Frequently Asked Questions from Voters About This Race

Possibly, but what's much more likely to be happening is: The city's amazing public works crew has to take signs down to perform routine maintenance and landscaping on medians and street corners, wind is blowing them over, or they have been accidentally placed on private property without permission.

To be clear, every single candidate, no matter their views, has had signs disappear. This is a common occurrence due to the situations stated above.

Yes! When you register to vote, you provide your address and phone number. Voter registration is public, and any candidate can use your contact information to try to reach you directly. You are under no obligation to answer, of course. In Washington state, calls and texts to cell phone numbers are not allowed to use "robo" software.

If you get a text from a volunteer or from the candidate themselves, they themselves should have actually clicked the "send" button and are eagerly waiting for your reply.

Individuals and organizations endorse candidates to express their belief that the candidate is the best person for the position for which they are running. Candidates often publicize endorsements they've received as a way of helping voters to understand the candidate's values and priorities, and to build trust. Endorsements don't mean that the candidate and endorser will agree on everything! But they do mean that they share the same general values and goals for the community.

Typically, candidates publicize endorsements by individuals who are running for, currently hold, or used to hold an office of equal or higher status than the one for which they are running. (For example, someone running for county council might seek endorsement from the governor, but the governor would likely not seek endorsement from someone at the county council level.) Therefore, SeaTac City Council candidates might have endorsements from current or former SeaTac City Councilmembers, but they might also have endorsements from current or former county council members, state representatives, state senators, and more. The support of these officials at higher levels can be very meaningful, because they have the context of what the county, region, or state needs as a whole and how SeaTac can fit into that vision.

Organizations that offer endorsement usually have a rigorous process for the candidate to go through, including a detailed questionnaire and an interview with their members and/or staff. If you see that an organization you trust and support has endorsed a candidate, you can know that they have done their due diligence.

The best way to learn the truth is to go to the source. Some good places to start include:

• SeaTac posts the meetings for every regular and special City Council meeting on their website in this folder. If you want to know how someone voted on a particular agenda item, that's the best place to look.

• Many cities, including SeaTac and nearby cities have their budgets available on the website cleargov.com. You can see different sections of city budgets and see how much is allocated as an expense for each section in total, and also per capita (aka per person) in that city. Use the search bar at the top to find other cities nearby.