Comments on: STB Endorsement Cheat Sheet

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:32:44 +0000

There’s only one candidate on the ballot. You could recommend someone for a write-in, but that’s a futile effort.

By: Port Reform

Port Reform — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:03:06 +0000

As former 4-term state legislator who helped pass the original Growth Management Act, Max Vekich understands quite a bit about industrial lands, transit, and planning. That’s why he has such a wide range of endorsers, from Denis Hayes (Bullit Foundation) to Dave Gering (Manufacturing Industrial Council).

You can learn more about Vekich and Albro through their different approaches to the tunnel. As you know, the Port is being told to commit $300 million to the tunnel project, without getting any assurances that freight and passengers will be moved more efficiently to train yards, cruise ship terminals, and warehouses.

Albro says he’s “fully on board” with the deep bore tunnel.

Vekich says “I am not going to commit $300 million of taxpayer dollars without having a hearing, without having briefings.”

Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2010142029_portpositionfour27.html

By: Election Open Thread - Seattle Transit Blog

Election Open Thread - Seattle Transit Blog — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:31:53 +0000

[...] Review our endorsement cheat sheet. [...]

By: John Jensen

John Jensen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:19:11 +0000

I think if we expand the scope of our endorsements too wide when they will be a little bit less meaningful.

By: ktstine

ktstine — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:06:59 +0000

How come no housing levy support? Aren’t land use and transit tied together? As in, shouldn’t low-income folks be able to live near good transit and jobs in the City? Come on STB…

By: One More Endorsement | SeattleSeattle.com

One More Endorsement | SeattleSeattle.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:11:06 +0000

[...] Our (updated) election cheat sheet is here. [...]

By: One More Endorsement - Seattle Transit Blog

One More Endorsement - Seattle Transit Blog — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:39:45 +0000

[...] Our (updated) election cheat sheet is here. [...]

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:08:52 +0000

Unfortunately Mallahan is likely to be worse for transit no matter what you might think of McGinn. He’s mentioned “congestion reduction” which tends to be code finding more space on the road for cars. I doubt he’ll support taking away general purpose lane capacity for either bicycles or transit. Mallahan also wants to reduce parking costs in downtown Seattle to attract visitors from the exurbs/suburbs. Again this likely means he isn’t going to support reducing parking minimums and may do something goofy like putting city funds into new downtown parking structures.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:01:50 +0000

Filling out my ballot today and just want to point out that I-1033 is in a spot that’s really easy to miss. It’s “hiding” below the instructions on how to vote where it could easily have been put in the column with all the other State wide initiatives. Don’t know if the layout is the same on ballots outside of King County but I’d let co-works, friends, etc. which might not be as politically active that they need to not miss this vote.

By: Marge

Marge — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:57:48 +0000

Nice list generally but I can’t bring myself to vote for McGinn. His campaign appears to be built around cheap shots and truth stretching. While he comes across as thoughtful in person, his antics tell a much different story. He’d be bad for the city, abd a completely ineffective advocate for transit.

By: Martin H. Duke

Martin H. Duke — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:34:44 +0000

All the races are unopposed except Dunn’s. I actually like Dunn when you take his district into account, but we decided not to endorse in this race.

By: Martin H. Duke

Martin H. Duke — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:33:46 +0000

Personally, I’m voting Holland and haven’t yet decided on the other race.

By: Mickymse

Mickymse — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:28:31 +0000

The (relatively) new Transit Riders Union should have questionnaires from all the King Co. Executive, Seattle Mayor, and Seattle City Council candidates by Monday.

Be sure to check out our website — http://www.transitriders.org — for a real sense of what these candidates know about our issues, and what their actual policy details (or lack thereof) sound like.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:11:28 +0000

Oh crap:
The Times recommends Susan Hutchison for King County executive

I was hoping they’d have the sense to endorse Constantine instead.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:17:28 +0000

The Port’s marine division could use a lot of help. I believe he’d work on getting cruise ship waste handled by our waste management, rather than dumped offshore as it is today, and require them to use city electrical hookups rather than just providing an option.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:39:58 +0000

I don’t think there are any truely competitive races. Reagan Dunn has an opponent but she is crazy and doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hades of winning.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:35:07 +0000

I don’t think Albro would be all that bad, he seems to be a genuine transportation nerd. I’m probably voting for Vekich but somewhat reluctantly. Holland should be a fairly clear choice, though I don’t think he’s said much on transportation.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:27:15 +0000

This may not reflect the views of the STB Editorial Board but here’s my take:

Position 3: Rob Holland
This one is pretty clear cut. David Doud has run a really dirty race, and has ties to anti-transit political donors like Kemper Freeman and John Stanton.

Position 4: I don’t know
Tom Albro actually seems to have a clue about how the Port relates to regional transportation, land use, and environmental issues. His company also runs the Seattle Monorail. When I had a chance to talk to him he came across as very much a transportation nerd and was really excited about the Airport Link station. Unfortunately he shares a campaign manager, donors, and many endorsements with David Doud.

Max Vekich is a former longshoreman, state legislator, and current ILWU officer. He has many good endorsements like Dow Constantine, David Hiller, Mike O’Brien and the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter. Unfortunately he comes across as rather clueless on most issues not directly related to the operation of the Port’s marine division or labor relations.

By: Dan Carey

Dan Carey — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:21:41 +0000

How come no King County Council recommendations?

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:52:51 +0000

That’s a hard one. Personally, of course, I’m voting for Vekich and Holland (and R-71!), but it’s difficult to differentiate the candidates on the basis of transit, which is where we limit our endorsements.