Housing

An unusually contentious debate over prospective Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) board appointee Sybil Bailey remained unresolved this week, as housing committee members Nick Licata, Tom Rasmussen, and Sally Clark voted to postpone the controversial candidate's appointment over Richard McIver's strenuous objections. Opponents say Bailey, whose appointment by then–Mayor Paul Schell was scuttled by Peter Steinbrueck in 1998, will serve SHA's interests, not residents'.

The debate, which focused in part on Bailey's leadership of SHA's Resident Action Council and whether she had testified against expanding SHA's board to include two resident seats, including the one she hopes to fill, turned ugly when Rasmussen moved to hold the bill, prompting McIver to call the move "an insult," a statement Licata disputed. "I would hope you would not consider a delay to be... disrespectful," Licata told Bailey. "The concerns I have raised are real concerns." Asked why SHA representatives did not sit with Bailey on the council dais during the council's questions, as is traditional, Licata said, "I think they want to have a 10-foot pole between her and them because she's so controversial." Although Bailey's answers didn't impress several observers (on how she will hold SHA accountable: "Basically, check all the reports... Check, check, check") most thought her confirmation at next Tuesday's housing committee meeting would probably be approved. ERICA C. BARNETT

Elections

There's bad news for incumbent supreme court judge Susan Owens, a whip-smart liberal dissenter on last month's DOMA ruling who is up for reelection this year.

The Secretary of State's office decided that the ballot in her race, which includes hyper-conservative state senator Stephen Johnson from Auburn/Covington and Seattle attorney Michael Johnson, will include "descriptors" for the Johnsons so that people can distinguish between them. The descriptors will read: "Stephen Johnson, state senator, attorney" and "Michael Johnson, attorney."

The problem for Owens—and for the other two candidates in the race—is that highlighting the Johnsons' job descriptions implies that the other candidates are unqualified nobodies. Conspiracy Theory 101 has it that Attorney General Rob McKenna's office, which guided the Secretary of State's office on how to deal with the Johnson problem, recommended a solution that would hurt popular liberal Owens's chances. NANCY DREW

Anal Sex!

The Faith & Freedom Network—in cahoots with former U.S. Senator Slade Gordon and former U.S. Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn—is hosting a fundraiser for embattled U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) in Bellevue next week.

Area Republicans willing to cough up $1,000 will have a chance to lunch with the man who made "man on dog" a national catch phrase on Thursday, August 17, at Daniel's Broiler at 11:45 a.m. Daniel's Broiler is located at 10500 Northeast Eighth Street, 21st floor, in Bellevue.

Thanks to the efforts of a local sex-advice columnist, Senator Santorum's name is now forever associated with that frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes a byproduct of anal sex. DAN SAVAGE