Seattle Mayor-elect Mike McGinn

Wow — that was quite fun run-up to the 2009 elections!  First, in Seattle, Mayor Greg Nickels was knocked out in the Primary, that despite being the head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and a two-term incumbent with a mighty war chest.  But, then it came down to newcomers Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan.  And the voters went with McGinn in a very close election that took days to decide until Mallahan conceded yesterday.

Read the wraps by Seattle PI here and the Seattle Times here and the Seattle Post Globe here and Publicola here and the Seattle Weekly here. 

The Weekly’s Krist Novoselic reminds us that music venues like the Crocodile supported the trio of winners at an early fundraiser – Dow Constantine, Mike McGinn, and Pete Holmes – and that those kind of music events are now “must do” for politicians in Seattle. 

The Seattle Times has a great timeline of events over at the McGinn camp on election eve at the WarRoom called ”How an Underdog named Mike McGinn took City Hall.”

“What happened next has become campaign lore among McGinn supporters.

“Partygoers set down their beers, accepted scripts, phone sheets and pay-as-you-go cellphones, and The War Room bar became an impromptu phone bank to contact voters who hadn’t yet mailed ballots.”

The Seattle Times Editorial Board writes that “Seattleites are naturally drawn to nonconformists” and that:

“One fact may have resonated more than others: McGinn’s campaign had limited professional staff and hundreds of volunteers. He was already showing he could conduct business without a lot of fuss and spending.”

The Seattle Stranger’s Dominic Holden has a different take – that the new power structure will reside in returning City Council President Richard Conlin.  Holden writes that what Seattle needs is a strong leader:

“Fortunately, we now have such a hand: a veteran of grinding bureaucratic battles, a visionary, a man who can make law and attend a Sound Transit board meeting and threaten certain growth- management goons, all before lunch. People of Seattle, meet your new mayor.  Meet Richard Conlin.”

Both Publicola and the PI share this take on the election results — that the political establishment and insiders are now on the outside looking in having backed the wrong horse.

Publicola writes in “Anybody who was Anybody is now Nobody” that at the McGinn victory party:

“The people who’ve been running this town for years—who lined up this time behind McGinn’s opponent, Joe Mallahan—were not to be seen.”

The PI writes in “Mallahan not the only loser; power structure defeated, too” that:

“That noise you heard Monday night in Seattle was the collective wailing of the city’s big shots as they came to grips with the fact that Mike McGinn will be the next mayor.

They are on the outside looking in. They backed the wrong guy.”

Pretty exciting election, all in all.  We’ll report some more on the King County Executive race, Ref 71, and Initiative 1033 later.

Today is the day to VOTE!  You have until your local post office closes to mail in your ballots or until 8 p.m. to drop off your ballots at your local ballot drop box.  The big statewide issues are Ref. 71 and Initiative 1033.  In King County, the race for Executive is between Dow Constantine and former TV anchor Susan Hutchison.  In Seattle, the Mayor’s race looks like a toss up between Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan.

State-wide issues:

From today’s Seattle PI report: 

Referendum 71 asks voters to “approve” or “reject” expansion to the state’s domestic partnership law, which grants same-sex registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples. Under state law, heterosexual seniors also can register as domestic partners.

If approved by voters, [Initiative 1033] would cap the amount of money flowing into the general checking accounts of city, county and state governments. Annual revenue increases would be limited to the rate of inflation plus population growth. Any taxes above and beyond the revenue cap would be used to lower property taxes the following year. The state’s Rainy Day Fund would not be subject to the cap, and politicians could collect taxes above the limit by asking voters for approval.

Susan Hutchison, Dow Constantine

King County Executive Race:

The latest polling has Dow Constantine out 10 points ahead of Susan Hutchison.  Constantine currently serves on the King County Executive Council as Chairman.  Hutchinson is a former Hutchison, a former TV news anchor for KIRO 7 in Seattle, is executive director of the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences.  Prior to the Primary, Hutchison had an enormous lead over all candidates.   Post-primary, Hutchison led Constantine by 5 points as late as October 13.  Although the race is officially non-partisan, the polling shows that Hutchison is favored by more Republican voters while Constantine is favored by more Democratic voters.

Joe Mallahan, Mike McGinn

Seattle Mayor’s Race:

The latest King 5 poll has the race between Mallahan and McGinn in a statistical dead heat.  The Seattle Post Globe writes up the race here.  The Seattle Stranger analyzes the likely outcomes here based on the Undecideds who vote at the end of the contest. 

No matter where you stand, please just fill out your ballots and send them in!  We’ll see you around at the election parties tonight.   And we’ll report on some of the national races a bit later in the day.

Today the University of Washington released the latest polling results in four key Washington and Seattle races.  The Washington Poll has Dow Constantine way out in the lead over Susan Hutchison in the race for King County Executive.  Dow leads by a margin of 47 to 34 percent of likely voters.  BUT, the poll also shows that there is a pretty large number of Undecideds (19%) that remain out there for the taking, more than enough to swing the race back in Hutch’s favor, so we think that this race is still far from decided.   We’ve noticed a strong surge of advertising on the King County airwaves, a lot of it negative, so we’ll see where the Undecideds decide to break.  We should also point out that the mid-October King 5/Survey USA poll had Hutchison with a 5 point lead over Dow with 11% Undecided.  The Washington Poll has a larger sample size, and as the Seattle PI noted today, relies on interviews rather than robocalls.

The November 3rd elections are right around the corner here in Washington State.  All of the ballots have been mailed out, so you should have gotten yours by now.  Fill ‘em out and then either mail them in or drop them off at your local drop-off-box locations.  For instance, a list of ballot drop box locations in King County are here.   Ballot drop boxes in Pierce County are listed in page 4 of the guide here.  Snohomish County is here.  The last day to vote is TUESDAY, November 3rd.  If you are voting by mail, your ballot has to be postmarked on Tuesday.  If you are dropping off your ballot, the drop boxes are locked at 8pm.

There’s lots of candidates and lots of issues — like Initiative 1033 and Referendum 71 — on the ballot this year that are getting a lot of press. Ditto the big King County executive race between Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison.  But just as important are your local towns mayors races, school board races, port authority races, and city council races.

Patrick Larson, Jr.

We”ll shout out for first-time candidate Patrick Larson (Citizen Band Potawatomi Nation) who is running for the Marysville City Council.  Check out his website which is here.  A short write up of his campaign is here.

Elections are always important, so use your voice and vote.

Senator Edward Kennedy

We mourn the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass).  He was a true friend, ally, and defender of Indian Country.  We hope you have the time to click here and read the tribute in Indian Country Today written by Native Vote Washington’s Chris Stearns.  If you’d like to do some more digging on Ted Kennedy’s groundbreaking report on Indian Education — written when Kennedy served as Chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Indian Education in 1969 — you can read the report here.  God bless the great Edward M. Kennedy.

wow – what an amazing adventure the Paddle to Suquamish was this year.  We were moved to tears, laughed, danced, sang, spent all our money, spent our friends’ money, feasted, and took in all of the warmth and hospitality of the Suquamish and the love of our brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles.  We thought we’d share some pictures with you all, to give you an idea of what it was like.  We cannot wait until next year’s Paddle to Makah!

we were all moved to tears

canoe landing protocol

canoes landing

canoes line the beach

canoes gathering in the Sound

Blue Heron canoe puller Pamela Masterman

Putting in at Golden Gardens, Seattle

salmon feast

canoes coming in from the Sound

feast time at Suquamish

hawaiians joining in

Marilyn Wandrey and Pat John welcome the canoes

canoe landing at Suquamish

Michelle Sanidad

welcoming drum

more canoes coming in

protocol - Suquamish Longhouse

Aaron keepin it real for the T's

Chief Frank Nelson - Tlingit canoe

our youths are our future

Williams family canoe

enjoying Protocol

The Tsunigwungis Canoe

Coming into shore

thousands gathered for the landing

The Obama White House sent out details today of just what is in their plan to stimulate the economy.  The Obama White House is hoping to drum up support for a plan that is different than what the House passed last week and what is now a moving target in the Senate.  The House and Senate are due to conference on the bill next week.

The White House did not say how much money each state will get under Obama’s plan, but here’s what they say Washington will get per the White House press release:

• Creating or saving 79,700 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector.
• Providing a “making work pay” tax cut of up to $1,000 for 2,450,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President’s Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers’ paychecks.
• Making 67,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide – and 67,000 families in Washington – new assistance to put college within their reach.
• Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 404,000 workers in California who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 44,000 laid-off workers.
• Providing funding sufficient to modernize at least 138 schools in California so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy.

We wanted to pass on the good news that the good folks at ATNI, We Emerge, and the Tulalip Tribes are hosting some great events during the ATNI winter conference up at Tulalip.  (yeah we know, the number one place for fun) . 

First, it’s Comedy Night featuring Joke Signals and Elaine Miles.  The comedy starts Monday night, Feb. 16th, at 8pm in the Lounge at the Quil Ceda Creek Nightclub and Casino.  We’ll remember to wear our Gallagher suspenders. 

On Tuesday Night, we’re excited to catch the movie “Older Than America“.  It’s shows at 7pm in the Tulalip Resort Casino’s Grand Ballroom.  Georgina Lightning directed and starred (with Adam Beach) in this 2008 suspense film that uncovers the tragic Native boarding school experience.

Afterwards we’ll probably wander over to Canoes Caberet and warm up for Wednesday night by doing some Rockstar Live - it’s karaoke but with a real back up band.  We”ll be the ones doing Whitesnake and Motley Crue.

Then on Wednesday night, Feb. 18th, it’s finally Karaoke Night at Canoes Caberet in the Resort.  We can’t wait to unleash our “Baby got back” and “Friends in low places” upon yall.  Oh, and there’s actually a pretty important conference going on too.  We’ll be presenting our 2008 results and upcoming 2010 strategy to get out the vote.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations just voted to provide $ 2.8 billion in funding to help resuscitate the national economy.  Pressed by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and led by Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the Appropriations Committee also added $2.8 billion in direct funding for Indian tribes and tribal programs.   The Senate Finance Committee is handling the tax, bonds, and entitlement provisions which include Tribal Economic Development Bonds, Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, the elimination of cost sharing requirements for Indian health care providers, increased access for Indians to Medicaid and the Childrens’ Health Insurance Program, and extra Tribal TANF funding.

Here is a rundown of the Tribal spending provsions:

INDIAN HEALTH CARE
• Indian Health Facilities – $410 million
     • New construction – $135 million
     • Maintenance and repairs – $155 million
     • Sanitation Facilities – $100 million
     • Medical Equipment – $20 million
• Indian Health Services – $135 million
     • Contract health care – $50 million
     • Health Information Technology activities – $85 million

PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE
• Department of Justice Grants (DOJ) – $300 million
     • Indian Jails construction – $250 million
     • Tribal courts program – $25 million
     • Indian Alcohol Recovery program – $25 million
• BIA Indian Jails repair (Interior) – $25 million

INDIAN SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
• Tribal and BIA new schools construction – $132 million
• Tribal and BIA schools repair and improvement – $35 million
• BIA School Modernization (Dept. of Education) – $160 million

TRIBAL ROADS AND BRIDGES
• BIA roads improvement – $150 million
• Indian Reservation Roads (DOT) – $320 million
• Tribal Transit Set-Aside (DOT) – $16.8 million

INDIAN WATER PROJECTS
• Bureau of Reclamation Tribal Water Projects – $274 million (approximate)
• BIA irrigation construction and repair – $40 million
• BIA dams improvement – $25 million
• Safe Drinking and Clean Water Revolving Funds – $120 million (the language “permits” the Secretary to fund the tribal set-aside under these revolving funds)

INDIAN HOUSING
• Indian Housing block grants (HUD) – $510 million
• BIA Housing Improvement Program – $20 million

OTHER
• Indian Reservation Food Distribution (USDA) – $5 million
• BIA major facilities improvement and repair – $115 million
• BIA workforce training – $20 million
• Tribal Community Development Financial Institutions (Treasury) – $20 million
• Indian Loan Guarantee Program (Interior) – $10 million