DIRECTOR OF ELECTIONS
Doug Basler has a charming Schoolhouse Rock-inspired campaign video, but that’s about where his appeal ends. Basler calls himself a “pro-life, pro-Trump constitutional conservative” and as a candidate for U.S. Congress last year (his fifth time running for that office) he campaigned with Proud Boy-loving failed congressional candidate Joe Kent.

Julie Wise has been the King County Director of Elections since 2016. During that time King County has made voting more inclusive by doing things like adding ballot boxes and sending me “Your ballot has been mailed” texts. She recognizes the threats that election denialism (paging Loren Culp) and misinformation have on our democracy and strives to make King County elections “an example for the rest of the country.”

This will be Wise’s third term as as King County Director of Elections, and as Schoolhouse Rock taught us: Three is a magic number.

VOTE JULIE WISE

COMMISSIONER POSITION NO. 5
Two term incumbent Fred Felleman is running against banker and investment consultant Jesse Tam for Port Commission Position 5. Tam touts his business experience and focus on “fiscal responsibility” as his main qualifications to run the Port. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but with his Newcastle address, Medina endorsements, and Chamber of Commerce backing, he seems a little too Romney-esque for my tastes.

Felleman’s professional background is as a whale biologist, whose achievements prior to becoming a port commissioner included banning offshore drilling and eliminating cruise ship waste discharge off Washington’s coast.

As commissioner he’s continued his fight to make the port as green as possible. Yeah, there’s too many cruise ships in Seattle, but Felleman is working toward forcing them to use on-shore power, and he’s been a fairly strong advocate for a common sense bike lane along Elliott Avenue near the cruise ship terminal, which is crazy crowded in the summer months.

He’s an advocate for congestion pricing on the roadways near SeaTac Airport, which would encourage travelers to use Link Light Rail, and supports a new bus route from downtown Seattle to the airport. The more you drive to the airport, the less intelligent you are.

VOTE FRED FELLEMAN

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 4
This is likely to be a very close race. In the August primary Ron Davis received 45% of the vote and Martiza Rivera got 32%. Most of the remaining vote went to bridge boy Ken Wilson (whack job George Artem got 2%...who votes for these people?), and much of Wilson’s vote could fall Rivera’s way. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen.

Rivera doesn’t seem to know what “defund the police” means. In her King County Voter’s Guide she says that the city council’s pledge to defund the police was both a “poor decision” and “performative posturing.” But then goes on to say that Seattle needs to have “an alternative to an armed response to 911 calls” and “not all situations require police officers,” which is EXACTLY what defunding the police looks like. So she either doesn’t know what the term means or is doing her own form of “performative posturing.”

Ron Davis is keenly focused on the biggest crisis facing Seattle today: housing affordability. Making Seattle more affordable will help with other issues we face, mainly homelessness and petty crime. To help with housing costs, Davis wants to focus on supply (streamline the pace of permitting is one idea), subsidies (like rental assistance), and stability (preventing rent gouging will help).

Perhaps most important to me personally is Davis’s desire to “make it as easy to get around the city without a car as it is with one.” Alternatives to driving (biking, walking, buses, light rail) used to be a hot topic in Seattle. Now it’s all but forgotten. I’m hoping Councilmember Davis will make it an important part of the civic discussion once again.

VOTE RON DAVIS

PROPOSITION NO. 1
PROPERTY TAX RENEWAL FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Like many Seattleites I don’t think I’ve ever voted against a housing levy. That’s about to change.

This levy is a “renewal” of an expiring levy that has helped fund affordable housing in Seattle since 1981. Normally this would be a rubber stamp “YES” vote for me, but what makes this levy different than previous renewals is that it nearly doubles the tax increase, from 25 cents to 45 cents per $1000 assessment. And with property valuations what they are, this levy is expected to collect over three times what the previous one did. That money doesn't come from nowhere, and no one quite knows where it's going.

Furthermore, although property taxes mostly fall on the people who can most afford to pay, they are inherently regressive, charging a flat rate (in this case .045%) to every homeowner (and by extension, renters too). How about making them more progressive by exempting the first, say, $250k in valuation?

Proposition 1, to me, is not a mere “renewal,” and the folks behind this levy need to come back with a more apples-to-apples plan. Or maybe we’ve sucked the property tax teet dry and it’s time to lobby harder for income and wealth taxes to help fund affordable housing. There’s got to be a better way than taxing unrealized gains at increasingly higher rates to make living in Seattle affordable for everyone.

VOTE NO

SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, DIRECTOR DISTRICT NO. 1
Liza Rankin, the incumbent, and Debbie Carlsen, her challenger, are both endorsed by local Democrats, Democratic organizations, gun control groups, and labor unions. There doesn’t seem to be a ton of difference in their visions for Seattle schools. Carlsen definitely emphasizes LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion in her campaign platform, but this does not seem to be a blind spot in Rankin's platform.

Rankin’s first term on the Seattle School Board began in January 2020, so much of it was occupied by navigating COVID shutdowns and restarts. She deserves a chance to serve on the board during a full term when (hopefully) schools are open, and issues besides masks and learning on Zoom can be focused on.

VOTE LIZA RANKIN

SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, DIRECTOR DISTRICT NO. 2
Lisa Rivera Smith is the one other incumbent running for school board this year, and like Liza Rankin, her first term was dominated by COVID shutdowns and remote learning. Prior to becoming a school board member Smith was a reporter for the Seattle Times, and was on strike with yours truly for 49 days in 2000/2001. Unsurprisingly she is a union supporter and supported by unions, and knows the importance of hiring and retaining quality educators. And perhaps most impressively she minored in Ethics at Chico State, a party school where anything goes!

Her opponent, Christina Posten, is light on details of both her vision for Seattle schools and her past experience and accomplishments. In her King County voter’s guide statement Posten states that she is a “career teacher and principal” but I had to do some deep Internet diving to see that she might’ve briefly been the principal at Whitman Middle School a few years ago. Why did she bury the lede?

VOTE LISA RIVERA SMITH

SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, DIRECTOR DISTRICT NO. 3
Both candidates for this position seem like decent, capable, accomplished people, and, in fact, they have much in common. Both are parents to kids in Seattle public schools, and their campaigns focus on transparency, equity, fiscal responsibility, and student mental health.

Ben Girenstein is a Tech Dad who’s posted some pretty adorable interviews done by eye-rolling daughter explaining why he’s running for school board. In addition to the above focuses, gun violence (specifically a shooting at Ingraham High School) seems to be what he is most concerned about in public schools. Important for sure.

Evan Briggs has experience in the classroom and running educational programs. She’s also an activist and an advocate, using her skills and experience as a filmmaker to spread a message of inclusivity and mental health (for kids AND old folks). Briggs also plays the banjo, and is the only candidate to give even the slightest nod to arts education, which sadly seems to play second fiddle to the STEMs these days.

VOTE EVAN BRIGGS

SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, DIRECTOR DISTRICT NO. 6
There’s really only one serious candidate in this race. Maryanne Wood’s campaign website has a photo of her with what appear to be her three grandchildren with a large “COMING SOON” on the homepage. And that’s it. Uh, Maryanne, the election is about a week away. Better get on that website!

What we can glean from Wood’s campaign is in the King County voter’s guide, where she tells us she’s really into parking. With the pressing issues facing Seattle Public Schools, adequate parking does not seem to be a huge priority.

Gina Topp is currently the policy advisor to King County Executive Dow Constantine, so she has experience navigating large bureaucracies, which the school district certainly is. She also has a Master’s Degree in Tax Law, and with Seattle Public Schools facing a $100 million budget shortfall, maybe she can show us some money!

VOTE GINA TOPP