The January 10 Regular City Council Meeting signaled the end of one era and the beginning of a new one as the newly-constituted City Council appointed incumbent member Tony Anderson as Mayor and controversially re-elected member Mia Gregerson as Deputy Mayor.

Two outgoing Council members, Ralph Shape and Gene Fisher, had both served as Deputy Mayor and Mayor during their tenures, and former Mayor Terry Anderson failed to win reappointment in a 3-4 roll call vote along partisan lines.  Terry Anderson was also denied appointment as Deputy Mayor by the same vote, with Tony Anderson, Mia Gregerson, Dave Bush, and Barry Ladenburg taking the majority in both instances.  (See video below for the swearing in of Anderson, Gregerson, Bush, and Ladenburg.)

The same majority won out in roll call votes in  Tony Anderson’s and Gregerson’s appointments.  (Also see below for a video of the roll call vote appointing Mia Gregerson.)

With Mayor Tony Anderson taking a strong and swiftly efficient lead on Agenda Bills replacing Council Committees with joint Study Sessions and establishing a permanent Community Building Committee with Mayoral appointments, city government has shifted overnight from a folksy and loosely-run small-town feel to a tightly-orchestrated and hyper-efficient big-city approach.

In what seems to fly in the face of opposition to the Strong Mayor form of government, actions at Tuesday night’s meeting establish Tony Anderson as perhaps the strongest Mayor in SeaTac’s history, presiding not only over Regular and Special City Council Meetings but also all City Council business.  The newly established Study Sessions, held twice monthly on the same days as Council meetings, eliminate the chairmanships of the now-defunct various Council Committees.  The move, resulting from an Agenda Bill sponsored by Tony Anderson, will no doubt improve the efficiency of moving agenda items through the political process, but it also weakens the voice of Council minority members Rick Forschler, Pam Fernald, and now ex-Mayor Terry Anderson.

Further, the Study Sessions also make no provision for citizen input, making public comment prior to Council vote on Agenda Bills largely moot in the face of what will most often be rubber-stamp votes by the Mayor-led majority.

Proposed amendments to both Agenda Bills by Forschler and Fernald were voted down by the Mayor-led majority.

The newly-created Community Building Committee seemingly takes on a new level of importance in the face of a disenfranchised minority opinion and short-circuited public input to the committee process.

The meeting was opened by a presentation of the colors by SeaTac fine Police and Fire Explorers (see below for video).

See the details of Agenda Bills 3396 and 3373 here, pages 9-22.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Presentation of Colors

Click here to view the embedded video.

Council Members Sworn In

Click here to view the embedded video.

 Roll Call Vote

“Your answers will help the city’s work by providing information about walking and bicycling in SeaTac’s neighborhoods,” reads a flier. “The City of SeaTac is using funding received through a Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CCPW) Grant to develop policies that promote walking and bicycling, and access to ‘Corner Stores’ and other sources of food, in SeaTac’s neighborhoods.”

Here’s more from the city’s website:

While the City’s Comprehensive Plan already includes policies on non-motorized travel, the City is currently developing a “Safe & Complete Streets Plan” that will refine these policies to better enhance safety for all street users and all modes of transportation.

The City would like your input on the Safe & Complete Streets Plan!

Click on one of the links below to fill out an “Active Living Questionnaire.”

Your answers will help inform the Safe & Complete Streets Plan by providing information about walking and bicycling in SeaTac’s neighborhoods:

• Active Living Questionnaire for People Who Live and Work in SeaTac
• Active Living Questionnaire for Business Owners and Managers in SeaTac

Please Note: This is not meant to be a scientific survey, but will help the city plan for street networks for pedestrians, bicycles, transit and cars.

For more information about the grant, please contact Kate Kaehny, Senior Planner, at 206.973.4830. or kkaehny@ci.seatac.wa.us.

Maria Fushazi

by Greg Wright

Yesterday afternoon, SeaTac Blog received a press release from OUR Washington, an organization hitherto not on our radar.  According to the group’s Facebook page,

Organization United for Reform (OUR) Washington was started by others like us, low to moderate income people that came together and made a commitment to work for better schools, neighborhoods, housing, utility reform and other issues important to OUR families. OUR Washington is an organization that includes OUR King county, OUR Snohomish and OUR Pierce County.OUR Washington members take action by participating in local meetings, actions, community meetings, outreach and press conferences to win vital campaigns to better improve our communities.

One of those “vital campaigns” is home finance reform, and a local SeaTac family is front and center in a publicity event planned for today:

The dismantling of our middle class continues in Seatac.

When we called to get help to refinance our loan a representative from Aurora loan services told Maria “we don’t need to refinance your loan because as we have insurance on the loan and we will get our money on the loan.”

Our home was auctioned off on November 28^th. The auction took place after we applied for loan modification three times. We were denied each time.  We are parents of two young children, we both work and make decent money. All we wanted was a little relief from our predatory loan.

Regardless on whether or not you can come tomorrow please call Carla Wise, Senior Vice President of Aurora Services on Tuesday December 6^th and demand:

• Aurora re-engage with the Fushazi family in order to reverse the foreclosure, modify thier loan
• don’t evict the Fushazi family before the holidays

To reach Carla Wise call 720-945-3000 option #2 then press 5729709

“Now they are likely to sell the house for $140,000 to someone else. We owe $250,000. They could have just worked with us,” says OURWashington member Maria Fushazi.

Then join us at our house for a press event on December 6^th

Who: The Fushazi family, fellow OUR Washington members and community members

What: Event in the front yard of the Fushazi’s, part of national day of action in more than 15 states

When: Tuesday December 6^th at 11am  

Where: 14245 31^st Ave South Seatac WA 98168
Nick and Maria Fushazi, OUR Washington members
http://www.ourwashington.net/

OUR Washington lists no board membership or funding source on their site.  A Google search of the organization’s website, however, shows that OUR Washington is politically aligned with SEIU and other labor activists.

UPDATE: Today’s event in SeaTac is apparently part of a coordinated national “Occupy Our Homes” campaign.  CNN reports the following this morning:

Occupy Our Homes said it has scheduled a day of protests for Dec. 6, with events scheduled in 25 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities.

Among the actions expected to occur is so-called foreclosure defense, where protestors try to stop police from evicting residents of homes that are being foreclosed upon. Protestors also plan to occupy homes that have already been foreclosed on and currently lie vacant.

“The Occupy Wall Street movement and brave homeowners around the country are coming together to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” said an Occupy Our Homes press release. “We, the 99%, are standing up to Wall Street banks and demanding they negotiate with homeowners instead of fraudulently foreclosing on them.”

Barry Ladenburg and Dave Bush won their races against Gene Fisher and Michael Kovacs by wide margins while Terry Anderson has secured re-election over Sandra Cook-Bensley by similar numbers.

Proposition 1 has been defeated once again.

The gap between challenger Erin Sitterley and incumbent Mia Gregerson remained close throughout the tally process, with the final nod going to Gregerson by a margin of a mere 31 votes.

If you’re wondering where the new “We Are the 99%” signs start coming from in SeaTac today, the answer’s pretty easy.  Yesterday, Working Washington sent out the following press release:

Tomorrow, Working Washington activists will be distributing “We are the 99%” signs to fellow community members at several locations in Tukwila/SeaTac:

• Corner of 154th and International Blvd, 10am-4pm
• Mike’s Community Cup (16620 Military Rd), 10am-2pm
• Tukwila Light Rail station, 3-5pm

These are just a few of more than a dozen locations around Seattle and South King County where signs will be distributed. Similar events will be happening in the coming days in hundreds more locations across the country.

The idea is to demonstrate the powerful and broad-based support in Tukwila, SeaTac, and other communities for the issues of economic inequality raised by Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Seattle and the need for jobs, not cuts.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to stop by to pick up a sign, or download one here and print it yourself.

We are the 99%, and together we can make change and make the country work for all of us, not just the top 1%.

–
Sage Wilson
Working Washington
sage@workingwa.org

Although Working Washington’s website isn’t forthcoming with any details about its organization or funding, its involvement in this year’s political campaigns make it pretty evident that it’s a labor union-backed PAC.  Recent initiatives of Working WA include the November 5 call to close Chase Bank accounts, the November 10 protest of a black-tie Port of Seattle dinner, and Thursday’s jobs rally that closed the University Bridge north of Seattle.

What’s Working WA’s stake in SeaTac? The Port of Seattle.  One of the main focuses of Working WA’s website is “Good Jobs at the Airport,” with numerous articles decrying low-paying wages at what the site calls “The Port of Poverty and Pollution.”

Tuesday night’s Special City Council Meeting was an uncomfortable one for many Council members in the wake of the previous week’s general election.

One sitting Council member had this to say about the influence of “major campaign donations” to specific candidates in SeaTac council seat races.

I wonder what kind of agenda they would bring with them if elected. Thankfully, it will soon be over. I just hope that people will make the effort to be an informed voter and not just determine a winner based on the number of signs out there.

Those were the words of then-Mayor Ralph Shape during the 2009 campaign.  One can only wonder what he thought of the sums of money spent in this year’s race, which were nearly six times higher than in 2009, and how those investments will influence new Council members.

Vicki Lockwood adresses City Council Tuesday night

By state law, candidates and propositions may not be discussed as part of official City business until after elections have been certified, but that did not deter a great deal of oblique commentary from the public and Council alike on Tuesday night.

Community activist Vicki Lockwood started the ball rolling during public comment.  “Let’s all wave goodbye to our city,” she said as she held up cardboard signs touting new options for renaming the city. “Our city has just been bought by the Unite Here organization.  You’ve all heard of Occupy Seattle, Occupy Portland, and Occupy… you can fill in any major city of your choice. Well, folks, the Unite Here organization is a key player in these and other tax-draining activities, and now they have occupied our city government.”

Lockwood continued by citing the following post on Mia Gregerson’s Facebook campaign page, among others.

After an interruption from Council Member Tony Anderson and City Attorney Mary Bartolo regarding a point of order, Lockwood continued: “We have people in power indebted to the Unite Here organization and they will pay it forward on our dime.”

Lockwood’s assertion that Unite Here is connected to the Occupy movement is factual.  Below is a screenshot, as one example, is a statement of support from the national Unite Here organization.  Local 8′s blog also promotes the Occupy Seattle rallies.

Earl Gipson, the sponsor of failed Proposition 1 in favor of change of form of City government, also spoke very briefly about the “very interesting election”  and the $147,000 in spending reported to the State Public Disclosure Commission.

In closing comments, Deputy Mayor Gene Fisher, who will lose his Position 1 seat to challenger Barry Ladenburg, rued that he would be out of town until after the election has been certified.  “I’d like to look people in the eye who lie about me,” he said, “but I’m not going to be able to.  I’ll have to do it over the phone.” Fisher specifically encourage voters to visit the City of SeaTac site to view video footage of the July 26 Council’s discussion of New Business.  “I didn’t vote against veterans.  Congratulations, and good luck to the winner.  That’s not me.”  Interestingly, even Mia Gregerson’s Facebook comments about that vote support Fisher’s assertion (see below).

The most scathing comments about the campaign, however, came from Mayor Terry Anderson to close the meeting.

I’m not going to get into this, because if I do I’ll cry.  I’m frankly disgusted with a lot of people in this city, and it’s hard for me to believe that– Winning a campaign is very difficult, even at best.  But to lie and manipulate and really purposely intend to hurt somebody is something I think should be deemed illegal, at least if not with the law [then] with your own conscience and your friends.  And I think this is the– I’ve been here a long time, and this is the most disgusting process we’ve ever had in this city, and frankly if people come in and bellyache and say they’re ashamed, they have a right to.

SeaTac Blog’s editorial about the campaign can be found here.  Our story on campaign spending is here.

Click here for ongoing coverage of election results.

Starting next week, SeaTac Blog will be running a series of articles dissecting the truth and deception of 2011 campaign materials.

Well, King County wants you to know that they’re ready… sort of…  just in case.  They sent out the following press release earlier today:

Falling temperatures have King County road crews on weather watch;  public may see changes in snow response
Working with reduced resources, road crews ready to help keep people moving this winter

A repeat of La Niña and snow in the forecast has the King County Road Services Division cautioning drivers to be prepared for winter driving.

Because winter can come early in the higher hills, County road crews have topped off stockpiles of salt and sand and are ready to respond when roads get icy and the first flakes fall. That could be any day now, according to the latest forecast.

This season, the Road Services Division will have 17,700 cubic yards of sand, 270 cubic yards of salt and 21,000 gallons of anti-icing material stockpiled at ten field offices throughout the county. It also has a variety of equipment ready to go to combat snow and ice. During significant snowstorms, crews will be placed on 12-hour shifts to provide around-the-clock response to roads in unincorporated areas.

And beginning this month, six maintenance workers will once again be assigned overnight shifts to respond to snow, ice and other road problems.

While some unincorporated neighborhoods have been annexed by cities, the actual number of snow routes maintained by King County has changed very little in recent years. The County is still responsible for about 1300 miles of snow routes connecting cities, suburban and rural areas. Yet the Road Services Division will have fewer resources to respond due to funding and staff reductions.

These reductions mean some roads will be plowed and sanded less often depending on weather conditions. Priorities for snow and ice removal include arterials and heavily traveled roadways and routes used by Metro Transit buses. In general, snow response on roadways will occur in the following order of priority:

• Major roads such as key arterials and main thoroughfares connecting densely populated areas.
• Smaller roadways that carry traffic from local streets to arterial roadways connecting towns and cities.
• Secondary commuter routes that are considered important connectors to the County’s larger network of roads.

During minor localized snow events, the division will shift crews from non-affected areas of the county to help keep roads clear. But during a significant regional snowstorm, the shifting of County forces may not be possible.

Given this potential for reduced road clearing, residents should familiarize themselves with King County’s snow plan and develop backup plans if heavy snow prevents travel. Those plans might include working a flexible schedule, telecommuting or postponing your trip, if possible.

“When a snowstorm strikes, the best way to avoid the dangers of driving is to stay home,” Road Services Division Manager Paulette Norman said. “If you must drive, stick to major arterials and make sure your vehicle has good winter tires and a full tank of gas before heading out.”

King County Executive Dow Constantine has pledged to work on finding a permanent and sustainable solution for local roads funding, and will work with the Governor’s Connecting Washington Task Force, which is crafting a statewide transportation package for consideration by the legislature.

You may also have noticed a spate of new radio ads today promoting roads funding.  Any connection?  Nah…  Couldn’t be.

In any event, budget crunches are a reality in the City and the County.  And you’ve no doubt heard of “austerity measures” in Greece and Italy.  So we should expect belt-tightening to extend to snow removal services, too, as things are rough all over.  Be patient with the City, County, and State through this winter season, and adjust your travel plans accordingly!

Washington State Representatives Tina Orwall (33rd district) and Bob Hasegawa (11th) will be holding a Joint Town Hall Meeting starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19th at SeaTac City Hall.

This meeting is free and open to the public.

According to an email, topics on the agenda include:

• The Foreclosure Fairness Program, which is helping hundreds of families facing foreclosure
• The Washington Investment Trust, which would keep taxpayers’ money in our state, working for our state
• And with the special session coming up at the end of the month, we ask you to come and share your ideas on how to best address our current state budget problems.

For more information, please call their offices:

• Orwall: (206) 824-5097
• Hasegawa: (206) 587-5554

SeaTac City Hall is located at 4800 South 188th Street in SeaTac.

On the agenda will be a briefing on the Four Post Plan (how the FAA funnels traffic at Sea-Tac Airport) and an update on the Greener Skies Initiative, a FAA project focusing on aircraft using satellite-based technology to reduce track miles and descend more efficiently.

The public is invited to make comments at the start of the meeting.

The Highline Forum includes the southwest King County communities of Des Moines, Burien, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Tukwila and Federal Way, as well as the Highline School District and Port of Seattle.

Barry Ladenburg and Dave Bush have clearly dominated their races against Gene Fisher and Michael Kovacs while Terry Anderson has secured re-election over Sandra Cook-Bensley.

Proposition 1 has been defeated once again.

The gap between challenger Erin Sitterley and incumbent Mia Gregerson appears to be holding, though it has fluctuated.  With virtually all of the ballots counted, it appears that the race goes to Gregerson.