My thoughts about the Aug. 16th Primary

So this blog is 99.9% about cooking, but I'm going to digress today, just for this one post, to write about something that I am equally passionate about: politics.  If you're not a Washington State voter, and even more specifically, not a Seattle voter, you can ignore this post, but if you're local, read on! Primaries are tough, they're in the middle of summer, the elections are just narrowing it down to the final two, and it's not a singular day everyone in the nation is out voting, so primaries tend to get lost in the excitement of summer. But primary ballots have other stuff on them too - propositions and referendums. If you miss a vote on this one, or vote misinformed, there's no hope of correcting that vote later on. This is it, and they're important this year. A few of my friends have mentioned that they would love a rundown of the primary ballot and my personal opinion* on how to vote, so here you go.

King County Proposition 1: Approve

Proposition 1 asks if you want to renew the Veterans and Human Services Levy.  Originally approved in 2005, this levy provides funding for programs that aid veterans and other families in need. I've yet to find anyone that is against this proposition, and for good reason. In my opinion, it's unbelievably important that we take care of our veterans, so vote to approve this proposition!

Seattle City Council, Position 1: Bobby Forch

There are three major players in this race: Jean Godden (incumbent), Maurice Classen and Bobby Forch. Except for Mike O'Brien, and occasionally the Sally's (Bagshaw and Clark), I'm rarely impressed by the current city council, though keep in mind that the tunnel issue (REJECT REF 1) is very much on my mind, and the Seattle City Council has done little to please me in that respect, so I'm pretty eager to see a fresh face in the mix.

I've been fortunate enough to get to know Bobby Forch this summer, as his campaign headquarters are located next door to my office. Bobby is energetic, progressive, passionate and knowledgeable about Seattle and last but not least, damn friendly. But on to the issues. Bobby has worked his way up the ladder during his career at SDOT, showing both his drive and his ability to lead. He's progressive and his genuine top priority is police accountability and public safety, which is fantastic to see. As a Ballard resident, I also really appreciate his push for a transit system that better connects our neighborhoods. I second what the The Stranger said in their endorsement of Bobby though. They put their weight behind him, but wish he'd strongly reconsider his tunnel stance. It's not that he's pro-tunnel, he just isn't anti-tunnel, as, from what I understand, his biggest issue is that a decision just be made, a plan put in action. He's keenly aware of the importance of replacing the Viaduct, and wishes to see it taken down sooner than later. But I really wish he'd be firmly anti-tunnel Ah well. At least he's not pro-tunnel like Classen and Godden.

Vote Bobby Forch. He's smart, progressive and, well, kind of hard not to like.

Seattle City Council, Position 9: Sally Clark

This race is between Sally Clark (incumbent), Dian Ferguson and  Fathi Karshie. Fathi hasn't really gotten a strong campaign going, so I'm afraid that's a non starter - maybe we'll see more of him in future years. Since it's a primary, the goal here is just to be in the top two, so it's pretty clear that Sally Clark and Dian Furguson will be the top two, but if you still care to know who and why...

Sally Clark is an incumbent. She's behind the tunnel, which stinks, but so is Dian Furguson. Otherwise, Clark is progressive and seems to do a good job of being really well informed and giving due diligence to the issues.  My vote's for Clark, but I'm hoping to hear more from both candidates this fall before I make my decision about who to vote for in the November election.

City of Seattle Referendum 1: REJECT, REJECT, REJECT

Okay. Whew. There are few things that rile me up as much as the tunnel does.  I know people just want a decision made and I know people think the tunnel is already started and it's too late to turn back, AND I know that a lot of people just don't know much about the issue and so they say 'might as well'. But please please please don't be apathetic about this.  Following presentations from people on both sides of the issue and after reading hundreds of pages of documents by WDOT and SDOT, research papers by transportation and transit planners, and case studies of similar cases, I had to write a 20 page paper analyzing the Viaduct replacement for my transportation and land use class last fall. I can honestly say if you read all of the documents, it's really hard to imagine anyone thinking the tunnel is a good idea.  I could go on for days, but I'll bore you, so I'm going to give a short list of some main points, and suggest that if you wish to read more, you read this overview from The Stranger, this guest editorial on Crosscut, this collection of interviews, articles and charts from Sightline, and last but not least, if you can, browse the thousand plus page Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which can also be found in print at your local branch of the Seattle Public Library.

1. More than two thirds of SR99 traffic enters or exits downtown, yet the tunnel cannot provide downtown exits.  Add to this the fact that there will be tolls and that the tunnel plan provides no funds for transit, and it's easy to understand why the FEIS shows that downtown Seattle traffic will be the same if not worse than if the tunnel simply got taken down and nothing was done. Pioneer Square's narrow, bumpy streets will be flooded with diverted cars and the waterfront that the pro-tunnel campaign keeps touting will be designed for low-flow traffic but will also see a huge surge in traffic looking to avoid the toll and exit downtown.

2. The tunnel will cost nearly $7 billion when it's all said and done, and that's not counting if the tunnel boring machine (the largest ever made) breaks. It's the most expensive option. That's a huge price tag for something that won't improve traffic and will make it worse in many places.

3. Everyone agrees that the viaduct is unsafe. Everyone. But the tunnel plan is the only one that keeps the viaduct up past 2012. It keeps the viaduct intact and in use until 2016.

Really it comes down to this. If you know that two different plans create similar traffic situations, but Option A costs billions more and keeps an unsafe structure open for 4 extra years and Option B includes money for transit and takes the unsafe structure down next year....which one would you pick? (Hint: there is no way in hell you would pick Option A).

And I know what you've heard, "it's too late to stop it now" or "the referendum doesn't matter anyway". Well guess what? It's never too late to stop a project with a $7 billion price tag, especially when the project is only under way because the state started awarding contracts before the FEIS came out (which is illegal, by the way) showing that the tunnel won't actually improve traffic. And yeah, the referendum is about if you wish to authorize the City Council to move forward with agreements, not a way to outright block the tunnel. But it's something. Don't take this lightly.

* Wondering why and how I have such strong opinions? Well, I'm a Masters candidate at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs, so just generally I have studied, read case studies, and written papers about some of these topics (ahem, the tunnel). I also read the endorsements written by my local PCO, progressive groups, local newspapers and local legislative districts. I don't always agree with them, and certainly you can't take what one paper says as the end all to be all, but if you read them all, it's a great way to parse out the consistent bits and decide for yourself what you think.

A Meal to Follow a Road Trip

As some of you may know, Elspeth and I just went on a fabulous road trip. I flew to Seattle, we rented a car, and we drove back to Minnesota, meandering through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the Black Hills, and the Badlands (also a National Park) along the way. We slept in a tent all but one night (we splurged on a bed and breakfast in Douglas, Wyoming - which may, as it happens, have the saddest downtown in the western United States), and not even one bear tried to eat us. Growing up in Maine, I suspect we didn't imagine that in 2010, driving between the two cities that we feel so comfortable in would involve seeing most of Washington, some of Idaho and Montana, most of Wyoming and South Dakota, and a pretty serious chunk of Minnesota, as well. There are a lot of mountains along the way, and deserts, too. There are cowboys and rodeos and some rolling plant that may have been tumbleweed. There are some particularly grand rivers, and a whole lot of empty fields. I highly recommend the route that we took (which was cleverly planned, down to the very last detail, by Elspeth!).

We ate well along the way (Elspeth brought along homemade chili, and pasta, and risotto(!!) for campsite dinners), and our only fast food stop was a "lunch supplement" as we called it, at an Arby's in central Wyoming on Thursday. In South Dakota on Saturday morning, we ate sourdough pancakes from a recipe that claimed to use a sourdough starter from frontier times, "over a hundred years ago"! All the same, when we arrived in Saint Paul on Saturday night, we were hungry. We swung by the Seward Co-op to get a few essentials, and when we got home, I whipped up a quick dinner. Tortellini (cheese-filled, from the grocery store freezer), with garlic scape pesto (homemade, and stored in my freezer... I'll have to blog about that recipe later), and lots of shredded parmesan stirred in.

What we really wanted, though, after driving 2500+ hours in 6 days, was a salad.

Fresh greens, with an heirloom tomato sliced on top, dressed with an easy and delicious recipe - it's one I wrote down a few years ago from that Everyday Italian show on the Food Network, and as you can see here, I wrote it on cute recipe cards that Elspeth decorated for me as a gift one year for Christmas. As you can also see here, I make this dressing often enough that there's a smudge on the recipe card!

In case you can't quite see it: that is 4 Tbsp of white vinegar, 2 Tbsp of dijon mustard, 2/3 cup of olive oil, and 1 tsp oregano. In this case, I put in a pinch of dried oregano and a pinch of dried basil. And it's true - the recipe makes plenty of dressing. I have a small jar of it in the refrigerator now, which will last through the week!

Happy Holidays from Seattle!

Well, the holidays are upon us! Hanukkah began Friday night and Christmas is just around the corner. While Sarah was visiting me for Thanksgiving, we went to two, yes, two(!) tree lighting

ceremonies, which was a great way to ring in the holiday season. The Westlake Center tree lighting was quite the ta-do, with 5th Avenue singers, three different choirs (mens, womens and children's) and a fireworks display at the end.The Pike Place Market tree lighting was a bit more modest, but much more charming. They both were fantastic in their own way!

The Space Needle is also festive, with lights on top as well as a display at the base, with bright spheres making up the shape of a tree, very pretty!

I've also been busy decorating the places I spend most of my time, so I thought I'd share some pictures of holiday spirit, courtesy of me, at my office and in my apartment. This is my first year having my own Christmas tree, and it's so nice to have! My friends were kind enough to go get me one, which made life a lot easier. Trees in the city are hard to find and fairly expensive! They got me a nice 4 1/2 foot tree for $20 at Lowes, which as a relief because I was planning to pay $25-$30 for a 3 foot tree right in the city. I'll post pictures from my office and home in a post to follow...too many pictures already!

It's official! I'm a Seattleite.

(Photo Credit: New York Times)

It's official, I'm fairly prepared for the wet winter weather! After enduring last winter with soggy feet (I was unemployed, so couldn't really go out and buy some snazzy new boots, could I?), I now own nice boots AND fun rain boots. All I need now is to switch over to a waterproof jacket (all I have is a water-resistant one) and I'll be good to go! Yeah yeah, it seems silly that I don't own a rain jacket yet, but they're really expensive, and it doesn't often POUR here, so often my water resistant jacket is fine, or my winter wool coat. Umbrellas work in the fall, but the wind really picks up in the winter and umbrellas don't stand a chance. Anyway, the Mainer in me couldn't resist these boots when I saw them, so check 'em out!

Lobsters!!!

The Hangover

Well folks. Election day has come and gone. In Maine, the results are in, and they aren't good, so I'm having a bit of an election day hangover. Yesterday I was full of nerves, but super excited, and today I just feel 'ugh'. Since Seattle folks vote by mail, we don't get the final vote count until 4:30 PST, and the race for mayor is so close that we probably wont' have an official result on that for a few days (the current report is that McGinn is ahead by 910 votes, out of the 85,000 that have been counted), so let's get back to the news about Maine.

Maine voted to reject gay marriage. I'm appalled. I'm shocked. I'm sad. Honestly? As many have pointed out, the fact that we even put people's rights to equality to a VOTE is absurd. The fact that when give the chance to grant or deny rights to a minority group, rights that the majority group unquestionably has, and we deny those rights, just makes me sick. I don't understand how there could be so much hate, so much disillusionment that No on 1 did not prevail last night. I do firmly believe that the majority of people in Maine wished to grant same sex couples the right to marry, but that many were confused about the language on the ballot and/or confused by the Yes on 1 campaign who used lies and manipulations. The main tactic was to make people think that their whole life would be changed if they voted yes (but seriously, that's not an excuse, so what if your kids find out in school that it's totally okay to have to men or two women in a committed relationship) or...and this is what I think happened to the rural, and often older, folks in Maine, they made people think that voting 'yes' granted rights. I don't know if that all makes sense, but I want to believe that the people of Maine, overall, aren't that intolerant, but it's really hard to say with a vote like last nights.

In better news, Dow Constantine beat the pants of Susan Hutchison, thank god for that, Tim Eyman's initiative got rejected by a landslide (as far as Tim Eyman's initiatives go, at least), and Referendum 71 is trending towards 'Approved', which is fantastic. I got to go to Kay Smith-Blum's victory party last night, as she won resoundingly over the incumbent to become the new School Board member for District 5. She has great ideas, she's unbelievably well informed and I think she's going to do a great job! So. Washington election results are so far so good, but I'm really having trouble celebrating, due to the loss in Maine. Perhaps when we get the final results for the mayors race, McGinn will have won, and I can celebrate more then...

Election Day!

It's election day folks. One of my most and least favorite days of the year. I love election day because I love politics, I love the possibility for change, I love finally finding out what the result of everyone's hard work campaigning for change is. What I hate? Waiting. Seeing how few people vote. Seeing anti-choice, intolerant values and candidates win. So. Today I am a ball of nerves. But, I'm a hopeful ball of nerves. Many people could care less about today's elections, but there are some really important things on the ballot...I'll highlight the ones that I'm worked up about...

In Maine. Proposition 1. Governer Baldacci signed into law the right for same sex partners to marry. Prop 1 is trying to veto that law and they are using the same people, same $$, and same lies they used in California to confuse and manipulate votes. Vote No on 1. Support equality in Maine.

In Seattle (some King County, some statewide):

Mayor: Democrats Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan are neck and neck in the polls. Mike McGinn is an environmentalist, a lawyer and someone who is going to put Seattle on the right track. Joe Mallahan is a T Mobile executive who has little experience, a bad voting record and has used his own personal funds to get himself this far. Vote McGinn!

County Exec: Dow Constantine supports a woman's right to choose, has experience and will work hard for equality, the environment and a slew of other things. Susan Hutchison is a staunch conservative who is anti-choice, has no experience and is counting on her name recognition from years as a TV anchor to pull her through. She is wrong for King County and a win for her is a win for intolerance.

Referendum 71: Vote APPROVE on Ref 71 to retain the rights given to domestic partners. This isn't just a gay rights issues, it's a senior issue too. Voting APPROVE on Ref 71 gives long term domestic partners the legal rights and protections that they deserve.

Initiative 1033: This is a Tim Eyman initiative, must I say more? Vote NO on I-1033 to make sure Tim Eyman doesn't succeed in his efforts to cap our government growth and push our economy into an even worse position fiscally. Vote for the sake of our schools, healthcare, the environment, each and every person who lives in Washington, just vote NO!

So there you have it, the things that I'm so anxious about. Now go vote if you haven't already!

A little love for City Kitchens

This is just a little shout out to City Kitchens, I've mentioned them before I think, but they are great. There are a bunch of kitchen shops in Seattle, two of the bigger ones are in the market, one famously being Sur La Table. While I like Sur La Table for some things, it is always so crowded and almost always over priced. City Kitchens on the other hand, is much less crowded, bigger, has fantastic sales people and amazing sales. Even better, each year they have a sale from mid August through the end of September where almost everything is on sale, and things that aren't specifically on sale are 20% off...incredible! I plan on taking a gift card I got for my birthday and heading on down there this weekend and getting all the things I've been hoping would go on sale, because guess what? They're all on sale now! Woohoo. Regardless of the sales, it's my favorite shop, so if you live in Seattle, I encourage you to check it out...directions can be found on their website, here.

Food-Lover's Guide to Seattle? Count me in!

This month, The Kitchn is doing a food guide to American cities, and first up....Seattle! Check out the Seattle post, "A Food-Lover's Guide to Seattle". I was familiar with a few of the places they discussed, and already checked out one of the ones that was new to me! I stopped by Cookies last night and my oh my! It's cookie cutter heaven! I left there with some wonderful cookie cutters for a favorite lady of mine who just had a birthday (can't spoil the surprise and tell you what they are!) plus a mini moose cookie cutter, to accompany the large one I already own (now all I need is a mini Maine and a mini lobster, and my Maine themed cookie cutter collection will have the essentials!). City Kitchens has always been my favorite place to get cookie cutters (and everything else kitchen related), and being downtown it's most convenient for me, but I've added Cookies to my mental list of great places and if I'm in the neighborhood (Ballard), you can bet I'll make a stop. If you need unique cookie cutters, a wide selection of sprinkles, adornments, etc, or a fantastic spread of lovely aprons, Cookies is where it's at!

P.S. I added my two cents in the comments section, couldn't resist!