The Federal Way Mirror was on hand to live Tweet this morning’s King County Executive candidates forum. Below is a transcript of the Mirror’s Twitter coverage, in chronological order.
The Mirror is getting set to twitter during the King County Executives forum. It’s set to start at 7:30 so stay tuned!
Larry Phillips, Fred Jarrett, Alan Lobdell, Susan Hutchinson, Dow Constantine, Ross Hunter and Michael Nelson will be answering questions
Once the event begins all candidates will be refereed to by their initials. They have just announced one minute to start
Goodspaceguy (aka Michael Nelson) did not show for the forum
all the candidates have now been introduced
each candidate will have two mins to open
DC: chair of king county council, he gave up speaking into the mike after feedback issues. introduced leg for performance based management
DC: introduced whistle blower leg which passed and capital oversight and hiring freeze in county, cut budget by $875,000
RH: candidate should make some change, king co is kinda broken right now, need someone to bring together the cities
RH: helped drive change in education funding and edu task force
RH: Lead sponsor on the rainy day fund,
SH: 4th trip to FW since entering the race, this area needs to have a place at the table, real sense the county has been Seattlistic
SH: King Co needs fixing, I bring a new direction, a business solution
FJ: 30 years public service, last decade in legislature, 35 years in management at Boeing
FJ: part of change at Boeing. Now county needs to work on cost cutting in ferries and health care premiums
AL: live in the south end, engineer and consultant for cities on budgets and management
AL: King Co, won’t say it’s broken but it has issues, needs a professional administrator, that’s what I do
LP: grew up in King Co. worked as chief of staff to a king co executive, then worked in state legislature, chaired king co council
question to FJ: You claim to be the outsider to bring change, please explain why KC needs an outsider and 3 things you would do
FJ: we measure spending, in co they spend it all, I know how to change it, work for performance
DC: I’ve already gone against the grain, in senate pushed for leg.
RH: 15-20 years, need to merge king co and metro, rebuild relationship with suburban cities
SH: I am not in gov not a politician, looking for a new way of doing things then it comes from truly outside
AL: I know the ins and out of cities, flood control, budget reform, done it for 13 years
what is your position on allowing a city to annex a area without county approval
without people approval rather
AL: opposed, hurts city, they can’t bring in the revenue without the tax base
LP: made great headway in the last few years, been done through a vote of the people, think its the right of the people
FJ: I voted for the bill but didn’t find out til after session what it really meant, think it was a mistake, think we will go back and fix
SH: I do think that leg is probably going to be overturned, not common sense
RH: I don’t believe it will ever be used for large annexation areas, more likely in Renton with a single high school
DC: decision should be the people’s
Question to LP: when is the last time you made a tough decision and said no to a special interest group
LP: just this week, transit, reverse course with regard to ferry system, put it into metro instead
AL: never worked with special interest, guess you could call city council that, when you have to say no, you say no
FJ: one good example is work that Hunter, Priest and I worked on for Special Education taskforce
SH: real problem in the co and it’s unions, Ron Sims should have stood firm
RH: finance chairman in the house, got a parade of people who want a tax break, I have a poster for them, a james bond, Dr. No
DC: proposed a long time ago that those making more than average, pay back some of the money the people pay for my medical insurance
Question to SH: what action will you take to put KC financial situation in order
SH: very pleased about the hiring freeze, from there cut waste, cut out duplication, find ways to save rather then spend, going to hurt
RH: short term things, hiring freezes, clear about increases in salary, more important is long term not shift costs on to the cities
DC: have several short term tools, including hiring freeze that I sponsored, need strong performance measures
LP: put out a plan that will help metro,
AL: every dept must cut the fluff out, this is something I do and I am ruthless, may be layoffs
FJ: seven step plan on website, no new programs, good analysis, accountability
Question: as county executive what would eliminate or stop doing?
RH: foot ferries, look at what is focus for county, focus on being a regional provider, not a local provider
DC: shifting money, save transit that works now, end failed animal shelter, delivering inhumane service, turn to private providers
SH: primary care is safety, we have to focus on paramount duty, protect those who can not protect themselves, the weakest among us
FJ: office of strategic planning, lean executive staff
AL: no snap decisions, will know all the facts before making this decision, only way you can actually make good decisions
LP: ending the tax subsidy from ferries to boats, with general fund must face up to mandates set by state
Question to LP: did you sign ref 71 and if it passes what would mean for the county?
LP: did not sign it and do not support it
AL: no and I do not support it
FJ: no I worked for the bill to provide rights to domestic partners
SH: want to bring people together and not divide
RH: no I will not
DC: asked my supporters to help with the verification of the signatures, hopeful it will not pass
what can be done to more equally distribute low income housing?
SH: one of premier issues of our county, work with mayors of south co cities to solve it together
FJ: pilot projects
AL: cities already have rules to set aside property for low income, think king co needs to make that co wide
LP: need to reopen state management act for whole state
DC: stability comes from a mixed community
RH: jobs need to be in the same city as housing
Was the light rail system a good idea?
AL: quoted in 2001 that rail should have been constructed back then, light rail is a good idea we are choking on the money but we need it
LP: yes light rail is a good idea, digging our way out of the hole, going to expand the system to FW, it’s our future
FJ: yes good idea
SH: we are behind and over cost
RH: we made a choice, it’s light rail, we need to combine metro and sound transit, consolidate
DC: have to push to get savings to get to the middle of FW, now one of co greatest urban centers
do you support a county wide utility tax
RH: no, i do support a utility tax in unincorporated areas, same as neighboring areas, right now residents are paying extra
DC: support one for unincorporated residents
SH: tax policy is very confusing very regressive and a utility tax is very regressive
FJ: no tax inside or outside, counties do not provide the same level as service as the cities
AL: new taxes are on the bottom of my list, as a businessman, I look at all the taxes I pay, I don’t want another one
LP: no i do not support utility tax
with all the economy isn’t it time to reduce taxes?
AL: i would love to reduce taxes but county has not allowed that to happen, goal for no more taxes, but can’t honestly say reduce
LP: now is not the time to raise taxes, cannot reduce if we are going to keep up safety
FJ: county has a spending problem, management problems are critical to be solved before cutting taxes, make it work then for less money
SH: grow jobs, going to go to Oly to lobby the threshold on BNO taxes
RH: running for king co executive, not lobbyist. Don’t have the revenue to make a change in taxes
DC: BNO tax is a job killer, need state leg to act
What distinguishes you from the other candidates
SH: an outsider, cut waste, people demand we live within our means. Judgement and Courage
RH: bring serious management experience, ability to understand complicated systems, outside perspective, drive serious change
DC: served in house, senate and county council in this decade, brought change, not the status quo but won’t turn it on its head
FJ: 30 years in government and 35 in private, know how to change organizations
AL: I come from the inside of cities and counties, managed major construction project, know details of cities and counties
LP: effectiveness, highest bond rating (AAA)
now for the summaries from the candidates
LP: live in a special part, challenged right now, we have met great challenges before opportunity is king, plans on website
AL: lot of issues, transportation, healthcare, it’s a job for six or seven but one person has to take the flak, I am pretty good at that
AL: still believe kc is the best place, four years from now want to know I made it better. NBA team back in the area, working to help them
FJ: very complex community, key to success is how do we work together. 30 years experience working with these groups, learned how to do that
SH: saw after 2004 elections the county was in trouble and it was at the top, stepped in this year and examined the issues
SH: have to be connected to everyone in the county and respectful of the cities and what they are trying to accomplish
RH: short term fixes, those are important but so is the long term. KC executive is the only elected regional leader, focus on reg. services
RH: reorganize and bring the focus to regional. Plan on website
DC: one person is the race who has been elected to represent south king county residents
DC: need someone who has the spine to stand up and fight, rally the team around, willing to suffer the slings and arrows to get the change
And that’s all folks!
