Carl has already thoroughly fisked it over at EFFin’ Unsound (yes, I know Carl, you hate the etymology of the term, but find me a better word that describes what you do), still, I just couldn’t let this Seattle Times editorial pass without comment.
METROPOLITAN King County Council members must be forward-thinking and willing to select an independent or moderate to fill the council seat vacated by new County Executive Dow Constantine.
You know, exactly the kind of “independent or moderate” (whatever that means) the voters of Constantine’s predominantly liberal Democratic district would never choose.
Why? Well, according to the Times, despite that fact that the office nominally became nonpartisan last year, council members still tend to caucus and vote along party lines, leaving a 4-4 split between Democrats and Republicans in any effort to choose Constantine’s replacement. So the Times’ solution: the Democrats must cave.
That’s right… it’s not up to the Republicans on the council to do the right thing and accept a replacement who largely reflects the values of the voters of Constantine’s district, but rather it’s the Democrats’ responsibility to settle this quickly by appointing a so-called “independent” who would surely tilt the balance of power on the council to the other side, and perhaps marshal the advantages of incumbency to win the seat for good next November.
What a load of crap.
Constantine won and held that seat as a progressive Democrat. Constantine ran and won the executive’s office as a progressive Democrat. It would thus be a disservice to the voters of his district and the county as a whole to appoint anybody who doesn’t largely share Constantine’s values. And if the Republicans on the council choose to be obstructionist about this, then they’re the ones who deserve the criticism.
Of course, this whole logjam wouldn’t have been possible if that incredibly stupid, naive, dishonest and shortsighted charter amendment making the council nonpartisan — you know, the one the Times strongly endorsed — hadn’t passed. Under the old system, the Democratic PCO’s would have presented a list of three suitable candidates to the council, eliminating the opportunity for kind of partisan gridlock the Times now claims it seeks to avoid.
Kinda ironic, huh?
Well said. What a load of crap indeed.
The Seattle Times, defenders of democracy, advocating for the will of the people.
Thought experiment:
If there was a special election held today for King County Council District 8, who’d win?
Joe McDermott, no contest.
The Times is just stirring up trouble.
Deconstruct. Nerdy but much more acceptable.
“Fisk” has its origins in right wing hate.
It’s as repellent to me as “moonbat”.
Isn’t a County Councilmember supposed to represent his/her district? Council District 8 is strongly Democratic — not as solidly blue as Districts 1 (Ferguson), 2 (Gossett), and 4 (Phillips), but still emphatically Democratic.
How ridiculous, then, of the Blethen Times to opine that those Democrats in District 8 should be represented by a
moderatenon-Democrat. It’s perfectly clear that the good people of West Seattle, Burien, Vashon, and such want a Democrat — a progressive, partisan Democrat — to represent their interests in County Council.It might be barely justifiable to choose someone other than a progressive Democrat (a mere liberal, perhaps, instead of a progressive) for an open seat if Councilmembers were elected at-large. I’m certain, though, that the Times would argue as hard as they can against any suggestion to move to an at-large Council.
Actually, the more I think about it, I’d like to see an at-large Council. It would likely be more representative of the county as a whole, which should rightly be 6-3 Democratic instead of the 5-4 that’s been standard under the district system.
i sure hope someone investigates ag mckenna’s role in the release of the cop killer from the doc.
N in Seattle, surely you jest. An at-large council in King County would almost always yield up 9 Democrats, same as Seattle City Council — and probably by the same 59/41 margin by which Dow beat what’s-her-name TV gal. Unless the county had a system like Cambridge MA where at-large members are elected by proportional representation.
PR in a 9-member council could result in some real diversity, both partisan and geographic. Too bad Pierce County voters killed PR’s step-child, instant-runoff voting.
Is it not true that Dow was last elected to the Council as a Democrat?
In any event, one thing folks should be looking at is reversing the decision to make county offices nonpartasin. Pierce county tried the idea of ranked choice voting and then repealed it all together. Come on King, show some backbone.
40-year Voter @6:
A man can dream, can’t he? :-)
Actually, for both King County Council and Seattle City Council, I’d like to see a mixed model. Say, seven districts and two at-large.
There’s never any end to the partisan Times’s shilling for the Republican cause, is there?
@6 I think if King County has a “nonpartisan” county council, then all counties should. It should be the same everywhere in the state. I think the 2010 Legislature should enact a law making all county councils and commissioners “nonpartisan” offices, especially the ones in eastern Washington.
There is no “power of incumbency” for anyone appointed in Council District 8 who runs for that seat whose name is not Joe McDermott. End of discussion.
And as for @ 6: Instant Runoff Voting is one of the worst moonbat cult gimmicks to come down the pike in years, and the voters in Pierce County were absolutely correct to kill it — with a 71 percent vote, mind you.
Its proponents kept telling us how “progressive” it was. What utter tripe! I know of no system that is more susceptible to gaming by well-heeled right-wing interests who could field multiple stealth candidates, hoping to pick off enough second- and third-place votes to sneak one of their own through.
It would be easy. All anyone has to do is call themselves “progressive,” and watch the Pavlovian response kick in.
The party primary, warts and all, is a far better method of vetting candiates. IRV would kill the effectiveness of an activist party. Bad idea, whose time has come and gone.
No room here, Ivan @11, to get into a long discussion on proportional representation. I can’t speak much to instant runoff voting as applied in Pierce County, but when the same mechanism is applied to multi-member bodies (e.g. Cambridge City Council, and historically, Cincinnati City Council and others) it works just fine to achieve a more representative political body.
If it were applied to Seattle, it would likely mean the election of one or two card-carrying Republicans — about in proportion to their percentage of the electorate (there’s a reason it’s called “proportional representation.”)
The problem with single-member districts is gerrymandering — their lines are drawn to preserve incumbents and, only slightly secondarily, to preserve the incumbent’s party. Witness King County Council elections — in 40 years of history, how many contested elections have occurred? Talk about gaming the system!
@ 12:
You want a contested election? Field a decent candidate and run a decent campaign. Otherwise stick that moonbat cult gimmick where the sun don’t shine.
Democrats have won elections in partisan races within County Council Districts represented by Republicans at the County level, so don’t tell me it can’t be done.
Public financing of elections will break the perceived logjam of incumbency a lot more effectively than the party-destroying IRV ever will. Get behind that and you’ll find me on your side in this discussion.
@13 — When and where was an incumbent King County Councilmember defeated in a general election? Names, dates, districts — please.
Reagan Dunn promised the R’s wouldn’t hold this up. He should be an easy vote to get.
Regardless, the Dem’s hold all the cards. If there is a stalemate, Gov. Gregoire gets to choose, and we’ll have our strong Democrat.
But I don’t think Dunn will let it come to that.
@ 14:
See @ 12. The system isn’t rigged. You’re the one who wants to rig it.
I know Carl, you hate the etymology of the term, but find me a better word that describes what you do
There’s something wrong with meta commentary?
@14- Cynthia Sullivan, 20 year incumbent, lost 2003 to Ferguson
@18-
When Cynthia Sullivan was defeated, it was in the primary, wasn’t it, as was Brian Derdowski’s defeat in ’99 to David Irons?
“Moderate” and “independent” are the two new terms for Republican. The Repubs haven’t done too well using the proper name recently. Dino Rossi tried “GOP” and that didn’t go over, either.
I think the last time an incumbent King County council member lost the general election was back in 1983, when Democrat Cynthia Sullivan beat Republican incumbent Scott Blair to first get elected in District 2.
Oh, and @12:
Don’t conflate proportional representation with IRV. They’re two different things altogether.
A new member who is like Dow. So that means someone who only cares about Seattle right.
“Dawg” @ 23
Would you claim that Pete von Reichbauer only cares about Auburn and Federal Way? Or that Jane Hague only cares about Redmond?
Your comment doesn’t make any sense.
Well, considerind that King County consideres the residents outside Seattle Second class citizens I think it makes perfect sense.
Renner:
Still the dumb-as-a-doorknob rent-a-cop, I see. Vashon Island is mostly rural unincorporated King County, and Dow has represented us far better than anyone has in anyone’s memory here. He stood up to the Glacier Northwest land- and Sound-raping bastards and battled them to a standstill for 11 years until the federal judge killed their insane plan to mine Maury Island away.
So take your dumb right-wing shit on out of here, and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Here on Vashon we support Dow with our votes and with our checkbooks.
Well you can support Dow all you want. All I need to know about King County is in the most recent Highline Times. Property values are falling fast, however Property taxes will still go up. Many residents of south king county are hurting because of this. My own parents were over assesed by 100,000 dollars on there house for two years. The county has finially admitted this to be true. They will not get a refund for being over taxed though. Why? Because we are second class citizens in the eyes of Dow and King County Goverment.
Also I am not a rent a cop. That term is insulting to real police. I am a security guard yes. I am also studing to be a teacher.
By the way, Ivan, since you got fired from the Seattle Times you have seem to br getting more bitter in life. Might I recomend some time in the Bible. Works for me.
Also Ivan, profanity is wrong. It also makes you look less intellegent.
Renner:
I was not fired from the Seattle Times, and I have legal documents signed by the Times that say so. The Times offered me more money than you make in 10 years to go away, and I accepted it. That’s what standing up for yourself gets, and it’s what having a union that stands up for you gets. You might try it sometimes.
Property taxes go up because (1) over the long run, property values go up, despite short-term dips. (2) because the majority of voters demand services that are paid for by property taxes.
It doesn’t make anyone “second-class citizens.” It’s called representative government. Look it up if you know how to.
If you study further, you will learn the meaning of the term “data is not the plural of anecdote.”