Ballots hit mailboxes for August primary election

Ballots have hit mailboxes for this year’s August primary election, and for most Federal Way voters, they’ll be brief.

Voters this month will decide one Federal Way race with candidates: Federal Way School District Director position 2. Incumbent Dr. Jennifer Jones is running to keep her seat against challengers Daniel Kukhar and Robert Ribaudo.

In the voter guide, Jones touts her 25 years of experience teaching at Highline College, where she is a professor of geography and global studies; and her endorsements from the MLK Labor Council and local state lawmakers Claire Wilson, Kristine Reeves and Jamila Taylor.

Kukhar, the manager at Kukhar’s Build Inc., references his experience attending local schools and his desire to provide his children a great education. He said he would emphasize an education in the history of the U.S., its constitution and citizens’ rights, and on teaching virtue and a moral standard.

Ribaudo, a U.S. Army veteran, said his first priority would be access to “the highest quality education possible” for all students regardless of background or circumstances. “I believe in fostering a school community that is inclusive, innovative, and forward-thinking,” Ribuado wrote.

Voters will also decide the fate of two ballot measures, which both need only a simple majority to pass:

• South King Fire & Rescue’s Proposition 1: This lid lift would reauthorize a $1.50 per $1,000 tax levy rate for 2024, with annual increases of up to 6% in each of the five subsequent years. If not approved, the regular $1.50 levy rate would fall to below $1.25 due to legal limitations, according to the fire district. Firefighters are responding to more calls, SKFR said, and passing the proposition would maintain “an effective level of service.”

• King County’s Proposition 1: This replaces an expiring veterans, seniors and human services levy. It would authorize an additional six-year levy beginning in 2024 at $0.1 per $1,000 of assessed value, with the 2024 levy amount used as a base for annual increases of 3.5% in 2025-2029.

Ballot drop boxes opened July 13. Primary election day is August 1. Ballots must be postmarked by that day or returned to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. to count. It’s also the last day to register to vote in the primary election.

A King County voter center will open at Federal Way City Hall in the Patrick Maher room for three days through the primary voting season. Voters who need help registering, finishing their ballots or accomplishing other voting tasks can get help there on:

Saturday, July 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.;

Monday, July 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and

Election Day, Tuesday, August 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Ballots for the general election are mailed out Oct. 18, and general election day is Nov. 7.

All other electoral races this year in Federal Way earned only two challengers, meaning they won’t appear on the primary ballot and will instead be decided in the November general. (Write-in candidates can still challenge those running unopposed.) Those races include:

Federal Way City Council

• Position 1: Lydia Assefa-Dawson (incumbent), Mark Greene

• Position 3: Susan Honda (incumbent), Roger Flygare

• Position 5: Jack Walsh (incumbent), Katherine Festa

• Position 7: Linda Kochmar (incumbent), Denise Yun

Federal Way School Board of Directors

• District 3: Luckisha Phillips (incumbent), Christopher Dowllar

• District 5: Gavin Downing, Joan Marie Murphy

South King Fire & Rescue Commissioners

• Position 4: Mark Thompson (incumbent), Gregory Baruso

• Position 5: Craig Burrus (Running unopposed)

Lakehaven Water & Sewer District Commissioner