Tag Archives: Seattle City Council

Only Four Seattle City Council Candidates Raise over $10,000 in June

Posted on July 12th, 2009 | Comments Off on Only Four Seattle City Council Candidates Raise over $10,000 in June

Candidates running for Seattle City Council have only about 1 month left before the August 18, 2009 Primary. The two top candidates in each race will go on to the November election. Here are the latest monthly fundraising totals as of June 30, 2009.

Sally Bagshaw has raised the most money so far at $122,940. Richard Conlin has raised the second largest amount at $115,003.

Four Seattle City Council candidates raised over $10,000 in June.

Martin Henry Kaplan …..$42,035
Sally Bagshaw …..$18,750
Jordan Royer …..$14,924
Robert Rosencranz …..$12,134

The information below first lists how much total money the Seattle City Council candidates reported raising through June 30, 2009 and how much of that they have spent. The third figure is how much they raised during the month of June, an indication of campaign momentum.

name …amount raised …amount spent …amount raised in June

City Council Position 2 – Incumbent is Richard Conlin

Richard Conlin …. $115,003…. $39,066 ……+9096
David Ginsberg…. $28,194…. $26,065 …..+1991

City Council Position 4 – Incumbent is Jan Drago (retiring)

Sally Bagshaw …. $122,940…. $44,106 …..+18,750

David Bloom …. $50,535…. $13,417 …..+6,676

Dorsol Plants …. $3,365…. $1782 …..+335

City Council Position 6 – Incumbent is Nick Licata

Jessie Israel …. $49,940…. $12,030 …..+8,804

Martin Henry Kaplan …. $61,3681…. $5,500 …..+41,035

Nick Licata…. $82,547…. $35,368 ….+7,437

City Council Position 8 – Incumbent is Richard McIver (retiring)

Bobby Forch ….$28,960….$0 …..+4445

David Miller …. $49,930…. $18,666 …..+5309

Mike O’Brien …. $60,633…. $15,580…..+3,354

Robert Rosencrantz …. $93,411…. $42,863 …..+12,134

Jordan Royer …. $81,347…. $29,988…..+14,924

Rusty Williams …. $44,701…. $15,164…..+2760

Information was obtained from the following websites: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and City of Seattle Ethics and Election Commission . You can check out more information including who has donated to which campaigns by going to these sites.

The Primary Election is August 18, 2009.

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Two Seattle City Council Candidates Pass $100,000 Fundraising Mark

Posted on June 19th, 2009 | Comments Off on Two Seattle City Council Candidates Pass $100,000 Fundraising Mark

Candidates running for Seattle City Council have only 2 months left before the August 18, 2009 Primary. The field is crowded in two seats where incumbents have retired. The two top candidates in each race will go on to the November election. Here are the latest monthly fundraising totals as of May 30, 2009.

Two Seattle City Council candidates, incumbent Richard Conlin and Sally Bagshaw have now each raised over $100,000. Two other candidates, incumbent Nick Licata and Robert Rosencrantz have raised over $75,000.

Information was obtained from the following websites: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and City of Seattle Ethics and Election Commission . You can check out more information including who has donated to which campaigns by going to these sites.

The information below first lists how much money they reported raising through May 31, 2009 and how much of that they have spent.

City Council Position 2 – Incumbent is Richard Conlin

Richard Conlin …. $105,907…. $25,370

David Ginsberg…. $26,203…. $13,729

City Council Position 4 – Incumbent is Jan Drago (retiring)

Sally Bagshaw …. $104,190…. $44,106

David Bloom …. $43,859…. $13,859

Dorsol Plants …. $3,330…. $1782

City Council Position 6 – Incumbent is Nick Licata

Jessie Israel …. $41,136…. $12,031

Martin Henry Kaplan …. $41,035…. $3,771

Nick Licata…. $75,110…. $35,368

City Council Position 8 – Incumbent is Richard McIver (retiring)

Bobby Forch ….$24,515 ….$0

David Miller …. $44,621…. $18,666

Mike O’Brien …. $57,268…. $15,580

Robert Rosencrantz …. $81,277…. $42,863

Jordan Royer …. $66,423…. $28,989

Rusty Williams …. $41,941…. $15,164

The Primary Election is August 18, 2009.

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46th District Democrats Make Primary Endorsements

Posted on June 19th, 2009 | Comments Off on 46th District Democrats Make Primary Endorsements

The 46th District Democrats had a long meeting last night at Olympic View Elementary School in North Seattle. Some surprises emerged as the endorsement process in some races took 3 ballots to reach a final outcome. To receive endorsement, a candidate had to receive a 2/3 vote of members voting.

The Seattle Mayor’s race saw Joe Mallahan receive strong support, with incumbent Greg Nickels coming in second. Here are the vote totals for nominated candidates, who had to declare they were Democrats and file a questionaire with the King County Democrats:

Jan Drago 16
Joe Mallahan 46
Michael McGinn 25
Greg Nickels 31
Norm Sigler 8
no endorsement 3

On the second ballot between the top two votes, Mallahan almost received the 2/3 vote necessary for endorsement but came up short.

Joe Mallahan 76
Greg Nickels 39
no endorsement 8

Some controversy continued over the fact that the rules said the second vote should have only been between the top two votes and not included a vote on no endorsement. By the time the issue was revisited at the end of the meeting the body decided not to revote because some of those who voted earlier had left, believing the vote was final.

The end result was that no candidate was endorsed for Mayor.

Seattle City Council Position 4

Three candidates were nominated. The first vote was:

Sally Bagshaw 37
David Bloom 72
Dorsal Plants 14
no endorsement 1

David Bloom won the second vote and was endorsed:

Sally Bagshaw 37
David Bloom 85

Seattle City Council Position 6

The first vote:

Jessie Israel 35
Martin Kaplan 7
Nick Licata 79

Nick Licata received the endorsement on the second vote.

Jessie Israel 32
Nick Licata 87

Seattle City Council Position 8

Six candidates were running for Position 8

The first vote was:

Bobby Forch 17
David Miller 51
Michael O’Brien 16
Robert Rosencrantz 12
Jordan Royer 11
Rusty Williams 6
no endorsement 2

The second vote saw David Miller come within 1 vote of winning the 2/3 needed.

Bobby Forch 34
David Miller 67

The group then voted for a dual endorsement for Bobby Forch and David Miller.

King County Executive

Only two candidates were nominated for endorsement;

Dow Constantine 58
Larry Phillips 50
no endorsement 4

The second vote saw the numbers switch by not significantly.

Dow Constantine 47
Larry Phillips 56

A vote was then taken and passed for a dual endorsement for Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips.

Port Commissioner Position 3

Rob Holland received the 2/3 necessary on the first vote and was endorsed.

Rob Holland 83
Al Yuen 13

Port Commissioner Position 4

Max Vekich was the only candidate nominated and received the necessary 2/3 vote on a show of hands.

Referendum 1 -regarding a 20 cent fee on disposal shopping bags.

Referendum 1 received the necessary 2/3 vote for approval on the first vote by a counted show of hands.

approve 64
reject 21
no endorsement 1

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Seattle Needs an Urban Forestry Commission

Posted on May 28th, 2009 | Comments Off on Seattle Needs an Urban Forestry Commission

Right now eight different Seattle departments deal with trees. There is no overall coordination or vision. While an Urban Forestry Management Plan has been drafted, it has never been approved by the Seattle City Council. A just released Report by the Seattle City Auditor entitled Management of City Trees can be Improved noted that it would help if all the city department tree efforts were consolidated in one place for oversight and coordination.

One way to do this is to establish an Urban Forestry Commission which could review existing plans like the Urban Forestry Management Plan and also new legislation to protect existing trees in Seattle and work to increase trees overall.

Council member Nick Licata has proposed creating just such an Urban Forestry Commission. Places like San Francisco and Portand both have Urban Forestry Commissions.

Here are 4 points I think such legislation needs to include in Seattle:

i. The concept of habitat and green infrastructure should be incorporated into the urban forestry language in the ordinance. The issue is not just about trees. This is where the idea of saving exceptional trees falls short because urban forestry is about saving the green infrastructure, not just individual trees. That means saving habitat for plants and animals which include trees but also vegetation, soil, birds and other animals that live in the habitat. It is about preserving ecosystem functioning which deals with larger concepts like community structure and watersheds. Trees are an important component of these but an urban forest is comprised of more than just a bunch of individual trees.

ii. The makeup of the Urban Forestry Commission should be by areas of expertise rather than organizations. It should be comprised of people with the ability to provide expert opinion and evaluation on urban forestry issues, not just political positions. The development community, for example, already has significant input and influence in departments like DPD. Some other departments seem to lack the expertise in house to evaluate urban forestry issues. Areas of expertise on the Urban Forestry Commission should include ecology, urban planning, arboriculture, landscape architecture, horticulture, and urban forestry.

iii. The Urban Forestry Commission should be an advocate for preserving Seattle’s urban forest. It should not be another tool for development interests or other special interests to exert their influence. The Urban Forestry Commission should be a counterbalance to forces pushing for development at any cost, regardless of the impact on the environment. To do that you have to be sure that the Commission is not stacked with members whose main concern is not sound urban forest management.

iv. The Urban Forestry Commission should represent expertise on urban forestry issues and be able to present scientific and factual information to the Mayor and City Council on legislation. The Urban Forestry Commission can be a place where proposals and projects can be reviewed for sound science, ecological considerations, sustainability and consistency with existing environmental laws, not a place to balance competing political views. It does not and should not have to decide between competing political interests. That is the role of the Mayor and City Council.

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Who’s raising the dough for Seattle City Council?

Posted on May 19th, 2009 | Comments Off on Who’s raising the dough for Seattle City Council?

Filing as a candidate for the August 2009 Primary is coming up June 1 -5. Candidates for Seattle City Council are busy campaigning and raising money. Two Seattle City Council seats are open races. Jan Drago and Richard McIver are retiring. Two incumbents are running – Richard Conlin and Nick Licata.

Richard Conlin leads fundraising with $81, 303. Sally Bagshaw has raised $67,142. Nick Licata has raised $57,933 and Robert Rosencrantz 57,927.

Here is the breakdown for the active candidates. Information was obtained from the following websites: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and City of Seattle Ethics and Election Commission . You can check out more information including who has donated to which campaigns by going to these sites.

The information below first lists how much money they reported raising through April 30, 2009 and how much of that they have spent.

City Council Position 2 – Incumbent is Richard Conlin

Richard Conlin …. $81,303 …. $18,661

David Ginsberg…. $18,193 …. $7,361

City Council Position 4 – Incumbent is Jan Drago (retiring)

Sally Bagshaw …. $67,142 …. $32,361

David Bloom …. $35,860 …. $5.417

Joshua Caple…. $740…. $700

Dorsol Plants …. $1,493…. $730

City Council Position 6 – Incumbent is Nick Licata

Jessie Israel…. $28,167…. $10,319

Martin Henry Kaplan …. $28,135…. $629

Nick Licata…. $57,933…. $30,180

City Council Position 8 – Incumbent is Richard McIver (retiring)

David Miller …. $33,354 …. $11,221

Mike O’Brien …. $40,019 …. $11,871

Robert Rosencrantz …. $57,927 …. $34,302

Jordan Royer …. $47,782…. $11,878

Rusty Williams …. $38,611…. $6,359

The Primary Election is August 18, 2009.

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Seattle City Auditor Critical of Seattle’s Tree Management Policies

Posted on May 19th, 2009 | Comments Off on Seattle City Auditor Critical of Seattle’s Tree Management Policies

Seattle’s City Auditor today released a report today entitled “Management of City Trees Can be Improved.” A year in the making, one could argue that this report’s title is a classic example of understatement.

Citizens have been complaining for quite a few years that Seattle City Government has been avoiding acting to seriously save Seattle’s urban forest from both neglect and development. The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) for years has been giving developers thumbs up to cut down trees rather than finding ways to incorporate trees into the building process and landscaping.

The DPD Director’s Rule 6-2001 only classified about 1% of Seattle’s trees as significant and worthy of being saved. An updated version of this Director’s Rule 16-2008 revised the threshold to now classify a whopping 5% of Seattle trees as significant.

Unfortunately being classified as significant is not the same as “do not cut”. Instead it only means that more emphasis is put on requiring replacement trees. But cutting a 75 year old Douglas fir and replacing it with 2 saplings is hardly is any kind of equivalence.

So if Seattle’s urban canopy is now 18% and only 5% of those trees have a chance of being classified as significant, please tell me how Mayor Nickels plans to increase our tree canopy 30% in 30 year’s when 3/4’s of Seattle’s trees are on private property subject to development or redevelopment?

While Seattle has an Urban Forestry Management Plan written in 2007 that outlines a plan to increase our tree canopy, the Seattle City Auditor today in a briefing before the Seattle City Council noted that it has never been adopted by the Seattle City Council. And he noted that tree management responsibilities are scattered across 9 Seattle City Departments without any clear authority residing anywhere for overall management responsibility.

The Auditor’s report came up with 6 major findings:

1. Implementing new regulations is an important next step for tree preservation.

2. Funding issues are pivotal for implementing the Urban Forest management Plan.

3. Shared responsibilities place a premium on effective cooperation and coordination

4. The Urban Forest Management Plan’s education and outreach program is still in it’s preliminary stage.

5. A complete tree inventory has not been conducted.

6. The City’s management framework for implementing the Urban Forest Management Plan can be strengthened.

The Auditor’s report notes that “Most of Seattle’s trees are on private property and the greatest potential for planting new trees is also on private property. Hence, public outreach and education to promote proper management of privately owned trees and to encourage new tree planting are paramount in the City’s effort to sustain and expand the tree canopy.

Council President Richard Conlin in a press release on the Auditor’s Report state’s his belief that the city must “do a better job of providing incentives to landowners. Instead of removing tress to make development less expensive, the city should be helping developers actively trying to build in a way that maintains mature trees – which is in the property owners’ best interests. Right now the City does not provide that incentive.”

Maybe the incentive is as simple as reminding builders that mature trees can add as much as 7 to 19% to a property’s value. That seems like a good profit margin right there. Seven per cent on a $400,000 house is $28,000. That’s no small change.

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Money Starting to Move into this year’s Seattle City Council Races

Posted on April 13th, 2009 | Comments Off on Money Starting to Move into this year’s Seattle City Council Races

It’s still a pretty slow start but money is starting to move into this year’s Seattle City Council races. The Primary is in August so candidates have less than 5 months to get their campaigns together in order to hope to survive the Primary. The races are non-partisan and the top two vote getters will move onto the November ballot.

Four Seattle City Council races are up this year. Two incumbents, Richard Conlin and Nick Licata are running for re-election. Two City Council members are retiring – Jan Drago and Richard McIver. Fourteen candidates are currently running for Seattle City Council.

Below are the candidates running, followed by their fundraising total through March 31, 2009 and then what they’ve spent so far.

Position 2

Richard Conlin (incumbent)…. $69,511 ….. $14,770
David Ginsberg …. $10,234 ….$739

Position 4 – seat being vacated by Jan Drago

Sally Bagshaw ….$52,752 ….$23,802
David Bloom ….$27,274 ….$1,293

Position 6

Jessie Israel…. $14,919 ….$5596
Martin Henry Kaplan ….$13,450 ….0
Nick Licata (incumbent) ….$46,354….$25,272

Position 8 – seat being vacated by Richard McIver

David Miller ….$22,058 ….$7,896
Robert Rosencrantz ….$42,180 ….$31,533
Jordan Royer ….$35,485 ….$11,339
Rusty Williams ….$35,136 ….$6,358

Candidates not yet declaring a seat they are running for:

Mike O’Brien ….$33,167 ….$8,763
Dorsal Plants ….$967 ….$642
Robert Sondheim ….$1,854 ….0

Information obtained from Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and City of Seattle Ethics and Election Commission.

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Seattle City Council Passes Interim Tree Protection Ordinance.

Posted on February 24th, 2009 | Comments Off on Seattle City Council Passes Interim Tree Protection Ordinance.

By a vote of 8 to 1, the Seattle City Council yesterday passed an emergency interim tree protection ordinance. Council Bill 116404 is a step in the right direction to try to halt the continued loss of trees, especially mature ones in the City of Seattle.

Since 1973 the city tree canopy has decreased from 40% down to 18% according to the Mayor’s Office when he announced his 2006 – 2007 Environmental Agenda.

Council Bill 116404 would limit tree removal and topping to no more than 3 trees that are 6 inches in diameter per year. It expands the definition of exceptional trees to include “group of trees”. Hazardous trees and dangerous trees would be exempt from the law.

While a step in the right direction the interim tree ordinance mainly gives protection to trees that are not being threatened by construction or building permits. Unfortunately the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) still will have the authority to approve construction projects without significant regard for the loss of trees in the process. This is why there is an urgent need to pass new strong legislation to protect trees in Seattle.

The DPD’s recent approval to cut down 72 trees in a rare plant habitat at Ingraham High School near Haller Lake in North Seattle because the understory was not in a pristine condition and the approval of cutting most of a grove of mature Douglas fir trees at Waldo Woods in North Seattle finds the DPD’s bias is to cut down trees without regard to its impact on Seattle’s urban canopy and continued loss of natural habitat.

The understory in most urban forests needs restoration. Many of Seattle’s Parks have little native understory because they have been overrun with ivy and blackberries. Understory can be restored in a few years time while 75 year old trees like at Ingraham literally take 75 years to be restored.

Waldo Woods is being appealed in King County Superior Court and the Ingraham decision is being appealed by Save the Trees- Seattle before a City Hearing Examiner on April 1, 2009.

You can watch the watch the full council meeting here , listen to the public comment and and to the Council members as they discuss their support for the measure before they take their affirmative vote. The tree ordinance vote is their first action item on the Agenda.

All the Council members except McIver spoke in favor of the ordinance and voted for it. They did express the need to do a tree inventory for Seattle so we can track how fast trees are being lost and whether we are reversing the trend.

Save the Tree-Seattle noted the need to require permits before trees can be cut down as the only way we can track tree loss accurately. They also suggested that the Environmental review process should be turned over to the Office of Sustainability and the Environment for independent review, rather than DPD doing it.

The ordinance that was passed will only be in place until a long term tree protection law can be put in place, hopefully this year. Unfortunately such a new law has been talked about for years and little publicly has been seen coming from the Mayor’s Office. Hopefully this will change.

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Help Pass Seattle’s Interim Tree Protection Ordinance – email City Council & Attend Dec. 15th Hearing!

Posted on December 13th, 2008 | 10 comments

On Monday, December 15, 2008 at 5:30 p.m., the Seattle City Council Environment, Emergency Management, and Utilities Committee will hold a public hearing at Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, on an emergency tree protection ordinance for the City of Seattle. The proposal would provide for interim protection for most trees for a period of six months to a year while Seattle develops a long-range solution to increase the tree canopy and stop the loss of healthy, mature trees.

For more information, see the following links:

Public Notice of Hearing
Briefing Memo
Council Bill 116404

Your input is vital to helping to pass this interim piece of legislation to protect trees in the City of Seattle. This bill was drafted as the result of our efforts to protect the trees at Ingraham High School from being needlessly cut down when alternatives existed to the proposed construction site. When the Seattle School District withdrew their construction permits in August of 2008, we went to King County Superior Court and got an injunction to stop the trees from being cut down. The Seattle School District’s attempted clear cutting of the trees without further environmental review by the city of Seattle exposed a loophole in Seattle’s tree protection ordinances. Other tree battles like trying to save trees at Waldo Woods in North Seattle also are driving this legislation.

If you cannot attend the Hearing on Monday at 5:30 PM it is critical that you send emails to all the City Council members urging their support for Council bill 116404 to provide interim tree protection until strong permanent protections can be put in place.

You can write one e-mail and send copies to all the council members by cutting and pasting the e-mails below.
Emails are: richard.conlin@seattle.gov; tim.burgess@seattle.gov; sally.clark@seattle.gov; jan.drago@seattle.gov; jean.godden@seattle.gov; bruce.harrell@seattle.gov; nick.licata@seattle.gov; richard.mciver@seattle.gov; tom.rasmussem@seattle.gov

This legislation is a first step towards strengthening tree protection laws in the City of Seattle. It is being attacked by so called “property rights advocates” who oppose efforts to protect trees. They are contacting members of the Seattle City Council with their opposition and we need to counter their efforts.

We need you to add your voice in support of the city stepping up and providing stronger protection for both individual trees and tree groves and our green urban habitat. Seattle’s urban tree canopy according to the city had decreased from 40% in 1973 to 18%. Unless we speak out our remaining urban trees are in danger of being lost because Seattle existing tree ordinance only provides protection to 1% total of all the trees through a very limited “exceptional tree” provision. Other cities in the region and in the US have much stronger protection measures.

Urge that the proposed legislation be amended to strengthen SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) provisions, that permits be required to cut down any tree over 6” in diameter, that tree grove protections are vital to protecting unique urban habitats and that the exemption for “additions to existing buildings” be dropped or clarified as limited to a certain size.

Passing Council bill 116404 is only a first step but we need to take it to protect trees while permanent legislation is being drafted up. We need to generate strong citizen support via e-mails and people attending the hearing on Monday as a show of support for protecting trees in Seattle. Please help. Thanks.

The Seattle City Council noted the following:

1. “The public hearing on the tree protections is taking place in the Seattle Council Chambers (one floor above the 5th Ave entrance to City Hall) on the second floor. A different hearing will be taking place at the same time in the Bertha Knight Landes room on the first floor of City Hall (one floor below Council Chambers). This hearing is on the Mayor’s proposed gun ban and also begins at 5:30. “

2.” The sign up sheet to make public comments will be available at 5:00 pm on the December 15, 2008 right outside of Council Chambers. People will be called in the order in which they sign up.”

3. The City Council also suggests that you provide “your comments in written form either to all Council members via email, in hard copy when you come to the hearing, or via the USPS. This is important because comments are normally limited to two minutes and many people have more than can be said in that time. Submitting your comments in writing will ensure that the Council hears what you have to say.”

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Seattle Tree Massacre on 5th Ave NE

Posted on September 18th, 2008 | Comments Off on Seattle Tree Massacre on 5th Ave NE

Clearcut, massacre, slaughter, call it what you want, Saturday while I was driving down 5th Ave NE toward Northgate I suddenly came across the above scenes at 123rd NE and 5th Ave NE.

The pictures tell a story in one sense but it is also a part of a larger story that is re-occurring too often in Seattle. It’s not one we should see in Seattle in this day and age. Yet the remaining groves of trees in Seattle are threatened and disappearing under the bulldozer and chainsaw just like in the pictures above.The west tree grove at Ingraham High School is only on a temporary stay of execution as the Seattle School District has reapplied for its permits to build the same identical building as before in the exact same location. The open lawn area on the North side of the school, among other locations on the largest public high school campus in Seattle, could easily accommodate the new addition without any problem. But the Seattle School Board doesn’t get it and doesn’t care. They have forgotten that they serve at the pleasure of the voters and most voters want to save trees, especially when viable alternatives exist.

Waldo Woods in the Maple Leaf area is also facing the chain saw as proponents for saving the area recently lost their appeal before a Seattle Hearing Examiner. Faced with the only possibility being going to Superior Court, Waldo Woods supporters face the possibility of having to post a huge bond of hundreds of thousands of dollars, which even if they could raise, they would lose if they lose an appeal in Superior Court.

And now the mowing down of a greenbelt area in the Pinehurst Community. One lot cleared and 4 more to go. The 5th Ave NE lot appears to have been cut down illegally. After a Sunday press conference by Save the Trees – Seattle and checking with the City, it turns out that the owner never received approval of his building permit for a single family home or permission to log the area. A cease and desist order has been issued to the owner but the trees are gone.

As Seattle’s tree canopy and green habitat continues to diminish, tree by tree and grove by grove, Seattle becomes less and less an Emerald City. So where is the city in all this. Seattle has a terribly weak ordinance pertaining to protecting trees.

It’s main thrust has been trying to save “exceptional trees” but this definition is so restrictive that few trees get saved. And tree groves currently have no protection because the Seattle department of Planning and Development under Greg Nickels does not consider them as valuable habitat areas to be saved.

The Seattle City Council has directed the Director to re-interpret the Director’s Rule to follow what they say the original intent was – to save not just single trees but also groves of trees because of their habitat value.

The Seattle City Council is currently considering an ordinance to declare a moratorium on cutting down tree groves on vacant lots until a revision of Seattle’s Tree Ordinance can take place. Such a revision must include a more enlightened vision of saving more of Seattle’s threatened green heritage because Seattle’s current tree policies are not saving tree groves.

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