Seattlest's Guide to Those King County Amendments on the Ballot

King County has eight count 'em eight amendments on the ballot this year, and it's not always easy to tell what they are going on about. We've fielded a few emails from people who wondered what we thought, and we offer you the fruits of that conversation. A caveat: we didn't overthink these. If there wasn't a compelling reason to be fer it, we were agin it.

King County Amendments

1: Elected Elections Director
Vote: No, this is bullshit from people who think Seattle steals elections.

2: Prohibiting Discrimination
Vote: Yes. They're just making it clear how much we're against discrimination. Like, a lot!

3: Regional Committees
Vote: No or Yes. This is one of those "compelling need to change" things. We didn't see a crying need to redistribute council influence, but you may. Mike Lowry thinks it's a good idea.

4: Additional Qualifications for Elected Officials
Vote: No. We are perfectly happy to decide who's qualified to run for office and who's not by voting for them.

5: Establishing Forecast Council and Office of Economic and Financial Analysis
Vote: Yes. God knows it seems like King County could use better economic forecasts, huh, Ron? Ha ha! We kid because we love.

6: Budget Deadlines
Vote: Yes, this just adds 20 days to when agencies submit budget info for review. We're happy letting people look more closely at a $4.9 billion budget.

7: Charter Amendment by Citizen Initiative
Vote: No or Yes. We're a little worried that our No vote puts us in the company of Tim Eyman, but Chris Van Dyk is there, too. We're dubious of people who tell us they're "streamlining" citizen participation while doubling the number of signatures we need to get on a ballot.

8: Nonpartisan Elections
Vote: No. Here we rejoin our beloved Mike Lowry (despite parting ways with him back at #3) thanks to his opposition to removing party affiliation information that might help us vote. Local government is partisan and in the best way.