The citizens of Shoreline yesterday appear to have elected three new members to its City Council: Christopher Roberts, Will Hall and Shari Tracey. A fourth candidate, unopposed incumbent Keith McGlashan, gained a significant victory in the face of a late developing write-in campaign.
The closest race is that of Shari Tracey with 50.88 % of the vote against Cindy Ryu, the current Mayor, with 48.82%. Ryu has been a strong Mayor with a voting block of three city council members joining her in various land use votes. If Tracey maintains her lead it will mark a significant event for the city. As can be seen in the accompanying picture, Tracey and her supporters appear confident of an ultimate victory.
Under King County’s new mail in balloting system preliminary results were announced only once – at approximately 8:00 pm. All three of the new comers and incumbent McGlashan were ahead by varying margins at that point. The count will be progressively updated as more ballots are counted.
Assuming Tracey holds her lead, these four will join incumbents Doris McConnell, Chris Eggen and Terry Scott who have two years left on their existing terms. The addition of three new members, along with the reelection of Keith McGlashan, is expected to form a significantly altered legislative body.
During the fall there were hard hitting, sometimes negative campaigns. Shoreline had one of the highest yard signs per capita ratios in the Puget Sound area. Candidate Hall last night humorously expressed the hope that someone would miraculously steal all his yard signs over night.
Heated issues arose over city participation in a regional jail location process, a “rolling” moratorium on commercial development along Aurora, and efforts that blocked various developments recommended by the planning commission.
Significant issues facing the council include the proposed large scale mixed use development at Point Wells, the future of development along Aurora Avenue, the interplay between single and multifamily neighborhoods, and the relationship of mass transit and population density.
All the incumbents and newly elected members have expressed an interest in protecting the natural environment and aiding the growth of small business in the city.
Citizens last night uniformly expressed relief that the elections were over. They expressed interest and curiosity over the direction the new council will take. But most observers last night predicted that the council will become a more cohesive body in the coming year.
As of last night The King County Auditor reported results as follows:
Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 8187/33655 24.22%
Council Position No. 1
Keith McGlashan 4998 81.96%
Write-in 1100 18.04%
Council Position No. 3
Patty Hale 3392 46.93%
Will Hall 3805 52.64%
Write-in 31 0.43%
Council Position No. 5
Shari Tracey 3763 50.88%
Cindy Ryu 3611 48.82%
Write-in 22 0.30%
Council Position No. 7
Christopher Roberts 4056 57.43%
Ron Hansen 2987 42.29%
Write-in 20 0.28%
Election results are not final or official until certified. By law, November 24, 2009 is the last day for county canvassing boards to certify results; December 3, 2009 is the last day for the Office of the Secretary of State to certify General Election returns.
