Farewell, Seattle City Hall. I’ve been covering you for The Stranger for more than a year now, and I’ve learned many things in your elevators and hallways. But a new job at a nonprofit is calling, so goodbye Sally Clark jokes, goodbye Stranger office weed table, goodbye walking half an hour to committee meetings in the rain. And hello to a life in which I seem to have come into possession of something arcane and unexpected: a little bit of wisdom about the inner-workings on our city government, a useful thing to have at a time when every last elected on the second floor of City Hall—that’s right, the entire Seattle City Council—is about to have to stand for election next year because of our voter-approved move to district elections.
So gather around, lucky people who walk through life blissfully ignorant of Sally Clark’s wit. (And “wit.”) I used to be one of you. Now that I’m not, here’s what I know.
THE BASICS
When someone wants to run for office, one of the first questions they run into is whether they can raise enough money to win a campaign…