Monday, November 02, 2009

Update: Bothell / Northshore School District Election 2009 Review and endorsements

Here are my reviews of the Bothell / Northshore School District candidates
Note: I ran for the NSD director position 1, and placed third after Julia Lacey.
My slate: (yours will vary)
1033 - Yes
75 - no
Judge - Rico Tessandore
Northshore school board #1: Julia Lacey
#5: Todd M. Banks
Fire Dist 7 pos 2: Brad Ray
Water District: Brian M. Davis
Library Prop 1: Yes

Alderwood Water & Wastewater
Commissioner Position 2
6 Year Term - Vote For One
  • X Brian M. Travis - His statement is pretty generic, but he ran in 2008 for State Rep Dist 21 as a republican, supporting traditional marriage, low cost basic health plan, official english, more freeways over light rail, he was 33 in 2008. If you want more GOP candidates as an alternative, or care about turning down Ref 71, he's worth looking at
  • Donna Cross - She's the incumbent, she shows up on commission official minutes, no endorsements I can find.
Northshore School Dist No. 417
Director District 1
4 Year Term - Vote For One
  • X Julia Lacey - I now favor her over Buske if she gets #2 in primary. PTSA parent, her main position is more transparency in decision making, she has support of some math parents, endorsement of democrats, and teacher and employee unions. She's offered to listen to complaints about awful math programs adopted by NSD. If anything over half my support goes to Lacey, she's in. Since the opponent is also a Democrat, it's ok for conservatives to vote for her.
  • Sue Buske - incumbent with lots of signs and t-shirts, started as PTSA parent. On complaints about math, she says she trusts judgement of teachers and administrators (which means she doesn't care if the textbooks like CMP don't even have enough information for students or parents to complete the homework such as as pi r squared for area of a circle) I don't know if any crowd has ever applauded her for a speech or performance.
School District Directory District 5
  • X Todd M. Banks  He's actually teamed up with Lacey for this, so if people favor Lacey, this should spill over into Bank's race, and you should vote for him if you like Lacy or me (Arthur Hu). He's an executive at Kenmore Air. Endorsed by Kirby Wilbur of conservative KVI radio.
  • Cathy Swason: Democrat who parents are frustrated with that she tends to side with the administration rather than taking a skeptical view of what they're up to, including parents who figured out they wanted to shut down a school mainly to sell off the land rather than a bogus enrollment study. Not endorsed by Democrats like Lacey.


County Council
  • Dave Gossett: Incument Democrat, hasn't done an awful job, but county council has made some funny decisions about development, and he's probably completely behind the Obama administration.
  • Bob Meador: Republican running a minimal spending campaign, he's good if you'd like to promote a Republican and news ideas for the County, he's got government and business experience:Retired Fire Chief (Lynnwood) with 30 years of service.  Stevens Hospital Board Officer (5 years)* Fire District One Board and Committee Chair (combined 5 years)


Superior Court Pos 2
Voting for Judges comparison, really between Wilson and Rico
  • Joe Wilson #1 in money raised, #2 spent. Endorsed by lots of democrats, and 39th dist democrats, some republicans like Koster.
  • David Hulbert - no chance
  • X Rico Tessandore #2 in money raised #1 spent, Slade Gorton, Rob McKenna, Mayor Lamb, seems to be fewer democrats backing this guy.
  • Scott Peterson - no chance
  • Scott Lord - no chance
Sno-Isle Intercounty Rutal Library District
Only issue I see is that levy is raised from a lower level to 0.40, so it's raising taxes above being an optional levey.
 X Approve

Ref 71:
Yes: If you believe gay couples deserve same rights, and don't mind that marriage will eventually be redefined by courts to be the same for gays, vote yes
XNo: If you believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that the law will lead to defining marrage as between gay couples, and enforcing equality in the curriculum and public speech, and the traditional biblical view on same-sex relationships, turn it down.

Initiative 1033
No: If you think a tax limit will cause funding problems, turn it down
Yes: If you think the govt is spending entirely too much money as it is, and you have to put the brakes somewhere, approve

Democrat 39th district Snohomish County Democrats Endorsements

Fire Protection District 7
Commissioner Position 2
6 Year Term - Vote For One
  • Neil A. Doherty, Jr. - Incumbent, but hasn't left much of a trail on the internet good or bad. I do like the new fire station.
  • Brad Ray - Law enforcement officer from Bothell who has worked with fire people and wants to cut waste and be fiscally responsible.
City of Bothell
Council Position 3
4 Year Term - Vote For One
  • Gerry Gawne - questions why and how city has gotten into real estate business buying up lots of stores, some in historic buildings to replace with a fancy new Town Center. I like that attitude.
  • Del Spivey - incumbent who's helped push the new vision of down town.