Election 2013: Latest results
Published 7:35 pm Wednesday, November 6, 2013
After running unopposed, Redmond City Council candidates Byron Shutz (Position 2), Kim Allen (Position 4) and John Stilin (Position 6) are set to take office.
Of the trio, Shutz is the one newcomer to public office. He will replace current City Council President Pat Vache, who will step down at the end of his term in December. As of early Thursday afternoon, Shutz had 99 percent of the vote (4,358), according to King County Elections. The remaining 44 votes — or 1 percent — are write-in votes.
In earlier reports, Shutz said he was running for office because he likes the direction the city is going and would like to see that continue.
“Redmond is on the way to lots of places now,” he had said.
Shutz had also stated that the city is doing a good job of accommodating the growth it is seeing and will see in the future.
This will be Allen’s third term on Redmond City Council. According to King County Elections, she had 98.99 percent of the vote (4,398), as of early Thursday afternoon. The remaining 45 votes — or 1.01 percent — are write-in votes.
According to an earlier report, Allen ran for office again because she wants to continue the work she has been doing regarding transportation as a member of the King County Regional Transit Committee.
“It’s a very critical time for transportation,” she had said. “All of this affects Redmond.”
Allen had added that for the last three years, the committee has been working on a strategic plan for King County Metro Transit and she wants to ensure Redmond — and the Eastside — has its voice heard.
Stilin will be entering his second term in office. He had 98.87 percent of the vote (4,343), as of early Thursday afternoon, according to King County Elections. The remaining 1.03 percent — or 45 votes — are write-in votes.
In an earlier report, Stilin said he had learned a lot about City Council’s role in the city’s doings and thought it would be good to continue that learning process. He also said that he is motivated by the idea of public service.
“I’m doing this for the good of the community, and if I wasn’t, I’d step down,” Stilin had said.
On the state initiative front, I-517 (which concerns initiative and referendum measures) is currently losing, 61.04 percent to 38.96 percent, according to the Washington Secretary of State website. As of 1:35 p.m. Thursday, there are 694,422 no votes to 443,215 yes votes.
Tim Eyman — who sponsored I-517 — and Jack and Mike Fagan — who head Voters Want More Choices, a grassroots taxpayer protection organization with Eyman — released the following statement on election night regarding the initiative:
“We have successfully learned to overcome the current system’s challenges, consistently qualifying our initiatives for the ballot. We will work really hard to continue to do so. But unless reforms like those contained in Initiative 517 are enacted, only initiatives sponsored by the big guys will make it. That’s too bad. The initiative process should be available to everyone.”
In a column for the Reporter opposing I-517 Andrew Villeneuve, a Redmond native and founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, said the initiative would “allow out-of-state signature gatherers to operate in Washington state year round, and they’d have free reign to hawk petitions inside of any public building…They would also be able to operate on private property.”
“I-517 isn’t just poorly written; it’s unnecessary,” Villeneuve wrote.
The Reporter highlighted I-517 in the weeks leading up to the election. To read more of Villeneuve’s column as well as a column supporting I-517, visit the Opinion page on the Reporter website.
The second initiative on the ballot this year was I-522, which concerns labeling of genetically engineered foods, The initiative is currently trailing, 54.14 percent to 45.86 percent, according to the Washington Secretary of State website. As of 1:35 p.m. Thursday, there are 637,154 no votes to 539,798 yes votes.
A press release on the No on 522 Coalition website states that “I-522 would have provided consumers with inaccurate and misleading information about the foods they buy, while increasing grocery costs to working families by hundreds of dollars per year.”
“This is a clear victory for Washington consumers, taxpayers and family farmers across our state,” said Dana Bieber, spokesperson for No on 522, in a statement Tuesday evening. “Washington voters have soundly rejected this badly written and deceptive initiative.”
Despite trailing, the Yes on 522 campaign remains positive.
“I-522 gained ground (on Wednesday), especially in King County as we had expected,” said Delana Jones, campaign manager for Yes on 522, in a statement released on Wednesday. “There are still over 150,000 votes to be counted in Washington’s most populous county. No matter the outcome, we helped advance the national GMO labeling movement by raising awareness about the need for transparency and accountability in the food industry.”
The Reporter highlighted I-522 in September in a story about Kitchen Conversations addressing the issue that were held at Hugo’s Restaurant.
