1. King County Executive candidate Dow Constantine's budget-cutting plan has a direct (and dismaying) impact on two specific King County Council employees—council administrator Ellen Petre and council policy staff director Saroja Reddy. Although we don't know Petre, we do know Reddy, who served for years as the director of the Seattle City Council's central staff.

Reddy's a budget and policy genius with a knack for explaining the arcana of government in human language— and—assuming Constantine's proposal goes through—she'll definitely be missed.

2. Attorneys Anne Bremner, Ted Buck, and Steve Larson held a fundraiser last week at Kristos on Eastlake for city attorney Tom Carr , who's running for reelection.

Why is this newsworthy? Because those three attorneys are partners at Stafford Frey Cooper, the law firm that handles all of the city's police and municipal misconduct cases. Carr signs off on the firm's annual no-bid contract every year.

3. Speaking of Carr, his campaign hasn't gotten much love from his own employees. So far, Carr has received just one contribution from an employee at his office—a $650 check from Suzanne Skinner, director of the civil division of the city attorney's office.

(In fairness, Carr's opponent, police-accountability watchdog Pete Holmes, hasn't reported any contributions from city employees so far.)

4. The Swinery in West Seattle—whose decision to sell foie gras we wrote about a couple of days ago—has hired Damiana Merryweather, former campaign manager for King County Executive candidate Ross Hunter, as its manager.

5. One thing we didn't report about the King County Dems' candidate forum the other night: Position 8 candidate Mike O'Brien, who wasn't at the forum, won the group's sole endorsement after a speaker serving as his proxy noted that his opponent Robert Rosencrantz "isn't pro-choice."

Rosencrantz has consistently given "qualified" answers on candidate questionnaires that ask whether candidates support a woman's right to choose abortion. A motion to endorse Rosencrantz failed with no "yes" votes.

6. At another campaign forum in Kent last night, King County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison said her staff is surprised and impressed by "the tremendous rapport I have with people of color," the P-I's Joel Connelly reports . Hutchison also disavowed her well-documented Republican ties, telling the audience not to "believe what you read in left-wing blogs."

Hutchison has given thousands of dollars to Republicans —and only Republicans—over the years, and once considered running for U.S. Senate as a Republican.