Two “long read” documents came through my inbox in the past week that, upon reflection, are likely to set the tone for a good chunk of the political debate over the next few months as we head into the primary and general elections here in Seattle.
Continue readingCategory: election
Compassion Seattle charter amendment gets tweak to ballot title, clearance to gather signatures
This morning King County Superior Court Judge Brian McDonald ruled on a challenge to the proposed ballot title of Compassion Seattle’s charter amendment, making only a minor edit. The campaign is now clear to begin gathering signatures.
Continue readingEthics commission votes to approve Sawant settlement agreement
This afternoon, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission voted to approve the negotiated settlement agreement with Councilmember Sawant over charges that she illegally used city resources for a non-city purpose and to support a ballot proposition last year.
Continue readingJudge sets deadline to file signatures for Sawant recall petition
Wrapping up the final legal issue related to the recall of Councilmember Kshama Sawant, last Friday King County Superior court Judge Jim Rogers ruled on the deadline for when the recall campaign must submit the required signatures to get the recall on the election ballot, giving them until October 19 to gather just over 10,000 signatures.
Continue readingJudge certifies updated recall petition against Sawant
This afternoon, King County Superior court Jim Rogers briefly heard oral arguments and quickly issued a ruling certifying an updated ballot synopsis for the recall petition against Councilmember Sawant. That allows the recall campaign to immediately turn to signature-gathering, though Judge Rogers still must resolve one remaining issue related to how long the campaign has to turn in the required signatures.
Continue readingCompassion Seattle files new version of proposed charter amendment on homelessness
Yesterday afternoon the “Compassion Seattle” campaign filed an updated version of its proposed charter amendment ballot initiative, with two key changes to address critiques of the effort that have emerged since the initiative was first unveiled.
Continue readingCatching up with the Sawant recall
A lot has happened since April 1 when the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the recall petition against Councilmember Kshama Sawant could move forward.
Continue readingProposed charter amendment writes plan for addressing homelessness
This afternoon a new campaign calling itself Compassion Seattle filed a charter amendment proposition that would codify a set of policies and strategies for the city to combat homelessness.
Continue readingUnderstanding the City Council Redistricting Process
As if election years weren’t fun enough, the time has come for the first Seattle City Council redistricting, when boundaries get adjusted to rebalance the populations of the seven Council districts.
Continue readingCatching up on court cases: January 8, 2021
It’s time for a quick catch-up on three court cases: the Sawant recall petition, the ACLU/Black Lives Matter crowd control weapons case, and the landlords’ challenge to the city and state eviction moratoria.
Continue reading