The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission has dismissed a complaintfiled by City Council member-elect Mike O’Brien in October. . . . Both Rosencrantz and Forward Seattle sent out thousands of mailers accusing O’Brien of wanting to “toll all city streets.” Both featured an unflattering image of O’Brien taken from the same Friends of Seattle video; both included images of toll booths on neighborhood streets; and both accused O’Brien of wanting tolls “everywhere.”
The Working for Seattle PAC, a group comprising conservative business interests, anti-light-rail rich folks from the Eastside, and the firefighters union, raised $100,000 to hit Mike McGinn with negative ads.
Yesterday, the PAC was fined $5,000 by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) for violations of Seattle election law. "I wouldn’t have filed charges if I didn’t think it was serious,” said the Executive Director of the SEEC, yesterday.
To fight back, the McGinn campaign needs the help of the members and supporters of Friends of Seattle. As he does, we believe in a bright green future for Seattle.
The mayor's race will be decided in the air -- ads -- and on the ground -- phone calls from voter to vote.
McGinn needs the help of his grassroots army to win, and you are a part of that army.
Speaking voter to voter is the best way to persuade undecided voters to support Mike. Please sign up for a phonebank shift; they will be running through Tuesday, Election Day.
Robert Rosencrantz, candidate for Seattle City Council Pos. 8, told Friends of Seattle that he wants to “change the culture of Seattle.” And it's no wonder he does, because his values are out of step with Seattle on issues such as light rail, transit oriented communities, corporate tax cuts, Metro bus service, and abortion and choice.
“We can't have a future built by a man who doesn't believe in light rail or transit-oriented communities or increased funding for Metro,” said Gary Manca, President of Friends of Seattle.
We have created a video ad making sure that Seattle voters know that Rosencrantz has the wrong values for Seattle City Council:
“Robert Rosencrantz told us repeatedly that he would bring new priorities to City Hall,” said Manca. “But his priorities don’t reflect Seattle’s values. He is pro-highway and anti-transit, he wants to slash corporate taxes, and he opposes the right of Seattle women to make their own choices about their reproductive health.”
City council members are going to have to make tough choices about which areas in the budget to cut, and those decisions are based on values. Mr. Rosencrantz wants to be budget chair. We fear that he would write a budget based on his own personal values, cutting out the programs and services valued by the rest of Seattle.
WRONG VALUES ON TRANSIT:
Mr. Rosencrantz:
* supports the Stanton-Rice plan to gut Sound Transit of its planning authority[1]
* supports the plan to create a new regional highway-building agency[2]
* opposes a plan to expand light rail to Seattle’s westside neighborhoods[3]
* opposes any new tax revenue to close Metro’s budget gap[4]
Friends of Seattle is an endorsing organization: we have a vision for the city---urban and environmental issues are our biggest concern---and we have views on which candidates and ballot measures are best suited to advance Seattle's wellbeing.
At the same time, we believe strongly in transparency and the value of citizen participation in government. So we offer this general-election edition of our 2009 Voters Guide not only to inform our members about the people who will best uphold our values once in office, but also to educate our members and the public at large about the candidates' views.
Here is an opportunity to read the candidates' questionnaire responses and watch their interviews with us, and then to compare the information here with media coverage, the candidates' official websites, and the King County Official Voters Guide.
Mike O'Brien's opponent, Robert Rosencrantz, sent an attack mailer to 100,000 voters making the breathless claim that Mike supports "tolling everywhere," and he cites Mike's endorsement interview video with Friends of Seattle to support his claim. See the mailer here
But at the same time that Robert Rosencrantz distorted Mike's statements about tolling of highways and city streets, Mr. Rosencrantz hid from voters that he himself has . . . yes, EXACTLY the same position on tolling.
When we interviewed Mr. Rosencrantz, his short answer on tolling:
"Tolls - great. Systemwide - yes."
In other words, Mr. Rosencrant is dishonest, and he's fighting dirty.
See Mr. Rosencrantz's entire toll-happy video statement to us at this link
Now Mr. Rosencrantz has friends. We learned today that a big-business political action committee spent $50,000 on a mailer lobbing another attack on Mike O'Brien.
You know as we do that Mike is exactly the kind of courageous, visionary leader we need on the Seattle City Council. And it doesn't hurt that he has the financial expertise -- an MBA and an economics degree -- to help the city through its budget crisis.
Mike will get elected if you help him.
If enough of us contribute $5, $20, $50, $100, $500, we can help Mike fight back.
Mike O'Brien for Position 8 is perhapsour most important endorsement in this election. Mr. O’Brien will be a visionary leader on City Council---someone who is politically courageous and well-equipped to deal with the practicalities of budgeting and policymaking (Mr. O’Brien has an economics degree from Duke University, has a MBA from the University of Washington, and was the Chief Financial Officer of a major Seattle law firm).
Mr. O’Brien’s positions exhibit an understanding of what it will take to make getting around Seattle easier. We like his approach to redefine SDOT's mission as moving people and goods (as stated in his interview) and to increasing our investments in bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure to better match their growing mode share. He was fluent with the details too, offering the most concrete ideas of any candidate for improving the Bicycle Master Plan (e.g., “the city should experiment with different models for grade separation of bicycles on busy roadways”). As a businessman, he offers smart ideas for funding – including transportation benefit districts and per-mile-driven tolling (as stated in his interview).
Mr. O’Brien’s position on the deep-bore tunnel reflects Friends of Seattle’s stance more than any other candidate for Position 8. He convincingly argues that the mobility structure needed for the 2020s and 2030s and beyond does not include a multibillion tunnel that will divert resources from other more important transportation, housing, and educational investments. In his interview, Mr. O’Brien pointedly criticized elected leaders for presenting false choices and bad options to the voters (the tunnel and the 2007 Roads and Transit measure being prime examples), and he pledged to give Seattle the better transportation choices we need.
Mr. O’Brien’s approach to land use is equally as impressive. Taking a common-sense approach, he suggests we need to better define our land use and housing goals to create a more affordable and diverse housing stock that matches the composition of Seattle’s workforce. In other words, he wants to ensure that the residents who make Seattle’s neighborhoods unique and enjoyable can continue to live there. On the Council, Mr. O’Brien will work to adjust zoning and land use policies shift toward performance-based criteria as opposed to prescriptive regulations to foster denser and even better neighborhoods.
We appreciate O’Brien’s upbeat style and ability to work with others, accompanied by his realistic approach anchored by a background in business. He lives with his family in Fremont and has worked in the community, notably serving as the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter Chair during its successful effort to defeat the 2007 Roads and Transit measure, which led – with his help – to the landslide victory of the transit-only measure in 2008.
In short, Mike O’Brien’s intelligence and vision make him the best candidate for Position 8, and for Seattle.
Ballots for this fall's general election went in the mail today, and the poeple of Seattle will begin voting this weekend.
A recent poll commissioned showed that Mike McGinn is trailing.
But he is within striking distance, down by only 6 points with 33% of Seattle voters still undecided.
If each one of us comes together to help Mike, we can push him over the top and move Seattle towards a better future---rapid expansion of light rail above and beyond what Sound Transit already plans, an end to the mentality that we have to spend billions of dollars on new freeways, and the start of an era where Seattle housings gets better and more affordable.
There are three steps you can take to add even more grass-roots power to Mike's campaign:
1. Sign up to walk neighborhoods and drop off literature at voters' homes (no contact with strangers required).
9AM October 17 (this Saturday) or 9AM October 24 (next Saturday). Sign up here
2. Sign up to make phone calls to voters.
Sunday through Thursday every week, at three locations (Capitol Hill, Downtown, Fremont-Wallingford), volunteers call hundreds of voters. Join in. Sign up here
3. Contribute money
With your financial contribution, you can amplify your voice and make sure undecided voters get the message about Mike's campaign. Help put Mike contact more voters with direct mail and TV commercials.
Mike McGinn, in response to the City Council's proposed ordinance formally adopting the tunnel and committing Seattle financial resources to the project, issued the following statement:
SEATTLE -- Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn today urged the Seattle City Council to change cost overrun provisions before committing to the tunnel mega-project.
This morning, the City Council started expedited consideration of a memorandum of agreement to try and lock in the deep-bore tunnel plan before November's general election.
"State law puts Seattle property owners on the hook for 100% of tunnel cost overruns," said McGinn. "These overruns could easily run into the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars."
"The cost overrun law makes the tunnel the biggest financial risk the City has ever taken," said McGinn. "If there are major overruns, Seattle taxpayers could be financially drained for years, if not decades."
"Seattle is the only city in Washington state that has ever been held responsible for cost overruns on a state highway project," said McGinn. "It's ridiculous for the state to say that Seattle taxpayers should have to pay all of the cost overruns even though Seattle has virtually no say over the project. It's even worse that the City Council is going along with it."
"The State has made it clear that they will pay no more than $2.8 billion," said McGinn. "Seattle and King County taxpayers are already on the hook for an additional $1.4 billion and that could rise dramatically if there are cost overruns."
"At the same time we're dealing with massive service cuts caused by large city, county and state deficits, we're rushing to build the most expensive viaduct alternative put forward," said McGinn. "We can barely afford a Saturn and we're trying to buy a Cadillac...without even knowing what it will actually cost."
"And for those who promise there will be no cost overruns or delays, I'd suggest they check out Brightwater," said McGinn. "That tunneling project is already six months and a billion dollars over budget, with broken-down tunneling machines submerged in water deep underground."
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