I watched candidates file for the Shoreline City Council last week, with candidates from the ruling machine hoping to expand their slim majority, opponents hoping to gain a seat and both sides hoping to take over the seat of retiring Councilman Rich Gustafson.
On one side, Deputy Mayor Maggie Fimia quickly filed for re-election to her council seat. Mayor Bob Ransom also filed, but got an unexpected challenge from Terry Scott, rumored to be running with the support of Fimia and Councilwomen Cindy Ryu and Janet Way, who had joined Fimia in giving Ransom the mayor’s position in exchange for his cooperation. Another Fimia-Ryu-Way ally, Chris Eggen, filed for Gustafson’s seat, and four hours before filing closed seemed to be unopposed.
I had expected to see opponents from several groups: (1) those who had sued four council members for an open-meetings violation and sought to recall Fimia and Ransom; (2) the increasingly active Richmond Beach community, upset over a perceived zoning violation; and (3) the Vision Aurora group that wants to extend the design of the southern mile of Aurora Avenue to the other two miles. In the first four and a half days, only two opponents had filed: longtime council critic La Nita Wacker against Fimia and one-time school board candidate Sherry Marlin against Ransom and Scott.
Wacker had asked dozens of people to run. Many begged off because of family or work responsibilities.
Someone from Vision Aurora promised candidates Friday afternoon and produced former Councilman Paul Grace against Eggen and last-minute entry George Daher, and Doris McConnell against Fimia and Wacker.
The result will be three three-person primary contests to cull the fields.
Primary in February? Good and bad
A state committee has set Washington’s presidential primary for Feb. 19. The move could bring attention to the state if two or three Republicans come out of the multi-state Feb. 5 primary with the contest still in doubt.
But some state needs to fight this national race to the front, a race that could see the presidential nominations decided six months before the national conventions and eight months before the general election.
The state political parties can do something by moving their caucuses. Those caucuses, which will decide 43 percent of the state’s Republican delegates and all of the Democratic delegates except a few elected officials and party officers, are now set for Feb. 9, when they will get lost in the “Super Tuesday” hype.
A better strategy would place them where they can get guidance from primary results. Hold the caucuses in May, when they could provide last-minute tipping points. The county and district conventions could be in June and the state convention in July.
Evan Smith is the Enterprise Forum editor. Send comments to entopinion@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
