election endorsements
it's time for the yikes time flies it's election time again endorsement
i am still not used to the era of absentee ballots for presentee voters so with a week to go most of you have probably already voted. but for those of you who have not voted and who care what i think, here are my endorsements:
statewide
initiative 960: hell no. we have a representative democracy, we elect people to make decisions. bringing every decision back to the voters is not a good idea, in fact it is as bad an idea as helping tim eyman make a very good living getting initiatives on the ballot.
referendum 67: yes. any initiative that gets my insurance company (the internationally renowned enumclaw insurance co.) so riled that up that it mails me a letter saying that the sky will fall has got to be a good idea.
senate joint resolution 8206: yes. as you might guess from its catchy name this is about setting aside 1% of state revenue to help stabilize the budget in the long term. as long as the state continues to rely on sales taxes and not income taxes, i think our state revenue will continue to go through boom and bust cycles and a little forced saving is not a bad idea.
senate joint resolution 8212: yes. assuming that our corrections system has any goal of rehabilitation and returning inmates to society as more responsible citizens than when they went in, this is a good idea.
house joint resolution 4204: yes. i have never understood the convoluted rules that make it much harder to pass school levies and bonds than anything else in this state. this seems like a logical fix.
house joint resolution 4215: no thank you. i think that "conservative" investing is a good idea when we are talking about permanent trust funds for higher education. i do not like the idea that the state can be allowed to gamble these funds in things like, oh let's say hedge funds and bonds that bundle sub-prime home loans. actually the very fact that a significant portion of these funds would go into big growth industries like military contractors is enough reason for me to say no.
king county
king county prosecutor: dan satterberg seems to have done a fine job of running the office since norm maleng died. he seems to have good priorities. yes, he is a republican, but i wholeheartedly agree with him that this should be a non-partisan position, it is crazy that this office should be tied to political party affiliation.
king county assessor: scott noble, seems like he does a good job and i don't see any reason to replace him with jim nobles. sure he has an extra s in his name.
port of seattle commissioner position 2: bob edwards. the incumbent is not my favorite commissioner, but his opponent gael tarleton "the reformer" has a long record of working for one of the biggest contractors who benefit from (some might say manufactured) the war on terror inc. although she portrays herself a green liberal uw professor, her campaign is heavily funded by her old corporation and she still owns stock there.
port of seattle commissioner position 5: alec fisken. an excellent incumbent. his opponent tries to lay the blame on him for what is wrong with the port. not true, alec is truly a reformer and his opponent is not.
king county initiative 25: no. i am not convinced that an elected elections director would be an advantage. i'd rather have them focus on the running of the election at hand than on getting re-elected.
king county proposition 1: yes for medic 1. i cannot fathom why we have to vote on this, shouldn't this be part of the basic services of the county? regardless i want them to show up as fast as possible when i need them.
sound transit and rtid proposition 1: no. i wish that this were unbundled so that we could vote on transit without supporting road expansion, but even then i don't understand the proposed light rail expansion. why do so many of the most densely populated areas in the region get no service? why is the eastside extension located on i-90 instead of sr-520?
city of seattle
city of seattle council position 3: no endorsement. i was giving venus velazquez a lukewarm nod of support until her drunk driving spree in ballard. sadly she may still be the best candidate because bruce harrell seems like a very weak candidate. i may still vote velazquez if she shows some reason to support her in the last week of the campaign (like giving up her car and vowing to fight for better mass transit and the rights of pedestrians and cyclists). more likely i'll write in steve pool the channel 4 weather guy.
city of seattle council position 1: joe swaja. i don't think jean godden has done a bad job. i do think that swaja would be a strong voice for the environment for many years to come. jean can retire after a distinguished career in journalism and on the council.
city of seattle council position 5: tom rasmussen is unopposed and deserves re-election.
city of seattle council position 7: tim burgess would be an upgrade to david della who is one of the least effective council members.
city of seattle council position 9: sally clark has done well in her short council career and if that were not enough her opponent judy fenton is whacko.
seattle charter amendment 17: what the …. our charter does not have a preamble? are we even a city? i guess i'll vote yes on this although i really object that it talks about the welfare of the people but makes no mention of the animals of the city. what i do like is that it talks about protecting and improving the environment, a measure by which i think the city is sadly failing.
seattle charter amendment 18: yes. seems like the mayor should show up and address the council when presenting a budget.
seattle school district director 1: peter maier seems like a smart enthusiastic guy. the incumbent, sally soriano seems a little worn out after the last few years and who could blame her?
seattle school district director 2: darlene flynn. she's been good on the board, no need to throw her out with the bathwater.
seattle school district director 3: harium martin-morris. is the only choice in this race. his opponent david blomstrom appears deranged and dangerous. for mr. martin-morris' sake i hope blomstrom does not own a firearm.
seattle school district director 6: steve sundquist. seems to be a sound choice. this one is the hardest of the school board races as his opponent also seems like a good candidate. given how this board burns through people, i hope maria ramirez sticks around for 4 years because she'll be a good replacement when sundquist is done in by the role.
i am still not used to the era of absentee ballots for presentee voters so with a week to go most of you have probably already voted. but for those of you who have not voted and who care what i think, here are my endorsements:
statewide
initiative 960: hell no. we have a representative democracy, we elect people to make decisions. bringing every decision back to the voters is not a good idea, in fact it is as bad an idea as helping tim eyman make a very good living getting initiatives on the ballot.
referendum 67: yes. any initiative that gets my insurance company (the internationally renowned enumclaw insurance co.) so riled that up that it mails me a letter saying that the sky will fall has got to be a good idea.
senate joint resolution 8206: yes. as you might guess from its catchy name this is about setting aside 1% of state revenue to help stabilize the budget in the long term. as long as the state continues to rely on sales taxes and not income taxes, i think our state revenue will continue to go through boom and bust cycles and a little forced saving is not a bad idea.
senate joint resolution 8212: yes. assuming that our corrections system has any goal of rehabilitation and returning inmates to society as more responsible citizens than when they went in, this is a good idea.
house joint resolution 4204: yes. i have never understood the convoluted rules that make it much harder to pass school levies and bonds than anything else in this state. this seems like a logical fix.
house joint resolution 4215: no thank you. i think that "conservative" investing is a good idea when we are talking about permanent trust funds for higher education. i do not like the idea that the state can be allowed to gamble these funds in things like, oh let's say hedge funds and bonds that bundle sub-prime home loans. actually the very fact that a significant portion of these funds would go into big growth industries like military contractors is enough reason for me to say no.
king county
king county prosecutor: dan satterberg seems to have done a fine job of running the office since norm maleng died. he seems to have good priorities. yes, he is a republican, but i wholeheartedly agree with him that this should be a non-partisan position, it is crazy that this office should be tied to political party affiliation.
king county assessor: scott noble, seems like he does a good job and i don't see any reason to replace him with jim nobles. sure he has an extra s in his name.
port of seattle commissioner position 2: bob edwards. the incumbent is not my favorite commissioner, but his opponent gael tarleton "the reformer" has a long record of working for one of the biggest contractors who benefit from (some might say manufactured) the war on terror inc. although she portrays herself a green liberal uw professor, her campaign is heavily funded by her old corporation and she still owns stock there.
port of seattle commissioner position 5: alec fisken. an excellent incumbent. his opponent tries to lay the blame on him for what is wrong with the port. not true, alec is truly a reformer and his opponent is not.
king county initiative 25: no. i am not convinced that an elected elections director would be an advantage. i'd rather have them focus on the running of the election at hand than on getting re-elected.
king county proposition 1: yes for medic 1. i cannot fathom why we have to vote on this, shouldn't this be part of the basic services of the county? regardless i want them to show up as fast as possible when i need them.
sound transit and rtid proposition 1: no. i wish that this were unbundled so that we could vote on transit without supporting road expansion, but even then i don't understand the proposed light rail expansion. why do so many of the most densely populated areas in the region get no service? why is the eastside extension located on i-90 instead of sr-520?
city of seattle
city of seattle council position 3: no endorsement. i was giving venus velazquez a lukewarm nod of support until her drunk driving spree in ballard. sadly she may still be the best candidate because bruce harrell seems like a very weak candidate. i may still vote velazquez if she shows some reason to support her in the last week of the campaign (like giving up her car and vowing to fight for better mass transit and the rights of pedestrians and cyclists). more likely i'll write in steve pool the channel 4 weather guy.
city of seattle council position 1: joe swaja. i don't think jean godden has done a bad job. i do think that swaja would be a strong voice for the environment for many years to come. jean can retire after a distinguished career in journalism and on the council.
city of seattle council position 5: tom rasmussen is unopposed and deserves re-election.
city of seattle council position 7: tim burgess would be an upgrade to david della who is one of the least effective council members.
city of seattle council position 9: sally clark has done well in her short council career and if that were not enough her opponent judy fenton is whacko.
seattle charter amendment 17: what the …. our charter does not have a preamble? are we even a city? i guess i'll vote yes on this although i really object that it talks about the welfare of the people but makes no mention of the animals of the city. what i do like is that it talks about protecting and improving the environment, a measure by which i think the city is sadly failing.
seattle charter amendment 18: yes. seems like the mayor should show up and address the council when presenting a budget.
seattle school district director 1: peter maier seems like a smart enthusiastic guy. the incumbent, sally soriano seems a little worn out after the last few years and who could blame her?
seattle school district director 2: darlene flynn. she's been good on the board, no need to throw her out with the bathwater.
seattle school district director 3: harium martin-morris. is the only choice in this race. his opponent david blomstrom appears deranged and dangerous. for mr. martin-morris' sake i hope blomstrom does not own a firearm.
seattle school district director 6: steve sundquist. seems to be a sound choice. this one is the hardest of the school board races as his opponent also seems like a good candidate. given how this board burns through people, i hope maria ramirez sticks around for 4 years because she'll be a good replacement when sundquist is done in by the role.
posted by nic rossouw at
8:23 AM
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