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RSS icon Comments on David Della: Environmentalists Are Racist

1

Do I get to be first!

Della Bad!
Burgess Good!

repeat

Posted by DownWithDella | October 12, 2007 6:17 PM
2

Della is caving. Environmentalists are now racists? Whatever.

For those of you questioning Burgess's progressive values - here again, in his words, is where he stands on the social issues in question from his pretty killer new website -

"Tim is pro-choice and supports full marriage equality and has received strong support from women and LGBT leaders and the progressive community."

And he's even endorsed by the dad from Happy Days. (http://www.timburgess2007.com/endorse.htm - bottom of the page)

Tim is the better candidate. Sad Della has to play dirty and make whacko statements to try to win. I hope Tim stays above that.

Posted by Meinert | October 12, 2007 6:33 PM
3

Burgess=Rove.

Burgess (Rove) is attacking Della's progressive strength to distract everyone from his (Burgess') own, shall we say, questionable history supporting progressive issues.

It's not a lie or smear when it's true.

Posted by Fran | October 12, 2007 7:29 PM
4

Golly! How did this campaign get so ugly? Where or where did all the mud come from?

I would have thought that with the Stranger working so hard to rush every shred of opposition research, rumor, innuendo, and fairy tale from each side onto to their blog, and into print as space allows, that this would have been a model of a respectable campaign!

I guess next campaign, you'll have to try even harder: not one word about the issues that touch on the office itself. Not one! And maybe the Stranger can print an extra whenever a campaign worker whispers some dirt to you.

Posted by elenchos | October 12, 2007 7:47 PM
5

This reaffirms my faith in the political process. Or, it is at least entertaining.

I do think that environmental groups have historically been dominated by white people, including who they hire, put on their board etc.. Many of these groups are as white as the blogsphere. That's recognizing that the environmental community has a lot of different perspectives and the previous sentence is a generalization.

That said, just throwing out "racism" without any logical reason is a sign of desperation. I like Della, and agree with his focus on growing industrial jobs, but I don't agree with his solution of rebuilding the Viaduct. If you are going to support the rebuild and the corresponding uglification of the Seattle waterfront, you're not going to easily win over the green community.

Burgess doesn't excite me either. His TellTheTruthDavidDella.com website reminds me of RateHIkeHeidi.com. Karl Rove indeed.

Posted by Ebenezer | October 12, 2007 7:50 PM
6

Tim Burgess is a whiney rightwing pseudo-progressive rich NIMBY. Please, make him just go away. Della in not an intellectual powerhouse, but he is far more tolerable than Burgess.

By the way, Tim Ceis is the real Karl Rove of Seattle. Please get that part right.

Posted by notfromrighwhitequeenanne | October 12, 2007 9:33 PM
7

If that is all Della said, then your headline is misleading. He is not saying enviros are racists, just lily white and affluent. Shit, we all knew that...

Posted by they both suck | October 12, 2007 9:57 PM
8

I think we environmentalists made things quite clear to Mr Della when we told him "No ticki no washi." Sayonara toadface.

Posted by kinaidos | October 12, 2007 10:12 PM
9

It's good to see the truth coming to light. Della has to go and needs to be replaced. Tim Burgess is the right man for the job.

Posted by J | October 13, 2007 12:42 AM
10

It's a shame Al Gore has to run for re-election as President ...

Posted by Will in Fremont | October 13, 2007 1:25 AM
11

Oh Puhleez. Of COURSE environmentalists are racist. They are almost universally white, elitist, and classist. All one has to do is sit with them and it'll be about 10 minutes before someone starts complaining how the people of color in our community don't recycle, or, if they have a car, drive an old gas guzzler.

This is about the f-ing Viaduct. The enviros, along with Mayor-Kyoto- Protocol-while-we-dump-raw-sewage-into-Elliot-Bay, want to punish Della for supporting the Viaduct. Simple politics, brought to you by Karl Rove/Tim Ceis & Co, who have brought the mayor's home town (Chicago) politics to roost so we can all enjoy.

There's another BIG F-ING ISSUE that none of you (ERICA?? HELLO!! Wake the fuck up!) have figured out: David Della beat the darling of the environmentalists, Princess Heidi Wills, protector of circus animals. While Heidi actually has real environmental bonafides, Burgess just discovered the concept when he decided to run for office and started writing checks. But in any case, the enviros are still mad that Della beat Heidi, and that's what this is all about.

For those of you upset about Della's comment, maybe you can start desegregating Seattle's enviro community. Until then, STFU.

Posted by Beat Burgess | October 13, 2007 7:56 AM
12

Burgess is starting to seem mean-spirited. Della is not the brightest bulb. I like Burgess but he's starting to push too hard.

The enviro community needs to become more inclusive and yes, we can be self-focused and elitist.

The Cascade Bicycle Club endorsed Bruce Harrell so that's a step in the race for progress. Tim Cies (our Carl Rove) has endorsed Venus who is racist and divisive--just look at her on YouTube.

So as an environmentalist I'm only sure I'll vote for Harrell. The Della Burgess race will come down to the wire.

Posted by Polly Andrews | October 13, 2007 9:01 AM
13

Della isn't just "not the brightest bulb". He is a fucking idiot -- watch the council coverage on public access TV some time and be amazed at what managed to get elected. It is time for him to go. I do think Al Gore would make an excellent councilperson, though...

Posted by GoodGrief | October 13, 2007 10:32 AM
14

Ah fuck it. I'm just going to write-in Peter Steinbrueck. I know he's not interested in sitting on the Council anymore, but it's reached the point where I can't support either of these two clowns.

Posted by COMTE | October 13, 2007 10:35 AM
15

Della is an idiot. Any activist who has worked with council members on any important issue will confirm this well-known fact. I am not surprised that he played the race card, I only wonder why it took him so long.

And now we can start the countdown on when he'll call the Seattle Police and Firefighter unions racists for filing a complaint with the Seattle Ethics and Election Commission ...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003946789_dellaethics13m.html

Posted by He's an idiot | October 13, 2007 10:55 AM
16

Della's comment - and his prepared followup statement - are, of course, crass and deeply insulting to the people of color who are already involved in local environmental groups as volunteers, board members, and employees. I don't know of a local enviro group that does not make diversity a primary goal in recruiting for board memberships and staff positions. This does not mean that achieving diversity is easy or that the work is done. But Della's comments are unhelpful to those efforts, and his suggestion that these groups factor race into endorsement decisions is slanderous and unbecoming a Seattle City Councilmember.

Posted by Roger | October 13, 2007 11:05 AM
17

At least Burgess will take responsibility for his actions.

Posted by Gitai | October 13, 2007 11:08 AM
18

Della now faces the following: a well-funded opponent with strong support across the community; a backlash from environmental voters, whom he has just labeled racist; the enmity of any activist who has been involved in parks issues these past four years; an ethics investigation; and possible removal from a council committee due to said ethics violation. If he's not political toast yet, then he's occupying the same reality distortion field that has prevented Bush from being impeached for his crimes.

Posted by Trey | October 13, 2007 11:10 AM
19

Between threatening the unions and claiming that if you're white you must be a racist, this POS has had quite a week. Glad he showed his true colors before I cast my vote. This race had been a tough choice - not anymore.

Posted by True Colors | October 13, 2007 11:14 AM
20

Beat Burgess @ 11 - your lithium prescription is ready for pick up at the pharmacy.

Posted by Kim | October 13, 2007 11:33 AM
21

Since when did the Seattle Parks Department stop using pesticides?

Posted by Ursulla | October 13, 2007 12:10 PM
22

Burgess and Harrell are the only two endorsed by both the PI & Times and that carries lots of weigh.

At lease neither Burgess or Della has a racist video on YouTube like Venus does.

Neither one has sold out to special interest sleazy characters like Joe Quintana and Don Stark of Forward Seattle Fame like Venus has.

At least we know who both Burgess and Della really are. With Venus the word is that she decided to go back to her Latina roots recently and learned Spanish as an adult and lived under another name in Texas and has lied about her immigrant roots. Her dad is a mechanical engineer so she's lied about her tough background too. We don't know her at all--really.

Burgess or Della--the blessing is we know who they are. Venus we don't.

Posted by apple pie+ cheese | October 13, 2007 1:37 PM
23

Wrong subject apple pie idiot. "word is"? Sounds like unsubstantiated slander to me.

Posted by watcher | October 13, 2007 3:09 PM
24

#21: Good question.

#2: If Burgess is so progressive, pro-women, pro-choice, etc, then why the hell did he choose to make a profit of over $500,000 to help an anti-women, anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-education organization market themselves to the mainstream? It doesn't add up. Burgess seems like Mr. Holier-Than-Thou marketeer and Della appears to be a do-nothing Councilmember with little to show for his four years in office.

I'm writing in someone else.

Posted by la | October 13, 2007 3:53 PM
25

I haven't picked my candidate yet, but however you slice it, parks management in recent years has been a disaster. They seem to be paving over trees and open space as fast as their little bulldozers will carry them.

Posted by DT | October 13, 2007 10:06 PM
26

If you throw away your vote with a write-in, The Stranger will have won. The Terrorist ECB will have won.

Don't give in to terrorism. This campaign is not just dirt and mud. There are actual issues here. The viaduct. Seattle City Light. Bicyclists (fuckers).

Look at the issues and make a choice. Someday The Stranger will be sorry for how they reported on this city council race but you don't have to be sorry for how you voted.

Posted by elenchos | October 13, 2007 10:09 PM
27

Hey Watcher jerk--the subject can be expressed how we want to. .

The point applepie is making is that we need to look at her more closely to know who she is. How anyone can support her after seeing her video is beyond me. How did someone like this rise to the point of being in this race? Something is wrong because I'm also hearing strange rumors about her.

At least poor David is not such a dim bulb as to have a video of himself on YouTube spewing racism in the hate free zone.

Posted by VIEWER | October 13, 2007 11:16 PM
28

Can't believe Seattle could potentially vote in an anti-gay candidate for City Council.

Posted by 2-Steps-Back | October 13, 2007 11:31 PM
29

Anti-gay in one race (Burgess) and racist in another (Venus). I hope Seattle voters will be discerning enough to know the difference and vote accordingly.

Of course the Forward Seattle money Venus has will cloud the issue but let's keep our fingers crossed that voters will see through to the truth.

Posted by ice-cream too | October 13, 2007 11:54 PM
30

When are you printing copies of the hate mail Burgess wrote for the hate mongers?

There must be archieves on line, hey all you high tech people. Concerned Women of America.

I have seen some of it, years ago. Just makes the skin crawl. Too scary for the Stranger? Come on Erica, this is big prize possible. Find a half dozen of those old mailers he wrote and edited for big money and put them on line. Folks will form a line to puke.

Really unmask the slick "my life is made over" fraud that Burgess is getting away with.

As they say, this story has many legs, and three of them are the mailers he manged, selling hate for the most rright wing organization in America, just short of the KKK or American Nazi Party.

Posted by Jack | October 14, 2007 2:25 AM
31

It's a little sad to read such divisive comments about any of these people.

Some facts - Venus is not racist. Burgess is not sexist nor homophobic. Della is not an idiot. Harrell is not a far right Republican.

On many issues all of these candidates will take similar positions, especially on the big national issues such as choice, gay marriage, etc.

However, on many important local issues, these candidates are on opposite sides. And then you need to decide who will be a better council person, able to build support around an issue, create and influence legislation, listen to all sides in making a decision, and lead.

If you want the viaduct rebuilt, vote Della. If you want a nightclub license vote Harrell and Della. If you favor density vote Venus.

Let's hear some specifics on each candidate. Those of you bashing the candidates you don't like should come in with some specific policies your candidate is actually for, contrasting that with their opponent.

I personally think Burgess will be great. He's smart, truly progressive - is pro-same sex marriage, is pro-choice, and will effectively lead on environmental issues, which I consider to be paramount among the policy matters in front of the council.

Venus wants to work on improving public education, possibly by changing the way the school district is governed. She's pro-density and supports working class affordable housing. She supports a surface/transit viaduct option that includes rapid transit.

Both Burgess and Venus will bring a good work ethic to the council. Venus is also endorsed by Peter Steinbrueck who's seat she and Harrell are running for. Steinbreuck has been an excellent council member and needs to be replaced by someone who like him, can lead on the important issues and stand up to the Mayor. Venus will do this. Harrell, not so much I believe.

Let's knock of the shit talk. There are important issues to consider.

Also, it is fair for The Stranger to look into the candidates past, including where they worked and how this work could reflect on what positions they will take as a council member. It's also important to consider the candidates' responses to those facts. Burgess screwed up on representing CWA. It's fair to criticize him for that, but I am convinced he has addressed it adequately.

Della needs to answer for his possible ethics violation in trying to use his position on council to influence endorsements. And he needs to explain how environmental groups could be considered racist for not endorsing him as he has failed to lead on this issue as he promised to.

And Harrell - he just needs to explain some specific policy stances. Does he have any? If so, let's hear them. Where is he on police accountability and the viaduct? Density? Etc.

Posted by Meinert | October 14, 2007 12:45 PM
32

Worst-Kept Seattle Asian American Community Secret #487: David Della is a lightweight, but we vote for him anyways.

We've all known it since he got elected, especially those of us who worked with him in his pre-council days. David is, at his core, a well-meaning guy, but has become motivated by concerns over his political career. I would no longer describe him as principled.

And, yes, he's never been exceptionally bright.

Posted by Asian Underground | October 15, 2007 10:31 AM
33

he does raise a point...many people of color do not feel that the environmental movement includes or speaks to them. when you look at the composition of these groupse they are very homogeneous. so whether or not you think they are racist in intent, they do come across as racist in fact.

Posted by Jiberish | October 15, 2007 11:13 AM

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