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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Enviro / Election Go Vote Today for King Conservation District Supervisor

Posted by on Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:38 AM

This post has been moved up: Do you work downtown? Can you get to the downtown library? Can you get out on your lunch hour? GO VOTE!

What folks are calling the "most important election you've never heard of" is held today at seven libraries in the county for an open seat on the King Conservation District's board of supervisors. But that's exactly the problem: You have to get your fanny to the library—and the only polling place in Seattle is at the downtown library. Because most people don't know about the election—or, hell, even what the state-mandated board does—conservatives have tried to stack the commission against environmental interests.

Last year, Republicans ballyhooed Preston Drew, who reportedly opposed a law to protect critical areas yet won by about 150 votes. Only 2,500 people voted in the entire county. Fuse warns that "anti-environmental conservatives have waged a successful, stealth campaign to take over seats."

So this year, concerned it could happen again, environmentalists and progressives are throwing their weight behind Max Prinsen. A former chair of the Conservation Board, Max Prinsen is the President of Save Habitat and Diversity of Wetlands, and he's captured the endorsement of Washington Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club. Basically, Max Prinsen is an environmental conservationist with the bona fides to prove it. And this is a conservation board—this is the sort of candidate we want—not some tool beholden to development interests.

What the five-member board does: The King Conservation District manages a $6.3 million dollar budget, and it works on habitat restoration, helping farmers, protecting fish, setting the boundaries for suburban sprawl, and more. Sara Kiesler wrote about the election last month.

Info about all of the candidates, including Max Prinsen, is here. You can vote today at the downtown Seattle library at 4th Avenue and Madison Street from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Here's a list of all the polling locations.

Need more incentive? The Sierra Club and King County Conservation Voters are holding a "Party for Prinsen" at Sazerac, across the street from the Downtown Library on 4th and Seneca from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sazerac has a happy hour—which Bethany calls "pretty much insane"—that will make you swoon.

 

Comments (20) RSS

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Will in Seattle 1
Wait, you mean it's not at ALL the libraries, just the very inconvenient one downtown in Seattle?

WTF?
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on March 16, 2010 at 10:55 AM
2
I voted at 11:15 and there were about 20 people.
Posted by eg on March 16, 2010 at 11:46 AM
DOUG. 3
As a bonus for voting, there's a PNB preview of "3 By Dove" at the Main Library at Noon.
Posted by DOUG. http://www.dougsvotersguide.com on March 16, 2010 at 11:51 AM
4
I'm in a line of about 40 people at the Bellevue library. I first mistook the line for the AARP tax help, which is in the room next door. Everyone in line looks retired.
Posted by Lark Hawk on March 16, 2010 at 11:57 AM
MoonPatrol 5
I'm on my way to the downtown library to vote. Thanks for the heads-up.
Posted by MoonPatrol on March 16, 2010 at 12:29 PM
6
For people in North Seattle, the Shoreline Library is easy to get to. Polling at Shoreline is open until 8pm.
It's at 345 NE 175th ST. From I-5 North or South:
Take the NE 175th St. exit, (exit #176). Go east on NE 175th St. The Shoreline Library is on the right side of NE 175th, (on the corner of NE 175th St. and 5th Ave NE).
Metro Bus Routes 347 and 348 go by the Shoreline Library.
Posted by Jersey Val on March 16, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Enigma 7
Just got back from the Downtown library. I think all the young professionals are down there now during their lunch break. Lots of talk about Max.
Posted by Enigma http://approvereferendum71.org/ on March 16, 2010 at 12:47 PM
8
can anyone confirm that you DO NOT need to be a registered voter? i understand all you need is a valid washington state I.D. or drivers license...
Posted by marymary on March 16, 2010 at 12:48 PM
9
There were at least 100 people at the downtown library at 12:30 and the line kept getting longer.
Posted by Chris on March 16, 2010 at 12:51 PM
10
I'm heading downtown to vote now, but I still don't see how this election setup could possibly be legal.
Posted by Hydrol on March 16, 2010 at 1:03 PM
Will in Seattle 11
Thanks @6 - great info!
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on March 16, 2010 at 2:08 PM
Morgan 12
Just voted! 10 minute wait.
Posted by Morgan on March 16, 2010 at 2:40 PM
13
Just voted (as did another co-worker). 5 minute wait.

Here's more on why the situation is what it is: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/op…
Posted by jcricket on March 16, 2010 at 3:59 PM
Lurleen 14
Voted at about 3:30. Less than a 5 minute wait, and nobody behind me in line. And in unrelated news, I thoroughly enjoyed my walk in the invigorating hurricane conditions from Seattle Ctr to the library.
Posted by Lurleen on March 16, 2010 at 4:50 PM
Will in Seattle 15
depends on where you go, in Redmond, it was more than 30 minutes at times.
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on March 16, 2010 at 4:53 PM
taxidermist 16
Why are we (and you?) just now hearing about this? I don't follow that many news posts but I keep a group in my favorites- Can you lead to a site where I can stay informed, before the day OF? It's too late to get time off to vote for this but I could have gotten the time to go vote- paid even- with a little notice. I'd love to know in the future if you could point me in the right direction.
Posted by taxidermist on March 16, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Lurleen 17
@16 You can try to keep an eye on King Conservation District's web page. http://www.kingcd.org/index.htm

or follow them on twitter
http://twitter.com/king_cd

or sign up for their newsletter
http://www.kingcd.org/new_new.htm
Posted by Lurleen on March 16, 2010 at 6:35 PM
balderdash 18
There was still a steady 20-person queue when I voted at 6:30 so I guess turnout was pretty good, relatively speaking.

I heard turnout was high in Bellevue, though, so that doesn't bode so well, does it?

@16, I heard about it from KCD because I've done volunteering with them before and I'm on their mailing list. I don't know where else you might hear about it. The only other place I've seen mention of it was a little while ago here on Slog.
Posted by balderdash http://introverse.blogspot.com on March 16, 2010 at 8:54 PM
MoonPatrol 19
From the KCD website: "Max Prinsen of Auburn wins King CD election with 42% of the vote. Mara Heiman comes in second with 35%. More detailed election results to come later this week."
Posted by MoonPatrol on March 17, 2010 at 10:56 AM
20
see also: "King Conservation District's online election drew fewer voters," by Keith Ervin, Seattle Times, March 20, 2011, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo…
Posted by Phil M http://twitter.com/pmocek on March 21, 2011 at 4:36 PM

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