Media

A documentary that will air next week on public KCTS-TV about independent fishermen and their battles with the Port of Seattle has gotten under the Port’s skin. The Port called KCTS to complain about Fishermen’s Terminal, which airs on Thursday, Oct. 6, as part of the station’s About Us series of locally produced work. “They were concerned with the point of view,” says station General Manager Randy Brinson. “It’s as bad a hatchet job as I’ve ever seen,” says Port spokesperson David Schaefer. The film’s producer, B.J. Bullert, does indeed have a point of view. Bullert says: “The Port, which started out as a public organization, in a sense has been taken over by people interested in real estate.” Following a request by KCTS for more balance, Bullert has given more time in the film to Port Commissioner and City Council candidate Paige Miller. The station is also televising a panel, which will discuss the issues and include a Port representative. NINA SHAPIRO

Primary Election

It looks like the King County Records, Elections & Licensing Services Division will recount almost 300,000 ballots from this month’s primary. Only 32 votes—0.01 percent—separated King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Fuda and Seattle police Lt. Greg Schmidt in the King County sheriff’s race as of Tuesday, Sept. 27. Fuda or Schmidt will face Sue Rahr, appointed sheriff last January, on Nov. 8. Rahr took 66 percent of the vote in the primary. Spokesperson Bobbi Egan says the department is confident it can do the recount in time for the mailing of absentee ballots on Oct. 19. PHILIP DAWDY

Seattle Public Schools

It’s election time, and the fractures on the Seattle School Board are becoming more public. Outgoing board member Dick Lilly is holding a party for Jane Fellner next week. Fellner is running against Lilly’s fellow board member, Mary Bass. “Electing Jane—and many of you have already heard me say this—is crucial to improving the School Board itself,” Lilly wrote in an e-mail invitation. Elaborating by phone, he notes that Bass consistently votes no on items that all the other board members agree on. “Basically, I think Mary is not on board,” Lilly says. “She doesn’t trust the staff. She doesn’t really work with other board members. She’s not in the game.” Bass could not be reached for comment. NINA SHAPIRO

City Hall

In his presentation of the 2006 general-fund budget proposal to the City Council on Sept. 26, Mayor Greg Nickels basically announced an end to the recession’s effects on local government. Nickels proposed a general-fund budget of $760 million, up from $717 million this year—the first time in his tenure that he hasn’t announced rollbacks of everything from cops to social services. In recent years, social-service advocates have packed the council chamber during Nickels’ budget announcements to decry cuts to services. This time, the audience was mostly department heads and staff. The only frustrated person seemed to be council President Jan Drago, who, as The Seattle Times noted, made Nickels wait to deliver his speech while she delivered one of her own, in which she made it clear she’d fight any cuts to programs aimed at the city’s poor. Drago is rumored to be angry at Nickels, whose former mouthpiece, Casey Corr, is running against her in the November general election. PHILIP DAWDY

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