Friends of Seattle is in the news.

Dominic Holden, "Poll: Most Would Reject City Council Members Who Approve Current Tunnel Contract," The Stranger (July 21, 2010)

Friends of Seattle released a poll today that shows the majority of Seattle voters would oppose city council members who support a contract with the state that puts tunnel cost overruns on Seattle. Of the 411 people surveyed, 51.6 percent said they would be somewhat or very unlikely to support one of those council members; only 35 percent said they were somewhat or very likely to support one of those candidates. Meanwhile, the poll found that—if the citizens run a referendum on the tunnel, as appears likely—a plurality of voters would reject the current proposed ordinance.

Read the whole thing.

Friends of Seattle is in the news.

Erica C. Barnett, "Afternoon Fizz: City Dismisses O'Brien's Complaint Against Rosencrantz Supporters," Publicola (November 30, 2009)

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.”

Read the whole thing.

Our take Robert Rosencrantz's actions is here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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]

* opposes new streetcars[5]

* opposes the proposed state law on transit-oriented communities[6]

WRONG VALUES ON CUTTING CORPORATE TAXES:

* supports cutting the commuter tax (aka “head tax”)[7]

* supports cutting the “square footage” tax for businesses[8]

WRONG VALUES ON CHOICE:

* opposes a woman’s right to choose[9]

Friends of Seattle is in the news.

Bryan T. Bissell, "Miller Continues to Lock Down Union Support," Slog: The Stranger's Blog (August 15, 2009)

City council position 8 candidate David Miller continued his near monopoly on union support today when he received three more labor endorsements. . . . Miller also has the backing of most of Seattle's Democratic districts.
His position 8 opponent Mike O'Brien has a similar level of support within the environmental community, including the backing of the Sierra Club, Washington Conservation Voters, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and Friends of Seattle.

Read the whole thing.

Friends of Seattle has issued the following press release.

CONTACT: Sean Howell (206) XXX-XXXX

At the same time that Joe Mallahan tells voters that he will fight "special interests" to build more sidewalks in neighborhoods[1]...

1. Mallahan doesn't tell voters that he is in favor of cutting corporate taxes by over $30 million---money that would have gone to neighborhood sidewalks, street maintenance, and bike lanes.[2]

2. Mallahan doesn't tell voters that he wants to raise their utility rates, property taxes, and fees to spend almost a $1 billion in city money on the state's $4.2 billion waterfront tunnel project.[3]