The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission has dismissed a complaintfiled by City Council member-elect Mike O’Brien in October. . . . Both Rosencrantz and Forward Seattle sent out thousands of mailers accusing O’Brien of wanting to “toll all city streets.” Both featured an unflattering image of O’Brien taken from the same Friends of Seattle video; both included images of toll booths on neighborhood streets; and both accused O’Brien of wanting tolls “everywhere.”
Also this morning, the city council voted to repeal the employee hours tax, a $25-per-employee tax, paid by employers, that exempts employees who don’t drive to work alone. . . . Friends of Seattle sent a last-minute letter to the council earlier this week, pleading with council members to either vote against the repeal or to amend the law to merely suspend the tax temporarily and to track the economic impact of the repeal for a year.
Robert Rosencrantz, candidate for Seattle City Council Pos. 8, told Friends of Seattle that he wants to “change the culture of Seattle.” And it's no wonder he does, because his values are out of step with Seattle on issues such as light rail, transit oriented communities, corporate tax cuts, Metro bus service, and abortion and choice.
“We can't have a future built by a man who doesn't believe in light rail or transit-oriented communities or increased funding for Metro,” said Gary Manca, President of Friends of Seattle.
We have created a video ad making sure that Seattle voters know that Rosencrantz has the wrong values for Seattle City Council:
“Robert Rosencrantz told us repeatedly that he would bring new priorities to City Hall,” said Manca. “But his priorities don’t reflect Seattle’s values. He is pro-highway and anti-transit, he wants to slash corporate taxes, and he opposes the right of Seattle women to make their own choices about their reproductive health.”
City council members are going to have to make tough choices about which areas in the budget to cut, and those decisions are based on values. Mr. Rosencrantz wants to be budget chair. We fear that he would write a budget based on his own personal values, cutting out the programs and services valued by the rest of Seattle.
WRONG VALUES ON TRANSIT:
Mr. Rosencrantz:
* supports the Stanton-Rice plan to gut Sound Transit of its planning authority[1]
* supports the plan to create a new regional highway-building agency[2]
* opposes a plan to expand light rail to Seattle’s westside neighborhoods[3]
* opposes any new tax revenue to close Metro’s budget gap[4]
McGinn's tunnel attacks pretty specifically targeted the Mayor in the primary, but Mallahan supports the plan for an underground tunnel too. So even if Nickels is knocked out, that fight lives on. As to the controversy over cost overruns, Mallahan says it won't be an issue thanks to his history of business management. He had this to say in response to a questionnaire from Friends of Seattle: "I have years of experience managing projects and working with contractors to bring projects in on time and on budget. Through rigorous oversight and constant communication, I do not anticipate cost overruns to be charged to the people or businesses in Seattle."
City council position 8 candidate David Miller continued his near monopoly on union support today when he received three more labor endorsements. . . . Miller also has the backing of most of Seattle's Democratic districts.
His position 8 opponent Mike O'Brien has a similar level of support within the environmental community, including the backing of the Sierra Club, Washington Conservation Voters, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and Friends of Seattle.
The group Friends of Seattle has released its endorsements for the upcoming primary. FOS is a fairly new, quite green group. I wonder why greens always rally around "friendship." Wouldn't a group that really cared about Seattle want to be more than friends? Friends with benefits at least?
Kudos to FOS for taking politics seriously during a Seattle summer
As is Ravenna Nation, Mr. Berger is amused by our name. Anyway, read the whole thing to learn his thoughts on the summer campaign season.
Friends of Seattle has issued the following press release.
CONTACT: Sean Howell (206) XXX-XXXX
At the same time that Joe Mallahan tells voters that he will fight "special interests" to build more sidewalks in neighborhoods[1]...
1. Mallahan doesn't tell voters that he is in favor of cutting corporate taxes by over $30 million---money that would have gone to neighborhood sidewalks, street maintenance, and bike lanes.[2]
2. Mallahan doesn't tell voters that he wants to raise their utility rates, property taxes, and fees to spend almost a $1 billion in city money on the state's $4.2 billion waterfront tunnel project.[3]
The Friends of Seattle have posted their 2009 Voters Guide Primary Election, a helpful introduction to the upcoming mayoral and city council candidates. The Friends of Seattle believes strongly in transparency and the involvement of community in government, so they...
Friends of Seattle has issued the following press release.
CONTACT: Sean Howell (206) XXX-XXXX
With Friends of Seattle due to complete its endorsement decisions early next week, Friends of Seattle released all of the candidates' interview videos and questionnaire responses as part of its 2009 Voters Guide.
Friends of Seattle is an endorsing organization: we have a vision for the city---urban and environmental issues are our biggest concern---and we have views on which candidates and ballot measures are best suited to advance Seattle's wellbeing.
At the same time, we believe strongly in transparency and the value of citizen participation in government. So we offer the primary-election edition of our 2009 Voters Guide not only to inform our members about the people who will best uphold our values once in office, but also to educate our members and the public about the candidates' views.
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