Candidates can file to run for election until May 18
May 15, 2012
Campaign season is under way, and candidates planning to run for office in the Aug. 7 primary election or the Nov. 6 general election must file by May 18.
During filing week, candidates can file online 24 hours a day until 4 p.m. May 18. Candidates can also file in-person from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily until May 18 at King County Elections headquarters, 919 S.W. Grady Way, Renton. The other option is for candidates to file by mail. Filings made by mail must be received no later than 4:30 p.m. May 18, regardless of the postmark date.
Find updated lists of candidate filing on the King County Elections website, www.kingcounty.gov/elections, at noon and by 6 p.m. each day until the filing week concludes.
The complete list of offices up for election, plus additional information about candidate filing and a manual for candidates, is available at www.kingcounty.gov/elections/candidates.
The contests on the ballot include federal, statewide and legislative races. No elected positions in Issaquah municipal government or the Issaquah School District come up for election this year.
King County voters to decide $200 million property tax hike
May 1, 2012
King County voters could decide to increase the property tax rate to construct a juvenile detention facility, county leaders decided April 16.
In a unanimous decision, King County Council members placed a $200 million property tax levy on the Aug. 7 ballot to fund a replacement for the aging Youth Services Center, a juvenile detention facility in Seattle. The facility is a collection of decaying buildings. Officials said the electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling infrastructure is beyond repair.
If the nine-year levy is placed on the ballot and passed, homeowners should pay about 7 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or about $20 per year for a home assessed at $350,000.
Former spokesman John Urquhart enters race for King County sheriff
May 1, 2012
John Urquhart
John Urquhart, a familiar presence briefing journalists at crime scenes as the longtime former spokesman for the King County Sheriff’s Office, is running for the top job at the law enforcement agency.
Urquhart, 64, entered the race for the nonpartisan office April 24. The retired sergeant and Mercer Island resident outlined accountability and leadership as campaign themes.
Before serving as spokesman for the agency, Urquhart’s career included stints as a patrol officer, field training officer, a vice and narcotics detective and, in his most familiar role, as spokesman for sheriffs Dave Reichert and Sue Rahr.
Speculation about the race for sheriff started after Rahr resigned March 31 to accept the top job at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.
The incumbent sheriff, appointee Steve Strachan, is expected to run for a full term. Candidates can enter the race until the May 18 filing deadline.
More than 15,000 voters supported Issaquah School District bond
May 1, 2012
On April 27, with a final count of 22,595 ballots cast for the Issaquah School District bond, King County Elections certified the April 17 special election.
“To say that we are pleased with the results of the bond election would be an understatement,” Issaquah School Board President Chad Magendanz said. “There’s something very magical happening at the Issaquah School District.”
A total of 15,809 votes were cast in favor of the district’s $219 million bond.
“It’s one of those things where we touched everybody, not just parents with children in school,” Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said. “It’s not the board, the administrative staff, the teaching staff — it’s the entire community that comes together.”
Republican Steve Litzow garners challenge in legislative race
May 1, 2012
State Sen. Steve Litzow, a freshman Republican from Mercer Island and a local representative in Olympia, attracted a challenger April 17 in the race for a full term.
Democrat Maureen Judge, a Mercer Island resident and former Washington Toxics Coalition executive director, entered the race against Litzow.
“As a mother, I deeply value education funding as a force to protect our state’s future competitiveness and economic health,” Judge said in a statement. “During his 2010 campaign, Steve Litzow promised he would fight for education funding. But this legislative session he demonstrated that he’d rather toe the Republican Party line than fight for our kids, our state and our future.”
In 2010, Litzow defeated appointed incumbent Randy Gordon by 192 votes to represent the 41st Legislative District in the Senate. (The recent redistricting process put most of Issaquah inside the district.)
Litzow and Gordon battled to fill the unexpired term of former Sen. Fred Jarrett, the current King County deputy executive.
Voters easily approve $219 million school bond
April 24, 2012
Issaquah School District voters overwhelmingly approved a $219 million bond to fund construction and renovation projects on campuses across the district.
In the April 17 special election, 70 percent of voters — encompassing more than 15,000 yes votes of out more than 22,000 ballots cast — approved the measure. (The measure needed to receive a 60 percent yes vote from a minimum turnout of 12,229 voters.)
Despite the passage of the bond, local homeowners will pay less in property taxes to the schools than they do now because a previous bond issue is set to expire this year.
The retirement of the earlier bond will drop the local tax rate from $4.85 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $4.05. Passage of the new bond would put the rate at $4.42.
Issaquah School District bond measure amasses more votes
April 19, 2012
NEW — 12:45 p.m. April 19, 2012
Prior to the election, supporters said they would need about 14,000 “yes” votes in order for the Issaquah School District’s $219 million bond issue to pass.
They nearly had that number in hand when just the first round of election results were released late Tuesday, the day of the election. As of Wednesday, voters cleared the 14,000 ballot hurdle.
As of Wednesday, according to King County Elections, the bond has earned 14,763 votes in favor compared to 6,419 against. That translates to 69.7 percent in favor; 30.3 percent against.
The district needed a supermajority of 60 percent of the ballots cast in order for the issue to pass. If needed, the county will post new voter tallies each afternoon. Elections officials said the special ballot will be certified April 27.
Issaquah School District voters pass $219 million bond issue
April 17, 2012
UPDATED — 9:55 p.m. April 17, 2011
The results are preliminary, far from final. But the question seems pretty much decided.
According to unofficial results from King County, local residents are voting heavily in favor of allowing the Issaquah School District to sell $219 million in bonds to fund capital improvement projects throughout the district.
Numbers issued by King County at just after 8 p.m. Tuesday show the bond issue is passing easily with 13,476 votes in favor compared to 6,006 votes against, or 69.1 percent to 30.8 percent.
The Issaquah school issue needs to win the approval of a supermajority of 60 percent of those who vote in order to pass. A minimum of 12,229 voters also had to cast their ballots.
Prior to the election, bond backers said based on the number of registered voters expected to cast ballots, the bond issue would need about 14,000 “yes” votes in order to win approval.
King County Elections records strong voter participation
April 17, 2012
Though the deadline for the April 17 special election is history, King County Elections officials continue to reach out to voters to resolve signature issues on ballots from the all-mail contest.
Staffers compare the signatures on returned ballot envelopes against the signature on file in voter registrations. If the elections office receives unsigned ballots, officials attempt to contact the affected voters to resolve the problem. Signature problems must be resolved before the election is certified April 27.
King County voters to decide $200 million levy for juvenile detention facility
April 16, 2012
NEW — 4:30 p.m. April 16, 2012
King County Council members decided Monday to put a $200 million property tax levy to construct a juvenile detention facility on the August ballot.
The proposal is to fund a replacement for the aging Youth Services Center, a juvenile detention facility in Seattle. The facility is a collection of decaying buildings constructed in the 1950s, 1970s and 1990s. Officials deemed the electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling systems as beyond repair.
Judges and commissioners at the juvenile court on site handle 3,700 cases per year at the detention facility. The complex houses about 65 children and teenagers from throughout the county.
If the nine-year levy is placed on the ballot and passed, homeowners should pay about 7 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or about $20 per year for a home assessed at $350,000.
