At a Georgetown Community Council meeting on July 22, Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess told a crowd of about 50 neighborhood residents that the Interbay jail site—one of four selected by the city as potential locations for a new jail when the city's jail contract with King County ends in 2012—"makes the most sense."

While Burgess says he's not necessarily endorsing a jail at Interbay, he is the first council member to publicly point to the benefits of a specific site. "In my mind, when you look only at the criteria, the [Interbay] site... [is] the better choice," Burgess says. "But that's not the only consideration."

Locating the jail near affluent Magnolia and Queen Anne—where Burgess lives—would be an epic political battle, something Seattle is now working to avoid by developing plans to build a regional jail with other cities in the county. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE

Beer Buddies

John Burbank, one of two Democrats running for state legislature in the 36th District, is listing his status as the official Democratic Party nominee on voter guides as "elected" experience, despite the fact that Burbank was actually appointed as nominee by state Democratic Party chair Dwight Pelz, a longtime friend.

In an e-mail, Burbank's opponent, Reuven Carlyle, groused that Burbank "was APPOINTED by his official beer drinking buddy Dwight Pelz as the nominee, not elected by voters, the district organization, or any other entity of any sort."

Asked how his appointment by Pelz constituted elected experience, Burbank responded, "[The voter guide statement] was approved by the secretary of state, so if someone has an issue with it, they should take it up with the secretary of state." ERICA C. BARNETT