Election Night Final Results

Election Night Summarry:  (next report is 4:30pm  11/4).

NO - I-1033;     YES - Referendum 71   YES Charter Amendment 1-4;
Dow Constatine over Hutchison,  Kim Allen over Chen, Charles Pilcher over Linquist.

http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/200911/results.aspx

Election Night Final
KING COUNTY   11/3/2009    8:07:20 PM

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 254261 / 1079842 23.55%

Initiative Measure No. 1033
YES    78111        34.28%
NO    149739       65.72%

Referendum Measure No. 71  PASSED, 11/4
APPROVED 164724    65.91%
REJECTED    85188    34.09%

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 254261 / 1079842   23.55%

King County Charter Amendment No. 1
YES  176174   85.09%
NO      30863   14.91%

King County Charter Amendment No. 2
YES   166128    82.05%
NO       36345    17.95%

King County Charter Amendment No. 3
YES 191012     91.13%
NO     18597      8.87%

King County Charter Amendment No. 4
YES   170222    80.49%
NO      41257     19.51%

KING COUNTY
Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 254261 / 1079842   23.55%

County Executive short and full term
Susan Hutchison  104622   42.76%
Dow Constantine 139501   57.01%
Write-in                    561      0.23%

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 5547 / 25447 21.80%
Redmond City Council
Council Position No. 2
John P. (Pat) Vache 3614 98.61%
Write-in 51 1.39%

Council Position No. 4
Sally J. Chen    1778    37.69%
Kim Allen         2920    61.90%
Write-in              19       0.40%

PUBLIC HOSPITAL DISTRICT NO. 2  (Evergreen Hospital)

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 36086 / 157168 22.96%
Commissioner District No. 1
Al F. DeYoung 22633      98.87%
Write-in               259         1.13%

Commissioner Position No. 4
Charles A. Pilcher 19156        72.06%
Rex H. Lindquist     7352        27.66%

Redmond Councilmember Kimberly Allen speaks on the environment

Dear Redmond blog readers: 

As your councilmember, I have been a vocal champion of tree preservation and sustainability in Redmond. I helped craft the last Comprehensive Plan and Transportation Management Plan, both of which set ambitious goals for growth in Redmond while protecting the natural environment and moving toward transit oriented urban centers. I also work hard to make sure that Redmond is one of the leaders in adopting its critical areas and shoreline regulations.

As an elected official, I have endorsed the Wild Sky and Alpine Lakes Wilderness Addition, as well as the Roadless Rule Resolution. I also support Redmond’s partnership with the Cascade Land Conservancy to restore acres of our urban forest to health.

We are now beginning work on a Green Sustainability Initiative for the city to celebrate Redmond’s upcoming centennial. It will involve ambitious goals for energy conservation and carbon reduction, waste management and resource conservation, sustainable development and green infrastructure, and ecosystem conservation and stewardship. One thing I learned from the new Budgeting By Priorities process is that if you don’t measure progress with goals and metrics, you generally don’t get any progress. This initiative holds us accountable to deliver a sustainable city to our children and I want to spend my next term in office keeping the momentum on this critical work.

by Kimberly Allen

Kim Allen
Redmond City Councilmember, #4
kim@kimonthecouncil.com
www.kimonthecouncil.com
425-894-8237

Redmond's "Rocket Man" and sons end the season with a Bang.

I first met Dave Randall and his family during a Hartman Park forest restoration work-party. His boys are Scouts and BMX jumpers. Linda, his wife, works for the LWSD.   Dave’s largest rocket is 22 feet tall, 150 pounds and reaches up to 14,000 feet.  Randall's “the Redmond Rocket Man”!  And his younger son, Joshua  is learning fast (right) with his upscaled Estes kit, "The Mosquito".   

Here's Dave's story: 

In Redmond, 60 Acres park is often used for flying low power model rockets when soccer is not in session, including the winter months. We head to rural areas to launch our 5 pound and larger rockets.

Last weekend, hobby rocketeers gathered in the small central Washington town of Mansfield, near Chelan, for the last big launch of the 2009 Washington Aerospace (WAC) flying season. Students from University of Washington and Ingraham High School participated while learning and demonstrating real rocket science in action.

David's latest project was a team effort with three other local rocketeers. "We wanted to go big. Real big," David said about his team's rocket named "U4EA". At 22' tall and weighing 150 pounds, it was the biggest rocket ever launched at the Mansfield site. "The liftoff was absolutely majestic. And the feeling as we watched it take to the sky, was, well, U4ic!" The rocket used a cluster of five rocket motors to achieve its required thrust and carried two cameras on board. Special altimeters recorded the flight and ensured the parachutes were deployed at the perfect.

While some folks remember the Estes rockets flown in schoolyards or local parks, WAC hosts launches with bigger rockets. The larger rockets can weigh over 100 pounds and fly as high as 14,000'. Coordination with the FAA ensures safe flying for both rockets and airplanes. Rockets at Mansfield fly to an average altitude of 4,500' and weigh around 5 pounds.

Redmond rocketeer Dave Randall says: "I fit squarely into the group of adults known as 'BAR's' - or Born Again Rocketeers." Many adults in the hobby, like Dave, returned to the hobby with their own children participating in rocketry as a science class or Scouting activity. Indeed, the entire Randall family participates in rocketry. From Estes kits to big scratch built rockets, a crowd-favorite "Tin Man" rocket that was featured on the cover of a national rocketry magazine.

Typical rockets require over 20 hours to assemble, paint, and prepare for flight. Schedules for northwest rocket launches can be found at www.rocketsnw.com. The hobby boasts over 3,000 active flyers nationwide with local launches occurring in many states across the country.

- Dave Randall

Dave's rocket story is timely with NASA’s launch of the “Mars Rocket” (2 min. video) on 10/28. The booster on the Mars Rocket was 100 meters long, it reached 150,000 feet and traveled almost 5X the speed of sound.

NAR website (http://www.nar.org/) and WAC website (http://www.washingtonaerospace.org/)
Story and photos by Dave Randall
Edited, Yoder

Juanita High School Participates in Landmark Statewide Teen Smoking-Cessation Trial

Study is the first of its kind to achieve significant increase in prolonged quit rates

With the help of students of the class of 2003 at Juanita High School, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has obtained landmark results from the Hutchinson Study of High School Smoking, the largest randomized trial of teen smoking cessation ever conducted.

The study for the first time demonstrated it is possible to:

• successfully recruit and retain a large number of adolescent smokers from the general population into a smoking intervention study, and
  
• significantly impact rates of six-month continuous quitting through personalized, proactive telephone counseling.

Students in the class of 2003 — both nonsmokers and smokers, and with their parents’ permission — were invited to participate in the study. As juniors, they participated in an in-class baseline survey, and then were followed by mailed survey one year post-high-school graduation to learn about changes over time in their attitudes and practices with regard to smoking and nonsmoking.

The trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, involved more than 2,000 teenage smokers from 50 high schools in Washington, including Juanita High School. Half of the schools were randomly assigned to the experimental intervention; teens in these schools were invited during their senior year to take part in confidential, personalized telephone counseling designed to help motivate them to quit.

edited by Bob Yoder
abreviated LWSD press release, 10/09

Editorial: The LWSD School Board's "NO" on Initiative 1033 comes a little late.

Updated, 10/28:  As impactful as I-1033 is to Lake Washington School District funding, it sure took the School Board a long time to issue their unanimous "NO" on I-1033 Resolution. 

Do you know, the LWSD School Board didn't sign off on their "NO" resolution until last night, 10/26?   The last voting day is only 7 days away.   The news won't be delivered by the local Reporter newspapers until Saturday!  So, unless you are reading this Blog or visit the District web site, the majority of District voters will only have 3 days to find a paper and study the school board's findings.  Unfortunately, by then, many voters will have already mailed in their ballots!  

Neighboring jurisdictions have planned and announced their Resolution weeks in advance of LWSD: 

9/15 - The City of Redmond Council said NO by resolution on 9/15.

9/15 - The City of Kirkland Council said NO by resolution on 9/15

10/5 - Shoreline District School Board said NO on Resolution #2009-22

10/6 - Snoqualmie School District Board said NO on Resolution #745

10/13 - Northshore School Board said NO on Resolution #605

10/14 - Issaquah School Board said NO, 10/14

10/20 - Bellevue School District Board said NO on Resolution 09-26

10/21 - Ballard School Board said NO, 10/21

10/22 - Seattle School Board said NO on Resolution 2261

10/26 - LWSD School Board said NO on their Resolution 2043 last night!  The bureaucracy of Seattle School District even beat LWSD in getting the word out to their voters.

It's not like a NO I-1033 is a done deal.  Republicans are endorsing the measure.  And as President Pendergrass warned last night, the measure appears as a simple way to lower property taxes when, in fact, it's a complex issue that cuts revenues and requires serious study. 

LWSD taxpayers count on President Pendergrass and her Directors to give us timely guidance on the serious issues affecting basic education of our children.  I beg you to please step-up with your peers in the next election and partner with your constituents.   Lake Washington School District does a great job.  Please don't leave us in the lurch next time.

by Bob Yoder

Lake Washington School District Board Votes NO on I-1033

Updated:  Opinion:  Though the goal of I-1033 is to lower property taxes, the School Board resolved that the measure would prevent the District from making new investments and undermine funding into the future.   Under I-1033, State funding for basic education to LWSD would be cut by approximately $17.5 million by 2015. 

During last night's October 26 School Board Meeting, President Jackie Pendergrass (left) read Resolution 2043 declaring the Board of Directors' NO position on I-1033.  The Mail-Only Election is only a week away! Their public deliberation, decision and resolution, though helpful, comes a little late to the voters.

During the 10/12 Regular Board Meeting two weeks go, Superintendent Kimball advised the Board that $17.5 Million would be cut from LWSD funding by 2018 if I-1033 passed.  This cut would translate into a loss of 219 teachers and a 7 student increase in class size.  Despite Kimball's 10/12 advisory, the Board did not vote on a resolution owing to a procedural question; and it appeared they weren't prepared with a resolution in hand.  (I attended this meeting and made public comment). 

The Superintendent stated "Public Comment" from both sides of the issues had to be requested and put on record for a resolution to pass.  I'm not sure why the Board President didn't know this.  President Pendergrass invited the Public to comment only one time.  And just one public comment was made (by Ms. Lewis.)  Pendergrass stated no emails were received on the issue. (I sent two emails to the District last week suggesting NO on I-1033.)

In last night's 10/26 Regular meeting, Superintendent Kimball led the conversation saying by 2015 State cash receipts would be reduced by approximately $5.9 Billion if I-1033 passed.  I-1033 would cut $17.5 million from LWSD basic education funding by 2015.

District #5 Director Shahani and Vice President weighed in saying I-1033 appeals to the voters' wish for lower property taxes but the measure is a "huge mistake" that takes advantage of the public's short term needs vs. the long term hurt caused by loss of revenues.  Mr. Shahani said it doesn't make a lot of sense to use inflation as a guide when teacher's salary growth is much higher than inflation.  Shahani lives in Redmond.

District #4 Director Eglington reminded the Board that I-2261 was passed 9 years ago reforming how revenues are generated and allocated.  Revenue would be lost by I-1033.   I-1033 can be recalled within two years but it's a "rotten way to legislate".  Eglington lives in Sammamish.

District #1 Director and President Pendergrass warned I-1033 appears simplistic at first glance but it's impact on government is far more complex and impactful.   Pendergrass lives in Kirkland.  

District #3 Director Nancy Bernard (Kirkland) was absent from the meeting.

District #2 Director Carson was upset by the "obscene language" of the Initiative.  He said measures are supposed to be boring and sober.  The Board chuckled.  Carson lives in Kirkland.

The meeting was short, lasting 49 minutes.  President Pendergrass said this was "record" and reminded the viewing public of the Directors time and attendance at the recent Levy/Bond.  Of the three meetings I attended, no Directors were present.

reported by Bob Yoder

October PTSA Donations & "a little bit more..."

October PTSA Donations to LWSD schools...and a little bit more (scroll below)

Emily Dickinson Elementary PTSA to Dickinson El - $2420.00 - to support 5th & 6th grade community building program @Camp River Ranch

Rachel Carson PTSA to Carson Elementary - $4022.72 - to purchase Accelerated Reader and Star Reading Program, copier supplies.

Samantha Smith PTSA to Smith Elementary - $3470.00 - to purchase Read Naturally Program and student council.

Redmond JH PTSA to Redmond Junior -$3830.87 - to provide academic enrichment mini-grants (supplies and equipment).

H.D. Thoreau PTSA to Thoreau Elementary - $4944.75 - stipends for Honor Choir Program ($1977.90), Outdoor Education ($1977.90), and Chess Program ($899.95).

John Muir PTA to Muir Elementary - $5100.00 -  to provide curriculum enrichment ($3500.00) and field trip transportation ($1600.00).

Stella Schola PTO to Stella Schola - $3018.90 - to provide stipends for extracurricular programming work.

Margaret Mead PTSA to Mead Elementary - $3168.90 - to provide stipends.

AND A LITTLE BIT MORE:    School Board President Jackie Pendergrass came up with an interesting explanation tonight for their record short, 49 min. Board meeting.  Jackie indicated the Board had worked especially long this month attending the Levy/Bond input meetings. Oh?  Interesting!  I went to half (3) of Levy Input meetings this month and didn't see a single School Board member!   Lake Washington High School had the largest turnout (over 20) and not one Board Member attended.   Conspicuous absences at Redmond High and Junior High, too.   They'll need a better reason, next time....

Longtime Redmond Commissioners Lori and Marty Snodgrass support the re-election of Kim Allen for Council.

Lori Snodgrass was Redmond Parks Board Chair for many years.  Marty Snodgrass was a Chair and on Redmond Planning Commission for over eight years.  They emailed the following endorsement to re-elect Kim Allen for Redmond City Council. (At this time, I don't have a photo of Lori.)  

Dear Bob,

"Kudos to Council President McCormick for her strong endorsement of Councilmember Allen. We have been observers and sometimes participants in Redmond politics for nearly thirty years. Never has the City faced such a confluence of adverse circumstances as it does today. To steer the City through these hard times requires steady, experienced hands at the wheel of government. Compare these days to the crash of the US Airways flight in the Hudson River: those fortunate souls survived only because they were in the hands of a mature and experienced pilot.

Kim Allen belongs in that category. She has years of experience and a maturity shared by few in government. Hers is a steady hand. She is the type of person we can trust at the wheel. These are not just words. We have known her (Marty worked with her on the Redmond Planning Commission), and observed her sterling performance on the City Council for years. She is the real deal and we are lucky to have her. We certainly commend Ms. Chen for her interest in good government. However, now is not the time and the City Council is not the place for a beginner. When Ms. Chen has put in years learning the ropes and demonstrating her competence, we would then consider her for a position on the Council, but not now and certainly not as a replacement for someone of such demonstrated competence, intelligence and experience as Kim Allen."

Marty & Lori Snodgrass
Redmond, WA
E: help@snodgrasslaw.com
by email on 10/23
photo by Lori Snodgrass

Editorials & Opinion | The Times recommends Susan Hutchison for King County executive | Seattle Times Newspaper

Editorials & Opinion The Times recommends Susan Hutchison for King County executive Seattle Times Newspaper

2009 King County Election voting is "all-mail". Postage-free ballot drop boxes are available.

There will be no polling in King County for the general election. All ballots must be mailed OR may be placed in a few of the 24-hour drop boxes scattered around the county.

For the November 3 general, ballot drop boxes will open on Friday, October 16 and close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, November 3. Postage is NOT required when using the ballot drop boxes.

Locations and availability:

•Library Connection @ Crossroads, 15600 NE 8th St., outside of Suite K-11, 98008
•Earlington Business Center, 919 SW Grady Way, 98057
•Fall City Library, 33415 SE 42 Pl., 98024
•Lake Forest Park Library, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 98155 near the lower level mall entrance
•Seattle, King County Administration Building, 500 Fourth Ave., 98104
•Woodinville Library, 17105 Avondale Rd NE, 98072
•University, 4534 University Way NE, 98105

Complete listing of ballot drop box locations is at "Info Vote 09"

Opinion | Tim Eyman: Time to give it a rest | Seattle Times Newspaper

Opinion Tim Eyman: Time to give it a rest Seattle Times Newspaper

Help adults learn to read - do basic math - study for GED exams - learn English. Sign-up with HopeLink.

 
Hopelink in Your Neighborhood Needs Volunteers!

Prospective volunteers can attend a required orientation session at any of Hopelink’s five locations

Hopelink relies upon volunteers for such jobs as sorting food in its food banks; helping adults learn to read, do basic math, study for the GED exams or learn English as a second language; providing child care and homework tutoring to children in our housing facilities; delivering food to homebound clients; or answering phones and helping with administrative tasks. Hopelink’s new Kirkland/Northshore center in the Totem Lake neighborhood is in particular need of volunteers to stock shelves in its grocery store-style food bank.

Hopelink asks new volunteers over age 16 and volunteers between the ages of 12 and 16 with parent/guardian supervision to register to attend a mandatory orientation. To register, please visit www.hope-link.org/takeaction/volunteer  or call (425) 869-6066.

· Wednesday, November 4, 2009. Afternoon and evening sessions are available:

o 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. at Hopelink’s Bellevue center, 14812 Main St., Bellevue.

o 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Hopelink’s NEW Kirkland/Northshore center, 11011 120th Avenue NE, Kirkland.

· Tuesday, November 10, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at Hopelink’s Redmond center, Building A, 16225 NE 87th St., Redmond.

Office: 425.869.2440; Cell: 206.605.6843
Email: denises@hope-link.org
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