www.seattleworks.org

Did you caucus this weekend?

If you did we would love to hear what you thought of the process. If you didn't we would love to hear what kept you away.

~Ed

Legislative Preview with CityClub

This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend a Legislative Preview put on by CityClub. House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown represented the Democrats, while Deputy House Leader Doug Ericksen and Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt represented the Republicans. Both sides had a lot to say about the future of our state and both sides made very good points. The two highlights of the event for me were "Yes, No, or Waffle" a lightning round where the panel is asked a question and can only answer by holding up cards that say yes, no, or waffle and The question ans answer session where audience members asked the panelist some very pointed questions.

All in all it was a great event that prepped me for one of my favorite days of the year.

~Ed

An early New Year's resolution...

Join a board! Jerry Large had a very good story in today's Seattle Times about Boards and Commissions, perhaps this is something you might want to do in your 2008 spare time.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrylarge/2004068623_jdl13.html

~Ed

Road and Transit Measure - why it did not pass

Sound Transit conducted a poll to understand why voters did not agree that the Roads & Transit Measure was the right step in moving our transportation infrastructure forward. Here's a useful summary article:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004041565_transpopoll29m.html

-- Tara

Glassbooth--helping you find your right candidate!

The presidential race is really starting to heat up, barely a month until the first caucus and primary.

I'm a junkie, I love it. I must admit my favorite Sunday morning activity is to watch Tim Russert on Meet the Press with a big cup of coffee. However, word on the street is some people are just starting to pay attention.

It's pretty overwhelming when you see how many candidates are in the race.  Who's viable, who's electable and more importantly who actually shares your beliefs?

Check this out, it's fun and fast--and very interesting.

http://glassbooth.org/Result/results/7

Tell us who is your favorite candidate?

If you're nerdy enough to care about regional governance structures...

Here's a post recommending a stronger role for the King County Council (as well as some strongly disagreeing commentators):

http://crosscut.com/politics-government/8837/That+regional+government+we+so+desperately+need+is+called+a+county+council/

I'll always remember that we did a Seattle Works trivia night in 05 where we had a group of smart cool people in the room, and the one question that stumped almost everyone was asking people to name the members County Council.

Agree or disagree with Vance on his points - I'm just glad I finally understand why the County's website is metrokc.gov.

-- Tara

A handy little school board voting tool

Hopefully you are all a little better organized than I am and not finishing off your ballot this evening, but just in case....

I was on the Times website and thouhht this was a fun and useful format for voter ed info. It's a mini quiz that matches School Board Candidate answers at the bottom. In all the races but one it was a pretty clear choice for me personally, this little quiz helped me with the race I was on the fence on.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/seaschoolnotes.html

-- Tara

The Seattle Works General Election Candidate Guide

I know last week I posted that our Candidate guide would be out soon and I always keep my promises. Here is the candidate guide. Browse through it and see who answers most align with what your feelings are.

http://www.seattleworks.org/AboutUs/index.php/documents/SWcandidateGuide_general_rev1.pdf

Don't forget to vote!

~Ed

Seattle Works candidate guide... the General election version

The General election version of our candidate guide will be coming out within the next day or two. Just in time for all of the people who vote absentee. Continue to check back here at the Seattle Works blog to get your first peek at the new guide in town that's making all the waves.

~Ed

RTID: A lesson in leadership?

First off, we'd never tell you how to vote, just be informed and VOTE!

I didn't expect RTID to showcase leadership on so many levels. I'm curious to know what the Seattle Works community thinks about this proposal and the flurry of political activity that is accompanying the campaign.  Does it matter to you that Executive Sims say he doesn't support the package? Does it influence you that there is tremendous support from many elected officials? And what about the opposition from developer Kemper Freeman and the Sierra Club? How are you making sense of this?

Is leadership going along for the greatest good, for the greatest number of people? Or is it standing by your values and doing what is right, even if it slows things down?

David Brewster had a great post on Crosscut yesterday about this issue--we'd love to know what you think?
http://www.crosscut.com/politics-government/8043/Two+cheers+for+Ron+Sims/