News
Campaign Fizz: More from Ferguson, Classen, and Forch
Your one-stop shop for today's local campaign news.
• Jean Godden challenger Maurice Classen, who came under fire yesterday from fellow Godden challenger Bobby Forch for allegedly failing to sufficiently support a mandatory paid sick leave ordinance, confirmed to PubliCola today that he does not provide sick leave to employees at either of the two bars he co-owns, the Leary Traveler and the Nabob.
However, Classen says, he does provide health insurance and pay above minimum wage. And he says his employees would prefer to trade shifts rather than get paid sick leave at their regular hourly rate, because they make most of their money from tips---one of the objections restaurant owners like Dave Meinert raised to the original paid sick leave proposal, which did not allow shift swaps.
"We pay what we consider to be well above industry standards," Classen says. "Nobody's ever asked for sick leave; nobody's ever wanted it. ... That's why I like the compromise so much."
• Despite Forch's attack on Classen yesterday---he accused his opponent of "cutting a deal" with business groups on paid sick leave to get their endorsement and demanded that Democratic groups and candidates withdraw their endorsements of Classen--- Forch reportedly equivocated on the issue on a candidate questionnaire for the Downtown Seattle Association, declining to say he would support the paid sick-leave ordinance the council is currently considering. Contacted by phone today, Forch said he said "yes, I support the paid sick leave ordinance" on the questionnaire. The DSA will release its candidate questionnaires next week; Forch has not yet returned a call for comment.
• Yesterday, former SCAN TV director and Sally Clark challenger Dian Ferguson stopped by PubliCola HQ to talk about her campaign. We asked her: Why Clark?
Ferguson offered a compelling anecdote that seemed to capture Clark's middle-of-the-road political reputation. Ferguson told us she decided to vote for Clark because of her apparent "powerlessness" when Mayor Mike McGinn proposed a budget that did not renew SCAN TV's contract. Of the city council members she talked to while trying to secure funding for SCAN, Ferguson says, "there were a couple who said they could care less about it, there were some who said 'I don't like public access,' and there were others who said they didn't have enough votes to change the [budget]. And then there was one person who just seemed very confused and said 'I don't know what to do,' and that's the person I decided to run against.
• Over at the PI.com, Joel Connelly talks to Brad Meacham, who's running against one-term council incumbent Bruce Harrell.
• Jean Godden challenger Maurice Classen, who came under fire yesterday from fellow Godden challenger Bobby Forch for allegedly failing to sufficiently support a mandatory paid sick leave ordinance, confirmed to PubliCola today that he does not provide sick leave to employees at either of the two bars he co-owns, the Leary Traveler and the Nabob.
However, Classen says, he does provide health insurance and pay above minimum wage. And he says his employees would prefer to trade shifts rather than get paid sick leave at their regular hourly rate, because they make most of their money from tips---one of the objections restaurant owners like Dave Meinert raised to the original paid sick leave proposal, which did not allow shift swaps.
"We pay what we consider to be well above industry standards," Classen says. "Nobody's ever asked for sick leave; nobody's ever wanted it. ... That's why I like the compromise so much."
• Despite Forch's attack on Classen yesterday---he accused his opponent of "cutting a deal" with business groups on paid sick leave to get their endorsement and demanded that Democratic groups and candidates withdraw their endorsements of Classen--- Forch reportedly equivocated on the issue on a candidate questionnaire for the Downtown Seattle Association, declining to say he would support the paid sick-leave ordinance the council is currently considering. Contacted by phone today, Forch said he said "yes, I support the paid sick leave ordinance" on the questionnaire. The DSA will release its candidate questionnaires next week; Forch has not yet returned a call for comment.
• Yesterday, former SCAN TV director and Sally Clark challenger Dian Ferguson stopped by PubliCola HQ to talk about her campaign. We asked her: Why Clark?
Ferguson offered a compelling anecdote that seemed to capture Clark's middle-of-the-road political reputation. Ferguson told us she decided to vote for Clark because of her apparent "powerlessness" when Mayor Mike McGinn proposed a budget that did not renew SCAN TV's contract. Of the city council members she talked to while trying to secure funding for SCAN, Ferguson says, "there were a couple who said they could care less about it, there were some who said 'I don't like public access,' and there were others who said they didn't have enough votes to change the [budget]. And then there was one person who just seemed very confused and said 'I don't know what to do,' and that's the person I decided to run against.
• Over at the PI.com, Joel Connelly talks to Brad Meacham, who's running against one-term council incumbent Bruce Harrell.
