[TRU Research] Researching Kent / South King County?

[Katie Wilson]

Hi all,

Well, I never followed up about rescheduling this meeting. However, we do now have a couple of better-defined research questions that some of you might have ideas about how to pursue.

I’m trying to compile some basic data about the South King County cities. So far I’ve put together the table below. Here are some things that would be useful to know about each city:

Number of people eligible to vote. I have no idea if this is known/estimated anywhere.
Voting results in some key past elections, e.g.
2016 and 2020 presidential elections
Statewide ballot measures: 1098, 1433, 1631, maybe others that would give us a sense of how progressive the existing electorate is along various axes?
Local & county ballot measures: any that seem relevant to getting a political sense of the existing electorate
Population breakdown by race/ethnicity & language

I have no idea how easy any of this is to find or put together. Thoughts?

Also, if any of this is a lot of work and you need to leave some cities off, we can probably drop Normandy Park and Auburn (which don’t have initiative processes anyway) and perhaps Des Moines.

Happy to chat/meet to talk through any of this!

Katie


————————

South King County Cities

City
Population (2019)
Registered Voters <https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/research/city-registration-demographics.aspx> (%)*
Valid Initiative Sigs (15%)
Initiative Sigs w/ 30% buffer
Median Indiv. Income* (2019)
Burien
51,477
29,667  (58)
4,450
5,785
32,585
Tukwila
20,196
10,975  (54)
1,646
2,140
30,356
Renton
101,484
59,745  (59)
8,962
11,650
39,919
Kent
131,118
70,590  (54)
10,589
13,765
33,867
SeaTac
29,019
14,885  (51)
2,233
2,903
31,203
Federal Way
96,526
52,508  (54)
7,876
10,239
34,960
Auburn
80,134
39,089  (49)
N/A
N/A
36,311
Des Moines
31,734
19,397  (61)
2,910
3,782
36,148
Normandy Pk
6,670
5,174  (78)
N/A
N/A
52,539
* For comparison, Seattle’s median individual income in 2019 was $49,293, and registered voters represented 67% of the population.


> On Jul 27, 2021, at 8:03 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org> wrote:
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> So… change of plans, I’m afraid:
> 
> There’s a building in Kent where tenants were given a notice <https://mail.transitriders.org/index.php/s/qtaLbnR6BcjKQLT> early this month that evictions will start in August & if they can’t pay they’ll also be charged late fees of $150 plus $5/day. That last part is totally illegal (Gov. Inslee’s bridge proclamation prohibits late fees through the end of this year) and the other part omits that the landlord still has to offer a payment plan and mediation for rent not paid in Aug & Sept. Anyway, we’ve been trying to find a time to go door-knocking there when someone who speaks Spanish can accompany us, and it turns out Friday is the only date that works. I’m going to help with that & so we'll have to postpone our research conversation.
> 
> Which also means: If anyone’s game for helping with door-knocking, you’re more than welcome to join us. Matthew and I will be driving down from Seattle so we can give rides to at least a couple people. We’re aiming to get there at 6pm.
>  
> I’ll set up a poll soon for research meeting times next week.
> 
> Katie
> 
>> On Jul 21, 2021, at 4:13 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> Fine with me! Here’s a new invitation for Friday:
>> 
>> TRU Research Meet-up
>> Scheduled: Jul 30, 2021 at 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, PDT
>> Location: Victrola Coffee Roasters
>> 411 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA  98112, United States
>> <iCal-20210721-161317.ics>
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2021, at 4:10 PM, Harry Maher <harryb.maher at gmail.com <mailto:harryb.maher at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Ah shoot, I just got finished chatting with Jason and let him know I'd do some HON calls on Wednesday night at that time. Any chance we can do Friday instead? Sorry, team!
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 2:50 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>>> Ok! Looking at the poll, I’m going to go ahead and call this for next Wednesday 7/28 at 5:30pm, unless Jim speaks up and says he prefers Friday. Here’s a calendar invitation. 
>>> 
>>> Looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it!
>>> 
>>> - Katie
>>> 
>>> ——————
>>> 
>>> TRU Research Meet-up
>>> Scheduled: Jul 28, 2021 at 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, PDT
>>> Location: Victrola Coffee Roasters
>>> 411 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA  98112, United States
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Jul 20, 2021, at 2:59 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Ok, in this case let’s try for next week, and maybe that means more people can join. Here’s a scheduling poll for next Tues-Fri: https://www.when2meet.com/?12353093-hbviZ <https://www.when2meet.com/?12353093-hbviZ>
>>>> 
>>>>> On Jul 20, 2021, at 2:43 PM, Stephen DeSanto <rachidian at gmail.com <mailto:rachidian at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thursday evenings aren't super great for me but I can make it if there's not an alternative. Friday or early next week are better for me. :)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Stephen
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Tue, Jul 20, 2021 at 9:21 AM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>>>>> Ok, how about this Thursday, 5:30pm at Victrola on 15th? Stephen and Douglas, does that work for both of you? Anyone else?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Let me know if we need to adjust the time, and I’m happy to consider different locations too.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Katie
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jul 18, 2021, at 7:40 PM, sextondouglas <sextondouglas at comcast.net <mailto:sextondouglas at comcast.net>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Yes and also free Thurs/Fri evening
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -------- Original message --------
>>>>>> From: Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>>
>>>>>> Date: 7/18/21 5:53 PM (GMT-08:00)
>>>>>> To: Stephen DeSanto <rachidian at gmail.com <mailto:rachidian at gmail.com>>
>>>>>> Cc: research at transitriders.org <mailto:research at transitriders.org>
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [TRU Research] Researching Kent / South King County?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Great! Anyone else?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I’d be up for meeting late this week (Thursday/Friday?) or sometime the following week.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Katie
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Jul 16, 2021, at 2:46 PM, Stephen DeSanto <rachidian at gmail.com <mailto:rachidian at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Hi Katie. It's good to hear from you. I have time to help research.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Stephen
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 1:48 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>>>>>>> Hi Research & Data team!
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> It’s been a while. I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the summer. At last night’s membership meeting we passed the resolution below, to explore organizing in South King County. As a few of you already know, there are reasons to be especially interested in the city of Kent, which has strong connections with Amazon (warehouses & Blue Origin) and a pretty crappy city council & mayor (though that could change somewhat in this election).
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> If we are to plan a successful campaign in Kent or South King County, we'll need to do quite a bit of RESEARCH. Anyone game for helping out with this over the next few months? 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I don’t have a list of specific questions, but a lot of vague ideas. Might be good to meet up (in person even?) and brainstorm. Let me know if you’re interested!
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> - Katie
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> —————————
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Resolution #152 on organizing in South King County
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Proposed by the General Council
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS with the Stay Housed Stay Healthy campaign, TRU has for the first time attempted to move legislation in cities outside Seattle, with some success; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS through this campaign TRU has begun to build connections with organizations, community leaders and elected officials throughout King County; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS many of the issues of the greatest importance to TRU members— including public transit and transportation, housing and homelessness— are truly regional; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS there is in general much less grassroots organizing and power-building happening outside Seattle than within; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS as Seattle as gentrified, many working and poor people and people of color have been pushed out to the rest of King County, especially to South King County; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS the city councils in many King County cities are dominated by big business, landlord and wealthier homeowner interests; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS it has always been the vision of TRU to expand beyond Seattle to become a truly King County-wide (at least!) organization; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS it has also always been the vision of TRU to grow from being a relatively small group of dedicated activists to become a large, mass-based organization able to support more than just a couple paid staff, so as to be able to more effectively engage large numbers of members and coordinate large numbers of volunteers to win major victories; and
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> WHEREAS achieving this will not happen without concerted effort, strategic planning and resources,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> THEREFORE BE IT
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> RESOLVED to authorize TRU’s General Secretary and General Council to begin investigating potential for a 2022 organizing campaign focused in South King County and to develop one or more preliminary campaign sketches to bring to the next Membership Meeting for further discussion.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Katie Wilson
>>>>>>> General Secretary
>>>>>>> Transit Riders Union
>>>>>>> https://transitriders.org <https://transitriders.org/>
>>>>>>> 206-781-7204
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and poor people, including students, seniors, and people with disabilities, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power we need to change society for the good of humanity and of the planet. We will fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public transportation system in Seattle and beyond, so that every human being has access to safe, affordable, and reliable public transit.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I also write opinions <https://crosscut.com/author/katie-wilson> for Crosscut. Sign up for my newsletter here <http://eepurl.com/g_D3nf>.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> 

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