she made opposing the reappointment of police chief John Diaz, said, "I have changed my mind. I think that we probably should reconfirm the police chief. At the time [I made that statement], it looked like the police did not have confidence in the police chief."
• After failing to even get nominated in the 34th District or 37th District, Sandy Cioffi was a no-show last night at the 43rd, and incumbent Tom Rasmussen received the endorsement with 81 percent of the vote. Cioffi, a lefty documentary filmmaker, announced this morning on Facebook that she's dropping out of the race.
•At the 36th, two candidates acknowledged giving money to Republicans---Maurice Classen (who didn't say who he'd given to) and Bruce Harrell (who said he gave $200 to Norm Maleng, someone he said he "admires greatly.")
• At the 43rd meeting, Rob Dolin, secretary of the Washington State Democratic Party, was the main speaker in support of incumbent Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton. "I don't know a lot about the Port, but I'm on the board with Gael at the Northwest Progressive Institute..." Tarleton eventually got the district's endorsement.[pullquote]The 43rd took two votes on the issue last night and eventually decided on "No endorsement" on the tunnel referendum.[/pullquote]
Along the same lines, U. District activist Ginamarie Emanuel challenged incumbent Tim Burgess' seemingly sole nomination by nominating his little-known opponent David Schraer, saying: "I don't know who David Schraer is or why he's not here."
To her credit, Emanuel did go on to give an impassioned speech, saying she didn't like the way Burgess headed up the public safety committee. She said the police "treat people like garbage" on the Ave. Burgess, who spoke about cracking down on sex trafficking, won with 63 percent. In addition to Rasmussen, incumbent Sally Clark also got the endorsement with 74 percent.
Harrell was the only other incumbent at the 43rd (along with Godden) who didn't win endorsement. Harrell got 50 to challenger Brad Meacham's 43. Neither was endorsed.
• At the 36th, Bruce Harrell had some tough words for the Seattle school board regarding financial mismanagement: "Silas Potter was a crook. I don't mince words. Silas Potter was a dishonest person and I don't think the school board can be blamed for his dishonesty. Let's not just throw them all out because of the actions of a few corrupt people."
• At the 43rd, School Board candidate Kate Martin gave the angriest speech of the night, accusing incumbent Sherry Carr of supporting the "corporate reform agenda" and "the Gates Foundation-funded agenda." She also dropped one of the most stunning sound bites of the night: "Of my son's 50 friends, only four have graduated from Seattle Public Schools." The rest all dropped out. Martin didn't get the endorsement, but she stalled Carr. The district chose no endorsement in the race.
• At the 36th, more contrasts in the Harrell/Meacham race: Meacham opposes body cameras for cops, while Harrell supports them; Harrell thinks there should be more controls on food carts, while Meacham supports more liberal rules; Harrell (like Jean Godden) opposes reelecting Mayor Mike McGinn, while Meacham waffles; and Harrell waffles on privatizing the city's community centers, while Meacham opposes the idea.
• At the 43rd, there was some comedy over the tunnel referendum, which the no one in the room seemed to understand. Housing activist John Fox quipped: "Vote yes for a tunnel or no for a tunnel"—riffing off the idea that the vote, legally speaking, can't actually stop the project.
Longtime activist Kris Nyrop also had a funny line, telling the confused crowd: "In the crudest terms, if you're against the tunnel vote no, if you're for the tunnel vote yes. But my question is, what are we endorsing if we endorse the measure?" District Chair Scott Forbes actually read the referendum language out loud, to which someone in the audience broke the stunned silence with a "Huh?"
The 43rd took two votes on the issue last night and eventually decided on "No endorsement" on the tunnel referendum.
2. A cautionary note to Godden challengers Bobby Forch and Maurice Classen, who've now won endorsements in the 37th (Forch), 34th (Forch) and 43rd (Classen): David Bloom, a candidate in the open seat to replace Jan Drago two years ago, received endorsements from five different local Democratic groups, but ended up losing to Sally Bagshaw with just 31 percent of the vote.
3. In non-city council campaign season news, Fizz followed up on Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner's intriguing report yesterday afternoon. In the wake of yesterday's big news that Ron Sims is resigning his gig in the Obama administration as Deputy Secretary at HUD, Brunner reported that "Sims did not rule out a future run for office locally—including the 2013 Seattle Mayor's race."
We asked Sims: "Brunner says Sims maybe for mayor. Any reality to that?" Sims said: "I don't believe I said that."
4. Don't miss this week's PubliCola ThinkTank. The debate—should the state privatize booze?—is still raging.
