Publicola website says strategy to get 46th District recommendation for Ryu failed
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Supporters of Democratic 32nd District State Rep. Cindy Ryu were unsuccessful in a strategy to try to get an endorsement from 46th Legislative District Democrats for Ryu’s County Council candidacy, according to a report on the web site Publicola of Seattle met.
Ryu, then one of 13 candidates for the appointment to fill State Attorney-General-elect Bob Ferguson's 1st District seat on the County Council, failed to win the recommendation of 46th District Democrats even after her supporters successfully insisted the group amend its rules at its Dec. 13 meeting to allow three recommendations, rather than just one endorsement or a dual nod, the site reported in its “Morning Fizz” column, Wednesday, Dec. 19.
Ryu is now one of five candidates that County Executive Dow Constantine will consider after recommendations from a citizens’ screening committee. Constantine will nominate three of the five. The eight remaining Council members will have 60 days to appoint one of Constantine’s three nominees to fill the position through the November election. A candidate will need five Council votes to win the appointment to the non-partisan position. If the Council is unable to reach a decision by mid-March, Democratic Gov.-elect Jay Inslee will make the appointment.
The website reported that six candidates were up for the 46th District Democrats' recommendation.
The 46th District Democrats’ rules were indeed amended by a motion, the site reported, but the three candidates that got the thumbs up from the 46th District Democrats were Seattle land-use attorney Rod Dembowski, who got the most votes, followed by King County deputy ombudsman Chuck Sloane, and Shoreline city councilman Will Hall.
Dembowski, Hall, Ryu, Sloane and Shoreline Planning Commissioner Keith Scully are the five candidates whose names the screening committee forwarded to Constantine.
Democrats in the 32nd Legislative District have endorsed Dembowski, Ryu and Scully, without indicating a rank order.
The 1st County Council District includes Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Woodinville, the King County part of Bothell, north Kirkland, unincorporated areas between Bothell and Kirkland, and north Seattle, The District overlaps with parts of the 1st, 32nd and 46th legislative districts.
The 32nd Legislative District includes Shoreline, part of northwest Seattle, south Edmonds, Woodway and nearby unincorporated areas of southwest Snohomish County, Lynnwood, and part of Mountlake Terrace.
The 46th Legislative District includes Lake Forest Park, Kenmore and northeast Seattle.
The 1st Legislative District includes Bothell, north Kirkland, unincorporated areas of King County between Bothell and Kirkland, along with Brier, most of Mountlake Terrace and unincorporated areas of Snohomish County north and east of Bothell.
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16 comments:
Dear Evan, please explain to the public why you haven't reported that Will Hall failed to get the endorsement of the 32nd LD Democrats? It's been more than a month.
Hark! The Pro Shoreline heralds sing!
Evan Smith is so out of touch that he has to revert to using secondary sources (see publicola.com) for his stories, and when he does have a primary source (as in a press release from the Chair of the 32nd LD Democrats), he is more inclined to sit on top of it rather than report it.
I wonder why the Shoreline Area News and the Shoreline Patch continue to run essentially the same regurgitated articles in both of their online 'zines. It makes one wonder if there is any independence whatsoever from each 'zine since both editors at one time were closely affiliated with Mr. Evan Smith's former employer -- the Enterprise, which is gone but evidently not forgotten.
Anonymous 9:50am: http://www.shorelineareanews.com/2012/12/democratic-organizations-in-32nd-and.html
Anonymous 9:54pm: I am the Editor of the Shoreline Area News and I have never been affiliated with the Enterprise. Diane Hettrick
Ms. Hetttrick, no one stated you were ever affiliated with the Enterprise, they stated Evan Smith was.
It is newsworthy that Will Hall, who works for Snohomish County Council and is a Shoreline City Councilmember, did not receive the endorsement of his home district. And as Evan Smith pointed out in his December 22, 2012 missive, the 32nd LD now includes extensive parts of Snohomish County. Rather, this article is just Evan Smith grinding his axe over an old grudge.
And Ms. Hettrick, as I pointed out, the 32nd LD Democrats voted BEFORE Thanksgiving and it takes the Shoreline Area News and Evan Smith more than a month to get around to making a mention of it until December 22, 2012, no one would call that timely.
1- Publicola -- I cited it only after I had had a comment about my previous report on the 46th District recommendations. Still, I saw nothing inaccurate in the Publicola report. It listed the same three choices that the 46th District Democratic chairwoman gave me in the same order that she had given me.
2- Will Hall -- By reporting that the 32nd District Democrats voted to support Dembowski, Ryu and Scully, I think that I implicently reported that the group hadn't voted to support any of the other candidates. I suspect -- but don't know for sure -- that Hall didn't get more party support because he never has been active in party politics. He did get the Democrats' endorsement for city council in 2009 but only after the candidate the Democrats earlier had endorsed lost in the primary. What should be noted is that the 32nd District Democrats' list didn't include the name of Shoreline Councilman Chris Eggan, a man that the District Democrats twice have supported for city council and supportee in a 2006 primary challenge to then-State-Sen. Darlene Fairley.
3- Delay in reporting 32nd District Democratic endorsements --:I got no response from the organization about its Nov. 14 endorsement meeting until a month later.
4- Pro-Shoreline -- I haven't heard from that organization on this or any other matter for many months.
5- Shoreline Patch -- I have written primarily for the ShorelineAreaNews from the beginning. I occasionally write for the Patch because I get a small stipend, something that the ShorelineAreaNews has not been able to match. Now that Tony Dondero no longer is affiliated with the Patch, I am the only person at either site with a connection to the Enterprise.
6- Enterprise -- The paper, which was owned by the Everett Herald, always was fair in civering local politics. The only thing that was one-sided was my "Fotum" opinion column. However, once I switched to a polical analysis column nearly four years ago, I tried to put aside my prejudices. I doubt that anyone who reads m South County Politics blog on the Herald web site can detect any bias.
Let's be clear, the connection of Pro Shoreline to the Shoreline Area News is very direct in both personnel and funding. Kevin Grossman (former Shoreline Dep Mayor and failed council and legislative candidate) has been the employer (or had been) of Diane Hettrick SAN editor. (And this is not to dismiss the dedication with which she's edited the SAN blog.)
However Hettrick's bias is always seen when it comes to Shoreline School district. Booster. But I've seen her post articles, letters and op-eds for numerous sides of many issues.
Evan Smith has been a long time booster for Pro Shoreline endorsed candidates, each and every time, without failure. The Pro Shoreline boosters are easily identified in Will Hall's website for the KC Council appt. Smith's bias is clear as a bell in each and every column he writes, especially on Shoreline matters.
Also, the 32nd Dist Dems were not asked to consider an endorsement for Chris Eggen, since he did not apply or announce for the KC Council appt. till after the Dems endorsement meeting.
Chris Eggan -- I had wondered about his candidacy. The anonymous comment makes sense.
Pro-Shoreline -- I never have had any association with that group. I haven't heard from the organization for a couple of years, and I have only a vague idea of who is involved. I think that there were a few members whom I agreed with during the time of divisions on the Shoreline Council, but I think of that as long past.
FULL DISCLOSURE:
* I had a long conversation with a pro-Shoreline representative nine years ago about the Aurora project.
* I had another conversation with Kevin Grossman five years ago about the 2007 Shoreline City election.
* I supported Grossman when he ran for the legislature ten years ago.
Chris Eggen was not endorsed nor voted upon at the November 32nd LD Democrats meeting as he did not attend nor have someone attend in his place to offer himself as a nominee for endorsement as a candidate to fill the vacancy for the King County Council. Was that too hard to ask someone, Mr. Smith?
Furthermore, I would say you are biased since I have saved a screenshot of your comment posted on the Seattle PI two years ago on the endorsements from the 32nd LD in which you used exactly the same language and accusation that Pro Shoreline and its candidates have used over the years, calling one of the candidates an obstructionist and divisive. Thought you would be a little sneaky when no one was looking, didn't you?
+ I vauguely remember posting something on the PI web site two years ago agreeing or disagreeing with some of the PI endorsements for 32nd Legislative District positions.
+ I don't know about using the same language as the Pro-Shoreine group. Perhaps members of the organization copied my language, or perhaps we just happened to agree.
* Whatever i wrote two years ago has nothing to do with the curent contest. This is strictly a decision for the county executive, the county council, and, if the council reaches an impasse, the governor-elect.
* My only interest is in this being a good story if a Hall appointment leaves a vacancy on the City council and if a Ryu appointment leaves a vacancy in the legislature.
* Nearly four years ago, the editor of the Herald/Enterprise moved me from an opinion columnist to a politics reporter. That's what I've tried to do, even making peace with people I had battled in the past.
Evan Smith - Me thinks thou doth protest too much
I realize that the column that I wrote in the Enterprise offended a lot of people involved in local politics. The vitriol that I often spewed in the Forum column provided, I thought, a contrast to the newspaper's middle-of-the-road editorials.
* While the columns displayed my distrust of local Democratic and Republican organizations, I always wrote independently without influence from the neespaper or any organization (including Pro-Shoreline).
* When I moved from the opinion page to the news page,I tried to make piece with political figures of all stripes. I think that my politics coverage over the last three and a half years haw been fair.
* In writing about the current contest for the County Council position, I don't think I have shown any prejudice.,
* When someone asked, I removed the word "ebdorsement"
* I'm simply interested in writing about an interestin process, not in promoting any candidate and certainly not in following the dictates of any organization.
* Perhaps I protest too much, but I think the anonymous commentor doth complain too much about a rather minot error, one that I have corrected.
Perhaps, we could get to the root of this issue if you would call me at (206) 542-6339.
Hmmm, my understanding is that a "blog" is an opportunity for the author to state what may be-and often is-an opinion. Readers who disagree, as the other "Anonymous" (OA) obviously does, are free to state their disagreement. That's what I see it as: a stating of views. Perhaps the OA should start their own blog, but it's a lot of work to maintain. If one takes a look at the Shoreline Patch, a number of their columnists publish articles that are obviously biased towards their own point of view. That's human nature! Former councilmember and, to use Anonymous' IMO charged phrase, (in her case twice) failed councilmember candidate Janet Way is an environmentalist and served with former Mayor, councilmember, and failed councilmember candidate Ryu. Ms. Way authored a Patch column in Ryu's behalf, so what? As I recall, Ms. Way, also a 32nd District D member, endorsed Mr. Hall when she lost the primary to newcomer Patty Hale and he in 2009.
All that being said, (1) I was surprised at Deputy Mayor Eggen's not getting endorsed by the D32 group that he's been active in...now I know why. Thanks. (2) The endorsement by a small group of party activists, perhaps 50 of the most-ardent (in this case) liberal Ds in a city of 53,000+ total population, is a nominal accomplishment IMO. It should be reported, but the County Executive and County Councilmembers are who most need to know. (3) Grossman "failed"for legislature due to running against a long-time incumbent D, then-Rep. Chase, and running against an incumbent is the equivalent of heresy. In the 32nd D meeting, the powers in charge didn't allow Grossman to respond to why he sought endorsements from both R and D groups, he was shouted down, hardly a democracy. (4) My suggestion is: if you disagree with and/or can add to the comments of a column, comment. Otherwise, don't read SAN anymore. We're lucky to have any "news" coverage in Shoreline any more. (5) Just because somebody "failed" as a candidate doesn't make them a bad person, as the implication is. I thank and commend Mr. Grossman, Ms. Way, Ms. Ryu, Ms. Hale, and all others who have put their name out there, for their interest in public service, especially the colossal amount of time to campaign for it as well as to serve (when appointed or elected).
* When Grossman challenged Maralyn Chase, Chsase was not yet a "longtime" incumbent. In fact, she had been in office less than a year after having been appointed to fill a vacancy. Intraparty challenges are common against appointed incumbents.
* Party support for Party incumbents is normal, especially when the incumbent had been appointed, as Chase had, after nomination by the local party PCOs.
* The 32nd District Democrats haven't always supported Democratic incumbents. The District Democratic committee twice declined to support former Democratic State Sen. Darlene Fairley in her bids for re-election.
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