Both conservatives and liberals in King County government agree that being able to plan their budgets in two-year cycles instead of one year will be helpful. Given the dire condition of that budget, any reasonable assistance we can lend is worth our support. Vote YES.
METROPOLITAN KING COUNTY COUNCIL
DISTRICT 8 (West Seattle, Vashon)
We're backing the smart, funny incumbent, Dow Constantine, who has worked throughout his career in public service to protect open spaces and is an important counterweight to development-minded colleagues on the council. His opponent, Libertarian candidate Michael Nelson, is a political nonentity whose platform includes nonsense like repealing the state's minimum-wage law.
DISTRICT 9 (Enumclaw, Auburn, Kent)
In this southeast King County seat, the GOP's Steve Hammond, appointed earlier this year to succeed the late Kent Pullen, survived a primary challenge from two other conservative Republicans. This time his challenger is Democratic lawyer Barbara Heavey, and she is everything Hammond doesn't seem to be: articulate, well organized, and with a clear and sensible vision of how to represent the citizens of her fast-growing slice of the county.
DISTRICT 12 (Issaquah, Sammamish)
Former council member Brian Derdowski is a grassroots guerrilla who has long been King County's best hope for keeping developers at bayor at least in line. While growth has eased somewhat from the heated 1990s, it continues apace in communities like Issaquah and Sammamish. Many parts of the county are still undergoing rapid and radical transformation. While on the council, Derdowski wasn't able to stop Los Angeles-style sprawl, but as a strong supporter of the state Growth Management Act, he tried to contain it. Unfortunately, he was ousted from office in the GOP primary in 1999 by a developer-backed opponent, David W. Irons Jr. Now, Derdowski's in a rematch, but this time running more comfortably as a Democrat. Despite the lull in growthor perhaps because of ithe expects a new assault by developers against limits and restraints, such as the urban/rural boundary line that divides and protects suburban and rural King County. Derdowski is the kind of independent, green watchdog the council needs. We urge voters to bring the Derd back.
PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION
POSITION 2
Current officeholder Bob Edwards, seeking his second term, breezed to an easy victory in the primary, and we hope he does the same in the general election. The stockbroker and former Renton City Council member wins our vote just for being the lone commission voice opposing a 37 percent tax increase in 2002. His opponent, lawyer and former journalist Jim Baker, is making his first bid for public office.
POSITION 5
Alec Fisken has both a financial and marine background and promises to provide the kind of spending oversight the Port lacks. An analyst in the city's Office of Policy and Management, Fisken gets our vote because he'll focus on the Port's mission of growing jobs in tandem with reducing taxpayer burden.
Well-bankrolled incumbent Clare Nordquist thinks jobs are No. 1, too, but his record is one of an inaccessible, high-flying venture capitalist who has backed the Port's role as a real-estate developer at the expense of its marine and airport operations.
STATE OF WASHINGTON BALLOT MEASURES
INITIATIVE 841
This is about ergonomics. On one side, we have the Building Industry Association of Washington, a deep-pocketed political hit squad representing an industry that has a high injury rate. They paid thousands of dollars to put this initiative on the ballot because they claim that the state government is overregulating when it comes to workplace safety. They want to toss out the state's ergonomic rules.
On the other side are all of us workers who worry about being injured on the job. The builders want to overturn regulations designed to protect the rest of us from getting hurt while we work. Stop them. Vote NO.
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 4206
This is a simple housekeeping measure that would change the way vacancies are filled in the state Legislatureallowing newly electeds of the same party to take office if the current officeholder dies or resigns. As straightforward as doing the dishes. Vote YES.
Seattle Weekly Editorial Board members are Editor in Chief Knute Berger, Managing Editor Chuck Taylor, Political Editor George Howland Jr., Senior Editor Nina Shapiro, staff writers Rick Anderson and Philip Dawdy, and columnist Geov Parrish.
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